December 2011
33 posts
I Wish I Had. I'm Glad I Did.
At a pivotal time in my life I was given a gift I’ve come to treasure: a bookmark.
It’s not even one of those cool glossy bookmarks with a tassel on top you used to be able to find near the register at bookstores. No, this was a homemade jobby. Printed on regular card stock paper and laminated with that old school see through contact paper.
But it wasn’t the piece of paper that...
November 2011
38 posts
Those Greedy, Good Fer Nothin', Freeloading VCs
JWZ had some choice words for VCs the other day:
When a VC tells you what’s good for you, check your wallet, then count your fingers.
I did make a bunch of money by winning the Netscape Startup Lottery, it’s true. So did most of the early engineers. But the people who made 100x as much as the engineers did? I can tell you for a fact that none of them slept under their desk.
So if your...
WatchAn alternative title I was playing with for my “Our Incredible Shrinking World” post was “The Social Web’s Killer Feature: Empathy”.
After watching this video I decided that Jack does a much better job of making that point than I ever could.
In it, he shares his thoughts on how the web, and specifically the mobile web, is creating an unprecedented environment of...
Our Incredible Shrinking World
My friend Dave tweeted something the other day that I’ve been thinking about more and more lately. He said:
funny how Twitter, Facebook, YouTube all gone global lately, same time my travels also global. feels like I’m watching the world explode.
The same day I was having a conversation with another friend about some recent travel he had coming up. He noted that he’d never...
You Can Quit But You Can't Give Up
A few months back a founder came to me with a question that had been weighing heavy on his mind- should he quit?
Months prior to stepping into my office he had kicked off a new startup. One he was intensely passionate about. He’d quit his job and taken on a part time gig so he could funnel his energy into it full-time.
After months of scraping and sacrifice the service launched!
Then,...
Bloom Where You're Planted
There’s a concept in agriculture known as permaculture. I was introduced to the concept, in it’s most basic form, by my business partner, Mark who has a garden which incorporates permaculture principles. As you wander through his garden you’ll find strawberries growing next to ferns, growing next to artichoke plants. Though it may appear wild and haphazard there is something...
“There is a very cathartic crisis that’s gone on, and it’s not clear where it’s...”
– Peter Thiel
Who's Evolving Whom?
Just after the release of Lion, Apple’s latest desktop operating system, I was catching up with Gabe when he made an observation that’s been rattling around in my head ever since.
As we talked about how his migration to Lion had gone he noted that after decades of navigating personal computers by scrolling down to read a page, Apple was retraining their users to scroll up in order to...
“If you do go down the VC path, choose wisely. Your investors are one of the most...”
– Veen
OATV.com Gets An Update
5 years ago OATV threw our doors open for business. At the time, angels investors hadn’t exchanged their wings for capes and traditional VCs were’t in the startup options trading business.
Oh my how the world has changed.
But, aside from the occasional portfolio updates, the shingle we hung on the web at OATV.com hasn’t changed much.
So today we’ve pushed a little update...
PIPA and SOPA Need a New Name
There is a lot of talking, linking and letter writing to senators as the tech industry works frantically to stop a bill moving quickly through congress that will have a devastating effect on out industry. PIPA and SOPA, as some say:
This is the worst piece of Internet legislation in history. (It’s) a bill that would break the very fabric of the Internet, create an Internet blacklist, kill...
“The Internet is not just a series of pipes. It’s core architecture embeds an...”
– Brad
“This is man-computer symbiosis at its best, where the computer program learns...”
– Tim
A Nerdy Little Love Story
Renee is getting married today.
Unfortunately, I’m missing the wedding due to a conflicting family schedule. But I woke up thinking about her and Justin this morning.
Prior to the wedding, Renee built a site detailing specifics around todays events and shared the back story of how she and Justin met. I loved the exchange they had on Twitter that moved a mutual crush into a first date:
...
Bionic Software and Programable People
Last week there was a quote that surfaced in a few posts related to the funding round announced by Codecadmy (in which OATV participated). The quote was from Douglas Rushkoff:
As we move into an increasingly digital reality, we must learn not just how to use programs but how to make them. In the emerging, highly programmed landscape ahead, you will either create the software or you will be the...
“Amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic.”
– via Zach
“I’m worried about our national attitude concerning immigration where...”
– Jonathan Shapiro
“I talk to these founders with these big ideas, and they jump from the problem...”
– AplusK
A Little Perspective on Khan Academy Numbers
It was great to wake to the news this morning of Khan Academy’s $5M grant to extend their platform and increase their content. To date, they’re seeing some encouraging numbers:
Khan just announced that the platform is seeing 39 million pageviews and 3.5 million unique users per month. That 3.5 million unique users is up 309 percent year-over-year. Khan Academy’s free lessons have...
“I’m pretty busy right now…send me the info and I’ll take a look.”
– People that aren’t interested.
(via andyswan)
“Starting a company requires you to become oddly unemotional. That means dumping...”
– Max
What Are You Afraid Of?
My daughter dressed up as Justin Bieber for Halloween.
A few weeks ago this wasn’t a big deal.
She’s a Belieber through and through. Always has been. But when she started talking about costumes with kids at school she started to worry. All of the kids in her class and all of her friends said they HATED Justin Bieber.
She mentioned the reaction of her classmates to us over dinner one...
