March 2009
29 posts
4 tags
First Destruction, Then Creation
That is what real revolutions are like. The old stuff gets broken faster than the new stuff is put in its place…And so it is today. When someone demands to know how we are going to replace newspapers, they are really demanding to be told that we are not living through a revolution. They are demanding to be told that old systems won’t break before new systems are in place. They are...
“Read that again: streaming music startups don’t want more people using their...”
– The Sorry State Of Music Startups - Techcrunch, 3/27/09.
Arrington at his best.
2 tags
It's All About The Customer
I’d like to take a moment to gloat about Spark’s portfolio company Boxee.
A couple days ago Boxee held a Meetup in NYC that drew a crowd of over 600 people. That is a truly remarkable feat for a company this early in its life cycle, or any company for that matter.
Bijan wrote a great post yesterday highlighting the strength of Boxee’s innovative product. I want to focus on...
1 tag
Best Start@Spark Entry Thus Far
Email from Ricky Van Veen:
OK, hear me out…
Twitter for dogs.
Let me know about pre-money valuations and we can get started.
Gotta love those CollegeHumor kids!
3 tags
There's No Time Like The Present
Today the Spark Capital team announces a new seed program, Start@Spark.
Having helped incubate a number of start-ups in the past, I am personally very excited for this new initiative. There is no greater challenge or bigger thrill than trying to build something from nothing. We at Spark look forward to supporting entrepreneurs at the earliest stages of ideation and innovation.
It is also...
“Madoff must have originally represented some sort of de-tainting agent, the...”
– Daphne Merkin, If Looks Could Steal - NYTimes.com, 3/21/09
There is a lot big media can learn from the...
spiers:
mokoyfman:
spiers:
bijan:
Bijan’s post (linked for space efficiency).
Bijan isn’t really making this point, but the best thing old media could learn from tech is that tech companies routinely plow a decent percentage of retained earnings into R&D. Big media has zero R&D. Instead of launching multi-million dollar projects with little or no beforehand testing of demand (or...
There is a lot big media can learn from the...
spiers:
bijan:
Bijan’s post (linked for space efficiency).
Bijan isn’t really making this point, but the best thing old media could learn from tech is that tech companies routinely plow a decent percentage of retained earnings into R&D. Big media has zero R&D. Instead of launching multi-million dollar projects with little or no beforehand testing of demand (or research in...
On the Facebook Redesign
Firstly, I applaud Facebook for continuing to evolve their product in ways they think best serve consumers’ *expressed* needs. Secondly, I think they’ve done some very smart things and some less smart things with the redesign.
But mostly, my thoughts can be summed up in one simple phrase (which I think I am coining here??):
It’s really hard to turn an elephant into a horse.
...
1 tag
The Bear
The Sunday NYTimes ran a eulogy of sorts for Bear Stearns on this first anniversary of the bank’s collapse. Five of my former colleagues shared their thoughts. I thought I’d share some of mine.
I started at ‘The Bear’ the summer after my sophomore year of college. I will never forget coming to work and seeing Ace Greenberg, the firm’s legendary Chairman, sitting...
1 tag
WatchJohn Forte, Running Up That Hill
If you haven’t seen this video yet, do yourself a favor and check it out. And read the accompanying article John wrote for The Daily Beast.
Glad I had that dinner party :)
MaxDelivery →
This is game changing folks.
Best Press Release of 2009 →
rickyv:
via Jeremy
Genius.
3 tags
Pitchfork: 'The New Man'
The re-launched Pitchfork.com is flat out excellent. I’ve been a big fan of the site for years, but it took a quantum leap forward with the recent redesign. The editorial sensibility is as sharp as ever, the layout is incredibly clean and easily navigable, the use of lists is a great way to synthesize content into smartly digestible bits and the ability to sample more music and videos was...
Getting to Mal Pais
samreich:
I just got back from a vacation to Costa Rica, and this story is about getting there.
The airline wouldn’t accept my passport because it had been through the wash. Luckily, I’m a dual citizen - American and British - and have a British passport. But going home to get it meant catching a later flight.
My friends took Continental to San Jose and a charter plane from San Jose to Mal...
Phoenix, If I Ever Feel Better
All the hype over...
1 tag
“There is freaking gold in the streets and if you can feed and clothe yourself...”
– Howard Lindzon, All I Need is a Gun and a Working ATM Card…Is That Too Much to Ask?, 3/6/09
1 tag
tracks:
Lily Allen - Straight To Hell (featuring...
2 tags
Taste the Rainbow of Fruit Flavor
The hoopla generated this week by the recent Skittles website redesign has been remarkable. For all three of you that haven’t seen it, the Skittles.com homepage is now a daily rotation of various social media sites from Twitter to Facebook to Wikipedia today.
The Internet was all ‘atwitter’ about the move, generating buzz around the brand in a way I’ve rarely seen it...
SXSW Panel
rickyv:
I’m hosting a panel at SXSW Interactive this year.
It’s on Saturday March 14th at 5pm. If you’re going, come join us. We’ll be talking about comedy on the web and TV and hopefully that will lead into a larger discussion about where we’re headed in a broader sense for filmed entertainment.
I’ve put together a great group of friends which I chose with the intention of having a group both...
fred-wilson:
Shabop Shalom - Devendra Banhart -...
“America has had no shortage of challenges. Without fail, however, we’ve...”
– Warren Buffet, Berkshire Hathaway 2008 Annual Letter to Shareholders, 2/29/09
Optimism from ‘The Oracle’ is more than welcome.