May 2010
Mumford & Sons - Unfinished Business
sunday...
Mobile apps & the missing links
There are advantages of developing mobile apps (and app stores): user experience, distribution and monetization opportunities.
However mobile apps don’t work like the mobile web in some pretty important ways.
For starters, developers must develop for each specific platform - iPhone, Android and Blackberry. That’s very different than developing for the open web and at a high level...
Got some advice today
Someone gave me some good personal advice today.
“Be picky”
#dulynoted
Does your VC need operating experience?
I am often asked if operating experience in a big company or startup is a requirement to become a great venture capitalist.
The logic is how can you help startups if you have never had the job yourself.
Even though I’ve worked in startups and a few big companies for 15 years before becoming a VC, i don’t buy that argument. The proof is in the pudding. There are too many great VCs...
Metric - The End Has No End
Happy cover friday....
Quick thoughts on iPhone OS 4 beta
Yesterday i installed iPhone OS 4 beta.
Quick thoughts
It’s stable. Haven’t had any issues and all of my main apps work fine
Folders work great. I have reduced 6 pages of apps down to 2
In the settings there is a toggle for character count in the sms app. But doesn’t seem to work yet. Looking forward to that feature as I still like sending txt to twitter
Multitasking. Right now it...
Ideas vs execution
It’s well understood that ideas are one thing but execution is everything.
The execution part is pretty comprehensive as we all know. It’s about obsessing on the user experience, team building, product development, dealing with heartaches & setbacks, growth and turning a dream into a real company.
That’s why I have trouble investing in companies that are born from the...
“But to be honest, I had the easy task. Arguing for lean startups in front of a...”
– A VC
great line :)
It's hard to do two things at once
Yesterday i attended TechCrunch Disrupt.
It was fun seeing old friends and meeting new startups.
I was also on a panel of “judges” where we heard from the startups and we had the opportunity to ask questions and offer feedback.
They were all impressive presentations and it was clear they all practiced quite a bit and were prepared.
The one thing I saw that I’m not a fan...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-5-23) →
LCD Soundsystem (12)
The Tallest Man on Earth (11)
The National (8)
Camera Obscura (8)
Arctic Monkeys (7)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
David Byrne & Fatboy Slim ft Camille - Pretty...
Sitting at the gate and thinking about LOST
I’m sitting here at the gate a bit early for my flight to laguardia. The LOST finale is still sinking in.
I’ve been loyally watching LOST all these years. That first episode grabbed me and I couldn’t shake it loose season after season.
But I have some questions from the earlier seasons that I can’t figure out.
So here goes:
What was the significance of the...
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Skin Of My Yellow...
Android for Mobile Just Keeps Getting Better
Less than two weeks ago, i wrote a post about the challenges of Android being sort of stuck in the middle. The middle between two extremes - iPhone and Blackberry.
But after last weeks Google I/O conference, I’m more excited than ever about Android for Mobile for two important reasons:
1. Developers. Android is now activating 100k mobile phones per day. That’s huge and if you are a...
ExtensionFM
I’ve been using ExtensionFM almost every day since it first came out in private beta several months ago. It’s a simple, lightweight, amazing web service that organizes all the mp3 you come across on various websites and blogs and puts them into an ExtensionFM Queue (think music timeline) and Library. And once you do that it will automatically update your queue and library every time...
HTC Incredible camera vs iPhone 3gs
For many folks, the mobile phone has become the primary camera. I know I take a ton of pics with my phone.
A few weeks ago, my brother and I were hanging out in the Boston Public Gardens. We happened to take a similar photo of our kids. I used my iPhone and my brother used the HTC Incredible.
This is hardly a scientific comparison but the difference is quite noticeable.
iPhone 3gs:
HTC...
A little hack to make Gmail work better on the...
The other day I wrote about my woes trying to get a good Gmail experience on the Blackberry.
Unfortunately a number of folks told me privately and publicly that they had the same experience.
But then @johndlloyd came to my rescue and emailed me a hack to get it working. I encouraged him to write up a post so everyone could benefit and he did just that.
So if you are struggling with Gmail on a...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-5-16) →
Free Energy (16)
The New Pornographers (14)
Laura Marling (14)
Arctic Monkeys (5)
The National (4)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone (acoustic)
Alex...
Love Gmail but not on the blackberry
I gave up using Outlook & Entourage a few years back and moved on to Gmail.
It’s the best for my needs especially on a Mac. It’s fast and I’ve fallen hard for all of the keyboard shortcuts, Google labs, archive and conversation threading.
Over the last month or so I’ve gone back to the dreaded two phone combo - the Verizon Blackberry Tour and the iPhone. I hate the...
A guest post about joining a startup
I’ve never had a guest post on my blog before. But I’m thrilled to start with this one. It’s a great story about determination & passion and it’s by Nick Crocker who starts at Boxee today.
* * *
In a recent post about how to join a startup Bijan Sabet said:
“There are a number of ways to do it but two of our portfolio companies recently told me about people...
Review: AT&T 3G MicroCell
I was in a meeting last week with a startup and the founder mentioned that long awaited AT&T MicroCell was available.
My phone barely works in my house. Most of the time incoming calls go straight to voicemail. So when this founder gave me the news, I immediately added it to my to-do list and picked one up yesterday.
The AT&T MicroCell is a femtocell that essentially puts a mini 3g base...
“Nicole Wahl, a 35-year-old communications manager at the University of Toronto,...”
– Cellphones Now Used More for Data Than for Calls - NYTimes.com
The main reason I put up with AT&T’s network is because mobile data is more important than voice on my iphone.
The Morning Benders - Mother and Child Reunion
...
Less and more
Many consumer web services start out in life very specific and very simple.
Then they start adding stuff.
In the best case, it works because the company innovates and users are delighted with the new capabilities
In the worst case, the product becomes heavy and complicated.
Truthfully its never this cut and dry but I believe the point stands.
Yesterday I was at the Tumblr board...
The middle ain't an easy place to be
I am a big fan of the Android platform for mobile.
There are so many reasons to root for their success. And in many ways they deserve tremendous credit. The sheer number of android powered handsets, the openness in the app store ans code, google voice, speech reco, kick ass browser, best mobile gmail experience, out of box + add your gmail credentials and magic happens and plenty of other things...
“My friend Stu Roseman is hacking together yet another web service to make email...”
– Fred Wilson - A VC
Oh, man. I feel Fred’s pain. I had a similar situation on Sunday that I wrote about in my post yesterday. I too have been using Stu’s web service. It’s been a big help to me and I can’t wait to talk more about it.
Some thoughts about re-entry
I did something I’ve never done last week.
I went away for an entire week without checking work email. Not once. Not even a looksy
I set up my “out of office” message to let folks know that I wouldn’t be checking emails and to contact my assistant if there were any urgent matters (there were 2 such things and were handled with two quick phone calls)
Otherwise everyone...
Laura Marling - Roll Away Your Stone
Mumford...
“When I step back and think about what motivates me early in a relationship with...”
– Brad Feld, My Obsession With The Product
Anonymous asked: I heard it somewhere that most VC's are wannabe entrepreneurs..while that may be a bit over the top, is there some truth somewhere? How do you balance the two. I'm asking because I'm considering a career choice between one or the other.
