June 7th, 2012 § Comments Off on Gender In Tech: No Longer A Silent Issue § permalink
this has been resonating recently, and righteously so. enough with the old boys’ clubs and forever-pubescent mentalities!
English: Maps of laws and executive orders banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the United States (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ellen Pao‘s lawsuit allows our community to discuss these “women in tech” issues as real problems. By Cristina Cordova (Business Development, Pulse) TechCrunch reported that Kleiner Perkins Partner Ellen Pao sued her firm for gender and sexual discrimination.
via: www.women2.com
in a related article, i saw this: “The tech community in general is probably 20 years behind most when it comes to gender issues, and needs every reminder that it’s still got a ways to go.” (gawker)
June 6th, 2012 § Comments Off on For Tech Start-Ups, New York Has Increasing Allure § permalink
English: I took photo of CNN building in New York City with Canon camera. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
this article is the most accurate description of New York as a tech hub:
Enlarge This Image Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times Doug Imbruce, the founder of Qwiki, an interactive video start-up, recently decided to move his company back to New York. Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times Employees of Qwiki, located on Spring Street in SoHo.
via: www.nytimes.com
in a nutshell, the takeaways are:
- partners: “Many new start-ups benefit from proximity to the media, advertising and fashion industries, New York’s strengths.”
- financing: “The number of venture capital deals in the city has risen 32 percent since 2007, while the figures for other areas, including the Valley, have dropped.”
- it’s the greatest city on the planet: “he did not have to rely on hiring New York-based engineers. Instead, he found them elsewhere and convinced them to move.”
- it’s a hipsterville: “Those at start-ups in New York repeatedly mention the intimacy of the relatively small but tight-knit industry here — in fact, they may be the only people who say they moved to New York because they liked its small-town vibe.”
- keeps you humble: “In New York, no one’s ever heard of Quora,” “In New York, it keeps you humble that you walk out and there’s the CNN building.”
- it’s rational: “I don’t like New York,” he said. “I just think it’s the best place for my business.”
… excuse all the quotes this time, they are by various people from the same article.
June 5th, 2012 § Comments Off on know when you’re up to something and know when you’re too early § permalink
Image via CrunchBase
this story of pinterest before pinterest has many lessons in strategic thinking, that are only attainable the hard way, or by hearing them from someone who got them the hard way.
Back in 2006, Wists, a visual bookmarking site I had launched a year earlier was gaining traction with women who were into crafts. I showed the website to two whip-smart friends, Shana Fisher and her husband, Jonathan Glick. Like many people, they didn’t buy my argument that collecting thumbnail image links would be a big deal, but they were less skeptical than most. Last year, I got a cryptic Tweet from Jonathan saying, “You Were Right.”
via: gigaom.com
… and most importantly, realize that if anyone else finds the gold nugget in the same pond, and goes on to find the gold mine, he didn’t steal it from you. this author has great attitude.
June 2nd, 2012 § Comments Off on startups, creatives and bankers § permalink
I saw this poster for Brooklyn Northside Festival:
… I was as surprised to see ‘entrepreneurship‘ there as the designer who had to find a way to put it there. It seems we are merging with Arts and creative industries, which I believe is an underestimated revolution. Of course SXSW and TED did that years ago, of course Wired knew all along, but Brooklyn Northside?
don’t get me wrong, I think that’s great. I think entrepreneurs really are rock stars of this age/generation, I think it’s up to us to solve big problems that this Planet is facing, and leave it to our kids in a better shape. I think we are looking to complete the capitalism’s promise, and upgrading it with what we’ve learned from globalization and new age.
And I think that we need to join forces with Arts and Creatives and Everyone else, to make this happen, because if we are to replace a broken and unfair economic system, we have to breathe the same air. Financial industry increasingly feels like new age bureaucracy, pushing pieces of paper around, detached from reality. It won’t survive the century.
A capitalism’s social pyramid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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May 30th, 2012 § Comments Off on ‘The Golden Age of Silicon Valley Is Over, and We’re Dancing on its Grave’ § permalink
Memory is a Golden Sieve (Photo credit: kern.justin)
… following a point from yesterday, it seems US economy is catching up with Europe:
BLANK: I teach science and engineering. I see my students trying to commercialize really hard stuff. But the VCs are only going to be interested in chasing the billions on their smart phones. Thank God we have small business research grants from the federal government, otherwise the Chinese would just grab them.
via: www.theatlantic.com
May 29th, 2012 § § permalink
Secret denunciations against anyone who will conceal favors and services or will collude to hide the true revenue from them. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Crowdfunding is a great but frightening development.
It’s great, and necessary, and obvious, just like democracy and freedom of speech.
But it’s not frightening because it threatens the VC‘s. I’m worried because the first wave of crowd ‘investors’ will inevitably do mistakes that VC’s have learned to avoid, this might cause much capital being allocated in wrong places, causing rouge behavior from ‘startups’ and render huge disappointments, amplified by media, making entrepreneurship a bad word.
there, i’ve said it. funding startups is a serious thing, not a game of tax evasion.
Venture capitalists have been getting a black eye to go with their blue shirts. A recent report from the Kauffman Foundation slammed VCs for “shortchanging” investors, pointing out that public markets deliver better returns.
via: www.readwriteweb.com
somehow all this reminds me of elaborate public grants infrastructure in Europe, that’s causing half of economy to focus on filling out checkboxes rather than listening to customers. not sure why, but it feels like the same instrument in different clothes.
May 25th, 2012 § Comments Off on #1 natural limit of web economy? Land! § permalink
Geeks live their lives peacefully in the online world most of the time, but every now and then reality hits us on our heads – this article beautifully outlines how old-fashioned housing legislation in silicon valley is limiting the ability of online business to grow.
THE financial press went ape this week over the highly anticipated IPO of one Facebook, the Harvard social network turned $100 billion phenomenon. Facebook’s soaring valuation has focused attention on a Silicon Valley that is once again booming, and it has led many to wonder whether social networking isn’t inflating into yet another tech bubble.
via: www.economist.com
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
May 24th, 2012 § Comments Off on is it a feature or a business? § permalink
YouTube business model canvas sketch by Alexander Osterwalder (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
this article hits on a very important distinction but their point so short-sighted:
It’s almost comical to say there is a new business reality at play. This is because there are so many forces at work lately, that it seems as though new realities are created and killed almost every quarter. Opportunistic turbulence is probably the best term for it. I’d like to call one out for review Features can be business models.
via: www.cruc.es
‘feature’ is just a different way of calling the product’, or maybe, a ‘small product’. but to make it a business, you have to build the business infrastructure around the ‘feature’ – user acquisition, sales, financial controlling, hr, etc…
the only thing that changes is, that you can start with a ‘feature’ and build the rest later. but you better be prepared to do that, or you’ll miss your opportunity.
May 23rd, 2012 § § permalink
iceland (Photo credit: osmium)
Iceland has a unique opportunity to lead the world by defining a Internet Enterprise Zone, Brad Burnham of Union Square Ventures defined this term to me while he was in Iceland. What do we mean by this IEZ? We mean a Policy framework focused on allowing innovation in the Internet space.
via: blog.startupiceland.com
I recently visited Iceland (again) and had a privilege to meet some of young entrepreneurs there. The amount of startups and interest in
entrepreneurship is amazing, specially if you consider that the whole country is the size of Ljubljana, Slovenia Capital.
The locals told me that the financial crisis hit everyday people pretty badly, specially because they actually weren’t doing anything wrong –
normal people were as scrappy as you’d expect from a scandinavian. They have also been very resourceful throughout history, probably a result of
harsh weather and soil conditions.
Oh, and every citizen has Facebook profile, which makes them super efficient at forming a new constitution. The rest of us should observe and learn.
May 22nd, 2012 § Comments Off on Online ‘dating service’ for tech jobs § permalink
An example of one of True’s online ads. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’m not surprised by this approach:
In today’s tech scene, matching professionals to job openings may be more of a mating dance than a business transaction. Online dating services such as eHarmony and Match.com employ algorithms to match the compatibility of users, and then facilitates a way for them to connect.
via: www.zdnet.com
… however, I believe that what is essential for a successful match is not better algorithms, but teaching both parties to become aware and dare to spell out requirements and expectations. After you know what you are really looking for, and write it down in appropriate voice, the other party will recognize itself and apply, and everyone else who is not appropriate will look away.
embrace your quirkiness is what i’m trying to say. it will help you. with recruiting and with personal life.
this attitude helped many people find more rewarding jobs, like this community manager story. know what you want from your life, or take vacation / sabbatical.
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