The Way I Work

June 12th, 2009

“Music helps me when I’m coding, which is still my priority. When you’re coding, you really have to be in the zone. I’ll listen to a single song, over and over on repeat, like a hundred times.” — Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress and Automattic

Funny, I do the same thing. It makes me more productive.

(source)


The New Startup Resume

June 5th, 2009

Came across this comment thread on Bijan Sabet’s blog today:

Tal: I’m hoping to join a tech company as a programmer or user experience designer, a small startup would be ideal.

bijan: do you have a blog or linkedin account. happy to send your contact info to a few of our portfolio companies. where are you located?

If you’re looking for a startup/any job, and don’t have a LinkedIn account — get one! Also recommend starting a blog if haven’t already.


The Evolving VC Business Model

June 4th, 2009

To give a fund’s investors a 20% annual return, the firm needs to triple the money raised within a six-year period, Kopelman said. For a $400 million fund, that means returning $1.2 billion to investors. Since VCs typically don’t want the risk of holding more than 20% of the companies they invest in, they have to help build a few companies with a total of $6 billion in market value. But in the past few years only a handful of companies have sold or gone public for more than $1 billion. “You sit there and say, ‘Holy crap, that model doesn’t work,’ ” said Kopelman.

What’s a venture capitalist to do? For Kopelman and other super angels, the answer is to get small. Super angels still aim for billion-dollar exits, but their model doesn’t hinge on home runs. Instead, they can profit by hitting singles and doubles and reducing their strikeouts.

Josh Kopelman, First Round Capital in a BusinessWeek interview.


Tribes, Commitment, Movements

June 1st, 2009

Shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change.


Tech Rock Stars

May 19th, 2009

LOL :)