You Have To Be A Little Wild

Image via WikipediaYou have to be a little wild to be doing the tech entrepreneur thing.

For one, the risks are high. All else equal you will more likely fail than succeed. The success stories make it to the press. The sob stories? There's not enough newsprint on the planet. And it is not one risk, one hump you get over. There are risks after risks after risks. Every step of the way. It is roller coaster. If you are not going to enjoy the ride, the solace of some day reaching the destination might be false. You might never get there. The journey is where it is at. The journey itself is the reward. If you don't think so, get into another line of work.

You have to be able to look at the establishment and look the other way. You have to be able to look at the status quo and sneer. You have to jolt. You have to give them the finger.

A Rationale Or Two For Blogging

Image via WikipediaFred Wilson: Do You Ever Get Bored Of Blogging?

I left this paragraph as a comment in reply to this blog post by Fred.

You have said a few times that you could not do your work without your blog. That is the best rationale I have seen for your daily blogging. True for me as well. My blogging is integral to my work. I am early stage, so I am even more dependent. Blogging is also like working out for the mind. It feels like doing push ups and is great fun. Blogging is one of my favorite things to do online. I would be a less intense consumer of content if I had not been an avid blogger.

Smartphones: Cheap Is Good

Image via CrunchBaseThe idea is to get the phone out to as many people as possible. If almost everybody has a smartphone then we are talking. Then we got critical mass. And the way to get there is through super cheap smartphones. I am glad we are headed that way.

GigaOm: The Future of Cheap Androids Begins Now

we’ll need to see unsubsidized handsets priced at or under $100 that can be used on a month-to-month basis ..... in Europe and elsewhere, it’s not uncommon to buy a phone, then purchase a SIM card from whichever carrier is currently offering the cheapest voice and data rates ..... By 2013, we expect 1 GHz smartphones to be available for $100. ..... By the end of this year, I expect to see no-contract Android devices costing $99 or less, paired with reasonably priced pre-paid plans.

The worst idea the smartphone industry ever came up with has been the two year contract. Phones go stale in six months, a year max.

Do You Use Hashtags In Emails?

I found myself using a hashtag in an email recently. First time. But I liked doing it. I wrote a few lines of email, and then I put down the hashtag at the end which captured the entire email in one word. I felt good doing it.

Honeycomb: Looks Like Finally Google "Gets" The Tablet

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeGoogle likes to iterate. They will put out something lousy. And finally on the fifth attempt they will get it right. The iPad had no real competition for an entire year. But now looks like that is about to change.

TechCrunch: First Impressions Using Android Honeycomb, Google’s iPad Rival

I am someone who has never bought an Apple product. I love Google like some people love Apple. It is the web thing. I like Google's thing for the web.

Metallica: Seek And Destroy

Looking For A Super Bowl Watch Party To Go To

Image via WikipediaI am not all that into football. I am more a World Cup Soccer kind of guy. I don't even know who is playing who on Sunday. But I end up liking the commercials. And I am on a lookout for a Super Bowl Watch Party to go to.



Almost every thing I know about football comes from one Al Pacino movie. I get it. Alright, I get it.

Atmosphere: Freefallin'

The Phoenix Foundation: Buffalo

Peter Bjorn And John: Second Chance

Bright Eyes: One For You, One For Me

(Via Fred Wilson)

A MeetUp Pivot

Image via CrunchBase

New York Observer: Screw Meetup: Organizers Up In Arms Over Redesign: In the new redesign, ordinary users can arrange for events, leading some to declare that organizers have been downgraded to moderators..... less than 1 percent of organizers active on Meetup have complained or commented on the redesign .... a simple solution. “If they don’t like users organizing events, they can just turn it off. It's a feature organizers have full control over.” .... "As we see how people are using the new tools we will keep iterating to simplify and improve the experience."

People love the Facebook newsfeed today. It is central to the Facebook experience. But when Facebook first introduced it, there was major ruckus. It is inertia. People dislike change. They are used to doing things one way. They would like to keep doing things the same way.

Yuri Milner's Smart Y Combinator Move

Image by davidcrow via Flickr

Wall Street Journal: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham On The $150K Per Start-Up Offer: “It’s probably one of the most surprising things that has happened so far,” Graham said. ..... Milner teamed up with SV Angel–the seed fund run by prominent angel investor Ron Conway–to offer $150,000 each in convertible debt in each company. .... Of the more than 250 companies that Y Combinator has produced since 2005, more than 20 have been acquired, but mostly for small amounts. The biggest success, by acquisition price, is Heroku Inc., which Salesforce Inc. bought in December for $212 million. ..... convertible debt–which converts to equity once the company raises venture capital at a set price–with no valuation cap and no discount, an extremely rare set of terms for entrepreneurs. ..... Y Combinator companies received $11,000 plus $3,000 per founder in exchange for 2% to 10% of equity ..... the average Y Combinator company raises $700,000 after the program. .... “The biggest change and huge change for better is now none of them are desperate,” Graham said. Fund-raising “takes a lot of time away from the company. Now they’re already there. They have that foundation.”

I don't think a Google or Facebook can come out of Y Combinator. The big iconic companies tend to have this streak of independence. But I think Y Combinator is great for middling companies. I'd be very surprised if any Y Combinator company goes IPO some day. But many have been and will be bought for a decent chunk of change. Many will stay mid size and profitable.