Here’s a pretty insightful post-mortem from a failed startup. Key lessons learned (stated in the positive): start small and get feedback; have a good partner; pick a good market. To me, the most interesting thing about this story is how it highlights how failure isn’t the worst outcome. He concludes:
“It’s not really […]
A great concept, very well executed. If you watch this video (called “Dancing”) for the next 4 1/2 minutes, you will be happier than you were before. Enjoy!
PS Notice the impressive new high quality video offered by youtube!
Everybody hates spam, which is often defined as “unsolicited email.” I’d argue, however, that spam ought to include the notion “unwanted” in it. If I get an email from an old high school buddy out of the blue, I hardly consider it spam!
I broach this subject because of an e-thePeople I am working […]
Oh, boy! Social networking continues to be white hot. I like these VCs, but they do seem a tad cocky in this video. David Sze says that “when they look back, they will say this is one of the cheapest things that those investors ever did.” Cheapest things–really? I hope, […]
Here’s a great site that computes the median sales price/monthly rental price by town or county and plots it on a map. As you can see in the screenshot below, my town of Menlo Park is an expensive place to buy: the ratio of sales/rent is over 20x compared. In contrast, Newark/Fremont in […]
The co-founder of e-thePeople.org, Scott Reents, told me that he wanted to be JR Simplot when he grew up. For the last century, Simplott has been Idaho’s top dog and Scott grew up in Boise. Reading his obituary today in the NYT, I can see why a young person might idolize this man’s […]
For almost 5 decades, newspaper readership has been on the decline. Recently, both newspaper and TV stations have been making substantial cuts to their newsroom staff. The result is less news content being created. This poses a challenge, according to the Knight Commission:
With “the thinning down of newspapers and local television in […]
We’ve just completed another successful deliberative poll this past weekend. This time, I did not have to travel to a far away place; the poll was in my own county, San Mateo, CA. The topic: housing. I do however see a parallel with the EU poll. In the EU, the deliberators […]
Jack Nicholson has made this short video ad for Hillary. It’s pretty good: it draws on short clips from some of his best movies to help raise Hillary’s issues:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsweXFpfa28
But Hillary’s video still doesn’t hold a candle to Huckabee’s classic spot from a month or so ago. I think the difference: Huckabee demonstrates a sense […]
I had the great pleasure of watching a screening of Frost-Nixon, a movie that Ron Howard is in the process of making. The movie, which is an adaptation of the play with the same title, is terrific. Frost’s story is incredibly engaging and Nixon is a fascinating character.
Ron Howard was impressive. […]
This twenty minute lecture is a tour-de-force. It is a flashy example of data visualization, but more importantly, it provides important insights about global poverty. Worth your time (after the over-the-top intro), in my opinion.
This brings me back to my days as a financial services consultant but it’s really marvelous satire:
http://www.predatorylendingassociation.com/
Yahoo is shutting down it’s “picks” section. Although I have not visited that section in 8 years or so, I have a special place in my heart for it. I started visiting yahoo picks in the first few months after it opened its doors in 1995. For years, I have had this […]
At an interesting talk today, I found out that behavioral economists cannot use any form of deception in their experiments. I found this norm somewhat puzzling, because psychologists often include mild deception (like confederates) that cause no harm to the subjects but offer new research opportunities. At previous talk, I heard a researcher […]
About
I am a grad student at Stanford University in the Communication Department and a founder of e-thePeople.org, a digital townhall. A longer, more self-indulgent bio.
Einstein Eightball
"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."
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Please send me email at mike (at) weiksner (dot) com
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