Is this the future?
Is this what the future will look like? You tell me . .. http://oak.psych.gatech.edu/~epic/
March 28, 2005· 1 min read
On VC Suckage
Only hours away from posting a link to this great article by Paul Graham on why VCs suck (A Unified Theory of VC Suckage), when both Brad and Fred beat me to it. That didn’t keep me from sending the link directly to a couple of people who I thought would get a kick out of it (and wouldn’t necessarily see those blog entries). This list included my father – Randy Levine – who is the founder, initial CEO and now a director of a venture-backed start-up. Dad and I regularly trade stories about the relationships between VCs and their investors – comparing notes on our experiences from different sides of the table. Dad and I had the following exchange about this story which I found extremely amusing and worth sharing: seth: dad – I think you’ll find this amusing [link to story]dad: Everybody’s situation is different, but he captures a lot of common experience. seth: I thought it was pretty funny dad: That’s the difference between dealing with VCs and being a VC. seth: which is to say that you didn’t find it amusing ? just scary . . . ? dad: I guess it depends on which end of the cavity search you’re on . . . So I guess one’s amusement at the post varies based on where you sit; which in itself is pretty amusing . . . …
March 24, 2005· 2 min read
Moving right along
Fred Wilson had a great post recently on the problem of analysis paralysis. I completely agree. One of the challenges of business (and entrepreneurship) is that companies constantly have to make decisions based on incomplete information. That’s just part of the game. Successful entrepreneurs recognize that, take in as much information as makes sense, make a decision and then move on. While it’s helpful to look back at these decisions, I completely agree with Fred’s assertion that it’s not really fair to second guess them (although its important to learn from them). So, how do you avoid the analysis paralysis trap? Here are a couple of thoughts …
March 23, 2005· 2 min read
Quova and geo-location in the news.
I’ve written a couple of posts in the past 2 months on the power of location (read them here and here). Quova – the leading player in the geo-location space – has had a couple of articles published about them in the past week that I wanted to pass along. I particularly like the article about how MLB is using the technology (not because it describes the origin of the Quova name – which I’m embarrassed to say that I never knew – but because it speaks to ways that companies are using geo-location information to create new and significant sources of revenue). …
March 22, 2005· 2 min read
Jarbarish
Fred Wilson has done a very amusing series of posts on VC Clichés (see the latest here) Terry Gold takes this to another level with what he has termed Jarbarish (a blend of jargon and gibberish). Here he posts an absolutely hilarious bit that he used at a recent company meeting. Thanks Terry for lightening the mood
March 17, 2005· 1 min read
Things I learned on vacation – part II (the vacation curve)
I was writing a post before I left on vacation about balance. I struggle with this a lot – the real (and perceived) pressures of my job, travel, time with my family, etc. I was writing about how difficult is can be to balance the business and personal aspects of your life, but now that I read it, it sounds kind of ‘woe is me’ rather than particularly profound (so I’ll spare you and not post it). That said, the spirit of the post is right on – and there’s nothing like vacation to remind you how important it is to find this balance. There’s also nothing quite like a vacation to remind you how important it is to actually take vacation. …
March 16, 2005· 2 min read
The commonly confused words test
I thought I should post this after making such a stink about data being plural and all. Here’s a link to a little word test for those of you (like me) who are interested in seeing if you really have a clue about these things (turns out I have only a partial clue – I scored 93% on each of the beginner and intermediate, 100% on advanced and a paltry 66% on expert). …
March 15, 2005· 1 min read
The Last Days of Enron
The New York Times is running a series of articles on the last days of the Enron crisis (actually excerpts from Times writer Kurt Eichenwald’s forthcoming book on the subject). It reads like a soap opera (by both design and because that’s really what this story amounts to). The amazing take-away for me was just how far Enron had strayed from the most basic forms of financial management (they didn’t track their cash balance, nor did they track when their debt came due – so they had no idea either what they owed or how much they had available to cover that debt). Take a look at the article here (in case the link doesn’t work the url is http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/13/business/yourmoney/13enron.html?) . It’s worth a read.
March 15, 2005· 1 min read
Who Buys Venture Backed Companies
Ernst and Young puts out a quarterly report on the VC industry. It’s full of fantastic data (from their VentureOne group). I just got my book today and am still sorting through it – I’ll put up a post soon with some of the take-aways. Something that struck me right away was the list of the top acquirers of VC-backed companies. They are : IBM (5) Cisco (5) Tekelec (4) C-COR (4) Broadcom (4) Thomson (3) Motorola (3) IAC (3) Alcatel(3) …
March 10, 2005· 1 min read
Google News
In case you haven’t noticed yet, Google has made their news page customizable (see the “customize this page” link on the right of the screen). Not all that surprising a move (what took them so long?) . . . they are a media platform after all – even though they want us all to think they’re really just focused on search . . .
March 10, 2005· 1 min read