Managed to get into Google+ last night and here are some very early impressions. First, there is a lot to learn and explore. They clearly built a ton of different things and it will take folks, myself included, a while to figure it all out. It does feel a bit like they wanted to take on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook in one fell swoop, which is a tall order. Second, it does still feel a bit rushed because stuff doesn’t hang together all that well yet. For instance, navigating from circles to th...

Managed to get into Google+ last night and here are some very early impressions. First, there is a lot to learn and explore. They clearly built a ton of different things and it will take folks, myself included, a while to figure it all out. It does feel a bit like they wanted to take on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook in one fell swoop, which is a tall order. Second, it does still feel a bit rushed because stuff doesn’t hang together all that well yet. For instance, navigating from circles to th...

I am excited on many levels to see Google release Google+. First, it was about time that Facebook faced some head on competition. If nothing else it will make Facebook better. Competition is a healthy thing. Second, I like the idea of trying a different cut on how to organize people and relationships. We have had friends and followers, groups and lists, and now we have circles (incidentally, Etsy has had circles for a while). There are two important issues that I am really curious about when ...

I am excited on many levels to see Google release Google+. First, it was about time that Facebook faced some head on competition. If nothing else it will make Facebook better. Competition is a healthy thing. Second, I like the idea of trying a different cut on how to organize people and relationships. We have had friends and followers, groups and lists, and now we have circles (incidentally, Etsy has had circles for a while). There are two important issues that I am really curious about when ...

Apple app store subscription policy is a clear case of overreaching. I have written before about how I don’t think the 30% take rate for Apple is justified or sustainable. Extending that pricing to an ongoing relationship is particularly problematic. The argument – made by no less than Jobs himself – that Apple should be entitled to a 30% cut for a “new subscriber” seems to suggest that these subscribers simply would not exist without Apple. While true that Apple has built a hugely innovative...

Apple app store subscription policy is a clear case of overreaching. I have written before about how I don’t think the 30% take rate for Apple is justified or sustainable. Extending that pricing to an ongoing relationship is particularly problematic. The argument – made by no less than Jobs himself – that Apple should be entitled to a 30% cut for a “new subscriber” seems to suggest that these subscribers simply would not exist without Apple. While true that Apple has built a hugely innovative...

I have had a number of conversations with entrepreneurs recently where it became clear that their own personal dislike for email/twitter/Facebook/mobile notifications stood in the way of growth. It would be nice to think that you could build a service that is so awesome that everyone who discovers it will (a) instantly get all their friends to use it and (b) keep coming back all the time. But that rarely happens. Instead, there is a lot more evidence to suggest that it is much harder to err o...

I have had a number of conversations with entrepreneurs recently where it became clear that their own personal dislike for email/twitter/Facebook/mobile notifications stood in the way of growth. It would be nice to think that you could build a service that is so awesome that everyone who discovers it will (a) instantly get all their friends to use it and (b) keep coming back all the time. But that rarely happens. Instead, there is a lot more evidence to suggest that it is much harder to err o...

Yes, I realize that’s a contradiction, but it seems to capture the essence of deals such as Goldman’s investment in Facebook at a $50B valuation and Groupon’s half-complete $950 million fundraising effort. These deals are designed to provide significant liquidity for insiders (especially early investors and employees), provide a piggy bank for continued aggressive growth and establish a share price for use in acquisitions. Those are all the things that companies traditionally got from an IPO....

Yes, I realize that’s a contradiction, but it seems to capture the essence of deals such as Goldman’s investment in Facebook at a $50B valuation and Groupon’s half-complete $950 million fundraising effort. These deals are designed to provide significant liquidity for insiders (especially early investors and employees), provide a piggy bank for continued aggressive growth and establish a share price for use in acquisitions. Those are all the things that companies traditionally got from an IPO....

Listening to Mark Zuckerberg yesterday at W2Summit was fascinating. First, I have seen Mark’s performance on stage go from awkward and tentative three years ago to assured and compelling now. Second, it couldn’t be clearer that Mark is singularly in control of Facebook and aggressively building an organization that can deliver at top speed and scale. Third, Mark’s ambition and sense of what’s possible for Facebook are huge. He is very clear that getting to 500 million active users is just the...

Listening to Mark Zuckerberg yesterday at W2Summit was fascinating. First, I have seen Mark’s performance on stage go from awkward and tentative three years ago to assured and compelling now. Second, it couldn’t be clearer that Mark is singularly in control of Facebook and aggressively building an organization that can deliver at top speed and scale. Third, Mark’s ambition and sense of what’s possible for Facebook are huge. He is very clear that getting to 500 million active users is just the...

The rumor is that Facebook will on Monday unveil a fairly full fledged webmail solution. At the same time Google is working hard on some kind of new social network. Microsoft too is trying to have email, search, social, etc. all under one roof. The rationale here seems to be one of wanting to own as much of a user’s experience as possible. It is supported by an economic logic in which companies are making lots of money in one area and using that to subsidize other parts of functionality. Once...

The rumor is that Facebook will on Monday unveil a fairly full fledged webmail solution. At the same time Google is working hard on some kind of new social network. Microsoft too is trying to have email, search, social, etc. all under one roof. The rationale here seems to be one of wanting to own as much of a user’s experience as possible. It is supported by an economic logic in which companies are making lots of money in one area and using that to subsidize other parts of functionality. Once...

At USV, we have long believed in “Social Objects." In the real world when people talk they often form a connection around objects, such as sharing a common interest in a movie. That was our thesis behind investing in GetGlue. Alex and the team there have done an amazing job delivering on that idea. When you have the Glue extension installed in your browser, you can connect with friends and discover new people around "social objects,” such as movies, books, etc. The power of Glue derives from ...

At USV, we have long believed in “Social Objects." In the real world when people talk they often form a connection around objects, such as sharing a common interest in a movie. That was our thesis behind investing in GetGlue. Alex and the team there have done an amazing job delivering on that idea. When you have the Glue extension installed in your browser, you can connect with friends and discover new people around "social objects,” such as movies, books, etc. The power of Glue derives from ...

Despite their best efforts to screw up the Mac client, I still love Skype both as a consumer service and as an independent company. Back when eBay decided to spin out Skype to private investors instead of waiting and spinning it out to eBay holders I was surprised (to put it mildly). Now I am equally surprised at the thought of Skype selling to Google or Facebook instead of going public. Does the team behind Skype have so little faith in their ability to be a meaningful independent company? S...

Despite their best efforts to screw up the Mac client, I still love Skype both as a consumer service and as an independent company. Back when eBay decided to spin out Skype to private investors instead of waiting and spinning it out to eBay holders I was surprised (to put it mildly). Now I am equally surprised at the thought of Skype selling to Google or Facebook instead of going public. Does the team behind Skype have so little faith in their ability to be a meaningful independent company? S...

Following f8, there has been a new explosion of discussion around Facebook’s voracious data gathering. For instance, Facebook keeps cookies on your machine even when you are logged out which allows them at least in principle to track your visits to sites with Facebook social plugins. Add to that the Ticker, which is really just Beacon redux with better timing and some semblance of an opt-in, and you have a ton of data on your activities on the web flowing to Facebook. Since I have been bother...

Following f8, there has been a new explosion of discussion around Facebook’s voracious data gathering. For instance, Facebook keeps cookies on your machine even when you are logged out which allows them at least in principle to track your visits to sites with Facebook social plugins. Add to that the Ticker, which is really just Beacon redux with better timing and some semblance of an opt-in, and you have a ton of data on your activities on the web flowing to Facebook. Since I have been bother...