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• 05.04.08
  The Dangerous Games Startups Play
  Venture Capital

  What’s a startup to do?!!? Entrepreneurs live in a new age where the lowered costs for development and marketing (theoretically) mean that a company can be launched without having to take traditional venture capital financing. For entrepreneurs this seems great because they can keep more of the company, rather than needing to sacrifice a big hunk of equity in exchange for a million bucks. However, this also means that many startups have begun to play dangerous games. In particular, many a young startup is seeking an angel(s) to provide a seed round, more akin to a bridge loan, that will see them ...
  
  
• 04.06.08
  Rethinking the Firm: The Era of Agile
  Tech'nomics, Workstreamr

  Thank you Umair Haque! I have been writing and talking about the fundamental shifts we are seeing in work culture for quite some time. A couple examples are here and here. I even have dedicated a category of this blog to the phenomenon I call “tech’nomics,” or the intersection/impact that technology has on the economy. So it is exciting to see well-known influencers in the space agreeing with Umair and adding to the conversation. It’s especially exciting since we’re building Workstreamr to be a player in this new world. AVC recently stated: What Umair is suggesting is that technology, particularly Internet technology, ...
  
  
• 04.03.08
  Thanks for Enriching My World
  My Experiences

    I wanted to thank the following bloggers for taking the time to consistently write thoughtful, intriguing posts. These posts routinely prompt me to do additional homework, lead to fun debate or dialogue and generally enrich my understanding of the world: Barry Ritholtz Paul Kedrosky Stowe Boyd Fred Wilson Nivi Babak You guys rock! Happy good people day!
  
  
• 02.19.08
  Scoble’s Great Comment Monetization Idea
  Social Media

  Buried in the comments of yesterday’s war of words (or was it a staged coup for traffic?) between Fred Wilson and Techcrunch, Robert Scoble posted a gem. Scoble suggests that a great way for websites and/or blogs with many comments to further monetize is by letting each comment act as a mini advertisement for the author. For example, Scoble himself would pay to have his comment closer to the top or highlighted in blue. Likewise, Scoble’s new employer, Fast Company, would be willing to pay for its logo to appear next to a well articulated comment. Great idea Robert! ...
  
  
• 01.14.08
  Startup Monetization Strategy: Brand-Claimed Accounts
  Business Models, Social Media

  There is a good dialogue taking place on business models started by Chris Anderson. However, one model I see left out is what I call “brand-claimed accounts.” In a recent post on handles and user names I made the point that many startups have begun to attract interest (use) from brands and other organizations who are looking to have presence on new media websites and apps. The reasoning for a brand to want presence on different sites could range from communications and marketing (Twitter) to advertising (Facebook Fan Pages) to Biz Dev (Jobster or LinkedIn) to SEO. While ...
  
  
• 01.08.08
  The Mistake That Some Startups Make
  Social Media

    From an investment perspective it has always bothered my that some startups launch with the goal of first obtaining scale, and only later introducing advertising or other form(s) of monetization. However, this strategy has also bothered me from my perspective as user. It wasn’t until now that I knew why. Fred Wilson over at Union Square Ventures and host of others have recently chimed in regarding Twitter’s lack of a business model. Twitter is perhaps the epitome of a startup lacking any clear money making direction and yet we all know it is coming. Facebook is another example of a ...
  
  
• 11.26.07
  Facebook Pages: The Myth, the Legend, the Lameness
  Pop Culture, Social Networking

  Still Puzzled… I still have not heard back from Facebook regarding what I allegedly did wrong. However Facebook did indicate that it removed one of my pages! I cannot figure out if this actually happened, but if it did, Facebook is on my shit list. All FB needed to do was politely inform me, take over the disputed Page (brand) and then give the Page to its ‘rightful’ owners. I use 'rightful' loosely. There is nothing indicating authentication is necessary to register a Page, so anyone should be able to do what I have done without consequence. Plus, why erase ...
  
  
• 11.08.07
  There Are Other Early Stage VCs in New York?
  Venture Capital

  I was at an event tonight where an interesting topic came up. Someone in the audience asked a panel of New York City based, early stage-ish venture capital partners “why they didn’t invest in web 2.0 companies?” The gentleman asking the question specifically cited Union Square Ventures, who was not represented on the panel. USV came up several more time in other questions, making it clear  that was the firm the audience knew. The unanimous response among the VCs (clearly annoyed) was that they “did invest in such companies, but we that we didn’t know about it because they prefer ...
  
  
• 11.07.07
  Hey VC’s - Stop Hating on the System and Step It Up
  Venture Capital

  Matt Winn has been writing some great posts recently. Today he posed the question of whether or not venture capital (i.e. early stage investments) was likely to see the see the massive growth that has characterized private equity in recent years. In his post, Matt draws attention to the recent debate over startups as "commodities." Matt considers whether, with the barriers to entry falling, opportunities for VCs will diminish. If it does, it's the VCs fault. Here’s why. A good VC knows an AMAZING idea when they hear it. Amazing ideas are distinguished from GOOD ideas, and there are infinite amounts ...
  
  
• 11.02.07
  OpenSocial: Hitting Facebook Like a Herd of Football Players
  Social Media

  Is this how Facebook feels right now? Some reactions: Dave Winer: “Standards devised by one tech company whose main purpose is to undermine another tech company, usually don't work. In this case it's Google trying to undermine Facebook. And I don't think it's going to work” Fred Stutzman: Agrees with Dave Fred Wilson: “I like what Google is doing with Open Social. Ganging up on the leader is a time-honored way of competing. And a level playing field is usually good for the newcomers, and we have a portfolio full of newcomers” Nick O’Neil: “If you think that Facebook’s ...
  
  

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