It’s just getting started
I had a great time on yesterday’s Focus.com SOPA Roundtable and was honored to be asked to participate. While we took a bit of time to celebrate the fact that the effective death of the current SOPA & PIPA bills is a clear victory for those of us who opposed them, the panel was also [...]
The Art of Riding the Bubble
People are increasingly asking whether there is a Bubble underway in the tech business. The answer is that by the time you know there is a Bubble it’s probably too late to do anything about it. But if all you’re doing is asking whether there is a Bubble, the Bubble is probably not here, yet. [...]
‘Free’ Marketing & the power of Evangelism
If you haven’t already seen it, you need to read this post from Union Square Ventures founder Fred Wilson, and his thoughts on startup Marketing. I believe that marketing is what you do when your product or service sucks or when you make so much profit on every marginal customer that it would be crazy [...]
The Wealthy Pirate VC
Having been in the software business all my life, I’m no stranger to the idea that many people think it’s okay to steal digital property. After all, it costs virtually nothing to manufacture another copy, so the reasoning goes, and so therefore the owner isn’t out anything. It’s an unenlightened and unsophisticated rationalization of what, [...]
The Narrow Bubble
Many are saying that we are in another tech ‘bubble’ – but is so, despite the extraordinary valuations accruing to a small number of companies, why are so many entrepreneurs having trouble getting funded?
It’s about to get a little crazy out there . . .
Ok, here’s the thing. The “is this another bubble?” conversation has been going on for a while, and everyone was able to agree that there hasn’t been a bust imminent so far. It might have been dragged out by the sluggish economy, it might have been a function of a lot of effort going in [...]
New Kingmakers: Software Developer Talent as Financial Bubble
Interesting post from Fred Wilson at Union Square Ventures today: he is worried investments are happening without due diligence… but the war for development talent is the real issue for startups and investors. We are also seeing a massive talent war for software engineers going on in Silicon Valley and it is spilling over into [...]
Contrarian VC’s: Good Idea!
VC’s have a real reputation for having a herd mentality. If you are a VC, don’t get offended, you know it’s true. Heck, I’ve had a number of you joke with me about it. For this reason, I read with interest Fred Wilson’s musings about contrarian investing. Fred talks about how momentum investing can be successful, [...]
Lean vs Fat Startups: The Disrupt Debate
This is the “tastes great, less filling” debate that recurs on a regular basis in the venture capital and entrepreneur communities. Back in March, Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz wrote a post called The Case For The Fat Startup, where he outlined some of the reasons why a fledging company might want to consider taking [...]
A Well Intentioned Bad Idea That Should Not be Stopped
Like everyone who has looked at the issue of immigration, I came to the conclusion long ago that it is a broken and outdated system. Just consider that every H1-B visa is snapped up within 12 hours of becoming available and you see how not only demand outstrips supply but an industry has grown up [...]
