Thinking through a venture capital investment thesis.
I traditionally think about startup and investment opportunities through broad frames, sectors and trends; but in an effort to get a bit more tactical, here is a general investment thesis:
Products and services that build markets, networks and/or communities, Focused in industries with inefficient, [...]“Economic progress doesn’t care in the slightest how much you liked how things used to be” (link), stock photography edition.
John Harrington, Microstock Creates New Markets? – No, It Devastates Existing Ones:
Stop saying “microstock creates markets” and instead try “microstock markets are devastating existing profitable markets.”
Old photo, new visit; returning to India, one hop closer to home.
Wandering, Marine Drive, Mumbai, India, Jan 2008
My last visit to India during the winter of 2007-2008 feels like it was from another life, considering what’s happened between then and [...]
Related thoughts about how individuals can create businesses by living their lives and creating meaningful, culturally resonating experiences. Marketing through living, in a way.
Starting with an old thought from Business Models and Life Models, Interconnected:Business models based on creating value and expanding the pie are more powerful than business [...]
A short story about finishing strong, from the Batu Caves outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“Excuse me, but is it worth it, going up?”
I looked at him, obviously tired, struggling up the steps with his young child in his arms: young enough to crawl up into his arms, old enough to [...]
What I love about street stall eateries in Asian cities.
Delicacies, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I love the street stall eateries in Asian cities.
I love the easy pace, the small bit of calm and sense of time standing still amid the bustle of the streets [...]
A presentation about “Working Nowhere and Everywhere: The Zen of Running A Virtual Studio” by Christopher Natsuume, focusing on eight tips on how to run a virtual office.
You probably already know that creating better organizational and incentive structures for collaboration and value creation is a big interest of mine; below [...]
Continuing the line of thinking about personal APIs and personal RFPs, components of the broader trend in using algorithms to aid human decision-making.
Wings, Outstretched, Margaret River Mouth, Western Australia
Continuing a line of thinking from Powering Social Search through [...]
Dreams of Horizons, Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia
Robin Sloan, The Future of Media? Bet on Events:
What if the magÂaÂzine artiÂcle of the future, the album of the future, and the novel of the future are all the same thing?
And what [...]
How can social search be improved? By maintaining a standardized, publicly accessible database of the information and knowledge in people’s heads, and creating an easy way to access that information. In other words, a personal API. *
Damon Horowitz on the Aardvark company blog, The Real-Time People Web, discussing [...]
The views we endure on our journeys, for the views we enjoy at our destinations.
Horizons, Home, San Francisco, California
Horizons, Abroad, Cottesloe Beach, Perth, Australia
In January I released a free financial model to help entrepreneurs model and understand the story behind their business. After a lot of interest from entrepreneurs for a simplified version of that model, today I’m releasing a streamlined version that will make it easier for entrepreneurs to start [...]
Dead Zone, Virginia, USA
I’ll be largely offline for a little bit, living an active offline life in areas with limited Internet access. Not sure how much I’ll post from Perth, Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai over the next couple weeks. But trust that [...]
Masses, Muted, New York City, NY
Daniel Roth in Wired Magazine, The Answer Factory: Fast, Disposable, and Profitable as Hell:
… To appreciate the impact Demand is poised to have on the Web, imagine a classroom where one kid raises his hand [...]
Following up from the discussion at TribeCon about the power of making yourself uncomfortable, a recent story about putting the idea into practice on a New Orleans Halloween late night extended to a morning’s flying to Houston and San Francisco.
At TribeCon 2009 in New Orleans last week I got [...]
Life, overflowing; stories, created.
Life, Overflowing, Frenchmen St., Halloween, New Orleans, Louisiana (CLICK ON PHOTO ABOVE TO VIEW LARGER)
What’s not to love about this picture?
(For friends and the curious: more photos from Voodoo Music Experience, New Orleans, Halloween [...]
A short note about how feedback loops and communication standards impact the loci of control.
Judith D. Schwartz, What Jane Jacobs Can Teach Us About the Economy:
Jane Jacobs was an advocate of decentralization; her belief that economies function on a regional, as opposed to national, level has helped spur recent [...]
The details behind the panel discussion “Making Yourself Uncomfortable” at TribeCon 2009 last week in New Orleans, LA.
Last week at the inaugural TribeCon, a conference about the power of communities, I got the chance to participate on a panel called “Make Yourself Uncomfortable: How to Rawk a New [...]
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