Alexis Ohanian: Angel Investor

I read somewhere you had to pick between the panels, two out of four allowed. So I showed up early for registration. Ends up you did not have to pick. So I went to all four. Well, there was a Seth Godin speech to begin with. I did that. And Chris Dixon spoke after the panels were over. And there was the social/networking part to cap it all. All in all it was a half day affair. It was a few trips between floors one and five for me. I got to take in half of each panel.

Startups And The Art Of Selling
Monetizing A Startup
Venture Capitalists And Their Thesis
Patrick Chen's Entrepreneur Exchange Summit
Idea to Initial Execution
March 25: Stern: Entrepreneurs Exchange Summit

What Is Your Emotional Age?

Cover of Bill Clinton"Hillary is 42. She will always be 42. I am 16. I will always be 16."
- Bill Clinton as a Yale Law School student

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The Institutions Of Globalization Will Be Built On The Internet

This is the internet century. This is the globalization century. At first I thought in terms of the UN, since it was the only global body. Then I thought in terms of the US, the oldest democracy, the richest country, the biggest power. And I have thought in terms of the internet all along. But as the internet's capacity has grown, I have thought primarily of the internet more and more.

This is the internet century. The internet is the new country. It is not America no more. America has become Europe. America is an old country.

For the biggest problems, the grandest challenges, it is the power of the internet that has to be unleashed. That internet does not operate in a vacuum. It permeates the old institutions like ether.

So when I say the institutions of globalization will be built on the internet I am making plenty of room for old institutions meshing with the internet. You open the windows and let the air come in.

But the biggest problems remain unsolved. Poverty is nowhere close to being cured. Sex slavery is not even much talked about. Climate change is apace. The biggest challenges have proven way bigger than the existing institutions. New institutions will have to be created. And those institutions will get created primarily on the internet. There is room for many on internet only institutions. Big institutions.

Twitter At Five: Not Spitting Out Well

Image via CrunchBaseTwitter at five: The story of Twitter’s beginnings

Twitter has been a remarkable tech success story, and I have blogged about it much here. But today I am going to celebrate its birthday by hitting at its prime weakness. Twitter has done a lousy job of making sense of all the tweets it collects. They all rest on your own servers, for Chrissake.

Startups And The Art Of Selling

Image via CrunchBaseI for one think Facebook should have been forced to go public at a billion dollar valuation, or 10 billion max. But the company continues to be privately held. I could argue it has had several private IPOs.

There are several forms of exits. IPO is the rare exit. It is for the best of the breed. By definition most startups are not there, will never get there. Getting bought by a bigger company is a respectable, lucrative exit.

And there's the non exit exit. You don't go IPO. You don't get bought. But you become profitable. You start minting money. What's there to complain? I'd hope the vast majority of startups out there would go for this "exit."

Monetizing A Startup

Image via WikipediaI am a huge fan of the freemium model. Keep the basic product free, get lots and lots of deeply engaged users, and monetization will happen. But that is not the only way. Some great services charge right away. Whatever floats your boat. You can delay making money, but not forever. Shorter the delay, better it is.

How To Monetize Your Social Web Startup there really is no secret sauce to making money on the social web: you’re either selling ads or selling a product. ..... While it’s possible to generate revenue through a number of models, there are really only a few core monetization models. ..... Since ownership of mass distribution channels is becoming fragmented, advertisers are looking for targeted audiences that are most likely to purchase their product. ...... Whether it’s an information product or a physical good, there are massive opportunities to generate revenue from selling things. ..... Brand advocacy in the world of social media is something that has many marketers drooling but rather than spending all your time monitoring the conversation, try developing a high quality product or service. .... many internet entrepreneurs pretend as though there is a secret monetization model that they’ll release in the near future. There isn’t one.

Venture Capitalists And Their Thesis

Image by paulamarttila via FlickrYou can waste time as an entrepreneur knocking the doors of the wrong venture capitalists. VCs tend to have sectors they are knowledgeable about and are interested in. If you are not a fit, you are not a fit. You might have a brilliant idea, a brilliant team, a brilliant product, but if you approached the wrong VC, you will still get a no.

Venture Capital Investment Thesis Myths For venture capitalists, an investment thesis states the main idea of their fund–essentially, why your venture fund exists, and what it proposes to invest in ..... does the company mesh well with our macro-economic analysis? Are they operating in a market we understand? What are the future expectations of the sector? .... many venture capital firms don’t have investment theses. Those firms also tend to not last. .... Like writing a presentation/business plan/executive summary, there’s no set procedure for creating an investment thesis. ..... investment theses only last a couple years ... investment thesis will most likely be constantly tinkered with

My Chrome Notebook Never Arrived

Chrome Notebook Pilot User?
The Chrome Notebook Needs No Anti Virus B.S.
Confirmed: I Am In Line To Get A Chrome Notebook
Toshiba Satellite To Macbook To Chrome Notebook

I am giving up on the idea that Google might ever ship me the Chrome Notebook. Not happening. Waited long enough.

Twitter ---> Instagram ---> FoodSpotting

Soraya Darabi on Good Morning America

The Next Web: Instagram and Foodspotting most popular iPhone apps at SXSW

Instagram Magic
Instagram Wave
Does Google Have An Innovation Problem?

FoodSpotting Is The Next Instagram: that should be the rewording of my blog post from a long time ago: FoodSpotting Is The Next FourSquare.

Happy World Water Day

If there is anything that is at the center of the globe's development agenda, it is clean water. Water also just so happens to be my favorite substance. I like to play with water. After I am done with the sink, you will likely see leftover splashes. Some people have thought it is because I am an untidy person.

There is something about the formlessness of water that gets me. Water in its formlessness reminds me of the human mind. Water is what the human mind should be, often is.

Hoping To Meet Vivek Wadhwa

I have a Direct Message on Twitter from Vivek Wadhwa. Let's meet the next time you are in the Bay Area, he says. I shot him a quick email. Sure. On the other hand, the next time you are in New York, whichever happens first. I seem to think it against my religion to step outside the city boundaries. For a guy who has been everywhere in America. It's a phase.