Over the past few weeks I’ve had my mind blown by several teams, each pursuing very different ideas, but with fundamentally similar views about what a “magically good” software experience feels like. I’ve been trying to come up with a good description for the ideas these teams are pursuing, and the title of this post continue…
Andy and I created Founders Co-op to serve entrepreneurs throughout the Pacific Northwest — from Portland, OR through our home base of Seattle and across the border to Vancouver, BC. We love our Portland-based portfolio companies Urban Airship and AppFog, but hadn’t really given Vancouver our full attention until this year, when I attended GrowConf at continue…
Third party monetization systems — from AdSense and affiliate programs to display ad networks and in-app “offer walls” — are a tempting drug for time-strapped entrepreneurs. In the short term, outsourcing your revenue generation might feel smart: it lets you stay focused on on the “core” projects of building product and audience, without being “distracted” continue…
Software is eating the world and everyone wants (really, needs) to get in the game. For software creatives and engineering-centric companies, participating in digital innovation and disruption is second nature. But for the vast majority of people and organizations, IT has traditionally been treated like the slightly embarrassing nerdy uncle who shows up for Thanksgiving: continue…
Felix Salmon wrote a provocative piece this morning titled “The future of online advertising.” In it, he makes a forceful case for the value of digital advertising as content, not just a gimmick optimized to drive clickthroughs. He drives the point home by describing a recent speaking engagement to a group of digital advertising professionals: “Most continue…
In the past year some really smart folks that I respect a lot have declared the death of SEO. And while this may be true for high-quality / high-concepts sites building on new domains, it clearly hasn’t stopped the old-school, gray-hat (and worse) SEO hustlers from plying their trade. When even low-traffic specialty bloggers like continue…
The web is a platform, and every modern web developer relies on Application Programming Interfaces — APIs — as critical building blocks in their development process. ProgrammableWeb — a pioneer in the cataloging of public APIs — currently lists 4,290 APIs on their site, from mega-platforms like Google Maps, Twitter and Facebook to uber-niche offerings continue…
I was asked to speak to the Tech Club at the UW Foster School of Business tonight (thanks again for the invite, Saurabh). During the discussion, one of the students in the group asked how I planned my career. My off-the-cuff response was that there wasn’t a lot of planning in it — I actually continue…
We just invested in Smore — a member of the TechStars Seattle class of 2011. If you’ve been following our investment activity for a while now, you’ll understand why. Last spring I wrote a post titled “‘Platforms’ aren’t just for developers: accelerate your startup by empowering others.” As I said then: “…any system that honestly seeks continue…
We’re delighted to announce that Founders Co-op is now an investor in Beamit Mobile — a member of the TechStars Seattle Class of 2011. Co-founders Matt Oppenheimer, Josh Hug and Shivas Gulati are on a mission to blow up the current market for international money transfers by taking full advantage of the global ubiquity and continue…