February 2012
1 post
Tumblr Staff: There's still time to nominate your... →
We’re proud to be working with Tumblr staff on this:
The Shorty Awards, honoring the top content producers on the social web, are once again presenting the 2nd annual Tumblr of the Year Shorty Award. The winner will be honored at their ceremony in March in NYC. This year the Shorty’s are also honoring the best Tumblr Brand Presence…
January 2012
1 post
Billing systems matter
I wrote a guest post for PaidContent titled How The Magazine Industry Can Save Itself (Hint: Not iPad Apps), in which I argued magazines would be better off letting customers subscribe easily month-to-month a la Netflix rather than focus on iPad apps.
I started thinking deeply about monthly reoccurring billing models as we launched Muck Rack Pro a couple months ago, which is Sawhorse...
December 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Belief
I’ve come across a few stories recently about the importance of belief for entrepreneurs. What struck me most about all of the stories is that belief is both an essential companion and a fickle friend to anyone on an uncharted journey.
You can’t accomplish anything without belief, yet belief won’t always be there for you. Like a fair-weather friend, belief might abandon...
October 2011
2 posts
“Amazingly, the reality distortion field seemed to be effective even if you were...”
– Andy Hertzfeld on Steve Jobs
6 tags
The newspaper with only good news
Newspapers cover the planes that crash, but never the planes that land safely.
Of course the crash is news and the safe landing isn’t, but what a skewed view of the world it leaves us with. Bruce Schneier gave an interesting Ted Talk on how this way of understanding the world leads to a dangerous disconnect between perceived risks and real risks — we worry about a plane crash rather...
September 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Five lightweight tools essential for managing...
I have always lived my life by making lists: lists of people to call, lists of ideas, lists of companies to set up, lists of people who can make things happen. Each day I work through these lists, and that sequence of calls propels me forward.
- Richard Branson
We all know that our relationships and contacts are one of the most important assets we have, yet how much care do we really give to...
4 tags
The first Facebook POTUS
I’ve been wanting to write about this for a while and Sam’s Facebook Timeline feature reminded me to finally do it.
In about a decade or so, we’ll have our first Facebook President of the United States. I’m not talking about a president like Barak Obama who’s increasingly embraced social media. I’m talking about a president who’s been using Facebook since...
4 tags
“Companies rarely die from moving too fast, and they frequently die from moving...”
– Reed Hastings (via entrepreneurwisdom)
August 2011
3 posts
1 tag
The great shakeup
Despite all the joking about it, I found yesterday’s earthquake quite humbling. How many New Yorkers woke up yesterday worried about the stock market or their jobs, or totally consumed with some due project, never expecting an earthquake. As innocuous as it was, who knows what could have happened had it been only a magnitude or two larger. We were helpless during the shake.
I write this not...
“Over the past 10 years, technological advances dramatically lowered the...”
– Ben Horowitz
July 2011
5 posts
How Yipit removed its first key risk
“ Every startup has one key challenge to overcome first. Focus 100% on that challenge, hack/ignore everything elsevacantiJuly 20, 2011“ @vacanti What was @yipit’s?gregoryJuly 20, 2011“ @gregory @yipit’s first key risk was that people wouldn’t open/click on emails. We hacked/ignored every other riskvacantiJuly 20, 2011“ @vacanti Nice. What was your most clever hack?gregoryJuly 20,...
“They were called nerds. But I could never have built the business without them”
– Mayor Bloomberg (via entrepreneurwisdom)
“Any time you stand in line at the D.M.V. and look around, you’re like, Oh, my...”
– Marc Andreessen
“Standing next to Clarence was like standing next to the baddest ass on the...”
– Bruce Springsteen
Who does the Google+ dude remind you of?
June 2011
2 posts
Muck Rack's Facebook Page 1,000th Liker
“ Congrats to @JJMalina on being the 1,000th person to like Muck Rack on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/muckrack Someone send him a toaster.muckrackJune 23, 2011“ @muckrack well, you’re down to 999 again. I’m jumping on the opp. Somebody send me a toaster. #opportunity_knocks #toast_itjjsimonCNNJune 23, 2011UNBELIEVABLE. @muckrack team sent me a toaster! Now I hafta be the 300th...
May 2011
2 posts
3 tags
I interviewed Reid Hoffman for my podcast Venture...
2 tags
Hey, they took my iPad
I was having dinner yesterday at a sidewalk table at a restaurant in the far West Village enjoying the delightful New York spring weather. I propped up my iPad at a near 90 degree angle using its case so I could read on Instapaper while eating my meal.
All the sudden my iPad disappears and its formerly magnetically attached case goes flying. I look up and see three guys, one of whom snatched the...
January 2011
2 posts
December 2010
1 post
Making digital holiday cards matter
I emailed this holiday card to my friends last year (apologies if I missed you!):
Prior to 2009 I sent printed holiday cards simply because digital cards cost next to nothing to send and therefore have little meaning. (Thanks for putting no marginal effort into wishing me a happy holiday!)
In December, 2009 it occurred to me its ridiculous to give money to the greeting card industry and USPS...
November 2010
1 post
1 tag
Two phrases every startup should adopt
The term for a mob boss “godfather” was invented by Mario Puzo for his book of that same name. After Francis Ford Coppola turned The Godfather into a hit movie, the mafia actually adopted that term for their bosses.
Sometimes it pays for life to imitate art (what is good art if not one step ahead of real life?). There are two movie phrases from the last year that every startup should adopt.
...
September 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Autopsy of the private meeting
The private meeting was pronounced dead last night, approximately 7:39pm est. The autopsy report showed some signs of struggle. There are several suspects, but none have been apprehended yet.
It all began when Michael Arrington wrote an entertaining post about a meeting he wasn’t invited to of about a dozen unnamed early stage investors. Allegedly these well known angels are colluding to...
Building viral apps on the social web for fun and...
I presented “Building Viral Apps on the Social Web for Fun and Profit” last night at the NY Viral Meetup. Thanks to my friend Jon Steinberg for inviting me to present with such a great group and posting the slides (my slides are #4-25):
Phil Michaelson posted some great notes from my talk, so rather than regurgitate what I said I’ll just quote his notes:
Social Action –...
August 2010
4 posts
3 tags
Bringing the ruckus to TV
It seems obvious that people should check in to TV shows/books/movies/etc just like they do places on Foursquare, yet so many smart people have tried in well-financed efforts (Hot Potato, Get Glue, Miso, TV.com, TV Guide and Philo) and no one’s seen an exciting level of traction.
While checking in to media makes sense to me intellectually, I’m starting to question if people will...
3 tags
Obituary: the bookcase
A well-stocked bookcase has been the most romantic sign of intellect for centuries, yet little is known about its origins. The bookcase likely got its start thousands of years ago, but only came into high demand after the invention of movable type in 1040 and the printing press in 1440.
It’s clear now with devices like the Kindle and the iPad that the bookcase is going the way of the LP. It will...
Ben Franklin on patents
I’ve been enjoying reading Ben Franklin’s autobiography (free on my Kindle). Most of it feels like it was written today. As we all argue about software patents, it’s useful to read Franklin’s views on stove patents:
Gov’r. Thomas was so pleas’d with the construction of this stove, as described in it, that he offered to give me a patent for the sole vending of them for a term of years; but I...
“It’s true, Shoutworthy’s ‘shout outs’ are easier to write than...”
– TechCrunch on our latest product: Shoutworthy (complete with Kanya moment)
You can see who I’m shouting out on my profile
July 2010
3 posts
3 tags
Call Me Ted
I just finished reading my first book on my Kindle, Ted Turner’s autobiography Call Me Ted. This is one of the best business autobiographies I’ve read. Ted’s honest in describing his triumphs and mistakes. Most strikingly, he includes stories written by ex-business partners, former employees and even ex-wives that occasionally contradict Ted’s own memories.
As someone who...
2 tags
"Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you."
After Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid rob a railroad company one too many times, a team of experienced lawmen are commissioned to hunt them down. Butch and Sundance are cornered and outnumbered on a ledge (at least in the movie), with seemingly two bleak options: “fight or give [up]”.
Suddenly, Butch (Paul Newman) has a great idea: jump off the ledge hundreds of feet into the...
3 tags
Email: the social network of last resort?
I have two old friends who email all their friends in one BCCed mass an update of their lives about once a month on average. One works for a large consumer packaged goods company and the other is a deployed Marine. They don’t know each other well, and I doubt they’re on or even aware of each other’s list.
The emails cover updates on their work and personal...
June 2010
2 posts
1 tag
“You know the best way to get the public to respect your brand? Have a...”
– Leroy Stick (the man behind @BPGlobalPR)
4 tags
My five minute rule for evaluating advice
A friend of mine who is starting her first company asked me for some advice over coffee on how to structure her angel round. She found an investor who said he wants to invest a significant sum, but they haven’t talked about the terms of the deal yet. The question most pressing on her mind was how to structure the deal: convertible debt or equity.
This friend has a great network. She told me...
May 2010
4 posts
3 tags
Some ideas need multiple headlines
I wrote a post on this blog about a week ago contrasting good and bad design, titled Kickstarting your marketing. It wasn’t a very descriptive or compelling headline, but it didn’t matter much for my blog. If you’re subscribed to my blog, you’ll probably (hopefully) give me the benefit of the doubt and read a least a few lines in to see if the post is worthwhile.
The title...
3 tags
Philosopher entrepreneur
So that whole philosopher king thing Plato envisioned in The Republic never quite panned out, but I think us philosophers* might have found a calling in starting and running tech companies.
During breakfast this morning with fellow philosopher entrepreneur Bostjan Spetic of Zemanta, we discussed all the people with philosophy backgrounds running tech companies.
I thought I’d try...
3 tags
Kickstarting your marketing
The big news today is that four NYU students raised over $100k for a project to challenge Facebook (fueled by geek rage about Facebook’s new privacy changes) on Kickstarter with a project called Diaspora. To me the big take away isn’t this particular project, but rather the potential for Kickstarter and group fundraising services like it.
Four years before Kickstarter launched in...
4 tags
Who is this asshole?
In William Goldman’s excellent book Adventures in the Screen Trade he describes what’s going through a studio exec’s mind while making small talk at the beginning of a first meeting with a writer:
During this sizing-up time, the executive is trying to answer one question: “Who is this asshole?” He knows you’re not Mario Puzo because Puzo wouldn’t be...
April 2010
3 posts
4 tags
I've never heard of Venmo
I’ve always been suspicious of get-rich-quick schemes, but I’ve finally found one that really works.
A while back I was having breakfast with my friend Andy Weissman. He asked if I’d used Venmo yet — a service that lets you send money to friends via text message (you can send money to anyone with a cell number, even if they don’t have a Venmo account). I’ve...
2 tags
Riding the bear
It was just part of, as we used to call it, the time riding the bear. You just had to try to stay on the bear’s back and the bear would twist and turn and try to buck you and throw you, but darn, we were going to ride the bear because the bear was the biggest, the most important you just had to be with the bear, otherwise you would be under the bear in the computer industry, and IBM was the...
2 tags
Privacy is the new programming a VCR
No matter how technically savvy you are, you probably never mastered programming the VCR. Back in the days of VCR dominance, I had friends who could build computers from scratch, program scripts and navigate DOS with ease. They were all brought to tears by the VCR. Why didn’t it record the show I set it to record? God knows.
Programming the VCR was way too complicated for the utility it...
March 2010
5 posts
2 tags
Big bold omission
It’s now common wisdom among smart web entrepreneurs that you should launch a new product with a minimal set of features so you can get it live quickly and start learning what people want.
Of course I live by this philosophy (look at everything we launched at Sawhorse). But I think it overlooks a concept I’ve seen several startups use to great success: a big bold feature omission. A...
1 tag
Real Trust Web
Everyone’s been talking about the “real-time web” for quite some time, but it’s easy to focus on speed while forgetting real-time is dependent on trust.
When things move faster, trust matters more. If you’re in the heat of battle, you don’t have time to question your commander the way you might second guess your boss during peace time — you just need to...
1 tag
Did you get her pseudonym?
Many dudes in their 20s don’t ask for ladies’ phone numbers anyone. They just ask (knowingly) “Are you on Facebook?”, then send a Facebook message, friend request, or poke. This cheapens the exchange because there’s nothing special to give, nothing to receive. “I got her name” is no “I got her number”.
It turns out the teens have this figured...
“It worries me that this Toyota thing worries us so much.”
– Robert Wright
1 tag
Less than 1% of New York Times readers are True...
A new study from Barracuda Labs points out that “Only 21 percent of Twitter users are actual True Twitter Users”. This set off a wave of media attention about how few Twitter users are active. One of the criteria of being a True User for the study is that the user’s posted over 10 pieces of content.
I’ve used this same criterion to analyze the True Userbase of the New York...
February 2010
2 posts
2 tags
Zeitoun
I didn’t use WiFi for most of my Virgin America flight because of Dave Eggers’s excellent book Zeitoun. The author calls it “a nonfiction account a Syrian-American immigrant and his extraordinary experience during Hurricane Katrina”. If you haven’t read it yet, don’t let me spoil it for you with the rest of this post. Get a copy. It’s a page turner.
...
2 tags
The Now Generation
One of our all-star Sawhorse team members, Natan Edelsburg, gave me a fun challenge by inviting me to write a little essay for his report on The Now Generation. Here it is:
Never trust anyone over 20. We grew up relying on editors to tell us what matters. Whatever was on the front page of a newspaper, cover of a magazine or top of the news hour seemed to be what mattered most.
The Now Generation...