Communitas

Two of the best—Jack Johnson and Eddie Vedder—doing...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:07:20 -0800

Two of the best—Jack Johnson and Eddie Vedder—doing “Constellations.” From I Like This Song.

The Entreprenurial Battle

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:01:06 -0800

Brad Feld had a great post today of an email he received:

Yet, as I set out to raise money …I’ve noticed, or maybe more accurately, I’ve become aware of the ether that is between a venture investor and entrepreneur. In the ether, all things that can make or break a deal exist: idea, market risk, technical risk, team competence, economy, deal flow, competition, VC mood that day, entrepreneur pitch that day, first impression, gut feel, blog post for or against the idea read that morning, breakfast/no-breakfast, bias for or against, smarts or not-so-smarts of the VC and entrepreneur.

In my pitch experience, VCs I have been convinced hated me and my company after my pitch have invested. VCs I am sure as shit loved me and my company after my pitch blew me off. I have also been right that VCs I thought hated me and my company told me they in fact did; and, those who loved me and my company did in fact invest. It’s been a crap shoot at best.

Assuming there is something of merit in the idea, market, team and company, somewhere in the ether is a term sheet and a kick to the curb. Coalescing just the right combination of elements in the ether at the right time has proven to be more art than science. Anti-portfolios highlight how successful companies didn’t get it coalesced with one investor but did with another.

If I get it right and a financing comes together for my new company, I hope to have learned something that tips the scales of randomness in the scrum.

And I provided this comment:

That’s a great email. Thanks for sharing.

I am an experienced entrepreneur in the middle of the scrum myself (in fact I’m in discussions with Ryan & Seth at your firm, among others). The truth of start-up life is that it is a constant battle, there are ecstatic highs and vicious lows. I like VCs who don’t try to smooth it all over, but recognize the reality of that battle. In particular, I love the creed of Quest VP ; it recognizes that so much of the determinant of success is the entrepreneur’s fortitude in the battle.

As an entrepreneur, you have to embrace the battle and love it. It’s the only way to live. It’s great to hear about it from another entrepreneur’s prespective. To whomever it is: good luck!!!

The Quest principles:

We believe a successful startup must excel in these six points and more:

Surrounds itself with the best and the brightest of ambitious, dedicated and passionate people; the best give the expertise and experience needed, the brightest will always find innovative solutions and the ambition & passion will give the courage required to pick yourself up when you fail.

Understands that it will, baring incredible luck, likely fail catastrophically at some point and is always planning for this.

Has the patience, courage, conviction, and irrational faith to persevere even when there are better alternatives in the market and when the going gets tough.

Recognizes a significant and genuine market pain. Provides a cost-effective and adoptable solution to an undiscovered need or problem that exists and is better than any present, emerging or conceivable alternatives.

Knows how to successfully market and monetize their solution. Validates their market pain and monetization plan by lining up potential customers for their solution early on.

Executes, executes, and executes. Makes sure to do the right things and to do things right. Thomas Edison is known to have said “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” He is also known to have said “There is no substitute for hard work.”

One Riot to Power Yahoo Real-time Search

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:10:00 -0800

One Riot to Power Yahoo Real-time Search:

Congrats to (Boulder-based) One Riot! A big win for them.

Kita's Writing a Novel

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:01:47 -0800

Kita's Writing a Novel:

She blogged today about her writing club and her task of writing a novel. She’s a great writer and I can’t wait for it.

I really like the plot line that she’s come up with. I think she should share it on her blog. Please pester her about it.

Sunset on 6th St.

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:12:09 -0700

Sunset on 6th St.

One foot of snow here and counting. The deer—here in our...

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:58:37 -0700

One foot of snow here and counting.

The deer—here in our front yard—are taking to the trees, as it’s hard to get to the grass.

Simple Geo: An Infrastructure For Location-Based Services

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:00:44 -0700

Simple Geo: An Infrastructure For Location-Based Services:

Another cool Internet company in Boulder. :-)

Had a good family hike in Nederland yesterday with Nid. Though...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:48:22 -0700

Had a good family hike in Nederland yesterday with Nid. Though we’ve been here for two months, we hadn’t been up past the foothills yet. Nederlerland is 20 mi. / 30 min. away, but is 3,000 ft. up. It’s sweet to have such wilderness so close by. Very restorative after a week of airplanes and skyscrapers.

In Boston now. Such a beautiful city. Here’s the above...

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:53:20 -0700

In Boston now. Such a beautiful city.

Here’s the above ground result of the Big Dig. Much better!

Why U.S. higher ed is becoming like auto industry -- and thus has to change

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:46:54 -0700

Why U.S. higher ed is becoming like auto industry -- and thus has to change

noni & cupcakes

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:39:00 -0700

man, i want the cupcakes!

hmmm . . .

if i don't eat them, i will eat my hand!

ah yes. you are mine

noni & cupcakes

the girls’ love for one another is a great blessing

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:33:32 -0700

the girls’ love for one another is a great blessing

Buffs win!!!

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:55:37 -0700

Buffs win!!!

"Startups are mostly competing against indifference/lack of awareness/lack of understanding, not each..."

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:54:22 -0700

“Startups are mostly competing against indifference/lack of awareness/lack of understanding, not each other”

- Twitter / chris dixon

Our frontyard—definitely not in LA anymore

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:30:39 -0700

Our frontyard—definitely not in LA anymore

Apple quits chamber of commerce over global warming stance -- bravo!

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:55:05 -0700

Apple quits chamber of commerce over global warming stance -- bravo!

Downtown Denver

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:07:07 -0700

So we went to downtown Denver today to have brunch with Pete and Amy at their brother Nelson’s restaurant, Colt & Gray. It was great food, a great place, and great to see the Corrigan’s.

We also walked around the neighborhood, which was right around 15th St. and the Platte River. It was really our first time in downtown Denver, and we were really impressed.

First Boulder Pary

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:49:01 -0700

We had our first party in Boulder on Saturday and it was fantastic. Started at 3pm and ended at 1am. Crowds of adults with tons of kids running around more or less on auto-pilot. And we remain astounded and delighted by the number of nice, cool people we’re meeting in CO.

The only downside was Kita’s hangover, but she’s OK now.

Working Towards a New Ad Model

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:09:26 -0700

Advertising seems quite broken across mediums, including online. The clear new solutions haven’t come round yet, but there’s some good new thinking on the problem happening now. Recently posts from Chris Dixon and Shelby Bonnie are really insightful on the topic. Facebook is doing cool new stuff as well.

With the good new thinking and experimentation, a good new ad model should be upon us soon.

"But how will Google ever make money? There’s the rub. The company’s adamant refusal to use banner or..."

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:47:00 -0700

“But how will Google ever make money? There’s the rub. The company’s adamant refusal to use banner or other graphical ads eliminates what is the most lucrative income stream for rival search engines. Although Google does have other revenue sources, such as licensing and text-based advertisements, the privately held company’s business remains limited compared with its competitors’.”

- Originally from Business Week in 2000. Re-published on cdixon.org.

An interesting perspective when thinking about places like Facebook and Twitter whose new users experiences and traffic growth may preceed revenue growth as they experiement with different models.