Netizen

Friday, May 28, 2010

Kayak, Paul English, Africa, Free Wireless Internet

OnStartups.com: Startup Insights From Paul English, Co-Founder of Kayak (Via Paul Orlando, @porlando) the most popular travel search site on the web (and one of the top 1,000 most popular sites on the web)..... In Dec 2007, with just 39 employees, Kayak raised $230 million (at a much higher than that valuation) to acquire their largest competitor, SideStep. Paul is on my list of “best entrepreneurs I’ve met”. ...... my next 10 year project. I'll be at Kayak, of course, pushing it, pushing it, but I'm starting a new project that has an audacious goal of creating free low-bandwidth Internet for the whole continent of Africa.
Fast Company: Kayak.com Cofounder Paul English Plans to Blanket Africa in Free Wireless Internet (Via Adam Carson, @adamkcarson) a "big, big project," one that will consume the next decade of his life ..... 8.7% Internet penetration right now ..... belief that providing basic Internet is as essential to society as clean water and clean power. ..... he nonprofit/for-profit hybrid this summer and begin creating partnerships between JoinAfrica and local African for-profit telcos. ...... he's already bought satellite dishes and other gear and helped hook up villages in a number of African countries over the past decade, from Burundi to Uganda and Malawi to Zambia. "Having email and Skype has been transformative for the handful of villages I've worked in," he says. ....... "The continent of Africa has been so fucked over from an economic standpoint -- as an engineer, how do I use my skills to do something that's transformative?" ...... assure the system is "incredibly measurable and incredibly managed." ..... the project might cost billions ..... "The way Kayak is involved is that it's helping make me very wealthy, and I plan to deploy that wealth" ...... massive scale and hybrid business model

This speaks to me. This hits me like when I first read about the Chrome OS. (Chrome Operating System) I have been talking about "an operating system that supports a browser and nothing else, and hardware that supports that operating system and nothing else, something barebones" for a few years now. And I have been talking about "wireless broadband supported by ads" for a few years now. Actually that was my startup that Adam had put 50K of his money into, and 35K of money of people he knew. That money went back to the investors in February 2009 for understandable reasons. I liked the "we still believe in you, we still believe in the vision" parting talk. Lost the investment, kept the friendship. (Ignite, Set It On Fire)

The vision still rings true, only feels more possible due to the Chrome OS. The demand is still there. Billions lack wireless broadband. Heck, most people in America lack wireless broadband. (Job Search) Mobile is great, but you really need that screen size and keyboard size. Global South people are not mini people who can make do with mobile phones alone. Universal broadband will create One World for the first time ever.

Internet access is the voting right for this Internet Century.

Bill Gates thinks the world population will stabilize around nine billion. All countries can be turned into democracies. Poverty can be eradicated. Hunger can be ended. Universal broadband is possible. Big things are possible.

I don't think of the internet as a privilege that people get to access once they get rich enough, so focus on food. Cars, yes, but not the internet. The internet is the catalyst that will make all those other big things possible.

Google's Newest Venture: Google Ventures
Hunger, Vision, Money

"A country does not become fit for democracy, it becomes fit through democracy."
- Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize In Economics

Travel, Music

Travel is like music. I never met anybody who did not like music. We no longer live in an era when you needed to be Marco Polo to travel. I have been all over America. I plan on going all over the world. Eventually. I got time. I have sketches in my mind for all India, all Africa, all China travels. You comb the land.

The Dumbo Loft Digital Dumbo

Image representing Andrew Zarick as depicted i...

Image via CrunchBase

So last night I was at my second Digital Dumbo. I even got to say hello to Andrew Zarick, (@a2z) the guy who got me started with Digital Dumbo last month, the organizer. Andrew is from Louisville originally. I have spent a few years in Kentucky. But Louisville is like Kentucky's own New York City. I was in a small town. He might not relate.

The evening was as fabulous as I expected it to be, although the next time I think I am going to pull a Miko Mercer (@mikomercer) and not drink any beer. Only a few days back I learned Ann Curry is half Japanese like Miko. (Ann Curry Commencement)

All beer drinking is obligatory drinking for me. I don't enjoy the process. I enjoy the effect even less. I far more enjoy working the crowd, hopping from one puddle to the next and next.

I paid my compliments, first at my blog in the morning, and then in person to Andrew in the evening. I was 15 minutes late, and still one of the first to show. Digital Dumbo is what the NY Tech MeetUp after party should be, I said.

"I am friends with Nate," he said. If Andrew Zarick is a Louisville guy, Nate Westheimer is a Cincinnati guy. Between them they have all the bases covered. Nate organizes the NY Tech MeetUp. Of course I am familiar with Cincy too. And I am friends with Nate. His is a delightful presence on the local tech scene.

AnyClip.com: More Thoughts
AnyClip.com: Second Thoughts
AnyClip Is Live Now

I really like the Dumbo name, and it can't be all technology, although it is the only geographical locale of its kind in the city. The name Dumbo reminds me of Appu, the mascot for the Asian games in Delhi in 1982.

My family and relatives call me Pappu, not Paramendra. Paramendra is the name they came up with when it was time for me to go to school. And a good name too, totally Google friendly. Elephants and mangoes are so India.

One day a high school friend showed up at our house - my grandfather was out on the verandah - and he made the mistake of asking for Paramendra. He was promptly asked to keep walking down the street. My grandfather did not recognize the name off the bat.

I really appreciated the space. The Dumbo Loft is special. I hope they stick to the venue. They might not have anything better in Dumbo. To a few people I said, this space, and this floor, makes me want to practice my kicks, throw around my lower limbs, try out some basic martial arts.

You had to enter your name on a computer when you got there, and the computer would generate a name for you. Mine was DJ something Dog.

The guy serving beer remembered me from last time. Why not? I was the guy who asked for water.

I liked working the room. I would go from one group of two people to another group of three people, until I was tipsy and no longer effective. I left around 9 PM. Most people had formed small groups around people they worked with, people they showed up with. I'd show up and stir the water a bit.

This event had the healthiest male female ratio of any tech event I have ever been to. How did this happen? I think it was pretty much half and half. That sure was not the case at the last Digital Dumbo. And that sure does not happen at the NY Tech MeetUp. I was impressed but also perplexed. I got into a lengthy conversation with this one woman coder. I asked her why she thought most coders were men. She said, beats me, your guess is as good as mine.

You gotta ask, what is Andrew Zarick's secret sauce?

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Indaba Music: NY Tech Talks MeetUp

Image via CrunchBase

Tuesday evening I showed up at the MeetUp offices for a great MeetUp run by the MeetUp CTO Greg Whalin. This was my second time at the MeetUp. The last time I went Dropio was presenting. Sam Lessin and Jacob Robbins showed up. Jacob showed up also for this one.

Ends up I am also going to the Digital Dumbo event later this evening. I think I am figuring it out. Digital Dumbo is like the NY Tech MeetUp after party ought to feel like. The beer is free, although one is usually more than enough for me. At last month's Digital Dumbo, I found myself drinking water. When I wanted my second cup and turned around, there was this guy standing between me and the water. He was busy talking. So I decided to not interrupt. He was leaning right against the water stand.

The beer is free. The venue is a tech company's office. The area is like no other in town: Dumbo. All those who show up are in the industry.

At Greg's MeetUp, this time it was the turn of Indaba Music. I guess they have been around a few years. They are a Ruby shop: Jesse Chan-Norris was the key presenter. One of Jesse's parents had last name Chan as in Jackie Chan, another had last name Norris as in Chuck Norris. It was a tech heavy talk that lasted for an hour and a half. And then about 10 of us just hung around for another hour. Etsy dude Christopher Munns did some juicy story telling, tech style.

Ruby On Rails
Ruby On Rails - Wikipedia
Ruby On Rails 3.0 Moves Nearer Release Rails 3.0 features the merger of Rails with the Merb framework .... an Action Rails 3.0 API and an Active Record chainable query language based on relational algebra

His events mailing list is the best thing Charlie O'Donnell ever did. That mailing list is the reason I have forgiven him for having blocked me from leaving comments at his blog. The only problem is by the time you find out about a great event through Charlie's email, it is sold out already. So you try your luck next month, or you talk to Andrew Zarick.

7PM Digital DUMBO #16 Sponsored by Invoke @ The Dumbo Loft

RSVP: http://digitaldumbo.eventbrite.com/

The DUMBO Loft
155 Water Street
Corner of Pearl and Water
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Date: May 27th, 2010
Time: 6:30-9pm

Entry Level Jobs

Image by Esthr via Flickr

When I applied for the Union Square Ventures job, in my mind I was applying for a Junior VC position. Ends up the opening was for office staff.

Who Is Andrew Parker?
Union Square Ventures Job Opening: I Am Applying
Managing Al, Brad, Fred: An Opportunity To Jump For
Fred Wilson: A DJ
Not Union Square Ventures

Recently I applied for a job with MeetUp.com that I thought would be something that would lead to a Chief People Person position, on par with the Chief Technology Officer position. But then I was at the MeetUp CTO Greg Whalin run MeetUp Tuesday evening at the MeetUp offices in their third floor space, and Greg tells me it might be an "entry level position." What a bummer. (Community Specialist)

Job Search

And I was having thoughts of the butterfly effect, part two. There is all the coding, and all the tech. And the site gets people to show up at events in person. But once they show up, that is Chief People Person territory. How do you turn those events into the best possible experiences for those who show up? You, of course, work through the Organizers. Create a five star system. People start out as one star Organizers. And the best Organizers - those who have earned the most points in a publicly displayed system - are five star. And every year you declare an Organizer Of The Year. Bring that person on an all expenses paid trip to NYC.

And the entire time you are trying to put in place a simple manual that tells people how to become the best Organizer they can possibly be. And you get to know as many of them as possible, one on one. Social media can come in handy here. Skype can come in handy.

And you treat NYC as the microcosm of the world, and you go attend as many MeetUps as humanly possible. That would apply to the entire People Person team. Go out there where the action is. The action is not in the office. Keep your smartphones handy. But otherwise be out there. Work unconventional hours. Create templates in NYC to take to the rest of the world. Iterate.

India Employment Agency
19 W 34th St, Ste 1221
New York, NY 10001

Apple: Remarkable

Image representing Steve Jobs as depicted in C...

Image via CrunchBase

Apple Passes Microsoft As World's Largest Tech Company Wired

This is a big deal. Wow. Fascinating. But then that is the Steve Jobs life story. His ups and downs and ups have been fascinating. His decade in the wilderness: he has more than made up for it. It was not a lost decade. He might have lost that decade (and a half) to Gates, but Gates had to play catch up after that all the way to his retirement, or rather a second career thinking for the bottom two billion people. Microsoft has been adding features to Windows when the new game in town is to take away as many features as possible from the operating system like Chrome OS promises to do.

Steve Jobs did the PC thing. He was not supposed to do the smartphone thing. A new generation Steve Jobs was supposed to show up. Steve Jobs did the smartphone thing. He was not supposed to do the tablet thing. A new person was supposed to show up. In that way the guy is like Fidel Castro. American presidents come and go, Castro stays on.

I have been angry about Jobs' ouster from Apple back in the days. That is what happens when dumb people get and exercise power. Like Mozart says in the movie Mozart, "Those people should not have that kind of power!" Apple finally got a PhD to come run the company until it finally gave up. Yeah, I read that PhD dude's Apple "memoir" a long time ago. It is a pathetic read.

Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison are best friends. (Mideast Peace: Tech Industry Style) Ellison has wanted Oracle to surpass Microsoft's market cap forever. When it looked like his umpteenth attempt might fail, he went ahead and called Bill Gates a name: "William Henry Gates III." I was born in Chicago's Jewish ghetto, not in the Seattle suburbs. (Larry And The Cloud) Ellison, now that is another fascinating life story. After Ellison bought Sun, I threw a challenge his way: create data centers the size of servers.

Larry Ellison
Oracle, Oracle
That Startup Mentality (2)
The $100 Computer

My love is for Google, not Apple. Apple pushes out BMWs, and I am a Third World guy fascinated by the Sam Walton (he launched Walmart when he was 42), Michael Dell type business models. The iPad passed me by; what I am waiting for is the Chrome OS Notebook. Make the screen big, yo. I want a cheap, light Chrome OS notebook to replace both the smartphone and the PC.

iPad
The iPad Is No Laptop Killer
Has Google Been Able To Scale Well?

But that does not affect my fascination with the Steve Jobs life story. He is an iCon. He is iLegend.

One does have to ask though, is the iPad Steve's final product?

TechCrunch Disrupt

Livestream: Disrupt

Watch live streaming video from disrupt at livestream.com

disrupt on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Watch live streaming video from disrupt at livestream.com

disrupt on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Watch live streaming video from disrupt at livestream.com

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Ann Curry Commencement

Wheaton College 175th Commencement from Lisa Nelson on Vimeo.

Direct Messages From Ann Curry, Steve Case, Robert Scoble
Breaking The Glass Ceiling With Ann Curry

Monday, May 24, 2010

Job Search

I came across a job opening with Union Square Ventures as a regular reader of Fred Wilson's blog. (Who Is Andrew Parker?) I went ahead and applied. (Union Square Ventures Job Opening: I Am Applying, Managing Al, Brad, Fred: An Opportunity To Jump For, Fred Wilson: A DJ) Fred emailed me saying I was "overqualified." (Not Union Square Ventures) I did not get the job, but I got a huge compliment. I took it.

Maybe I am just right for FourSquare, I thought, the tech company with the most buzz in town right now. (4:16 PM @ FourSquare, FourSquare Office, Dropio Technology, The FourSquare Appeal For Me) They said to talk to "Evan." I like Twitter fine, more than fine, but I kinda would like to stay put in New York City.

Then I got interested in Venmo, briefly, as perhaps the FourSquare for 2011. (Could 2011 Be Venmo's Year?, Venmo And Frictionless Payments, Venmo Could Make Moves) I sent a tweet expressing interest to the two founders. I think they like me better as a fan blogger.

Then I started looking at some old economy jobs online. In the process I came across some Yahoo New York jobs. I applied. All you had to do was press a button. Easy in, easy out. If Yahoo, then why not Google? So I found myself getting really interested in Google. (Has Google Been Able To Scale Well?, Chrome Operating System, Google Is Having A TechCrunch Day, Google New York) You apply at their site, and the process is a lot of fun. But that was a week ago. Fred, thanks for that email, really. (Not Union Square Ventures

In my cover letters to Google, I tried to impress upon them that I was a smart person. I made sure I mentioned the butterfly effect, the biggest thing going on for me right now. Paul Orlando got into the picture. He has a friend - Anant Singh - at Google. But so far it has been all quiet on the western front. It has been over a week. (Chatfe: Audio, Interest Based Random Connections On Skype?)

http://technbiz.blogspot.com/2010/05/has-google-been-able-to-scale-well.html
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8941937340106225163
http://www.linkedin.com/in/paramendra

I'd love to join Google on the business side of its advertising business out of its NYC offices.

I was the number one student in my class at the top school in Nepal for the seven out of 10 years I was there. I was selected to the University of Chicago but the money part did not work out so I went to the school that has the best financial aid program in all of America, Berea College in Kentucky, the number one liberal arts college in the South. I got myself elected student body president at Berea within six months of landing as an international student. In 1999 I was one of the founding members of Chaitime.com that raised 25 million dollars round two before it succumbed to the nuclear winter. We were trying to be the premier South Asian online community.

There is a concrete mathematical theory called the butterfly effect. A butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon forest could be the reason a cyclone hit Bangladesh. In April 2006, over a period of 19 days, about eight million people out of the country's 27 million came out into the streets to shut the country down completely to force a dictator out. I was the butterfly flapping my wings in New York City.

A few days back I got an email from Alex Cybriwsky. I got just the job for you, he said, Scott is hiring. There was an opening for a Community Specialist at MeetUp.com. I promptly applied. It felt like a great fit. I am a people person in the tech sector. Years ago I described MeetUp as a 5.0 company; 5.0 is face time. I wrote a great cover letter.

I like it that this job will bring MeetUp and me together. MeetUp has
huge global potential. And I am so glad it is profitable already.
MeetUp is what I call a 5.0 company. 5.0 is face time. I blogged about
that concept years ago.

MeetUp has an imbalance. It pours too much of its resources into tech,
and not enough into all the MeetUp action that takes place during face
time. I'd like to help MeetUp strike a better balance.

I am a people person. I got myself elected student body president at
my college - the number one liberal arts school in the South - within
six months of landing as an international student: about eight SGA
veterans had run against me. That was a lot of talking to a lot of
people. Only five months before I had lost the race for Freshman Class
President. Everyone else got more votes than me.

It is also about NYC, this capital city of the world. I absolutely
love this city, and I love the outer boroughs as much as Manhattan.
MeetUp has had a tendency to do well in the big cities of the world,
and so NYC is a great place to build templates and experiment with
them to take across the world.

Group dynamics is just like coding. Group dynamics is beyond common
sense. It is sophistication, it is skill, it is knowledge, it is
talent, it is a specialty.

The job of Community Specialist seems to be custom made for me. I like
the idea of being able to work any five days of the week, and do some
of the work from home. I like that flexibility. I look forward to
attending even more MeetUps than I already do, have done for years.

A friend of mine once said several months back, Scott has organized
more people than lesser people running for president. I thought that
was a remarkable thing to say.

I would like to work at least one day every weekend, some times both days
of the weekend, but I'd like it to be flex each week, some weeks I'd
like to work Monday to Friday, some weeks Tuesday to Saturday. Some
weeks I'd like to take Tuesday and Thursday off. I don't do well with
structure. Some randomness helps me stay creative.

I'd want to organize my work week around attending as many MeetUps as
possible. We have to be out there among the star Organizers. We have
to be where the action is.

Please check my blogs for my writing samples. Besides being naturally
a people person, I am a great, great writer. And I am addicted to
communication. I thrive on emails and message boards. I love to meet
people. I love to call them up. I like to party. I dance to sweat.

As for salary requirements, I am aware there is a bias that says
coders make more than people with soft skills. But I encourage you to
value both equally. This has to be extra true for MeetUp. This company
was born valuing face time.

I am hoping the salary approaches six figures, or maybe even is six
figures. But I am open to negotiation. I don't just want a job, I want
to build a team around me inside the company that will help MeetUp be
not just a great tech company but also a great group dynamics company.
Human interaction is just like coding. There is art and science
involved.

I look forward to formally joining the team that I have felt I have
been part of for years now.

I have had visions of ending up the Chief People Person at MeetUp.com, on par with the CTO: Hello Greg. I am a people person in the tech sector.

April 2010 NY Tech MeetUp
Social Media Week: The Best NY Tech MeetUp Ever
FourSquare Office, Dropio Technology
NY Tech MeetUp: Europe Edition
December 2009 NY Tech MeetUp
November 3 NY Tech MeetUp
My Talk On Social Media At The Science House MeetUp
Sitting Next To David Rose At The NY Tech MeetUp
MeetUp Mailing List Web 5.0 Controversy
October 2009 NY Tech MeetUp
The Science House MeetUp
NY Tech MeetUp: 02/03/09
MeetUp.com 2.0
NY Tech Meetup: Gravitas
September 2009 NY Tech Meetup
Diller Country, Month 2
Open Coffee MeetUp: New Location
Microsoft, Google, Facebook: NY Tech MeetUp Has Arrived
Nic Butterworth's Open Coffee MeetUp
July 2009 NY Tech Meetup
May 5 NY Tech MeetUp
Whuffie: Vamsi Sistla
Nic Is Back

My immigration nightmare might finally be over. I should get my work papers any time now. They said "four to six weeks, maybe eight weeks" on March 30. So. And hopefully the paper turns into a green card in a year. They decide on it in June 2011. Even if they do, it might take them another three months to get the paperwork through. The immigration bureaucracy runs at a fashionably sluggish pace.

June 3 Immigration Court Date

I am not someone who lost his job to the Great Recession. I am not someone whose startup did not take off. I am not someone whose startup fizzled out. I am someone who has been out of status. That is about to end.

Me @ BBC

My status puts me squarely in the job space.

A few days back the thought of going to work full time for the Reshma Saujani For Congress campaign for three and a half months did cross my mind. That might be a step down from my "Superstar Volunteer" status - what Reshma calls me - and it would be a major pay cut from a possible tech sector job. So, Scott. (@heif)

Reshma Saujani, Haiti Earthquake, Harvard Yale, And 2016

When I presented at the Dot Com Hatchery in January, good thing they drove me out of the building. If an investor had become excited enough to want to put in the money into the venture, I would not have known what to do with the money. I prompted the Hatchery people to invent the Gong Rule. Ask them what that is.

Presenting At The Dot Com Hatchery