Be There, Or Be Square: The FourSquare Day Party At Sidebar

I have been to the Sidebar for quite a few political events before. It was raining when I emerged in Union Square from the underworld. And I am thinking, to have to get in line outside in this rain for someone like me who does not believe in umbrellas. But there was no line. I was able to get in right away. For a minute I thought I was at the wrong venue. How can there be no line into a FourSquare party?



I got to talk to a whole bunch of FourSquare team members. One of the first was this dude who did "server software" for the company. He was actively thinking in terms of a datacenter for FourSquare. I was impressed. I met another guy on that same server software team. We talked some tech. I got to meet Eric again. I told him Union Square Ventures has officially been declared the top VC firm.

This Week In Venture Capital: Gotham Gal

I have had one very brief conversation with the Gotham Gal and she blew me out of the water. I do read her husband's blog near daily. And I do follow her daughters on Tumblr. Almost every time I see something from them, I tend to reblog it. This crew is good.

The Gotham Gal
The Wilsons Were In Cairo Recently

Fred Wilson: Mark Suster Interviews The Gotham Gal

The Proverbial White Male

I don't know if you have ever visited my blogroll, but it is a mouthful. It is the most elaborate, comprehensive blogroll of any I have visited. And because it is so elaborate and encyclopedic, I have had sections. That has not been good enough, and so I have had at the top a section called A1. Even that became a little too elaborate. So I just made a much shorter list called This Just In. These are people whose every blog post I want to read as soon as they come out, and preferably comment on them as well.

Third World Guy
The Arab Revolutions And My Rethinks On Britain And France
Minority Majority Nation?
To You I Offer Buddhism And Yoga
Social Media Is For Real
Obama 2012 Is On
New York City
Rootlessness And The City

I made the list. It is short. Every single person on the list is the proverbial white male. What's wrong in the picture? It also bothers me that most are VCs. I wish it were mostly entrepreneurs. But the best entrepreneurs don't blog. Some good ones do. And there are some out there who I just have not come across yet. Please suggest names.

Arcade Fire: Funeral

(Via Fred Wilson)

GroupOn's Legacy: Cute Email?

Image via Wikipedia

BusinessWeek: This Tech Bubble Is Different: Groupon, which e-mails coupons to people, may be the fastest-growing company of all time. Its revenue could hit $4 billion this year, up from $750 million last year, and the startup has reached a valuation of $25 billion. Its technological legacy is cute e-mail.

GroupOn is a great example of a company that has used fairly simple technology to build an amazing company. The wealth GroupOn has create is very legitimate.

And you thought the inbox had gone stale. For most people their inbox is still their most prized web possession.

But it's not even the inbox. GruopOn has hired thousands of salespeople. The action is not on the computer screen. It is offline. It is in face time.

FourSquare Day Tomorrow: Rad

Let's see. I don't drink but I like meeting people. Oh hey, this year they are doing it three different venues. I like that. What are the chances I can go to all three? Or maybe I will pick two. Or just one.

Last year on my way out of the party I saw Vin Vacanti still in line.

"I am leaving so you can get in," I said only half jokingly. They were down to only letting people in after someone left.

I just got this info below from Dennis Crowley's tumblog.

5-8pm @ Agave (8th Ave @ Charles Street) 140 7th Ave
7-10 @ Sidebar (15th Street @ Irving) 120 East 15th Street
9-11 @ Village Pourhouse (3rd Ave & 11th St) 64 3rd Avenue

Two Upheavals Already

I have not even formally launched my company yet, but my startup team has already gone through two upheavals. And I think that is a good thing. With each upheaval the vision has become much more polished. And I make no bones about the fact that my life is not a democracy, my company is not a democracy. I have a vision, and the company is going to carry it out.

No, Biz, Twitter Has Real Issues

Image via WikipediaI am a huge fan of Twitter, an avid user, and I have blogged extensively about the service at this blog. I joined the service the same day Demi Moore did. Coincidence.

And I understand the media thing Biz Stone is alluding to here. The media likes drama. They report of fights where there are no fights. Friction sells better than peace.

But I do believe Twitter does have real issues.

Twitter does not have that Gladiator Steve Jobs, or the Knight In Shining Armor Mark Zuckerberg. But that lone warrior Founder CEO is not the only formula for grand success. Maybe greatness can also arise out of collective leadership.

The Black Keys: So He Won't Break

(Via Fred Wilson)

Twitter Trouble?

Twitter At Five: Not Spitting Out Well

Fortune: Trouble @Twitter: There's no shortage of drama at Twitter these days: Besides the CEO shuffles, there are secret board meetings, executive power struggles, a plethora of coaches and consultants, and disgruntled founders. (Like Williams. The day after Dorsey announced his return to the company -- via tweet, naturally -- Williams quit his day-to-day duties at the company, although he remains a board member and Twitter's largest shareholder, with an estimated 30% to 35% stake.) These theatrics, which go well beyond the usual angst at a new venture, have contributed to a growing perception that innovation has stalled and management is in turmoil at one of Silicon Valley's most promising startups, which some 20 million active users rely on each month for updates on everything from subway delays to election results -- and which a growing number of companies, big and small, seek to use to market themselves and track customers. ...... It has been months -- an eternity in Silicon Valley -- since the company rolled out a new product that excited consumers. ...... Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg used to watch developments at Twitter obsessively; now he pays much less attention to the rival service. ...... Twitter doesn't lack talented engineers, potential paying customers, or loyal users -- and it certainly has plenty of money in the bank ..... The problem is a board and top executive team that don't always appear to have control of its wide-ranging cast of characters, including founders who have attained near-celebrity status (another co-founder, Biz Stone, is a regular on NPR, and earlier this year Dorsey was profiled in Vanity Fair), headstrong and divisive managers, and investors used to getting their way. ....... in the first half of 2009, Twitter added more users more quickly than almost any web service in history ...... the company tells Fortune that in coming months Twitter will roll out new features and ad products ...... "Twitter could be 10 or even 100 times bigger. I'm hopeful for that," says Reid Hoffman ....... "But it's not a given. It's never a given." ...... Twitter hates being lumped in with Facebook as a social network, but comparing the two companies helps illustrate why Twitter finds itself stuck in neutral. ...... Zuckerberg .... although he still dabbles in writing code, he spends his time refining the product and strategy. He's been criticized for being ruthless, ambitious, and single-minded in his quest to build Facebook -- a common knock on the few founders who stay atop their companies. (Exhibit A: Bill Gates.) ...... Unsure of what they'd created, the founders basically turned Twitter over to its users -- initially a bunch of techie early adopters -- and watched what they did with it. The result was a bit of anarchy ...... By the end of 2008 the board decided that Dorsey, a taciturn engineer with no previous management experience, was no longer the right CEO. Williams, who succeeded him, has been accused of pushing Dorsey out, but in an exclusive interview for this story, he put the responsibility for making that decision on the broader board: "We thought about recruiting somebody from the outside," he says, "but the company at that stage was so fragile that bringing in someone from outside was risky. So the VCs asked me if I would do it." ....... By that time, communication among the Twitter founders, especially Dorsey and Williams, had started to fray. According to Greg Kidd, an early investor, Dorsey today is circumspect but firm on the subject of his relationship with Williams. "The most he's ever said about Ev is, 'We don't talk.'" ........ Williams, a reserved Nebraskan ...... Having dabbled in improvisational theater early in his adulthood, Costolo inspires confidence with his refined public speaking ability, quick wit, and fast decision-making skills. ...... Williams left in December for vacation, extended it to January, then through March. On March 29, the day after Dorsey returned as product chief, Williams announced he wouldn't return to the company in a management role. ...... growth of U.S. visitors to the site has leveled off more than a year after its massive spike upward in 2009 ...... international traffic to the site jumped 83% in the past year ...... the 20-month plateau has come so early in the company's trajectory ....... Many believe that Twitter's search results, which increasingly show up on other sites, are its real jewels. For anyone striving to see events as they unfold, there are few better places to turn. ...... the company lacks a coherent philosophy about what it wants to deliver to customers in the first place. ...... Three days after Dorsey's March 28 return to daily duty at Twitter, the company killed the Dickbar. ...... three people close to Square say Dorsey told them that he views his involvement with Twitter as short term. ...... "The act of getting from there to here was violent," he says. "We've had a revolving door of senior leaders who leave." ...... if Dorsey is right and managing a startup is indeed like managing a theatrical company, it probably is a good idea to give the performers and stagehands a little love. That way maybe they can #gettheiracttogether.

I did offer my services but Twitter would not listen.

Making Dick Costolo An Offer He Can't Refuse

Nuggets From The Paulson Auditorium

Image by aJ GAZMEN ツ GucciBeaR via FlickrStartUp Week: Final Event: Biggest Event?

- 2005, there were very few blogs around.
- Vin Vacanti has a great blog.
- Fred Wilson, Mark Suster, Chris Dixon, Brad Feld.
- Josh Auerbach: "All my knowledge comes from blogs."
- It is easy to do market research.
- The lean startup movement.
- You will be amazed by how many people are willing to talk to you.
- The best way to build a business is without any investment money.
- We don't do NDAs. We will laugh at you if you ask.
- Outsourcing is not an option.
- If your proposal is outside the thesis of a VC firm, you are not going anywhere.
- Talk to people. Engage with people at their blogs.
- Cool. Uncool. Cool again.
- Chris Dixon: "1/3rd of my companies are profitable with seed money."
- You have to be active online.
- You have to blog. You have to tweet. This is the number one piece of advice. You are not going anywhere in tech without these.
- Internships with big brand name companies are overrated.
- Entrepreneurs - it's a personality type.
- If you send a form email, you will get a form response.
- Show me that you put some work into that email. You read up on me.
- No investor will read a business plan.
- You and your team.
- What all could go wrong? What can I do to mitigate? Put down in writing.
- Build your relationship with investors over a period of time.

A Day In The Life Of Amy Cao

Amy Cao's Political Incorrectness

Many of you might know Amy Cao does social media for FoodSpotting. This is a day in the life of Amy Cao.

Amy Cao wakes up to the chirps of birds that remind her to tweet, and she gets to tweeting right away, first thing in the morning. She often finds herself dealing with six hours worth of tweets from fans from Japan who all expect individual reply tweets. So far she has managed to meet those expectations, but she wonders for how long. She says she is looking for an intern/assistant. A look alike would be nice.

A FourSquare Mayor?

New York City

4/16: I Found Myself A Party: Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night

Saturday, April 16 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm

Sidebar
120 East 15th St
New York, NY

Amy Cao's Political Incorrectness

A Small, Historic EatUp
April Fool?
Tumblr Explore
Soraya Darabi In New York Magazine
EatUps Don't Seem To Have A Monthly Rhythm
Tuesday 2/15 Noon EatUp: 46th Between 5th And 6th: Schnitzel & Things Food Truck
Instagram Magic

StartUp Week: Final Event: Biggest Event?

I started out thinking all events are created equal. But you get hints thrown in here and there. There is expectation in the air. The event tomorrow looks like will be the biggest event of the week. And I am looking forward to it.

Thursday, 4/14: Fundraising: VCs, Angels and Accelerators Chris Dixon (@cdixon), Albert Wenger (@albertwenger), Lawrence Lenihan (@lawrencelenihan), Firstmark Capital, Hilary Gosher (@hilbil175), Insite Venture Partners, David Tisch (@davetisch), TechStars

April 14, Thursday, 6-8 PM, NYU Tisch Hall, Paulson Auditorium (UC-50), 40 W. 4th Street

Anthony De Rosa

I did two great events earlier in the evening, but the best part was walking from the first to the second with Anthony De Rosa, known as soupsoup on Tumblr.

Having Mango Lassi: Do Not Disturb

More Followers Than Coca Cola

This is heartening. I seem to have more - way more - Twitter followers than Coca Cola.

When people compliment me I like to say, "It is nothing, really, it's just numbers."

No More Beer, No More Soda
2000 Squats

The Shortest Email Address On My Contact List

2,000 Squats
StartUp Week At NYU April 6-15
Getting To Meet Mark Suster In Person
Meeting Brad Feld
StartUp Week: Job Fair: Fish Market
StartUp Week: Develop, Design, Pitch

Fleet Foxes: Montezuma

(Via Jared)

Kiva Is In Nepal

I have been looking for that first country to go into with my microfinance startup, and it is amazing how I have gone all over the world. And now I am thinking Nepal, the country where I grew up.

Having Kenya And Chinatown Thoughts

Murdoch's MySpace, Cisco's Flip

Image via WikipediaWhen Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace, that was hot property. And he looked like a genius when he paid $500 million for the service, and promptly got Google to pay him $900 million to run ads on the property. And that was the pinnacle. It was downhill after that for MySpace. Murdoch's corporate machine killed the whole operation with the usual jujitsu.

How you do it is you put a corporate guy on top of the whole thing, and that big shot starts thinking he is some kind of a big shot, he fires a few key people, he reorganizes a little bit. After all he has to cast the impression he is actually doing something. And that messes things up. There is no one in charge. The emphasis is no longer on innovation. It is on pleasing the corporate guy who, by the way, wants yet more ads shown on the property, because there are numbers to be met. They don't realize that might take away from the experience because they don't use MySpace in the first place, they just want to be the boss of it.

And now what do we have here? Cisco is flipping Flip. Flip was also hot when it got bought. That is why it got bought in the first place. Flip was supposed to be Cisco's own little iPod, that signature device that everyone but everyone carries and makes Cisco look cool.

StartUp Week: Develop, Design, Pitch

StartUp Week At NYU April 6-15
2,000 Squats
Getting To Meet Mark Suster In Person
Meeting Brad Feld
StartUp Week: Job Fair: Fish Market

They shifted the venue from the first floor to the fifth floor. The food part was a pleasant surprise. I was not expecting. But after the first speaker was done, it was food time. After all three speakers got done, I went ahead and ate some more. I did not have dinner later.

During the first break Holly sitting across the table remarked: "You look happy."

"I am a happy person," I said taking in what I thought was a compliment to my general demeanor.

"I think it's the food," she cut me short.

Just Became A Cofounder

I just became a Cofounder. What the heck. No, this is not my microfinance game. That is my primary focus. But one Skype call with a friend in Kathmandu who runs a software shop, 50 strong, and next thing you know I am a Cofounder. Details to follow in a few weeks.

This is way better than consulting. Suits my style.
Image via Wikipedia
The basic product is already out. The idea is to grow the user base, and go raise some money down the line.

People talk of a shortage of engineers. I have no clue what they are talking about. I have a limitless supply of them. I retain my tech consultant title. Holler if you need help. I am scalable.

Meeting Brad Feld
A Boulder Invitation From Brad Feld Himself

Wilco: Either Way

Ye Hausala

(Via Jiwan Shrestha)

New York Times Paywall Sucks (2)

New York Times Paywall Sucks

Tony Tsieh Could Have Been Richard Branson

New York Times: Why Is This Man Smiling?: In his book, Mr. Hsieh implies that the company’s investors forced him to make the Amazon deal

I have not read Tony's book, and this is the first time I am seeing somewhere he is hinting the sale was forced upon him, but I guessed that on my own a long time ago, and I strongly disapproved of it.

Zappos deserved an IPO. Zappos deserved an airline. The forced sale was an act of racism. Don't act surprised. I have made that statement before.

No, it was not about money. Those VCs would have made more money if Zappos had gone IPO.

The First Walmart Store

So Sam Walton decides he wants to take his company public. Although the company was in debt, its fundamentals were looking really strong. Besides he figured he could use the money generated from the IPO for the company's future growth.

So he shows up in New York, shows up at an investment bank.

"Hi. I am Sam Walton from Arkansas. I need to take my company public. Who do I talk to?"

The receptionist takes her to see that lone soul from Arkansas who happens to be working at that bank.

New York Times Paywall Sucks

Image via WikipediaSo yesterday the New York Times website kept bombarding me with pop ups saying I had only two more articles left for the month, two out of 20.

They should have warned me at 10 left. I would not have read all those travel articles I read: vicarious living.

Pop ups are bad. Period. Don't do pop ups. Firefox climbed up by simply helping you fight pop ups. What is the New York Times thinking?

Tear Down This Paywall

I thought I read somewhere that if you show up at a New York Times article from some social media destination like Twitter or Facebook, that does not count against your monthly limit. Well, I did.

Dave McClure's Incubator

Dave McClure is a dude to watch, sure. The guy is a major mover and shaker in the early stage game. You might not do business with him, you might not agree with him, but his insights are hard to ignore.

FoodSpotting's Dish As Starting Point

Image via CrunchBaseOkay, so I am breaking my April Fool promise of restraining from blogging about FoodSpotting.

Yesterday, or the day before, I read that both inDinero and FoodSpotting are Dave McClure companies. I kind of, sort of knew that. But it was one of those flash moments. I also have known FoodSpotting is an Angel List company.

But then I expect FoodSpotting's next round of funding to come from one of the major VC firms in the range of 10 to 20 million dollars, whenever that might be. In a year or less perhaps?

This reinforces my point that it is not either or. Old school VCs still matter, actually they matter big. But The Angel List, Y Combinator, TechStars, 500 Startups, they have changed the early stage game fundamentally, irrevocably. In short, they have innovated.

And FoodSpotting is proof. (Twitter ---> Instagram ---> FoodSpotting)

How Wal-Mart Got Started

Image via Wikipedia"In 1962, four new retailers were born. One called Kmart was started in Garden City, Michigan, another called Target was started in Minneapolis, another from Woolworth, the big name in retailing at the time, called Woolco was started, and the final one in rural Rogers, Arkansas, called Wal-Mart. Thirty years later, Woolco had met its demise and one of the other two was the largest retailer in the country. Surprisingly, the top retailer was the one from Arkansas."

The Guardian: It all began in a small store in Arkansas...: Four of the world's top 15 billionaires are from one family. ..... retail is a good place to be. Of the top 15 billionaires, nine made their money the old-fashioned way, by selling us clothes, food and furniture ..... together, the clan are nearly as rich as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates (the top two on the list) combined. ....... Sam Walton began his conquest of the world in 1945, with a loan of $20,000 from his father-in-law and a small variety store in Newport, Arkansas, where he established the practices that define present-day Wal-Mart: he kept prices as low as possible, stocked a wide range of goods, and stayed open longer than anyone else. His margins were small, but he sold large quantities, which meant he could bargain for even lower prices from wholesalers - policies that still drive smaller local stores out of business. ....... Even in his later years, when he was worth $24bn, he was famously frugal, opting for $5 haircuts (no tip), and cheap food at his local Wal-Mart. He drove an old pick-up and often borrowed money from his employees. And he was ruthless. "Some people try to turn it into this 'Save the Small-Town Merchants' deal, like they were whales or something that have a right to be protected," he wrote in his autobiography. But he was having none of it. "What happened was as inevitable as the replacement of the buggy by the car." When he died, in 1992, the state got almost nothing in taxes, because he had divided his wealth between his wife Helen, who died in 2007, and his children. ....... Wal-Mart employs more than 2 million people worldwide, meaning it has twice as many men and women in uniform than the US army. ...... A reporter for Fortune, strolling round Bentonville, Arkansas, was hard put to even find the offices from which their fortunes are run. ....... Rob Walton, company chairman (the CEO is a non-Walton, Mike Duke), worked in a small windowless room,
Image via Wikipedia 10ft by 10ft square ..... in fact, anyone who lives in Bentonville probably shops in Wal-mart for food, clothes, furniture and electronics, banks at Arvest, and, until recently, read a Walton-owned paper. They can drive down Walton Boulevard to watch sport at the Walton Arena. They can wander around the Walton Arts Centre, or go to the Wal-Mart Museum, where old Sam's office and pick-up are preserved exactly as they were the day he died. They can study at the Sam Walton business school, or fly from the Alice L Walton terminal of the airport.

Some Valuations

A Boulder Invitation From Brad Feld Himself

This is deeply touching.

Brad Feld:"It was great to finally meet you in person. Come visit us in Boulder anytime - we'll make sure you really feel like you are at home!"

Now I get to plot a trip to Boulder.

Meeting Brad Feld

Richard Branson

Played Farmville After Long Months

Image via CrunchBaseI think it has been almost a year. I stopped after the game started acting funny. It simply would not load for me. Anu Shukla could not understand. She thought maybe my blogging stole me from Farmville. My conspiracy theory was that Mark Pincus was personally punishing me for having taken credit for an idea.

I tried the game on a Mac at an Apple store. Last year. Still not loading. Was that a Flash/Apple thing? I don't know.

Anyways, my Chrome Notebook did not arrive, and recently I bought myself a new computer, a PC, after having tried a Mac for a few weeks: I liked it. But if all you need is a browser almost all the time, the PC works just fine. And costs matter. Sam Walton is my hero.

TV On The Radio: Will Do

(Via Fred Wilson)

Battle: Los Angeles

Warren Buffet, Jay-Z On Luck

StartUp Week: Job Fair: Fish Market

Meeting Brad Feld
Getting To Meet Mark Suster In Person
2,000 Squats
StartUp Week At NYU April 6-15

It said 2:30 to 5:00 PM. 770 Broadway, AOL Headquarters. So I am going up and down the street. This is 752 Broadway. Wait a minute, this is now 780 Broadway. What did I miss? Finally I gave up and walked into Bank Of America. It looked like they were at the address where AOL should have been. Ends up 770 Broadway is not on Broadway proper. Take a left at the street corner, the clerk said.

One of the first people I met was Amanda Moritz of Brainscape. I first met her at a party during Social Media Week. Facebook said we had two mutual friends.

Meeting Brad Feld

I got to meet Mark Suster yesterday, and Brad Feld today, and I get to meet Vin Vacanti next week. In Vacanti's case it will not be my first time, but still. What do you think is going on? StartUp Week, that's what.

TechStars' Geographical Advantage Over Y Combinator
Brad Feld
StartUp Week At NYU April 6-15
To: Brad Feld, Subject: Iran And Me (Digital Ninja/Commando)
Happy July 4 Fred Wilson, Brad Feld
An Immigrant Story For Brad Feld
Paul Graham, Brad Feld, Me, BBC
To Iran, With Love (3)
To Iran, With Love (1)
To Iran, With Love (2)

Both Mark and Brad recognized me right away. We have interacted online. I have interacted more with Brad than with Mark. At one point I was trying to get Brad to fund my work into Iran democracy.

"Oh, hey," Brad said when it was my turn to greet him.

Coachella (3)

Coachella (2)

Coachella (1)

Facebook Location

Image via Wikipedia

New York Times: A Corporate Campus Made to Mirror Facebook: Facebook, which started out in a dormitory at Harvard, transferred to a rented house in Silicon Valley and now occupies a cluster of office buildings in Palo Alto, Calif., is about to make its biggest move yet: to a 57-acre campus in this small city about 30 miles south of San Francisco. ...... a series of stucco-covered low-rise buildings occupied by Sun Microsystems until Sun was bought ...... s. The campus will resemble an urban streetscape, with cafeterias .... if the campus will be a microcosm of a city, it’s not clear that the real city around the campus — including the largely Mexican-American neighborhood of Belle Haven ....... the Facebook site is surrounded on three sides by water, and separated from the rest of Menlo Park by railroad tracks and a divided highway. ..... The site is so insular that in the two decades it was occupied by Sun Microsystems it was nicknamed Sun Quentin (a reference to San Quentin prison, about 40 miles north). And because Facebook provides its employees with three meals a day in its own cafeterias, there may be little reason for them to venture off the property. ..... the city, which has a population of about 30,000 ..... Sun had 3,600 employees on site; Facebook, with a work force that is growing by 50 percent a year, could exceed that number ...... because Sun’s engineers had private offices, while most Facebook employees work in unpartitioned spaces ...... they can’t have more than 3,600 employees until they get City Council approval. ..... leasing with an option to buy .... walking and biking paths and greater access to public transportation and the wetlands alongside the Facebook site. ..... One team, charged with connecting the Facebook site to the rest of Menlo Park, devised an elevated ringlike walkway that links the campus to the Belle Haven neighborhood, a proposed transit station and the San Francisco Bay waterfront. The architects named it Friends Circle. (Though Belle Haven is a tidy neighborhood, many of the homes are small and flimsy-looking.) ...... Contractors have already replaced rows of small offices in one of the Sun buildings with a loftlike space where desks will be pushed together in groups of four. “We like that you can sit at one end and see all the way to the other,” said Mr. Tenanes, showing off a section of building that had been stripped to concrete and ductwork .... “protecting Facebook’s extraordinary company culture.” ...... he liked the “casual eclectic” look of the firm’s Ace Hotel ..... (The Ace crowd, which tends toward 20somethings with laptops, mirrors the Facebook employees’ demographic.) Unlike the Sun campus, with color-coordinated buildings reminiscent of an upscale resort, Facebook is looking for “an urban streetscape where no one architect or designer” dominates, Mr. Tenanes said. “Random is good” ....... Facebook wanted there to be "life and soul and some idiosyncrasy to the campus.” ...... “They don’t want to buy into that corporate structure,” she said. “They want to continue to feel hungry." ..... Currently, about 40 percent of Facebook employees commute to work on foot or bicycle or by bus (including some provided by the company), Mr. Tenanes said. For those employees, the remote location of the new site will pose a challenge. But he is already planning bus routes and considering opening a pedestrian tunnel that was dug but never used under the Bayfront Expressway, the highway that separates the campus from the rest of Menlo Park. (In case it outgrows the Sun property, Facebook bought a 22-acre site across the road.)

The key phrase here is urban streetscape. Facebook wants its campus to look and feel like New York City. My bias for the city just got stronger. New York City is the place to be.

The other key phrase is unpartitioned spaces.

Getting To Meet Mark Suster In Person

So I got to meet Mark. Suster. In person. It was a great feeling. I had read enough of his blog posts that I really wanted to meet in person and make it real.

Mark is the most visible VC in Los Angeles. One time years ago I happened to be in downtown Los Angeles. I made a point to go see the bank where the bank robbery scene in the movie Heat was shot. Heat is one of my favorite movies.

Having Mango Lassi

Nihal Mehta: Being Mysterious About Local Response

Image via CrunchBase
Buzzd
Buzzd Party Thursday
Mark Suster: The Social Network: Facebook To Fragmentation: December 2010: Social Chaos Will Create New Business Opportunities: Klout, Sprout Social, CoTweet, awe.sm, (next gen) Buzzd ..... one of the cooler new products that will emerge in 2011 is being created by Nihal Mehta, who has pivoted from his previous company Buzzd ..... will address the world of what happens when businesses and consumers are increasingly mobile and social.
Blip.TV: How Do They Ever Get Anything Done?
Reshma Saujani

48 Hours

It was two days before Demo Day at Y Combinator and Daniel Gross had moved from product to product like I had changed majors at college. The guy had nothing for Demo Day. The textbook thing to do for Paul Graham was to say, you know what, you had your 12 weeks, tough, you are out. But Paul Graham took the road not taken, and that made all the difference.

Greplin: The First Y Combinator Company To Get Me Excited

Greplin happened during the final 48 hours.