April 2011
My Morning Jacket - Holdin On To Black Metal
new...
Frightened Rabbit - Confetti
inspired by...
“There’s a lot of stuff that’s accidental about Fog Creek and Stack Exchange, but...”
– Lunch - Joel on Software
Don't be shy (continued)
Yesterday, I spent some time talking to a founder in NYC. We’ve become friends over the last year or two. We decided not to invest in his company for reasons that I won’t get into on this post. But I’ve tried to be helpful because I like him.
He is in the process of raising a seed round. We were talking about possible investors that he should talk to and I shared with him my...
Colin Meloy - Goodbye Girl
jumping the gun on...
Information Arbitrage - The Entrepreneur/VC... →
via Roger:
Both parties need to recognize that no matter what happens, the utility functions of the VC and the entrepreneur simply do not match in an early-stage exit scenario. They just don’t. And this has to be ok. Because if it’s not, the chance for establishing healthy long-term relationships between VCs and entrepreneurs goes way, way down. Investing in an early-stage company isn’t merely...
Melodramatic Bullshit →
Brad Feld:
So, when the press grabs onto to the meme of “founders are assholes” or ex-founders who didn’t stay with the companies over time whine about their co-founders or when people who didn’t really have any involvement with the creation of a company sue for material ownership in the company because of absurd legal claims, it annoys me. It cheapens the incredibly hard and lonely work of a...
Bon Iver - Re: Stacks
I’ve been traveling a...
“The drama of being a venture capitalist isn’t really for me”
– Gideon Yu
there is a bunch of drama in this business unfortunately
fred-wilson:
Zan With That Lean - Soulja Boy
...
Square’s Keith Rabois: Websites are dead, reinvent... →
“the website as you know it” is “dead, dying, will be dying,” and that the future lies in reinventing Web experiences on the mobile phone.
many smart folks have been saying this for a long time and it’s so damn true.
Founder liquidity
There are a few posts on Techmeme this morning about founder liquidity.
Here’s my take.
Back in the day, the idea of employees selling their shares before a liquidity event for all shareholders was looked down upon and rarely ever happened. it signaled that the founders didn’t believe in the big idea and that was a signal no one was interested in.
These days founder liquidity...
A Message To Graduating MBA’s →
via @bfeld
Don’t worry about money right now. You can always get a job that pays you plenty of money. Don’t worry about your resume. Don’t worry about “am I positioning myself the right way for something five years from now.” I know way too many 45 year olds who have plenty of money, have done all the right career things, yet are unhappy with where they are in life, where they live, and what...
Conor Oberst - Milk Thistle (acoustic)
1 tag
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill
turn it up.
“We’re not raising a Series A, we’re raising a Series Awesome”
– Jason Baptiste, founder and CEO at OnSwipe (disclosure: we are investors in the company)
(via David Noel)
The often-rumored Apple HDTV – Marco.org →
Apple’s primary business is selling computing devices and related hardware, with healthy margins and tightly integrated experiences, to customers who generally replace them with the newest models every 1-3 years.
Marco believes that Apple is going to stay out of the tv business.
I have no idea if Apple will ship a hdtv.
But i do feel like the status quo needs disruption given all the ads we...
Wilco - Color Me Impressed
a replacements cover...
“We’ve had lots of positive press from Fortune in the past. In July of 2010...”
– Biz Stone: The Trouble Bubble
Solving real problems
For as long as I’ve been working in or with consumer related startups, i often hear folks that don’t embrace this line of work say things like “that company is interesting but I want to work/invest in a company solving a real problem”
I gotta come clean: I think that attitude is bullshit.
There are two problems with the view that consumer web services isn’t...
“And I second with emphasis the focus on fairness. Founding teams that allocate...”
– A VC
Of Monsters And Men - From Finner
the addiction...
Of Monsters And Men - Little Talks
I can listen...
When your startup is grinding it out in a market...
There are number of startups that are growing like crazy these days. We all know the well known names. And there are many startups that aren’t well known that are also quite successful.
These known and unknown fast growing companies have accomplished amazing things in a relatively short amount of time and they all certainly have plenty of work ahead of them to continue their growth and...
Why I switched back to iPhone on ATT
When the Verizon iPhone came out I immediately picked one up after struggling with Att for years.
Yes the voice network is better on Verizon. At least in the places i travel most in the united states.
But on Friday I switched back to Att.
I switched for a number of reasons
-the inability to use data while on a call is frustrating. I tether my MacBook air to my phone and so this limitation...
Adele - Last Night
I like this cover. Original by...
“Additionally, Mr. Applbaum said his company could measure the success of that...”
– Twitter to Offer Marketers Geo-Relevant Ads, Other New Tools | Special: Digital Conference - Advertising Age
schwepervesence-essence:
Beastie Boys - “Make...
Who is your customer
Ultimately every startup has to decide who is their customer. That priority needs to take precedent over all other decisions even if it means giving up “low hanging fruit”.
When I meet a startup that says we are building a consumer app and also a white label app, my first reaction is to cringe.
There is nothing wrong with a b2b or white label business. And certainly there is nothing...
“Doerr just about fell off his chair. Surely, he replied to Page, you can’t be...”
– When John Doerr Met Larry Page 