My partner Brad has a post up this morning on the USV blog detailing our view why Internet Access Should be Application Agnostic. This is an important topic as it is central to continued innovation by startups on the Internet (see for instance my post titled Net Neutrality is Critical for Innnovation). Because some people will immediately go off saying things like “don’t regulate the Internet” or “regulation is bad for innovation,” I want to emphasize three critical points. First, this is not...

My partner Brad has a post up this morning on the USV blog detailing our view why Internet Access Should be Application Agnostic. This is an important topic as it is central to continued innovation by startups on the Internet (see for instance my post titled Net Neutrality is Critical for Innnovation). Because some people will immediately go off saying things like “don’t regulate the Internet” or “regulation is bad for innovation,” I want to emphasize three critical points. First, this is not...

I have sadly reached a point, where two things are happening with email despite my best efforts. First, I often write very short answers to emails. These answers could easily be perceived as rude even though that is not the intention. I remember that in the past it used to bug me a bit getting these really short replies back from people and now here I am doing it myself. The reason this happens is because I try to reply to certain emails right when I see them instead of letting them get pushe...

I have sadly reached a point, where two things are happening with email despite my best efforts. First, I often write very short answers to emails. These answers could easily be perceived as rude even though that is not the intention. I remember that in the past it used to bug me a bit getting these really short replies back from people and now here I am doing it myself. The reason this happens is because I try to reply to certain emails right when I see them instead of letting them get pushe...

Yesterday’s post about the Google-Groupon deal generated a lot of views and comments and two important lessons. First, on a “meta” level there was a lesson about blogging. While I had known this to some degree before, for stimulating dialog it is far better to write about a current topic and take a one-sided approach. The important lesson though that I am still learning is that one then needs to be open to actually engaging with the comments. Disqus is a wonderful tool for doing that as I can...

Yesterday’s post about the Google-Groupon deal generated a lot of views and comments and two important lessons. First, on a “meta” level there was a lesson about blogging. While I had known this to some degree before, for stimulating dialog it is far better to write about a current topic and take a one-sided approach. The important lesson though that I am still learning is that one then needs to be open to actually engaging with the comments. Disqus is a wonderful tool for doing that as I can...

It’s too soon to know how long Germany’s current apparent economic strength will last or if it is even entirely for real. Nonetheless, there is one interesting aspect of German employment policy that is worth considering because it appears to be working. Germany has the concept of “Kurzarbeit,” which literally translated means “Shortwork." It is a program that permits companies to keep employees partially employed with the government funding some (but not all) the balance to their most recent...

It’s too soon to know how long Germany’s current apparent economic strength will last or if it is even entirely for real. Nonetheless, there is one interesting aspect of German employment policy that is worth considering because it appears to be working. Germany has the concept of “Kurzarbeit,” which literally translated means “Shortwork." It is a program that permits companies to keep employees partially employed with the government funding some (but not all) the balance to their most recent...

Over the holiday several events happened that illustrate that we are facing a clear and present danger to the freedom of the Internet. It started with the US government seizing a bunch of domains that were accused of participating in copyright infringement. The action and its aftermath illustrate two important points. First, despite seeking more powers under the awful COICA, the government is already asserting the legality of controlling DNS and seizing domain names. Second, several of the af...

Over the holiday several events happened that illustrate that we are facing a clear and present danger to the freedom of the Internet. It started with the US government seizing a bunch of domains that were accused of participating in copyright infringement. The action and its aftermath illustrate two important points. First, despite seeking more powers under the awful COICA, the government is already asserting the legality of controlling DNS and seizing domain names. Second, several of the af...

I am about to do something I haven’t done since becoming “hyper connected” - I am about to go off the grid. I will be traveling to a region sufficiently remote not to have cell phone coverage and there will be no wifi either. I am both excited and a bit nervous about this prospect. The excitement part comes from anticipating that I might relax more, have more time to think without interruption, more time for the people around me, etc. The nervousness arises from having a ton of things going o...

I am about to do something I haven’t done since becoming “hyper connected” - I am about to go off the grid. I will be traveling to a region sufficiently remote not to have cell phone coverage and there will be no wifi either. I am both excited and a bit nervous about this prospect. The excitement part comes from anticipating that I might relax more, have more time to think without interruption, more time for the people around me, etc. The nervousness arises from having a ton of things going o...

On one hand I can understand Google’s aggressive interest in Groupon. Groupon appears to be one of the few companies that has cracked the code on making money from local businesses. Groupon’s revenues are rumored to be around $50 million per month, which is impressive. But there are at least two fundamental compatibility problems. First, Groupon is a feet on the street business employing over 3,000 people globally. So at $600 million in annual revenues, that amounts to only $200,000 of annual...

On one hand I can understand Google’s aggressive interest in Groupon. Groupon appears to be one of the few companies that has cracked the code on making money from local businesses. Groupon’s revenues are rumored to be around $50 million per month, which is impressive. But there are at least two fundamental compatibility problems. First, Groupon is a feet on the street business employing over 3,000 people globally. So at $600 million in annual revenues, that amounts to only $200,000 of annual...

There are two bad habits in car drivers that I find quite annoying: not pulling into the intersection and not signaling turns. The two in combination can dramatically reduce the throughput of an intersection. Unfortunately, one of those intersections is between our house and the train station. Most of the time I walk to and from the station, so this does not affect me. The few times that I am in a car, however, also tend to be the ones that I am in a rush so this winds up being especially ann...

There are two bad habits in car drivers that I find quite annoying: not pulling into the intersection and not signaling turns. The two in combination can dramatically reduce the throughput of an intersection. Unfortunately, one of those intersections is between our house and the train station. Most of the time I walk to and from the station, so this does not affect me. The few times that I am in a car, however, also tend to be the ones that I am in a rush so this winds up being especially ann...

Whenever I have an idea for a blog post, I add it to a running list. The idea for today’s post came to me during Web 2 Summit and I wish I had posted it then because it would look more prescient. Oh well – here it goes a bit late. Yesterday reports surfaced that Microsoft is working on a new TV service that would be an alternative to the offerings from cable providers. That could be terrific for consumers by expanding choice and finally driving down price, assuming for a moment that bandwidth...

Whenever I have an idea for a blog post, I add it to a running list. The idea for today’s post came to me during Web 2 Summit and I wish I had posted it then because it would look more prescient. Oh well – here it goes a bit late. Yesterday reports surfaced that Microsoft is working on a new TV service that would be an alternative to the offerings from cable providers. That could be terrific for consumers by expanding choice and finally driving down price, assuming for a moment that bandwidth...

There is so much going on with Wikileaks that it’s hard to know where to start. Here are some of the questions that I am thinking about: Will the cable leaks make diplomacy harder or easier? Is the answer different for the long-term versus the short-term? A foundational question for this is: what is the role of secrecy in negotiations? And more generally in relationship, business, government? What is the system and procedure design that made it possible for Pfc. Manning to access this much da...

There is so much going on with Wikileaks that it’s hard to know where to start. Here are some of the questions that I am thinking about: Will the cable leaks make diplomacy harder or easier? Is the answer different for the long-term versus the short-term? A foundational question for this is: what is the role of secrecy in negotiations? And more generally in relationship, business, government? What is the system and procedure design that made it possible for Pfc. Manning to access this much da...