Monthly Archives: June 2008

The iPhone app Gold Rush

Daniel Cozza and I have been working for the past few months on number of iPhone app ideas.  We’ve got a some prototypes and working code.  But honestly, it’s been very hard to find interesting angles:  the iPhone app space … Continue reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Leave a comment

Gorilla platform APIs: let your “partners” figure out new features

Last year I wrote about the brilliance of platform APIs for the big guys:  let your app developers figure out what the market wants, and then incorporate those into your system.  Most API terms prohibit you from suing the platform … Continue reading

Posted in Software | 1 Comment

Reader Q: hiring folks for only equity?

A blog reader (one of three, as far as I can tell) asks: I was wondering: do some startups only pay equity? I am thinking of launching a startup and I think I have a killer idea — there are … Continue reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship | 3 Comments

Content, content, content, content, content

Compare Joost and Hulu.   Which one is more compelling? Joost came out first, generated a bunch of buzz, and has a novel/interesting user interface. It’s also technically interesting, using peer-to-peer for distribution. In contrast, Hulu came later and has a … Continue reading

Posted in Ramblings | 1 Comment

Hiring, Continued: Reference Checking

A while back, my friend George (all names changed) hired someone who previously worked for Fred, another friend.  Unfortunately, the hire didn’t work out and left in a few months.  Later, Fred said something like, “Yes, George called me for … Continue reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship | 1 Comment

Wikipedia Accuracy and Democracy at Work

I find Wikipedia fascinating.  Anyone can edit — how could that possibly work? Of course, there’s been a lot of discussion and debate about the accuracy of Wikipedia articles.  I think Wikipedia is pretty accurate, if you look a sort of content average over the … Continue reading

Posted in Photography | Leave a comment

You pay your legal bill….and mine too

A common provision in venture funding agreements (it’s usually in the term sheet) is that the company pays the investor’s legal bill.  It’s annoying, but quite typical. Let’s say you’re raising a $1m round, and have to pay the investor’s … Continue reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship | 1 Comment

Blue Cross / Blue Shield of MA with Google Health

Well this is interesting: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts says it will become the first health insurer to participate in Google Health, a medical records initiative by the online search engine.(from this article).    (I’m an HMO Blue of MA subscriber.)  … Continue reading

Posted in Ramblings | Leave a comment

Video roundup: Hulu, iTunes, Netflix

Well, I’ve now got three decent options for video on demand:  Hulu, iTunes movie rentals, and the Netflix/Roku set-top box (which just arrived a few days ago).   Hulu is free, ad-supported, with mostly TV content.  Netflix’s “watch instantly” has old-run DVD content … Continue reading

Posted in Ramblings | Leave a comment