Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
“Media experts have been warning for months that American consumers will face starvation if Hollywood does not provide someone for them to put on a pedestal, worship, envy, download sex tapes of, and then topple and completely destroy.” Never has the tabloid-celebrity complex been better described in a more concise and biting way.
“The point is not to keep 76-year-old Polanski off the streets or help his victim feel safe. The point is that drugging and raping a child, then leaving the country before you can be sentenced for it, is behavior our society should not — and at least in theory, does not — tolerate, no matter … Continue reading Paragraph of the Day: On Roman Polanski and Justice
I was interviewed for an article on angel investing, and I thought you might want to see my full responses. Will let you know when the article appears. * * * Q: How did you become an angel investor? I began my angel investing career in 2005, when I invested in a friend’s business. Since … Continue reading Angel Investing Q&A
image courtesy of HubSpot There’s a lot of social in the air these days. I was chatting with Jeremiah Owyang of the Altimeter Group, and he said that there was even talk of scrapping the term “Enterprise 2.0” in favor of “Social Business”. While I do believe that social is necessary, it’s definitely not sufficient, … Continue reading Why Getting Social Is Necessary (But Not Sufficient) For Business
“People often say, “I don’t have the time to…” Fill in the blank with whatever you like: exercise, make dinner, write a book, start a company, run for political office. What makes these people think that they have less time than anyone else? Of course they don’t. We all have the same 24 hours in … Continue reading Paragraph of the Day: “Time is more valuable than money”
When I hear a high-tech entrepreneur tell me, “If I can just raise $250K to build a prototype…” I know he or she is never going to make it. You used to be able to raise venture money based on an idea and a team, but those days are long gone unless your name is … Continue reading Build Product, Not PowerPoint (Even If You’re Non-Technical)
Vivek Wadhwa has a guest post up on TechCrunch, “What Have VCs Really Done For Innovation?” It’s obviously meant to court controversy. Mission accomplished.This post is my refutation. Wadhwa’s post claims:1) VCs have little to no impact on startup success, and in fact, may have a negative impact2) Venture capital slows the innovation processThis is … Continue reading VCs Are Useless? That’s Bullshit.
I thought this New York Times article from Tim Kreider was one of the best (funniest, insightful) things I’ve read this week. Kreider discusses a phenomenon that strikes many of us as we get along in years: The tendency to evaluate the lives of our friends to ponder paths not taken. Some money quotes: * … Continue reading “The Referendum”: Great Essay On Mid-Life Angst
When I heard about Mint’s sale to Intuit for $170 million, I never imagined that it would be controversial. I posted my congratulations to the friends who made money in the deal, and moved on. It’s been a busy week, and I haven’t been keeping up with Twitter and RSS, so imagine my surprise to … Continue reading 21 Million Reasons For Mint To Sell
My old friend Frans Johansson, the author of The Medici Effect, is working with the city of San Jose to bring his innovation workshop to the Bay Area next week. The Medici Effect refers to the amazing innovations of the Italian Renaissance, sparked by the mingling of disparate cultures and experiences. I went to Frans’ … Continue reading Attend The Medici Experience San Jose on 9/24