There's been so much hype about the would-be, Google-killer, computational knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha, that I've been reluctant to blog about it both because I'm not eager to contribute to the hype tsunami but also because I'm so overwhelmed by the number
IPO
One of my favorite kids' movie scenes has always been the inside the claw game sequence in Toy Story. The heroes (Buzz and Woody) are trapped inside one of those games where you drop a claw and try to win a novelty gift, in this case a mutant alien
Grateful Dead
The other day I found this New York Times story, Bring Out Your Dead, about The Dead's "resurrection" tour this Spring, and it both cracked me up and got me thinking. Excerpt: “Well, I agree with the people who say it was May 8, 1977,” he
IPO
See this post by venture capitalist Fred Wilson, guest bloggging on Business Insider (nee Silicon Alley Insider) and re-posted on his own well regarded A VC blog, entitled The End of the IPO Drought is Coming. The five key points of the argument are: * VCs have been in the penalty
Entrepreneurship
I found this great post on VentureBeat, 10 Lessons from a Failed Startup, where entrepreneur Mark Goldenson tells you the ten things he learned from his failed internet TV network for games, PlayCafe. Here's a summary of the ten things Mark learned: * Find quick money first * Content businesses
Hats off to Maureen Dowd at the New York Times for the creative idea of interviewing Twitter founders Biz Stone (great name, reminds me of fishing guide Jack Trout) and Evan Williams in 140-character format. Excerpt: I was here on a simple quest: curious to know if the inventors of
I found this post today on the Infectious Greed blog which features the transcript of a Steve Jobs deposition in what, judging by the questions, appears to be an option-backdating matter. I encourage everyone to read a deposition now and then, so they can get a concrete feel of what
In talking about web 2.0, we often think about ideas like mass collaboration, a participatory web, the web as a communication platform, and generally speaking The Wisdom of Crowds in building and establishing knowledge. I'm a big believer in the power of functional (or wise) groups to
As part of my company's focus on the media industry, I sit on a few industry groups where I have the opportunity to spend quality time with senior media and publishing industry executives. Like any CEO, I have a natural tendency to believe that my company is, if
IPO
In the third IPO in April, language education provider Rosetta Stone went public this week, raising $112.5M. The IPO priced at $18, and the stock ended its first day of trading at $25.12, a 40% rise. As one banker said to me: "this shows that investors are
VC
What if you went to the doctor's office with a sore wrist and she proposed bandaging your ankle? That's how I feel about the government's proposal that venture capital be regulated along with other private capital pools including hedge and private equity funds. See
VC
Thanks to this story in today's Mercury News, I noticed that Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index showed a welcome and rather surprising uptick in 1Q09. The index, produced by the University of San Francisco Entrepreneurship program, has tracked venture capitalist confidence since 1Q04 and hit its all-time
