Fascinating presentation and video on time perspectives.
Friday, August 27, 2010
News & Links List
"Google Voice Phone Booths To Start Popping Up In Airports, Universities" TechCrunch
"Why Intel bought McAfee" Ars Technica
"Race Is On To Be The Groupon And Foursquare Of China" Forbes' Beijing Dispatch
"Why China’s Web Copycats Succeed" Forbes' China Tracker
"Oracle's Android lawsuit: A Pandora's box of serious evils" InfoWorld
"Facebook is the new Google" MSNBC
"Celebrating A Year Of Apple Pondering Google Voice" TechCrunch
"Kindle Outselling iBooks 60 To 1" The Next Web
"A case for bundled plugins: Chrome users 50% faster to update insecure Flash plugin" The Next Web
"Android Revenue - Advanced Task Manager" Arron La
"Mobile ads are adding up… for some developers, at least" FierceDeveloper
"Free of Freemium, Things Are Starting To Look Up At Ning" Forbes' Buleyean String
"How I (Almost) Saved the Earth
No one said it would be easy to build the greenest house on the block. Scott Adams on perplexing energy bills, ugly lawns and the true meaning of 'green'" WSJ, Scott Adams
"Diving home sales stoke new worries about economic recovery" LA Times
"How the Stimulus Is Changing America" Time
"What Is It About 20-Somethings?" NYTimes
"Stem cell ruling to be appealed, officials say
Obama administration to ask to lift block on research using human embryos" MSNBC
"Women as Commodities" Chuck Colson
"Why Intel bought McAfee" Ars Technica
"Race Is On To Be The Groupon And Foursquare Of China" Forbes' Beijing Dispatch
"Why China’s Web Copycats Succeed" Forbes' China Tracker
"Oracle's Android lawsuit: A Pandora's box of serious evils" InfoWorld
"Facebook is the new Google" MSNBC
"Celebrating A Year Of Apple Pondering Google Voice" TechCrunch
"Kindle Outselling iBooks 60 To 1" The Next Web
"A case for bundled plugins: Chrome users 50% faster to update insecure Flash plugin" The Next Web
"Android Revenue - Advanced Task Manager" Arron La
"Mobile ads are adding up… for some developers, at least" FierceDeveloper
"Free of Freemium, Things Are Starting To Look Up At Ning" Forbes' Buleyean String
"How I (Almost) Saved the Earth
No one said it would be easy to build the greenest house on the block. Scott Adams on perplexing energy bills, ugly lawns and the true meaning of 'green'" WSJ, Scott Adams
"Diving home sales stoke new worries about economic recovery" LA Times
"How the Stimulus Is Changing America" Time
"What Is It About 20-Somethings?" NYTimes
"Stem cell ruling to be appealed, officials say
Obama administration to ask to lift block on research using human embryos" MSNBC
"Women as Commodities" Chuck Colson
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Never Hire a "Social Media Expert"
"Presentation of the post Never Hire A “Social Media Expert” written by Tim Baker."
Never hire a "Social Media Expert"
View more presentations from QuentinCharlier.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Co-founder Myth = False Prophesy of Entrepreneurship
I came across a new blog, Founders Block, covering the startup scene in NYC and which aims to be a resource for new, young entrepreneurs. Love their idea and mission.
One of their recent blog posts, "The Co-Founder Myth: Why You Might Not Need One, Especially in NYC", was well thought out and somewhat practical, but I thought it was sending the wrong message to new entrepreneurs in NYC. As discussed in their blog post, I am aware of the lack of technical talent compared with Silicon Valley, but promoting the notion of single founder startups is simply short-changing the potential and probability of success for entrepreneurs. Here is my comment on their blog post:
I believe you're seeding a destructive message here for startups and new entrepreneurs. Sort like teaching a minor league baseball player the wrong hitting stance as he's trying to make it to the bigs. Not's just about saving equity or making things easier in not looking for a co-founder, but trying to increase your chances of success.
There are various studies that have tracked the probability of success of technology startups over the past decades, such as MIT's Edward Roberts. The success rate exponentially jumps from one person to two people, and then continues to increase to three and four people. It's been a while since I read these studies, but I believe it flatlines after 4 founders. How many tech titans do you know that were started by one person? Even mid-sized tech company started by one person?
There is a reason why the recent trend of tech incubators prefer teams of at least two people and why prominent long-time VCs, such as John Doerr, focused on the "team". Some random links related to this:
John Doerr's Startup Manual
Why to Not Not Start a Startup
Ron Conway and Paul Graham startup success data
Related to this is the recent trend of social apps and games being funded versus "bigger ideas" and the growth of angel investing, so I understand in these types of startups multiple founders might not be necessary at the concept stage. This is where I agree with Michael Arrington's gripe about the new investor landscape creating a "culture of shooting too low". Investors are funding some of these one-hit wonders and since many of them are angels smaller exits less than $50 million or even $30 million are considered home runs. What would the technology landscape look like if these same entrepreneurs had bigger visions than creating a water ballon fight on Facebook? Or is this just a whole new category of tech entrepreneurship?
One of their recent blog posts, "The Co-Founder Myth: Why You Might Not Need One, Especially in NYC", was well thought out and somewhat practical, but I thought it was sending the wrong message to new entrepreneurs in NYC. As discussed in their blog post, I am aware of the lack of technical talent compared with Silicon Valley, but promoting the notion of single founder startups is simply short-changing the potential and probability of success for entrepreneurs. Here is my comment on their blog post:
I believe you're seeding a destructive message here for startups and new entrepreneurs. Sort like teaching a minor league baseball player the wrong hitting stance as he's trying to make it to the bigs. Not's just about saving equity or making things easier in not looking for a co-founder, but trying to increase your chances of success.
There are various studies that have tracked the probability of success of technology startups over the past decades, such as MIT's Edward Roberts. The success rate exponentially jumps from one person to two people, and then continues to increase to three and four people. It's been a while since I read these studies, but I believe it flatlines after 4 founders. How many tech titans do you know that were started by one person? Even mid-sized tech company started by one person?
There is a reason why the recent trend of tech incubators prefer teams of at least two people and why prominent long-time VCs, such as John Doerr, focused on the "team". Some random links related to this:
John Doerr's Startup Manual
Why to Not Not Start a Startup
Ron Conway and Paul Graham startup success data
Related to this is the recent trend of social apps and games being funded versus "bigger ideas" and the growth of angel investing, so I understand in these types of startups multiple founders might not be necessary at the concept stage. This is where I agree with Michael Arrington's gripe about the new investor landscape creating a "culture of shooting too low". Investors are funding some of these one-hit wonders and since many of them are angels smaller exits less than $50 million or even $30 million are considered home runs. What would the technology landscape look like if these same entrepreneurs had bigger visions than creating a water ballon fight on Facebook? Or is this just a whole new category of tech entrepreneurship?
Friday, August 20, 2010
News & Links List
"The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet" WIRED
"Is the web really dead?" Boing Boing
"When Wrong, Call Yourself Prescient Instead" TechCrunch
"Google Winning Sign-In War, But Facebook Close Behind" GigaOm
"Google TV Is a Tough Sell Among Would-Be Partners" WSJ
"Why Apple should buy Skype" MobileBeat
"Intel buys security software firm McAfee for $7.68B" VentureBeat
"Android’s Pursuit of the Biggest Losers" asymco
"Adobe moves further into Google's orbit" CNET
"Meet The Fastest Growing Company Ever" Forbes
On Groupon & Andrew Mason.
"Site crashes as iPhone fans make 130,000 pre-orders" Korea Herald
"'MythBusters' Kari Byron getting kids hooked on science" CNET
"Rwanda's Exploding Lake Kivu Could Kill Millions or Power the Country for 100 Years" Fast Company
"Lone juror 'refused to find Blagojevich guilty'" BBC
"America Has Disgraced Itself" The Daily Beast, Peter Beinart
"A CNN anchor expresses the crux of "mosque" opposition" Salon
"What we disagree about less important than how we disagree" The Washington Post, Chris Seiple
"The End of American Optimism" WSJ, Mortimer Zuckerman
"Punks, prostitutes and St. Pauli: Inside soccer's coolest club" CNN
"Is the web really dead?" Boing Boing
"When Wrong, Call Yourself Prescient Instead" TechCrunch
"Google Winning Sign-In War, But Facebook Close Behind" GigaOm
"Google TV Is a Tough Sell Among Would-Be Partners" WSJ
"Why Apple should buy Skype" MobileBeat
"Intel buys security software firm McAfee for $7.68B" VentureBeat
"Android’s Pursuit of the Biggest Losers" asymco
"Adobe moves further into Google's orbit" CNET
"Meet The Fastest Growing Company Ever" Forbes
On Groupon & Andrew Mason.
"Site crashes as iPhone fans make 130,000 pre-orders" Korea Herald
"'MythBusters' Kari Byron getting kids hooked on science" CNET
"Rwanda's Exploding Lake Kivu Could Kill Millions or Power the Country for 100 Years" Fast Company
"Lone juror 'refused to find Blagojevich guilty'" BBC
"America Has Disgraced Itself" The Daily Beast, Peter Beinart
"A CNN anchor expresses the crux of "mosque" opposition" Salon
"What we disagree about less important than how we disagree" The Washington Post, Chris Seiple
"The End of American Optimism" WSJ, Mortimer Zuckerman
"Punks, prostitutes and St. Pauli: Inside soccer's coolest club" CNN
My Interview at Innovatrs Blog
I was recently interview by the Innovatrs Blog on my entrepreneurial experiences. Innovatrs is crowdsourcing platform based in London. They are building a global crowdsourcing platform for entrepreneurs to develop their ideas and connect them to partners and investors.
Anyway, here is the interview, which you can visit directly here or just read below:
Eclipsing The Competition│Bernard Moon: Social & Web Entrepreneur
Bernard Moon is the co-founder and CEO of XS Groupe, and an Innovatrs entrepreneur. He is also the outgoing Managing Director of the Lunsford Group, a private holding company consisting of entities in research and consulting, technology, media, healthcare and real estate.
Bernard has worked in a wide array of senior positions in social media, business and tech companies, including GoingOn Networks, where he was both co-founder and Vice President of Business Development. His work there was recognised by Business Week in their 2007 ’Best of the Web’ list.
What made you do it? Why did you become an entrepreneur?
It was probably seeded from my parents who were consumer retail entrepreneurs. They successfully sold a coffee chain a few years ago, which was their fifth business. Anyway, I was in graduate school at Columbia University studying public policy during the first Internet boom and during my second year two groups of my friends pitched me to join their startup. A fair amount of my friends in investment banking and consulting would call me to bounce off startup ideas, so it was probably inevitable.
Towards the end of graduation, I choose to work on ViewPlus, a video-on-demand platform with my friends Jimmy and Peter. We were thrown into the fire, learned on the fly, and felt like we journeyed to Hades and back a few times. Rejected by investors repeatedly, begged from our parents for support and free food, and signed up for credit cards like they were lottery tickets. It was stressful, fun, depressing and incredibly exciting. We eventually raised $600,000 in angel money to build our prototype and later a significant institutional round. Since that first experienced, I’ve learned that I love the early stages of company building- from developing the concept - to building the operations - to launching the product.
What was the original @ha Idea and how has it evolved?
Well, my most recent startup idea isn’t that original. We’re taking the successful business model of France’s Vente-Privee and the U.S.’s Gilt and bringing it to Asia, which is the largest luxury goods market in the world. The top three of four largest luxury goods markets are China, Japan and Korea (CJK).
What were your first steps after you fleshed out your @ha idea ? What was your first crisis or hurdle?
After my friend Jai and I fleshed out the idea and did our research, we started to build our team and hunt down luxury industry advisors. We also continued to research the details of the operations and finances of Vente-Privee, Gilt and other leaders in the private online luxury sale space. Our first hurdle was securing some commitments from luxury brands since we didn’t know how they would respond to this business model in Asian markets. Luckily, most of our discussions went well and we were able to secure some big brands.
This isn´t your first business start-up. Which past experiences or good advice help you navigate the entrepreneur’s rough road?
This will be the fourth startup company I have worked on from concept to execution. My past experiences have been tremendous learning experiences. Probably the most important lesson I learned from my past is that trust is essential for a startup’s success. The lack of team chemistry and conflict within the founding team has been the demise of many startups even those with a great business model, star engineers, and world-class investors.
Another area is lessons from fundraising. One startup we raised too much capital ($7 million first round) for what was needed and we became less cautious with our expenditures. We built our headcount too fast and tried to tackle a wider market instead of focusing on one segment. Another startup we raised too little ($450,000) for our objectives and it became what some entrepreneurs call a “funding to fail” situation where you’re constantly chasing dollars to make the next milestone. Not fun. Failure is a great teacher and motivator.
Being older and hopefully wiser, I am excited about this new venture since it isn’t hoping for a trend to converge with our vision or evangelizing a new market, but taken a proven concept into markets that we know are mature and ready. Also we know how much capital we need, so our team wants to avoid raising too much or too little. We already turned down an offer that was less than half of our fundraising objective since it would suck us into the “funding to fail” vortex.
Anyway, here is the interview, which you can visit directly here or just read below:
Eclipsing The Competition│Bernard Moon: Social & Web Entrepreneur
Bernard Moon is the co-founder and CEO of XS Groupe, and an Innovatrs entrepreneur. He is also the outgoing Managing Director of the Lunsford Group, a private holding company consisting of entities in research and consulting, technology, media, healthcare and real estate.
Bernard has worked in a wide array of senior positions in social media, business and tech companies, including GoingOn Networks, where he was both co-founder and Vice President of Business Development. His work there was recognised by Business Week in their 2007 ’Best of the Web’ list.
What made you do it? Why did you become an entrepreneur?
It was probably seeded from my parents who were consumer retail entrepreneurs. They successfully sold a coffee chain a few years ago, which was their fifth business. Anyway, I was in graduate school at Columbia University studying public policy during the first Internet boom and during my second year two groups of my friends pitched me to join their startup. A fair amount of my friends in investment banking and consulting would call me to bounce off startup ideas, so it was probably inevitable.
Towards the end of graduation, I choose to work on ViewPlus, a video-on-demand platform with my friends Jimmy and Peter. We were thrown into the fire, learned on the fly, and felt like we journeyed to Hades and back a few times. Rejected by investors repeatedly, begged from our parents for support and free food, and signed up for credit cards like they were lottery tickets. It was stressful, fun, depressing and incredibly exciting. We eventually raised $600,000 in angel money to build our prototype and later a significant institutional round. Since that first experienced, I’ve learned that I love the early stages of company building- from developing the concept - to building the operations - to launching the product.
What was the original @ha Idea and how has it evolved?
Well, my most recent startup idea isn’t that original. We’re taking the successful business model of France’s Vente-Privee and the U.S.’s Gilt and bringing it to Asia, which is the largest luxury goods market in the world. The top three of four largest luxury goods markets are China, Japan and Korea (CJK).
What were your first steps after you fleshed out your @ha idea ? What was your first crisis or hurdle?
After my friend Jai and I fleshed out the idea and did our research, we started to build our team and hunt down luxury industry advisors. We also continued to research the details of the operations and finances of Vente-Privee, Gilt and other leaders in the private online luxury sale space. Our first hurdle was securing some commitments from luxury brands since we didn’t know how they would respond to this business model in Asian markets. Luckily, most of our discussions went well and we were able to secure some big brands.
This isn´t your first business start-up. Which past experiences or good advice help you navigate the entrepreneur’s rough road?
This will be the fourth startup company I have worked on from concept to execution. My past experiences have been tremendous learning experiences. Probably the most important lesson I learned from my past is that trust is essential for a startup’s success. The lack of team chemistry and conflict within the founding team has been the demise of many startups even those with a great business model, star engineers, and world-class investors.
Another area is lessons from fundraising. One startup we raised too much capital ($7 million first round) for what was needed and we became less cautious with our expenditures. We built our headcount too fast and tried to tackle a wider market instead of focusing on one segment. Another startup we raised too little ($450,000) for our objectives and it became what some entrepreneurs call a “funding to fail” situation where you’re constantly chasing dollars to make the next milestone. Not fun. Failure is a great teacher and motivator.
Being older and hopefully wiser, I am excited about this new venture since it isn’t hoping for a trend to converge with our vision or evangelizing a new market, but taken a proven concept into markets that we know are mature and ready. Also we know how much capital we need, so our team wants to avoid raising too much or too little. We already turned down an offer that was less than half of our fundraising objective since it would suck us into the “funding to fail” vortex.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Marketing Metrics 4 Pirates by Dave McClure
Great presentation by Dave McClure.
Marketing Metrics 4 Pirates (July 2010)
View more presentations from Dave McClure.
Success to Significance? Not A Message for Future Generations
Last week I was speaking with someone about the concept of “success to significance” and its associated terms. I was asked how I defined “success” within this idea. I thought about it and gave a long pause. I could only imagine if my wife was there and telling me to just give a simple answer or some of my friends telling me not to overanalyze and not to be a rabble-rouser.
I finally replied, “Sorry, I just don’t think within such a framework. Maybe I would say it’s more about influence and impact.”
After this afternoon chat, where we touched upon other topics, I came back to the idea of “success to significance” that evening. It had been several years since I read Bob Buford’s “Half Time.” It really didn’t speak to me back then and I realized even more so today. I’ve attended some conferences inspired by “Half Time” which primarily targeted very successful businessmen in their 50s and beyond, and gained a great amount of insight and inspiration. I was one of the thirty-something attendees blessed enough to attend and learn from those with more experience and wisdom from life.
The concept of “success to significance” does speaks well to successful business owners or Fortune 500 executives in their 50s and beyond, especially those who were consumed by their drive towards their goals of success. But the yearning question for me since that afternoon chat was, “Why is a successful life bifurcated?”
The big picture concept of “Half Time” is that there is the first half of life where people focus on achieving their successes and the second half where you can refocus (or recommit to God) on being significant in your life mission for God. This would typically translate into more time and commitment to church or some ministry. I don’t believe it was intentionally stated, but this transition lessens the significance of work.
In rereading “Half Time” this past week, I didn’t understand why these concepts couldn’t be applied to those in the “first half” of their lives. This bifurcation of church and work; business and nonprofit work; Sunday and the rest of the week are concepts I previously identified (“Cultural Cocktails: Biblical Faith and Work with a Splash of Eastern and Western Philosophies”) as fruits of dualism from Western philosophies and not a biblical perspective of living our lives. The idea of “success to significance” seems to be a continuation of dualism that is core to Western culture and which heavily influences the church in the U.S.
If I were to take a cynical viewpoint of this concept, I would say that it’s excusing successful people for placing God second or lower in their lives during their first half. In reality, I know that it does speak well to many, allows them to recommit their lives to God and creates an impact for God in many areas. But this is not a message or a model for a wider audience. This is not a concept to behold for future generations.
From the start of a career, people should constantly be seeking and praying for their calling whether a corporate career, tech entrepreneur, restaurant owner, physician, school teacher or missionary. This calling is a person’s ministry and sphere of influence. Not a means to a ministry, but how God will use you to reach others. People should be constantly defining their life’s mission and aligning their goals with God’s goals for their lives.
A few years ago my parents successfully sold their coffee chain, took a year off to travel, and began praying about their next business. My mother is definitely a person that wants to work until she passes. Both of them want to stay active, but they were patient about their next business and really wanted God’s hand upon it. I remember them telling me that they regret not being truly committed to God as they worked hard, stressed out and sold their last business. They really wanted to commit everything to prayer and rely on God in all matters of their next business idea. My parents told me not to wait until I was in my fifties to realize this truth, but to really submit to God now and seek out his will. After hearing their earnestness, I heard and understood the regret in their voices. So it echoes within my heart as I write this and say to myself, “I don’t want to experience a half time in my life or to find significance in my faith after success. I want my faith to be integrated into the life I lead today.”
Originally published at InsideWork.
I finally replied, “Sorry, I just don’t think within such a framework. Maybe I would say it’s more about influence and impact.”
After this afternoon chat, where we touched upon other topics, I came back to the idea of “success to significance” that evening. It had been several years since I read Bob Buford’s “Half Time.” It really didn’t speak to me back then and I realized even more so today. I’ve attended some conferences inspired by “Half Time” which primarily targeted very successful businessmen in their 50s and beyond, and gained a great amount of insight and inspiration. I was one of the thirty-something attendees blessed enough to attend and learn from those with more experience and wisdom from life.
The concept of “success to significance” does speaks well to successful business owners or Fortune 500 executives in their 50s and beyond, especially those who were consumed by their drive towards their goals of success. But the yearning question for me since that afternoon chat was, “Why is a successful life bifurcated?”
The big picture concept of “Half Time” is that there is the first half of life where people focus on achieving their successes and the second half where you can refocus (or recommit to God) on being significant in your life mission for God. This would typically translate into more time and commitment to church or some ministry. I don’t believe it was intentionally stated, but this transition lessens the significance of work.
In rereading “Half Time” this past week, I didn’t understand why these concepts couldn’t be applied to those in the “first half” of their lives. This bifurcation of church and work; business and nonprofit work; Sunday and the rest of the week are concepts I previously identified (“Cultural Cocktails: Biblical Faith and Work with a Splash of Eastern and Western Philosophies”) as fruits of dualism from Western philosophies and not a biblical perspective of living our lives. The idea of “success to significance” seems to be a continuation of dualism that is core to Western culture and which heavily influences the church in the U.S.
If I were to take a cynical viewpoint of this concept, I would say that it’s excusing successful people for placing God second or lower in their lives during their first half. In reality, I know that it does speak well to many, allows them to recommit their lives to God and creates an impact for God in many areas. But this is not a message or a model for a wider audience. This is not a concept to behold for future generations.
From the start of a career, people should constantly be seeking and praying for their calling whether a corporate career, tech entrepreneur, restaurant owner, physician, school teacher or missionary. This calling is a person’s ministry and sphere of influence. Not a means to a ministry, but how God will use you to reach others. People should be constantly defining their life’s mission and aligning their goals with God’s goals for their lives.
A few years ago my parents successfully sold their coffee chain, took a year off to travel, and began praying about their next business. My mother is definitely a person that wants to work until she passes. Both of them want to stay active, but they were patient about their next business and really wanted God’s hand upon it. I remember them telling me that they regret not being truly committed to God as they worked hard, stressed out and sold their last business. They really wanted to commit everything to prayer and rely on God in all matters of their next business idea. My parents told me not to wait until I was in my fifties to realize this truth, but to really submit to God now and seek out his will. After hearing their earnestness, I heard and understood the regret in their voices. So it echoes within my heart as I write this and say to myself, “I don’t want to experience a half time in my life or to find significance in my faith after success. I want my faith to be integrated into the life I lead today.”
Originally published at InsideWork.
Links on Seeding Startups and Entrepreneurship
Here are several articles and blog posts I came across over the past few weeks on seeding startups, encouraging entrepreneurship and investing in early-stage companies.
"Draw Your Ideas" A VC
Jack Dorsey's talk at The 99% Conference
"Building a Startup Culture" ReadWriteWeb
"Building a Startup Ecosystems and Government role" GrowVC
"Education or Entrepreneurship: Do You Have to Make a Choice?" ReadWriteWeb
"The Idea or The Execution? Here’s What The Greatest Minds in Tech Say." Derek Flanzraich
"Web Startups: Tips For Raising Money" Forbes
"Angel Investing: The Most Satisfying Experience You’ll Ever Have" Xconomy, Ron Conway
"'Super Angels' Alight
No Longer Flying Solo, Big Investors Attract Others to Juice Start-Ups" WSJ
"VCs And Super Angels: The War For The Entrepreneur" TechCrunch
"The Future of Startup Funding" Paul Graham
"10 Inspiring TED Talks for Startups" ReadWriteWeb
"Draw Your Ideas" A VC
Jack Dorsey's talk at The 99% Conference
"Building a Startup Culture" ReadWriteWeb
"Building a Startup Ecosystems and Government role" GrowVC
"Education or Entrepreneurship: Do You Have to Make a Choice?" ReadWriteWeb
"The Idea or The Execution? Here’s What The Greatest Minds in Tech Say." Derek Flanzraich
"Web Startups: Tips For Raising Money" Forbes
"Angel Investing: The Most Satisfying Experience You’ll Ever Have" Xconomy, Ron Conway
"'Super Angels' Alight
No Longer Flying Solo, Big Investors Attract Others to Juice Start-Ups" WSJ
"VCs And Super Angels: The War For The Entrepreneur" TechCrunch
"The Future of Startup Funding" Paul Graham
"10 Inspiring TED Talks for Startups" ReadWriteWeb
News & Links List
"Real Reason for Ousting H.P.’s Chief" NYTimes
"What Happened to Yahoo" Paul Graham
Insightful post on Yahoo's decline.
"Startups Or Behemoths: Which Are We Going To Bet On?" TechCrunch, Vivek Wadhwa
"Why Serial Entrepreneurs Can't Stop: They aren't greedy. They just want to change the world." Forbes
"Korean Police Raid Google Offices Over Privacy Concerns" Fast Company
"Facebook's Foursquare competitor is imminent" CNET
"Why Google Became A Carrier-Humping, Net Neutrality Surrender Monkey (UPDATED)" WIRED
"Internet, schminternet" Buzz Machine
"How Google & Apple Sold Out The Cell Phone Revolution" Search Engine Land
"Is Boston Becoming a Hub for Female Tech Entrepreneurs? Maybe, and Here’s Why" Xconomy
"How Alexander Straub used visual search technology to build fashion startup Empora" Sprouter Blog
"Oracle sues Google over Android and Java" CNET
"Initial Thoughts on Oracle vs Google Patent Lawsuit" Miguel de Icaza's web log
"After beating Microsoft, VirnetX hits Apple with patent suit" ComputerWorld
"Detergent brand uses GPS to bring prizes to people's homes" Springwise
"1962 glass could be Corning's next bonanza seller" AP
"What We Can Learn from Babies: Experimentation, Failure & Creative Genius" The 99%
"The World's Most Innovative Restaurant Interiors" Fast Company's Co.Design
"Decline and Fall of the Vanguard Foundation" Blue Avocado
"Book Review: The Ling Sisters’ Joint Memoir on NK" KoreAm
"Evangelical Leaders Pan Qur'an Burn Plan
NAE issues public plea. Richard Land calls it "appalling, disgusting, and brainless." Christianity Today
"What Happened to Yahoo" Paul Graham
Insightful post on Yahoo's decline.
"Startups Or Behemoths: Which Are We Going To Bet On?" TechCrunch, Vivek Wadhwa
"Why Serial Entrepreneurs Can't Stop: They aren't greedy. They just want to change the world." Forbes
"Korean Police Raid Google Offices Over Privacy Concerns" Fast Company
"Facebook's Foursquare competitor is imminent" CNET
"Why Google Became A Carrier-Humping, Net Neutrality Surrender Monkey (UPDATED)" WIRED
"Internet, schminternet" Buzz Machine
"How Google & Apple Sold Out The Cell Phone Revolution" Search Engine Land
"Is Boston Becoming a Hub for Female Tech Entrepreneurs? Maybe, and Here’s Why" Xconomy
"How Alexander Straub used visual search technology to build fashion startup Empora" Sprouter Blog
"Oracle sues Google over Android and Java" CNET
"Initial Thoughts on Oracle vs Google Patent Lawsuit" Miguel de Icaza's web log
"After beating Microsoft, VirnetX hits Apple with patent suit" ComputerWorld
"Detergent brand uses GPS to bring prizes to people's homes" Springwise
"1962 glass could be Corning's next bonanza seller" AP
"What We Can Learn from Babies: Experimentation, Failure & Creative Genius" The 99%
"The World's Most Innovative Restaurant Interiors" Fast Company's Co.Design
"Decline and Fall of the Vanguard Foundation" Blue Avocado
"Book Review: The Ling Sisters’ Joint Memoir on NK" KoreAm
"Evangelical Leaders Pan Qur'an Burn Plan
NAE issues public plea. Richard Land calls it "appalling, disgusting, and brainless." Christianity Today
Monday, August 16, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Making of PopCap's Plants vs Zombies
Originally presented at the China GDC in Shanghai.
The Making of PopCap's Plants vs Zombies
View more presentations from gwertzman.
Monday, August 9, 2010
News & Links List
"Slide, Vic Gundotra & The Un-Social Reality of Google" GigaOm
"HP CEO Mark Hurd Resigns, This Looks Messy" TechCrunch
"The resignation of HP CEO Mark Hurd (roundup)" CNET
"Oracle Chief Faults H.P. Board for Forcing Hurd Out" NYTimes
"Google-Verizon plan: Why you should worry" Salon, Dan Gillmor
"HP Names the Most Influential Twitter Users (Sorry, Martha)" Fast Company
"Zulily Raises $6 Million" peHUB
"Facebook and Twitter’s future in Korea" Korea Insight
"Disney Buys Playdom for $563 Million" Industry Gamers
"Facebook Q&A Service ‘Questions’ Begins Rolling Out, Could Be Massive" TechCrunch
"Google: The search party is over" Fortune
"Google’s Mobile Search Market Share: An Estimated, Whopping 98.29%" TechCrunch
"Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S." GigaOm
"Starcraft II Sells 1.5 Million Copies in 48 Hours" Industry Gamers
"Dave McClure Files For $30 Million Venture Fund: 500 Startups" TechCrunch
"Dave McClure's Investment Thesis" A VC
"Micro VCs Are all BFFs... Forever?" Genuine VC
"Fareed Zakaria's Letter to the ADL" Newsweek
"Michael Bloomberg delivers stirring defense of mosque" Salon
"WTC Mosque, Meet the Auschwitz Nuns
Pope John Paul offers a model of tolerance for a heated controversy." WSJ
"Our Divisive President
Barack Obama promised a new era of post-partisanship. In office, he's played racial politics and further split the country along class and party lines." WSJ, Patrick Caddell & Douglas Schoen
"What Does Julian Assange Want?" The Daily Beast
"Hey Old Spice haters, sales are up 107%" AdFreak
"HP CEO Mark Hurd Resigns, This Looks Messy" TechCrunch
"The resignation of HP CEO Mark Hurd (roundup)" CNET
"Oracle Chief Faults H.P. Board for Forcing Hurd Out" NYTimes
"Google-Verizon plan: Why you should worry" Salon, Dan Gillmor
"HP Names the Most Influential Twitter Users (Sorry, Martha)" Fast Company
"Zulily Raises $6 Million" peHUB
"Facebook and Twitter’s future in Korea" Korea Insight
"Disney Buys Playdom for $563 Million" Industry Gamers
"Facebook Q&A Service ‘Questions’ Begins Rolling Out, Could Be Massive" TechCrunch
"Google: The search party is over" Fortune
"Google’s Mobile Search Market Share: An Estimated, Whopping 98.29%" TechCrunch
"Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S." GigaOm
"Starcraft II Sells 1.5 Million Copies in 48 Hours" Industry Gamers
"Dave McClure Files For $30 Million Venture Fund: 500 Startups" TechCrunch
"Dave McClure's Investment Thesis" A VC
"Micro VCs Are all BFFs... Forever?" Genuine VC
"Fareed Zakaria's Letter to the ADL" Newsweek
"Michael Bloomberg delivers stirring defense of mosque" Salon
"WTC Mosque, Meet the Auschwitz Nuns
Pope John Paul offers a model of tolerance for a heated controversy." WSJ
"Our Divisive President
Barack Obama promised a new era of post-partisanship. In office, he's played racial politics and further split the country along class and party lines." WSJ, Patrick Caddell & Douglas Schoen
"What Does Julian Assange Want?" The Daily Beast
"Hey Old Spice haters, sales are up 107%" AdFreak
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Getting Started As An Entrepreneur (Slides)
Two decent slides I came across on entrepreneurship and getting your company started:
I wish second presentation ("Funding Your Game Company") had some more detail and depth. Maybe this was original a speaking presentation?
How to Get Started as a Web Entrepreneur
View more presentations from Collis Ta’eed.
Funding Your Game Company: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
View more presentations from Margaret Wallace.
I wish second presentation ("Funding Your Game Company") had some more detail and depth. Maybe this was original a speaking presentation?
Monday, August 2, 2010
Ozzie Guillen on Comparing Latinos and Asians in MLB is Plain Silly
Ozzie Guillen is like Manny Ramirez but with his words versus Manny's oddball antics. Ozzie's complaints might be somewhat valid about a lack of support for young, Latino players, but comparing their plight to Major League Baseball players from Asia lacks depth (what I really meant is that his comments are dumb). Just plain silly.
First, Latino players make up 27% of MLB vs. 9% Blacks vs. 2.3% Asians. Latinos already have a support structure within baseball, and even Latinos from smaller Central or South American countries have something far greater than Asian players. Players from Japan, Korea and Taiwan have nothing of the such, so I'm baffled at this obvious fact and Ozzie's complaints.
Second, the majority of Asian players are established professionals from Japan. They are coming to the MLB after a decade or so of experience in Japan's equivalent, so it's apples and guavas that are being compared between the vast majority of Asian MLBs and young, Latino MLBs. Also many of the Asian players have interpreters on their personal payrolls.
Third, the culture in Japanese or Korean professional baseball leagues provide interpreters for foreign players. So there is a culture and expectation already established from where they are coming from, but not in Major League Baseball. It's great if Ozzie can convince the MLB to pay for such a service across the league, but with 27% of the players Latino and probably growing I highly doubt it.
Guillen should learn that silence can be golden, especially when talking makes people raise a few eyebrows and scratch their heads.
First, Latino players make up 27% of MLB vs. 9% Blacks vs. 2.3% Asians. Latinos already have a support structure within baseball, and even Latinos from smaller Central or South American countries have something far greater than Asian players. Players from Japan, Korea and Taiwan have nothing of the such, so I'm baffled at this obvious fact and Ozzie's complaints.
Second, the majority of Asian players are established professionals from Japan. They are coming to the MLB after a decade or so of experience in Japan's equivalent, so it's apples and guavas that are being compared between the vast majority of Asian MLBs and young, Latino MLBs. Also many of the Asian players have interpreters on their personal payrolls.
Third, the culture in Japanese or Korean professional baseball leagues provide interpreters for foreign players. So there is a culture and expectation already established from where they are coming from, but not in Major League Baseball. It's great if Ozzie can convince the MLB to pay for such a service across the league, but with 27% of the players Latino and probably growing I highly doubt it.
Guillen should learn that silence can be golden, especially when talking makes people raise a few eyebrows and scratch their heads.
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