Happy Birthday Amitabh

Nexus Prime: A Birthday Gift To Me?
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Events: Week Of October 10

Monday, October 10
6:30-10:00pm Ignite NYC 13
Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, 811 7th Avenue, The Metropolitan Ballroom, Second Floor
B/D/E 7th Ave

7:00-9:00pm Google Presents: HTML5 and Modern Web Apps Overview
New Work City, 412 Broadway, Floor 2

Tuesday, October 11
7:00pm NY Tech Meetup
NYU Skirball Center, 566 Laguardia Pl
E/F to West 4th

Wednesday, October 12
5:30pm Web 2.0 Expo Startup Showcase
Central Park West

Thursday, October 13
6:00pm-9:00pm ER Accelerator Happy Hour
Connolly's NYC, 121 West 45th Street, 3rd Floor

Friday, October 14
5:00-6:30pm South Asian Journalists Association: Meet Imran Khan & Bobby Ghosh
Columbia Journalism School
Lecture Hall, one flight up from the lobby
116th Street & Broadway (#1 subway to 116th St stop)

9:30pm Amit Gupta Event
New Work City
412 Broadway, Floor 2

tyDi Featuring Tania Zygar: Vanilla

My Take On AirTime

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeSean Parker's AirTime Could Net Him Tens Of Billions

I have not read up on it much, frankly there is not much to read about, not much has come out. So some of what I am going to say is based on my own thoughts on the space.

(1) It has to be video. It can't be audio, and it can't be photos. Global broadband will get there.

(2) It has to feel like you got into a private plane to fly around the world.

(3) I should have the option to make myself unavailable, and when I am busy talking to someone already, I am unavailable by default.

(4) I should have the option to flag and block people. A person/account flagged/blocked by a certain number of people should have their account reviewed, possibly suspended. Could be 100 blocks. The person being blocked should get a count of how many times it has happened.

(5) Random connections has to be the starting point of the experience. No real names, no real identities. If people want to wear masks, fine. Their choice.

(6) The "next" button is key to the idea of random connections.

(7) When trying to find people to talk to I should have the option to specify geographical area of interest, language preference (or lack thereof), and topic of interest. That would still be random connections.

(8) If both parties to a talk give each other a thumbs up they should have the option to connect again at a later time of their choosing through the service itself.

(9) This need not be a two person thing. People should have the option to engage in five or 10 people talks. Still random. Group talks on a shared topic might be more fun than a two person talk.

(10) The option to "friend" a stranger after a certain number of successful conversations.

(11) How would you define the social graph in this space? That is very much an open question.

(12) Keep it simple starting out.

Sean Parker's AirTime Could Net Him Tens Of Billions

Sean Parker is a billionaire already at a net worth of over two billion. The guy is 31.



Napster, Facebook, Plaxo, Causes, Spotify, AirTime. Before today I did not even realize Causes was his thing. You live and you learn. Plaxo was annoying, don't you think? And yet that is the company he is most proud of.

I learned of AirTime very recently. But you only have to do a search on the term Chatroulette at this blog to get a feel for my passion for the topic. Just like the Google guys gave jobs to people like Vint Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee, Sean Parker should rope in the Russian dude, give him a small cut, not legally required, but might be beneficial.

Chatroulette Is For Real
ChatVille Is Live Now: "What ChatRoulette Should Have Been"
Chatfe Happy Hour With Paul Orlando
Penises For Sale: The Russian Mafia Is On It
Chatfe: Audio, Interest Based Random Connections On Skype?
Paul Orlando In The New York Times

The social graph that Facebook has mapped is not really all that cutting edge. I mean, I already knew these people. I did not need help knowing them. But I do need help, a lot of help, getting to know people I don't know, I might never meet. AirTime could help map that uncharted social graph, and that is big.

The Color Social Graph Might Work Better For Books, Movies, Music
Finally Facebook Lets Me Reach Out To Non Friends

In many ways I am looking at AirTime as Sean Parker's first startup. This is the one he gets to do his way. This is the one he gets to own a big chunk of.

I really like this guy. He is always thinking big. He paints in broad strokes. His visions tend to be sweeping, panoramic. Not for him is incremental innovation. He is always wanting to do the next big thing. And now through AirTime he is trying to tackle the most virgin aspect of the web. The landscape of what he is trying to navigate is so shapeless right now.

Maybe the guy should rope me in in some kind of an advisory role. I could not think of a better preparation as I gear to launch my own microfinance startup. I think I am in a position to contribute.

Sean Parker's 2009 Email To Spotify
Sean Parker: Mystery Man
Sean Parker, F8, HTML5, Android
Sean Parker: Video: Facebook, MySpace
The Sean Parker Analogy
Sean Parker, Billionaire, Was Really Poor Once
The Day I Got Called Sean Parker
Paul Graham: Wrong About NYC
White Male Conspiracy To Drive Me Homeless