While there are countless examples of emerging technologies disrupting incumbent industries, there are very few examples of new industries beating the old through legislation. Generally, Washington influence and power is amassed over many years as nascent companies and industries grow. Few industries have the power and influence of the copyright industry. Coincidentally, very few industries [...]
The Abundance of Scale
Nov
14
During last ten years of the web, people have focused on scale as proof of value creation. Given that advertising is the dominant business model of the web, it has been presumed that sites which reach web-wide scale are valuable. The presumption was that sites with enormous scale will be able to monetize themselves at [...]
Thanks
Oct
27
I woke up this morning with a pleasant, warm feeling in my gut about how thankful I am for all the people around me in my life. In particular, I was thinking about the smart, inspiring people with whom I am lucky enough to interact most days. So much of who I am and what [...]
1.4 Billion People Cannot Read Your Website
Jul
27
It’s just a fact. Eighty per cent of internet users don’t speak English. In the US, we see that usually about half of most sites’ traffic is from outside the US. The competitiveness of the tech startup scene has never been greater, so the risks you take launching an English/US-only product is pretty great that, [...]
An Obvious Security Hole − And Google Could Help Fix It
Jun
27
One of my most geeky pet peeves is web application developers who store our passwords in clear text. You would think this sort of thing is uncommon, but I find it more often than I want. First. some password 101: Any website who requires passwords generally writes their own code as to how to handle [...]
The Best Part About “Social” is the Data
Jun
03
I agree with Mark Zuckerberg that everything is going social. All web (PC and mobile) experiences will add social elements to them or be enabled entirely by being social experiences. I like to think of this as making the web fully participatory. For Facebook, I think they take “going social” to mean we bring our [...]
Continued Disruption of Traditional Media Business Models
Jun
01
Coming out of the eG8 conference this week, there has been a bunch of discussion about copyright, piracy and the the continued erosion of traditional media business models. As readers of this blog know, I have discussed this in many posts over the years, like Jeff Bewkes’ Empty Netflix Threats, Why Netflix Won, A Few [...]
The Power of a Transformative Idea: Presenting Singly
May
31
In the job of venture capital, one of the greatest moments I have found is hearing an entrepreneur present a truly transformative idea. We hear exciting ideas all day long, expressed with passion and unwavering belief. But a few times a year, perhaps, I have been lucky enough to hear an idea that is unquestionably [...]