Much of the regulation that we have in the financial markets (and other markets for that matter) predates the Internet. While there has been the occasional patch here and there, too many anachronistic concepts remain that should simply be eliminated entirely. My favorite example is the “quiet period." As even the SEC notes on their own web site, the quiet period isn’t even found in federal securities law. Instead, as this blast-from-the-first-bubble-past article from Wired describes, the quie...

Much of the regulation that we have in the financial markets (and other markets for that matter) predates the Internet. While there has been the occasional patch here and there, too many anachronistic concepts remain that should simply be eliminated entirely. My favorite example is the “quiet period." As even the SEC notes on their own web site, the quiet period isn’t even found in federal securities law. Instead, as this blast-from-the-first-bubble-past article from Wired describes, the quie...

I am probably not the first to come up with this analogy (and I am on a flight without wifi, so I can’t look it up either) but it just struck me that there are big parallels between SOPA and Prohibition. How? In that the unintended consequences will far outweigh the benefits, especially when it comes to crime. Prohibition didn’t stop the consumption of alcohol. It just drove it underground. In doing so it not only supported the creation of a large infrastructure for illegal activity (e.g. gam...

I am probably not the first to come up with this analogy (and I am on a flight without wifi, so I can’t look it up either) but it just struck me that there are big parallels between SOPA and Prohibition. How? In that the unintended consequences will far outweigh the benefits, especially when it comes to crime. Prohibition didn’t stop the consumption of alcohol. It just drove it underground. In doing so it not only supported the creation of a large infrastructure for illegal activity (e.g. gam...

So Facebook settled with the FTC over privacy and Mark Zuckerberg wrote another apologetic blog post (as pointed out by Liz Gannes this is his tenth). Part of the need for these apologies comes from Facebook’s aggressive approach to releasing features which at some level is admirable in a company of their scale. But what is really driving the problems is a fundamental conundrum about privacy in the digital age. Anything that was private a second ago can be made public by someone else with oft...

So Facebook settled with the FTC over privacy and Mark Zuckerberg wrote another apologetic blog post (as pointed out by Liz Gannes this is his tenth). Part of the need for these apologies comes from Facebook’s aggressive approach to releasing features which at some level is admirable in a company of their scale. But what is really driving the problems is a fundamental conundrum about privacy in the digital age. Anything that was private a second ago can be made public by someone else with oft...

I ended last week’s Tech Tuesday on Input/Output saying I might write next about programming in assembly language, but it has since occurred to me that I should cover at least one other high level topic first: operating systems. That seems more logical since the operating system (OS) is what makes all the parts of a computer system work together. In fact, I alluded to that last week in the context of the device drivers that are used by the OS to get data to and from peripherals such as a keyb...

I ended last week’s Tech Tuesday on Input/Output saying I might write next about programming in assembly language, but it has since occurred to me that I should cover at least one other high level topic first: operating systems. That seems more logical since the operating system (OS) is what makes all the parts of a computer system work together. In fact, I alluded to that last week in the context of the device drivers that are used by the OS to get data to and from peripherals such as a keyb...

On Saturday, I went to see Hugo by Martin Scorsese with our two boys and my Mom who is visiting from Germany. It was my Mom’s first 3D movie and she was thoroughly enchanted by the effects, reaching for floating elements several times and loudly oohing. The 3D was used well throughout and with only a few “poke at the audience” moments that all more or less worked. As an aside: I noticed that the 3D glasses these days are less strongly polarized than I remember them and the movie felt relative...

On Saturday, I went to see Hugo by Martin Scorsese with our two boys and my Mom who is visiting from Germany. It was my Mom’s first 3D movie and she was thoroughly enchanted by the effects, reaching for floating elements several times and loudly oohing. The 3D was used well throughout and with only a few “poke at the audience” moments that all more or less worked. As an aside: I noticed that the 3D glasses these days are less strongly polarized than I remember them and the movie felt relative...

There have been many great posts about the various terms that go into a termsheet for a venture investment. As a result entrepreneurs are much better informed which is a good thing all around. I am still puzzled at times though at the approaches taken by both VC firms and entrepreneurs when it comes to actually negotiating a term sheet. Here are a few things that I have learned. For VCs (I have written about the VC side before, but this seems worth repeating): Behavior during the term sheet p...

There have been many great posts about the various terms that go into a termsheet for a venture investment. As a result entrepreneurs are much better informed which is a good thing all around. I am still puzzled at times though at the approaches taken by both VC firms and entrepreneurs when it comes to actually negotiating a term sheet. Here are a few things that I have learned. For VCs (I have written about the VC side before, but this seems worth repeating): Behavior during the term sheet p...

Since I am taking tomorrow and Friday off from blogging, I figured I would write about giving thanks today. I am finding a great many things to be thankful for from good health to amazing work (that frankly doesn’t feel like work at all). But the specific thing I have in mind today is giving thanks for and to the teachers in our lives. I am always encouraging our children to thank their teachers, whether it is in school or for a sport or hobby. I tell them to think ahead of time about what th...

Since I am taking tomorrow and Friday off from blogging, I figured I would write about giving thanks today. I am finding a great many things to be thankful for from good health to amazing work (that frankly doesn’t feel like work at all). But the specific thing I have in mind today is giving thanks for and to the teachers in our lives. I am always encouraging our children to thank their teachers, whether it is in school or for a sport or hobby. I tell them to think ahead of time about what th...

So far in Tech Tuesday we have taken a first look at how a computer does its work (processor), where it keeps data for quick access (memory), where data is kept longer term (storage) and how computers talk to each other (networking). Today’s topic is how to get data in and out of computers and to and from such things as printers, keyboards, screens, sensors, and more. These things are usually referred to as devices or peripherals. In the early days of computing many peripherals were relativel...

So far in Tech Tuesday we have taken a first look at how a computer does its work (processor), where it keeps data for quick access (memory), where data is kept longer term (storage) and how computers talk to each other (networking). Today’s topic is how to get data in and out of computers and to and from such things as printers, keyboards, screens, sensors, and more. These things are usually referred to as devices or peripherals. In the early days of computing many peripherals were relativel...

Yesterday, Techmeme was ablaze with posts about sharing on Facebook’s Open Graph. A CNet post by Molly Wood with the title “How Facebook is ruining sharing” appears to have kicked it all off. In it she argues that the automated (“frictionless”) sharing via Open Graph apps results in a lot more noise rather than signal. Marshall Kirkpartrick at RWW holds the same view in a piece titled “Why Facebook’s Seamless Sharing is Wrong”. Robert Scoble – not that surprisingly – is more optimistic about ...

Yesterday, Techmeme was ablaze with posts about sharing on Facebook’s Open Graph. A CNet post by Molly Wood with the title “How Facebook is ruining sharing” appears to have kicked it all off. In it she argues that the automated (“frictionless”) sharing via Open Graph apps results in a lot more noise rather than signal. Marshall Kirkpartrick at RWW holds the same view in a piece titled “Why Facebook’s Seamless Sharing is Wrong”. Robert Scoble – not that surprisingly – is more optimistic about ...

When we announced the USV investment in Shapeways a little over a year ago, I pointed out the potential to make New York City a global center for 3D printing. Since then the Shapeways team has done a lot to make that happen. Here are just a few of the highlights. First, the founders relocated themselves and their families from Eindhoven in the Netherlands to New York City. Then they proceeded to assemble an amazing team here that is building incredible stuff and fostering a great community. T...

When we announced the USV investment in Shapeways a little over a year ago, I pointed out the potential to make New York City a global center for 3D printing. Since then the Shapeways team has done a lot to make that happen. Here are just a few of the highlights. First, the founders relocated themselves and their families from Eindhoven in the Netherlands to New York City. Then they proceeded to assemble an amazing team here that is building incredible stuff and fostering a great community. T...