The Internet makes possible unprecedented levels of transparency. That is why it all the more disconcerting that large government programs operate entirely in secret. Nick Grossman has an important post up today on the USV blog about starting by giving companies the right to disclose government information requests and also requiring government to provide the same information. Here is a key section:We can start to do this by being open about the extent of data sharing between internet compani...

The Internet makes possible unprecedented levels of transparency. That is why it all the more disconcerting that large government programs operate entirely in secret. Nick Grossman has an important post up today on the USV blog about starting by giving companies the right to disclose government information requests and also requiring government to provide the same information. Here is a key section:We can start to do this by being open about the extent of data sharing between internet compani...

The Wall Street Journal had an opinion piece earlier this week with the tantalizing title “Metadata Liberation Movement” that reflects some of my thinking on network analysis. The column asks an important question: “With respect to the […] metadata surveillance, why is it conducted by a secret agency at all?” If this kind of analysis works then we should use it for a lot more than fighting terrorism. Possible use cases include fighting crime more generally, human trafficking and organized cri...

The Wall Street Journal had an opinion piece earlier this week with the tantalizing title “Metadata Liberation Movement” that reflects some of my thinking on network analysis. The column asks an important question: “With respect to the […] metadata surveillance, why is it conducted by a secret agency at all?” If this kind of analysis works then we should use it for a lot more than fighting terrorism. Possible use cases include fighting crime more generally, human trafficking and organized cri...

Today marks the first edition of what will be Homeschooling Wednesdays (not sure it will be every Wednesday, we’ll see). We have been making good progress finding guides and tutors but still are interested in meeting more people, so if you know someone who would be great, please send them our way! One of the goals of going back to homeschooling is to allow for enough time and focus to go really deep on one interest. That interest doesn’t have to be academic and in fact right now it looks like...

Today marks the first edition of what will be Homeschooling Wednesdays (not sure it will be every Wednesday, we’ll see). We have been making good progress finding guides and tutors but still are interested in meeting more people, so if you know someone who would be great, please send them our way! One of the goals of going back to homeschooling is to allow for enough time and focus to go really deep on one interest. That interest doesn’t have to be academic and in fact right now it looks like...

I am thrilled that Jack Hidary is running for Mayor of New York City! There are many things that set Jack apart from the field of candidates, but three stand out as critical to me: 1. Jack understands technology and its importance for how a modern city should operate and what kind of opportunities it creates. Compare that for example to Anthony Weiner’s comments about Makerbot and Uber. 2. Jack champions entrepreneurship and project based learning as critical to solving many of the issues we ...

I am thrilled that Jack Hidary is running for Mayor of New York City! There are many things that set Jack apart from the field of candidates, but three stand out as critical to me: 1. Jack understands technology and its importance for how a modern city should operate and what kind of opportunities it creates. Compare that for example to Anthony Weiner’s comments about Makerbot and Uber. 2. Jack champions entrepreneurship and project based learning as critical to solving many of the issues we ...

Not that long ago when I was still living in the suburbs the next town over embarked on a massive construction project for a big new public library. I recall thinking at the time: but what will they put there? Of course books aren’t going away over night but still if you are on the board of a public library it is not difficult to envision a time where you need a lot less space for books. What should you be doing instead? One interesting answer to that question is coming out of Chicago, which ...

Not that long ago when I was still living in the suburbs the next town over embarked on a massive construction project for a big new public library. I recall thinking at the time: but what will they put there? Of course books aren’t going away over night but still if you are on the board of a public library it is not difficult to envision a time where you need a lot less space for books. What should you be doing instead? One interesting answer to that question is coming out of Chicago, which ...

It is well worth reading the arstechnica piece on the Apple ebook price collusion verdict in full. This is the perfect case study of what happens in markets where some participants have too much power. It is fascinating to see how at first Amazon was using its then 90% market share in the ebook market to drive prices down (all the while paying wholesale rates to publishers). Then Apple got together with the handful or publishers that control most of the books to come up with a different (and ...

It is well worth reading the arstechnica piece on the Apple ebook price collusion verdict in full. This is the perfect case study of what happens in markets where some participants have too much power. It is fascinating to see how at first Amazon was using its then 90% market share in the ebook market to drive prices down (all the while paying wholesale rates to publishers). Then Apple got together with the handful or publishers that control most of the books to come up with a different (and ...

One of my favorite quotes is William Gibson’s “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.” He apparently said this for the first time as far back as 1993 and it seems more true today than ever. We now have self driving cars and heel-to-toe walking robots. And at the same time we stil have a few hunter gatherer societies that live almost entirely untouched by civilization. But what is most striking to me is that many of the conflicts around the world seem to be about t...

One of my favorite quotes is William Gibson’s “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.” He apparently said this for the first time as far back as 1993 and it seems more true today than ever. We now have self driving cars and heel-to-toe walking robots. And at the same time we stil have a few hunter gatherer societies that live almost entirely untouched by civilization. But what is most striking to me is that many of the conflicts around the world seem to be about t...

Today was an important day for Benefit Corporations: Governor Markell signed a Delaware Benefit Corporation Statute into law. I had the pleasure of presenting an investor perspective at the signing. Here is roughly what I said: Our problem as society is no longer how to make more stuff. Cars, clothes, computers are all becoming better and cheaper. A trend that will only accelerate with new technologies and increased globalization. Purely shareholder value driven companies have done a good job...

Today was an important day for Benefit Corporations: Governor Markell signed a Delaware Benefit Corporation Statute into law. I had the pleasure of presenting an investor perspective at the signing. Here is roughly what I said: Our problem as society is no longer how to make more stuff. Cars, clothes, computers are all becoming better and cheaper. A trend that will only accelerate with new technologies and increased globalization. Purely shareholder value driven companies have done a good job...

Several of the past Tech Tuesdays have been about topics that often get short shrift in startups, including security, backup and disaster recovery planning. Today I want to write about another topic in that annoying-but-needs-some-attention category: documentation. One of my very first experiences in commercial software development had me working as a 17-year old in a small software company in my hometown in Germany. The project they dumped into my lap was to port an accounting system from an...

Several of the past Tech Tuesdays have been about topics that often get short shrift in startups, including security, backup and disaster recovery planning. Today I want to write about another topic in that annoying-but-needs-some-attention category: documentation. One of my very first experiences in commercial software development had me working as a 17-year old in a small software company in my hometown in Germany. The project they dumped into my lap was to port an accounting system from an...