A frequently asked question in panels on startups is whether it is possible to start a company by oneself. The answer is clearly yes and it has been done many times before. But there is a lot to be said for being able to work as a team. There are obvious benefits like being able to better cover the many disciplines required in a startup (for instance, we usually prefer founding teams that have at least one engineer on them). But there is also a more subtle benefit which I call creative differ...

A frequently asked question in panels on startups is whether it is possible to start a company by oneself. The answer is clearly yes and it has been done many times before. But there is a lot to be said for being able to work as a team. There are obvious benefits like being able to better cover the many disciplines required in a startup (for instance, we usually prefer founding teams that have at least one engineer on them). But there is also a more subtle benefit which I call creative differ...

Had lunch yesterday with my friend Alan Gould who co-founded IAG Research and recently sold the company to Nielsen. We talked a lot about the various types of measurement available in Internet advertising and how they influence ad buying. Alan is working hard to build a measurement platform for brand impact of display advertising and I believe that this is a crucial missing element. Despite Wenda Millard getting some flack the other day for complaining about the absence of “art” from a world ...

Had lunch yesterday with my friend Alan Gould who co-founded IAG Research and recently sold the company to Nielsen. We talked a lot about the various types of measurement available in Internet advertising and how they influence ad buying. Alan is working hard to build a measurement platform for brand impact of display advertising and I believe that this is a crucial missing element. Despite Wenda Millard getting some flack the other day for complaining about the absence of “art” from a world ...

The VC decision making process can feel opaque and at times even capricious for entrepreneurs. Part of the reason is that many VC firms have complex internal partnership dynamics. This is especially true for larger firms with many general partners, since those firms need to have a way to come to decisions on deals. That often means that some partners are more senior and have greater say. It helps if your deal is brought to the partnership by one of those senior partners. But it does not follo...

The VC decision making process can feel opaque and at times even capricious for entrepreneurs. Part of the reason is that many VC firms have complex internal partnership dynamics. This is especially true for larger firms with many general partners, since those firms need to have a way to come to decisions on deals. That often means that some partners are more senior and have greater say. It helps if your deal is brought to the partnership by one of those senior partners. But it does not follo...

One of my favorite themes is the slowness and profoundness of structural change. I was reminded of this in looking at my tax bill. We pay a lot of county taxes and it makes me wonder what counties are good for. They are sort of like middle management in the government hierarchy sitting between states and local communities. Now middle management has been under most pressure from the use of IT in companies. Information reporting and aggregation up the chain is becoming easier, as is the disseme...

One of my favorite themes is the slowness and profoundness of structural change. I was reminded of this in looking at my tax bill. We pay a lot of county taxes and it makes me wonder what counties are good for. They are sort of like middle management in the government hierarchy sitting between states and local communities. Now middle management has been under most pressure from the use of IT in companies. Information reporting and aggregation up the chain is becoming easier, as is the disseme...

As an entrepreneur when you bring you members of your team with you (whether they are part of your management team or advisors), there is always a possibility that someone will say something that you disagree with. As far as I am concerned it’s perfectly fine to have some level of disagreement with a couple of provisos. First, how you handle the disagreement is important. If you try to quelch it in the meeting that’s a very bad sign. If instead you are willing to address it head on and explai...

As an entrepreneur when you bring you members of your team with you (whether they are part of your management team or advisors), there is always a possibility that someone will say something that you disagree with. As far as I am concerned it’s perfectly fine to have some level of disagreement with a couple of provisos. First, how you handle the disagreement is important. If you try to quelch it in the meeting that’s a very bad sign. If instead you are willing to address it head on and explai...

Beating the iPhone is a tall order and it’s unclear that anyone is even close. Yes folks have good looking phones and are matching some of the other features of the iPhone, but as a completely packaged easy to use consumer product there does not seem to be a real contender. Yet the iPhone has one potential Achilles heel. For the time being anyhow, Apple has decided to expose some of the core capabilities of the phone only to “native” apps, i.e. those downloaded and installed via the Apple App...

Beating the iPhone is a tall order and it’s unclear that anyone is even close. Yes folks have good looking phones and are matching some of the other features of the iPhone, but as a completely packaged easy to use consumer product there does not seem to be a real contender. Yet the iPhone has one potential Achilles heel. For the time being anyhow, Apple has decided to expose some of the core capabilities of the phone only to “native” apps, i.e. those downloaded and installed via the Apple App...

We are seeking a Technology Connector. If that describes you please make sure to write to info@unionsquareventures.com!

We are seeking a Technology Connector. If that describes you please make sure to write to info@unionsquareventures.com!

Is there a technical reason for why the air conditioning in most buildings seems to be set to “FREEZING”? I mean what is wrong with say 78 degrees? Does it really have to be 65 or below inside when it is 85 or 90+ outside? In our home I always try to run the AC to remove humidity and provide an acceptable temperature level but not to turn the place into a meatlocker. I wonder how significant a dent in peak electricity consumption could be achieved by more moderate air conditioning. Would seem...

Is there a technical reason for why the air conditioning in most buildings seems to be set to “FREEZING”? I mean what is wrong with say 78 degrees? Does it really have to be 65 or below inside when it is 85 or 90+ outside? In our home I always try to run the AC to remove humidity and provide an acceptable temperature level but not to turn the place into a meatlocker. I wonder how significant a dent in peak electricity consumption could be achieved by more moderate air conditioning. Would seem...

A while ago I called the Large Hadron Collider a “Sucker’s Bet." It’s time for an update because the LHC Safety Assessment Group (or LSAG) has published its long awaited report on the safety of the collider. I am clearly completely unqualified to argue any of this on the substance, but the process is broken. This is yet another paper by a bunch of scientists (in this case five) who present their findings in a static PDF, at the end of having spent considerable time looking at the potential ri...

A while ago I called the Large Hadron Collider a “Sucker’s Bet." It’s time for an update because the LHC Safety Assessment Group (or LSAG) has published its long awaited report on the safety of the collider. I am clearly completely unqualified to argue any of this on the substance, but the process is broken. This is yet another paper by a bunch of scientists (in this case five) who present their findings in a static PDF, at the end of having spent considerable time looking at the potential ri...

My first word processor experience was on an Apple II - I have forgotten which program I liked best, but they were all fairly capable. This was over 25 years ago. When I look at how I use Microsoft Word today, not much has changed. Sure I will occasionally make use of some nice features like revision tracking, but there is nothing fundamentally different about the experience. In particular there seems to be no leveraging of the enormous compute power of modern machines and the fact that we ar...

My first word processor experience was on an Apple II - I have forgotten which program I liked best, but they were all fairly capable. This was over 25 years ago. When I look at how I use Microsoft Word today, not much has changed. Sure I will occasionally make use of some nice features like revision tracking, but there is nothing fundamentally different about the experience. In particular there seems to be no leveraging of the enormous compute power of modern machines and the fact that we ar...