The internet is reshaping our economy from one of huge corporations with lots of jobs to huge platforms with lots of income streams
From Innovation and the Bell Labs Miracle in today NYTimes: Innovation is an important new product or process, deployed on a large scale and…
Once you take money, the clock starts ticking
One of the interesting things about having been investing in startups for a number of years is that at any moment you get an inside peek at…
Big timing
“Big timing” is a phrase I’ve heard a lot lately which refers to people who are “higher ranking” acting disrespectfully toward people who…
“It is the human friction that makes the sparks”
From Jonah Lehrer, Brainstorming Doesn’t Really Work (via Stowe Boyd): Building 20 [a scene of incredible innovation at MIT] and…
Platform distribution risks
When your product extends a platform’s functionality, one of the main risks you face is that the platform could embed your product’s key…
Between failure and Facebook
Recently, a friend was trying to recruit a programmer to join his early-stage startup. The programmer had just graduated from college and…
eBay vs Amazon: decentralized vs centralized e-commerce
Note: The company I cofounded, Hunch, was acquired by eBay in November 2011. I am now an eBay employee. But all the opinions expressed below…
Some thoughts on the iPhone contact list controversy and app security
1. I’ve heard rumors that lots of apps have been uploading user contact lists for years. One person who knows the iOS world well told me “if…
And then, suddenly, it works
The other day a friend was demoing a new app he was working on. My first reaction was: “Yeah, yeah. This is nicely executed version one of…
Bedrock programming
“Bedrock programming” is a phrase used to describe a style of programming that favors building code from the ground up versus reusing…