A few weeks ago I read a fantastic blog post by Venkat Rao titled “A Brief History of the Corporation: 1600 to 2100” (hat tip to Paul Kedrosky for the lead). Apart from just being a great read, the macro thesis of the post — that the corporation is no longer the primary locus of commercial innovation continue…
The #1 problem faced by every brand — from toothpaste and TV shows to pop stars and politicians — is grabbing and holding the attention of their target audience. Billions are spent annually researching the consumer landscape in an effort to understand what messages and media will give each brand an edge in the battle continue…
(The quote in the title is from rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot in this Business Insider article) These guys are so good at making noise that I almost feel silly piling on, but since the cat is well out of the bag I wanted to at least confirm the news that Giant Thinkwell is our newest addition continue…
This article originally appeared on Seattle 2.0 Early-stage investors (disclosure: I’m one of them) are famous for saying ‘no’. Entrepreneurs seeking capital will spend hours building PowerPoint decks, crafting emails and asking friends for introductions to prospective investors, only to receive an inbox full of one-line ‘thanks but no thanks’ replies. And that’s when they continue…
Tom Friedman’s editorial in today’s New York Times cited “Carlson’s Law”, a framework advanced by Curtis Carlson, the C.E.O. of SRI International: “‘In a world where so many people now have access to education and cheap tools of innovation, innovation that happens from the bottom up tends to be chaotic but smart. Innovation that happens from continue…
Patience is not my middle name. As the youngest of three kids I was always in a hurry to grow up so I could do whatever the big kids were doing. And since there’s always someone older, faster, smarter, richer and better-looking than me (especially that last one), there’s never been a natural brake on continue…
A common question among out-of-town visitors at Founders Co-op is “how do you get a cab around here?” Seattle is a car-centric city with far-flung neighborhoods and few concentrated population centers that can support a New York-style cab culture. As a result, actually getting a cab to show up when you need it is pretty continue…
I had a great time last week at the Legal Frontiers in Digital Media conference – an event put on jointly by the Media Law Resource Center and Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society. As one of the few non-lawyers in the room (most attendees were either in-house counsel at large media and continue…
A few weeks ago Fred Wilson reflected on the tight market for engineering talent: “[T]here is a war for talent, particularly developer talent, going on. Not just in Silicon Valley but also in NYC and many other places around the country.” In chemistry terms, developers are now the limiting reagent for high-growth software firms. The scarcity continue…
I was on a great panel at TiECon on Friday, flew home just in time for my son’s 6th birthday party, and flew out the next morning for Whitefish, Montana. I usually hate being away from my kids on the weekend but this was a trip I couldn’t miss: a close college friend had just continue…