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Saturday, March 05, 2011

Bundling Investors

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...Image via CrunchBaseFacebook not going IPO is real bad news for the average investors, people who might buy 10 or 20 stocks at $100 each. The growth in wealth that Facebook might see as it moves from a $10 billion valuation to a $50 billion valuation and beyond, all that is going to rich individuals and institutions. If Facebook had gone IPO at a billion dollar valuation, the 50 billion in wealth creation might have gone to average people.

Mobile Phone Banking: Major Boon To The Last Mile Of Microfinance

Mobile phone infoboxImage via WikipediaOf all the technologies that I see that can be put to use for microfinance - and I see a lot - the one that most stands out is mobile phone banking, the m-Pesa kind like has spread like wildfire across Kenya.

It is because the last mile is the most complex in the business. And mobile phone banking comes across as this gold standard that can help cut through the thick of all sorts of social, cultural, and bureaucratic issues. This is a case of simple technology beating human flailings to the dust.

Mobile phone banking reduces banking to simple transactions. You do it one simple transaction at a time. And the chips fall in place just fine. Mobile phone banking is like a machete with which you cut through the green thicks as you wade through a tropical forest.

The mobile phone is in a unique position to deliver all sorts of other goodies that will help transform the business. This decade belongs to the mobile phone.

Chris Dixon Is In The Big Leagues Now

EatUps Don't Seem To Have A Monthly Rhythm

Chris Dixon Just Impressed Me Like Never Before

Caterina, Chris and meImage by Zach Klein via FlickrFor Chris Dixon to have been an early investor in Greplin, I mean I am mighty impressed. You have to have been party of some kind of an inner circle, you have to have earned your way to being part of that inner circle. Being part of that inner circle was not enough. I mean, the Y Combinator companies present in front of lots and lots of angels and investors. To be able to spot Greplin for the winner that it is, early on, I mean, I am impressed.

Take this for a compliment Dixon. You are even more impressive than I already thought you were. You just earned your Super Angel title in my world. Super Angels pay super attention to the really, really early stage companies. They go straight to the source. They put their ears to the ground. And then listen. For the horse hooves.

Screw Twitter, Screw Facebook
Greplin: The First Y Combinator Company To Get Me Excited