It turns out that seeking advice is one of the hardest things to do - at least it was for me for the longest time. Here is what I have learned from my own mistakes. First, it is critical to have some people you really trust. People who have good judgment. Who understand you as person and who care about your emotional and spiritual well being (not just your commercial success). There are a great many people who will want to give you advice and you can learn something from most folks, but when ...

It turns out that seeking advice is one of the hardest things to do - at least it was for me for the longest time. Here is what I have learned from my own mistakes. First, it is critical to have some people you really trust. People who have good judgment. Who understand you as person and who care about your emotional and spiritual well being (not just your commercial success). There are a great many people who will want to give you advice and you can learn something from most folks, but when ...

I have both a Kindle and an iPad and don’t see the latter replacing the former. They solve different problems for me, at least so far. I use the iPad primarily for browsing the web. Around the house (eg breakfast table, in bed) it is much nicer for that than having a laptop open and the Kindle is a non-starter for browsing. When it comes to reading books though the Kindle will remain my weapon of choice. It is lighter and easier to hold (and carry along in addition to my laptop). It has great...

I have both a Kindle and an iPad and don’t see the latter replacing the former. They solve different problems for me, at least so far. I use the iPad primarily for browsing the web. Around the house (eg breakfast table, in bed) it is much nicer for that than having a laptop open and the Kindle is a non-starter for browsing. When it comes to reading books though the Kindle will remain my weapon of choice. It is lighter and easier to hold (and carry along in addition to my laptop). It has great...

“Since all Promoted Tweets are organic Tweets, there is not a single “ad” in our Promoted Tweets platform that isn’t already an organic part of Twitter.” - From Twitter’s announcement of Promoted Tweets - together with a quality resonance score for tweets this is completely native to the service!

“Since all Promoted Tweets are organic Tweets, there is not a single “ad” in our Promoted Tweets platform that isn’t already an organic part of Twitter.” - From Twitter’s announcement of Promoted Tweets - together with a quality resonance score for tweets this is completely native to the service!

Last week we took a family vacation in Rio de Janeiro! We went to visit friends who had lived just up the street from us here for the past eight years but moved back to Rio (where they are from) a few months ago. I was excited because it was my first time in the southern hemisphere, my first time in South America, and my first BRIC country visit (Brazil, Russia, India, China – planning to visit all of them over the next couple of years). The most notable impressions from Rio were the palpable...

Last week we took a family vacation in Rio de Janeiro! We went to visit friends who had lived just up the street from us here for the past eight years but moved back to Rio (where they are from) a few months ago. I was excited because it was my first time in the southern hemisphere, my first time in South America, and my first BRIC country visit (Brazil, Russia, India, China – planning to visit all of them over the next couple of years). The most notable impressions from Rio were the palpable...

We just announced on the Union Square Ventures blog that we are hiring for two positions: an Analyst and a General Manager of the USV Network.

We just announced on the Union Square Ventures blog that we are hiring for two positions: an Analyst and a General Manager of the USV Network.

I have blogged in the past about threats to the open web and what to do about them. It is easy to be dismissive of concerns about Apple’s philosophy of control which necessitates a partially closed system. But there is a real danger in being so seduced by the sleekness of a device and its user experiece that one does not reflect on whether the trade-offs in terms of restrictions are actually worth it. That becomes all the more relevant as Apple is beginning to use control of the playing field...

I have blogged in the past about threats to the open web and what to do about them. It is easy to be dismissive of concerns about Apple’s philosophy of control which necessitates a partially closed system. But there is a real danger in being so seduced by the sleekness of a device and its user experiece that one does not reflect on whether the trade-offs in terms of restrictions are actually worth it. That becomes all the more relevant as Apple is beginning to use control of the playing field...

The big news of course isn’t multitasking, or unified inbox, but iAds and GameCenter. These are aimed squarely at making the iPhone (and iPad) a monetizable and viral platform to rival Facebook. Still this strategy seems flawed by being tied entirely to Apple Hardware. What percentage penetration of the handset market can Apple possibly achieve? Facebook on the other hand can reach any user on any device. Well … any device other than the iPhones (and iPads), where Apple can of course exercise...

The big news of course isn’t multitasking, or unified inbox, but iAds and GameCenter. These are aimed squarely at making the iPhone (and iPad) a monetizable and viral platform to rival Facebook. Still this strategy seems flawed by being tied entirely to Apple Hardware. What percentage penetration of the handset market can Apple possibly achieve? Facebook on the other hand can reach any user on any device. Well … any device other than the iPhones (and iPads), where Apple can of course exercise...

Yesterday I saw a tweet from Josh Kopelman and then this morning a post from Bijan about Senator Dodd’s financial reform bill suggesting that it would impose a 120 day review period on angel investing (which would be crazy). They are based on an article on the Huffington Post by Robert Litan from the Kauffman Foundation, titled “Proposed ‘Protections’ for Angel Investors are Unnecessary and Will Hurt America’s Job Creators." The article claims:All of this would change if Section 926 of the Do...

Yesterday I saw a tweet from Josh Kopelman and then this morning a post from Bijan about Senator Dodd’s financial reform bill suggesting that it would impose a 120 day review period on angel investing (which would be crazy). They are based on an article on the Huffington Post by Robert Litan from the Kauffman Foundation, titled “Proposed ‘Protections’ for Angel Investors are Unnecessary and Will Hurt America’s Job Creators." The article claims:All of this would change if Section 926 of the Do...

We were on family vacation through Sunday, so when our iPad arrived via UPS on Saturday nobody was home, which meant that we had to wait until Monday for it to be re-delivered. I wish I could share first impressions this morning, such as Bijan did this morning, but we frankly didn’t get that far. The iPad appears as a beautiful physical object, but when you turn it on it greets you in a very disappointing way: an icon asking you to connect it to iTunes via a cable! What a contrast with my exp...

We were on family vacation through Sunday, so when our iPad arrived via UPS on Saturday nobody was home, which meant that we had to wait until Monday for it to be re-delivered. I wish I could share first impressions this morning, such as Bijan did this morning, but we frankly didn’t get that far. The iPad appears as a beautiful physical object, but when you turn it on it greets you in a very disappointing way: an icon asking you to connect it to iTunes via a cable! What a contrast with my exp...

Yesterday Heyzap announced the launch of their platform for taking social games from Facebook to the rest of the web (coverage by Venturebeat and Techcrunch). This represents not only a terrific opportunity for both Heyzap and social game developers, but is also a perfect illustration of the lean side of the current fat versus lean discussion that has been unfolding between Ben Horowitz and my partner Fred Wilson (Ben’s response to Fred, my take). The Heyzap team did an amazing job over the l...

Yesterday Heyzap announced the launch of their platform for taking social games from Facebook to the rest of the web (coverage by Venturebeat and Techcrunch). This represents not only a terrific opportunity for both Heyzap and social game developers, but is also a perfect illustration of the lean side of the current fat versus lean discussion that has been unfolding between Ben Horowitz and my partner Fred Wilson (Ben’s response to Fred, my take). The Heyzap team did an amazing job over the l...