February 2012
January 2012
Weekly All Hands Meeting
I worked at a number of startups and big companies before becoming a venture capitalist.
I’ve brought with me a number of lessons I try to keep in my brian so I remember what it was all about. But often I learn the best things from our portfolio companies.
An example of something I’ve learned from our portfolio companies is the weekly all hands meeting. I wish we did this at my...
Twitter Is a Critical Tool in Republican Campaigns... →
“Twitter has changed the whole way that politics works,” said Teddy Goff, the digital director of President Obama’s re-election campaign. “Not just the press element, but the organizing element and the fund-raising element and the relationship building that all campaigns try to do.”
1 tag
“In conversation, Karp could evangelise on the force of creativity for hours. At...”
– Interview: David Karp, founder of Tumblr, on realising his dream | Media | The Guardian
one of my favorite things about david
My partner, Mo
I first met Mo about 5 years ago. I’m pretty sure it was Santo that made the initial intro. He was working at IAC at the time, and I really enjoyed meeting him. His energy, passion and opinions about the world of media and technology left a mark with me.
We stayed in touch and a few years later we all agreed that he would be a great addition to the Spark team.
It’s been three years...
“Twitter’s latest policy is purposefully designed to allow Twitter to exist as a...”
– Why Twitter’s new policy is helpful for free-speech advocates | technosociology
The rise of iPad
I’m pretty much obsessed with my iPad. It’s more fun to use than my laptop or my desktop computer. The battery life is great and integrated 3g means I can connect quickly and easily.
That’s the opposite experience i have connecting my laptop to my 4g mifi. there is nothing quick and easy about that.
Clearly, I’m not the only one that feels that way. Just last quarter...
Some thoughts about Apple textbooks
Much has been written about apple’s proprietary approach to the textbook business.
I think the critics have a point.
But there are three important things that apple is worth talking about and applauding
1. They have created the most useful and most successful tablet ever. Microsoft has been working on for years. Android tablets are still a mess. Yesterday @parislemon wrote that...
The Future (Acoustic) by Nada Surf Luv this band ...
“Apple likely sold three times as many iPads as Amazon sold Kindle Fires. At...”
– @parislemon via http://m.techcrunch.com/2012/01/24/boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom/
Our latest investment, Timehop - a social time...
I’m really excited about our latest investment - Timehop. The company announced the investment earlier today.
I’m completely addicted to my daily emails from the service. And the founders Jonathan and Benny have some exciting things in the works.
My colleague Andrew Parker wrote about our thinking behind this new investment. Give it a read and then go sign up for Timehop.
Love to...
“I think their decision to artificially promote Google Plus pages above more...”
– Daring Fireball Linked List: Google’s Problem: Relevance
Exactly right. That’s what I meant when I wrote this a year ago. Google won search because they prioritized the best answer above anything else. They have crossed that line and it will hurt.
“The bottom line is Boxee Live TV works. Plug in the dongle to bring live,...”
– Full Circle: Boxee Brings OTA HDTV And Basic Cable To The Boxee Box | TechCrunch
Boom.
Beck/St. Vincent - Never Tear Us Apart
sappy...
“I feel like there’s a red pill and a blue pill, and you can take the blue pill...”
– Tenured Professor Departs Stanford, Hoping to Teach 500,000 Students at Online Start-Up - The Chronicle of Higher Education (via davemorin)
Wanted: an app that tells me if this food is good...
For the last few years I’ve tried to eat better.
We buy things locally grown and organic whenever possible.
But finding and eating things that are good for you isn’t easy.
I’m a vegetarian and I’m always looking for ways to get protein. I found this vegetarian hamburger mix the other day in Whole Foods. I was in a hurry with the kids but since it was Whole Foods, i threw...
Comeback Kid by Sleigh Bells
shared from exfm
“Hollywood wants to take the law into their own hands — they had our...”
– Pick up the pitchforks: David Pogue underestimates Hollywood « Clay Shirky
1 tag
Thoughts about yesterday
Several months ago, I joined a group of entrepreneurs and VCs and met with various members of the House that were supportive or undecided about the bill. I think we had 12 or 15 meetings.
It was a sobering experience. I learned a few things on that tiring day:
1. Many elected officials told us that this bill was going through. If you recall it was passed unanimously though the Judiciary...
“Having kids is 10,000 times better than anything I’ve ever done”
– Steve Jobs
“SOPA and PIPA are not dead: they are waiting in the shadows. What’s happened in...”
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
colinmeloy:
I made this song a while back for a...
Things I like on Tumblr
You can choose to my your ‘likes’ public on Tumblr.
Here are mine.
Thanks to all of you that create and share wonderful things that show up in my Tumblr Dashboard everyday.
“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
1 tag
“We believe strongly that the company is going to be reflected in the product and...”
– Design Sets Tone at Square, a Mobile Payments Start-Up - NYTimes.com
Hollywood has decided to go nuclear instead of...
More than a decade ago, we got the DMCA.
Many people hated it but the content community (Hollywood) pushed very hard for it. They wanted to control what content could and couldn’t exist on the Internet.
I’m over simplifying things greatly but the basic DMCA deal was the following
1. Users take responsibility for content that upload
2. Content owners notify website owners of...
Alex Turner - Strange
missed a bunch of cover...
“While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem...”
– Obama for America on SOPA
(via joshuanguyen)
Yes we can. 