
Hacking avc.com
August 20th, 2013 § 1 comment § permalink

Best Book about Zemanta in NYC
March 18th, 2013 § 1 comment § permalink

I gave several book interviews since starting Zemanta and moving to NYC, most of them in the last 18 months. Lots of authors are exploring the technology revolution that we were fortunate to participate in.
Books are coming this year, discussing it from various angles – comparatively with .com boom, the rise of entrepreneurship Europe, new entrepreneurship as a lifestyle, … It is no surprise to me, that the first book to actually publish is the one specifically celebrating NY tech community and agility and resilience.
Tech and the City became available on Kindle two days ago, and hardcopies are coming in April. I received the notification from the authors this morning, and already I’m half way trough it. It’s that good.
It starts with an amazingly inspiring foreword by Fred Wilson, which alone is worth the $2.99, as it perfectly outlines the mental model of the greatest city on the planet. After that, the book only gets better, weaving the story trough fragments of conversations with participants in the ecosystem, rather than lazily throwing together yet another series of interviews. This enables the book to read like a travel diary, rather than a self-hype-help business manual.
For the finish, the authors have collected a very comprehensive list of the NY tech ecosystem institutions – vc’s, events, co-working spaces and competitions. They have also published them on the official blog of the book.
It’s cheap and it’s short, and it’s awesome. Go read it and learn how you should be thinking about helping entrepreneurs in your cities / countries.
Related articles
Union Square Ventures adds technology ‘advocate’ to its payroll – how about other experts?
May 8th, 2012 § Comments Off on Union Square Ventures adds technology ‘advocate’ to its payroll – how about other experts? § permalink

Great and important move, that USV probably decided to do because it has to be done right and there is nobody else who would take it on themselves.
Union Square Ventures adds technology ‘advocate’ to its payroll
It’s an established fact that technology and politics are increasingly finding themselves at loggerheads with one another, as issues of privacy, piracy, and copyright, not to mention net neutrality and media consolidation cut a larger profile on the national stage.
via: thenextweb.com
I was actually thinking recently that a different kind of activity would make sense for early stage VC – provide experts in residence for their startups, for instance: cutting edge virality ninjas, scalability/big data experts, startups finance expert… these guys should be seasoned, amazing, unaffordable by a normal startup, but if shared amongst a portfolio, they could really make a huge difference.
Related articles
- Win lunch with Albert, Fred and Brad from Union Square Ventures (twilio.com)
- Which tech VCs get name-dropped the most? (news.cnet.com)
The Content Industry has Made Everybody a Pirate [Video]
March 5th, 2012 § Comments Off on The Content Industry has Made Everybody a Pirate [Video] § permalink

not sure why i skipped this when it was happening, but Fred is totally right on this one.
The Content Industry has Made Everybody a Pirate [Video]
Fred Wilson, managing partner at Union Square Ventures, passionately argues that “everybody is a pirate” of copyrighted digital content because internet content isn’t convenient for consumption. The content delivery system is flawed, he believes, and “in a world where everybody is breaking the law, you got to look at the law: is it the right law?
via: www.geeksaresexy.net
his argument reminds me of public trash cans situation – if you feel people should trow less garbage on the streets, the first thing to do is to put up more trash bins, not increase the fines.
Related articles
blacklisting pirates?
February 17th, 2012 § Comments Off on blacklisting pirates? § permalink

This is dangerous thinking:
SOPA foe Fred Wilson says everyone is a pirate, but supports a blacklist for pirate sites | VentureBeat
“If we created an independent body that essentially created a black and white list,†Wilson told a crowd of media executives at the Paley Center in New York. “The black list are those sites we all know are bad news. We all know who the good guys are who are truly licensed and are operating legitimately. And we know who the bad guys are.†CNET reports that Wilson named Hulu, Netflix, Rdio, Spotify and Rhapsody among the good guys.
I highly respect Fred’s intuition for solving complex problems. he is usually right about these things, but blacklisting is dangerous per-se, because it’s really a question about authority – who could possibly be authoritative enough to judge if a site is a ‘well known pirate’?
I will not state all the obvious examples from history where this type of thinking went awry, but the fact that it is even debated is an indicator that the topic is important. engage with it before it’s too late.
Related articles
- Post SOPA, influential tech investor favors ‘blacklisting’ pirate sites (news.cnet.com)
- Google blacklists The Pirate Bay (pocket-lint.com)
- Stop the Blacklisting of Migrant Workers (northernbarbarians.wordpress.com)
- Why I Research the Blacklist (dramaturgchick.wordpress.com)
- India’s Former Space Boss on Blacklist (91live.wordpress.com)
Best Book for Entrepreneurs
October 6th, 2010 § 1 comment § permalink
OK, So I have a wish.
I wish there was a publisher who would gather best posts from best business/entrepreneurship/marketing bloggers and publish them as an eBook, so that fresh entrepreneurs can read all about their future in advance. I guarantee it will boost innovation like anything!
Here’s my list, add to it, and if we come up with decent Table of contents, maybe it will write itself 😉
- Josh Kopleman
- Fred Wilson
- Mark Andreesen
- Paul Graham
- Dave Mclure
- Andrew Chen
- Brian Solis
- Eric Ries
- David Skok
Related articles by Zemanta
- The Lean Startup Bundle (startuplessonslearned.com)
- Ask a VC: Fred Wilson Gives Blunt Answers to Your Questions (TCTV) (techcrunch.com)
- Ask a VC: Chris Dixon Is Waiting to Answer Your Questions (techcrunch.com)