Disqus - Latest Comments for RAGZ

Re: Autism and Animal Science with Dr. Temple Grandin

RAGZ — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 13:42:36 -0000

Great episode. I learned so much. I learned a lot from Mr. Shapiro too, so thanks for having him on the show. Will be doing my own research on some of what I heard. The overfeeding and hurried growth of livestock can't be good for the end consumer, never mind the poor animals. I like Paul's stuff, because I can find facts that back a lot of it up. I've also read facts to backup the racehorse breeding. The fastest marathon runners come from a small tribe in Kenya. As I recall, it was skinniness of their ankles that was the correlation for why they were faster. I guess she's saying that they bred them to have ankles so skinny that the horses have become too fragile. Anyway, very entertaining!

Re: The One Month Sabbatical

RAGZ — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 14:05:52 -0000

#jealous - I share your dedication to exercise. "You're running on vacation?" Uh, yeah, I'm running, because your body needs daily exercise, like drinking water. I wish I could drop everything for a month and disconnect in Bora Bora. One day... and 45 books? Holy crap. You're a machine.

Re: All you can eat — the global greed for land

RAGZ — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 08:52:30 -0000

This shapes the way that I view the world. For example,I read that Japanese plant experts produce 10,000 lettuce heads a day in LED-lit indoor farm, but how much energy, fertilizer, and waste is there compared to traditional farming? Feeding 9 billion people is also just a part of the issue. Where are they going to live? What water will they drink? So many more questions... http://www.independent.co.u...

Re: YAOLhoo: Two Rocks Do Not Float Better Than One

RAGZ — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 13:00:34 -0000

Michael Arrington, are there existing contractual laws that preclude any merging of AOL+Yahoo?

Rock floating references aside, I thought the two companies had conflicting advertising partnerships in place that would inhibit AOL/Yahoo merger. Specifically, 10/27/10 Microsoft adCenter powers paid search advertisements on both Bing and Yahoo!, and 9/2/10 AOL and Google five-year renewal/expansion of their revenue-sharing pact.

If this is so, why is a merger even being discussed? Theory?

Re: Amazon Associates stats for this blog

RAGZ — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:51:22 -0000

Good stuff as always Andrew. I enjoyed this article and the comments.

Enjoy your break from this blog. You've earned it for sure.

Re: Unpaid internships are a ripoff

RAGZ — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:03:52 -0000

This is a damned good post. I've almost written on this topic too many times to count, both as a job seeker, and as an "employer" guilty of the same practice. However, we offered the unpaid internships as a startup promising compensation ASAWGF (as soon as we get funded).

I think that unpaid internships began with the first job seeker who wanted to work for one specific company, REALLY BADLY, but the company was simply not interested in hiring the candidate at the time from lack of experience, which would require investing time and money in noob-training. To prove their value, the noob-job-seeker must have volunteered their work freely until they had been trained at no charge and were qualified to fulfill the job duties on their first day of hiring.

Who really knows or cares what fairy tale originated the practice of hiring interns. If I had the smallest amount of capital reserved to pay an intern minimum wage, I would. So the lesson to me is that unpaid interns are working for low/unpaid employers. That means your boss is pissed off about their low compensation, like most start up environments, or they deserve the lower salary for one reason or another. Either way, the job is doubtful to ever make you happy.

Good post.

Re: Lindzon and His Flip Video Go To The Dentist

RAGZ — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:21:36 -0000

lol - I bet you brushed and flossed before going to the dentist to try and look like you do it regularly... at least that's my gimmick. I go for 3 mile runs an hour or more before I see the Dr. too.

"Your blood pressure is perfect."

Now, am I fooling them, or just myself?

Re: Livingstone

RAGZ — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:18:07 -0000

Hahaha

Re: Quick link: List of $350MM of VC investments in social gaming, virtual worlds, casual MMOs, etc

RAGZ — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:13:15 -0000

This is great. Thanks.

Re: Virtual Goods Summit 2008 + last week’s Twitter links

RAGZ — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:30:14 -0000

Thanks for the Virtual Goods Summit reminder. I'll see you there hopefully.

You might think about switching to Intense Debate.. http://imagdg.com/?p=1752

Re: Pebble Beach Kicked My Ass…Big Woop!

RAGZ — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:42:14 -0000

Golf is a truly great game. I love it, and like I said before, Pebble Beach is a must for me one day. I love the trash talking during shot play. That's when I know someone is good. When it doesn't even phase them.

Re: Sometimes You Just Have To Walk Away

RAGZ — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:42:55 -0000

I can agree with most of your first part.

Your second part is out of character as "Don Jones, from Venture Deal". You're supposed to be concerned with venture deals, right? I'm not attacking you, either. I just don't understand why you mentioned sustainable, scaled, large, or operable business models as your TechStars and Ycombinator success metrics. It's not that I disagree with you, it's that I see a lot of bling-bling deal headlines, a la TechCrunch, on Venture Deals. I don't see anything that reads, "nice, ho-hum, slow, and steady growth for 'X' company!"

I actually agree with your metrics as a good assessment. I just think it sounds way out of character as "Don Jones, from Venture Deal".

Re: Sometimes You Just Have To Walk Away

RAGZ — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:21:37 -0000

I wish you luck, but honestly, I think you make your own.

Re: Sometimes You Just Have To Walk Away

RAGZ — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:15:54 -0000

I disagree with your correlation. Venture Capital and CDO's are not the same markets. People hit most by the credit crunch are not venture capitalists. That is for damned sure. I talk to angels and vc's on a daily basis, and not one of them is selling the yacht, or mansion, because they didn't take on home mortgages, car, or student loans they couldn't afford to finance.

However, the true source of innovation and value, entrepreneurs risking all they are worth, are already being affected by the credit crisis. The short-term effect has been less deals getting done. i think it is because broke entrepreneurs can't finance themselves long enough to even get to an angel round. I also blame the downturn in VC spending on some of their stupid investments made while chasing the "anything social must be worth lot's of money" fad for the last two or three years.

The solutions are already here too. TechStars and Ycombinator offer seed incubation that startups need and very personal mentoring from experienced investors, effectively bridging the gap to funding that may or may not be created from the credit crisis.

I see other incubators popping up in tech news everywhere, so there is definitely something to this approach, and kudos to those that moved on the incubation opportunity first.

Re: Walking Away…If You Fancy Yourself an Investor - Get Used To It!

RAGZ — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:48:17 -0000

I agree, but treat it like folding a hand in poker. Play tight and keep your chips, but the blinds will catch up to you eventually. In your case, the blinds are Pebble Beach golf trips and San Francisco lunch meet-ups across the country, followed by a super talented staff that runs double-due-diligence for you.

This is no critique on your style, but play the pocket fucking 9's if there is no raise, lots of callers, and you have good position. All your time and energy spent folding rotten, or costly hands should be used to buy stabs at the low risk and high winning opportunities.

Blank, Plank, and Wank!

Re: Cramerica Revisited…

RAGZ — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:32:36 -0000

LOL!

Re: Sometimes You Just Have To Walk Away

RAGZ — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:42:44 -0000

Hi Fred, nice to see you @ the TechStars shindig. I'd be worried if I was amongst your remaining portfolio companies after reading this post. To me, it foretells pending doom for 1/3 of them. That's just my reaction.

From my observation (I'm only 28, but I think I know everything), the first movement in a fund comes from the quick sales, like Reddit or SocialThing.

The second movement will be trimming of the fat, as it presents itself, and it has to be the toughest part of your job. Saying "no" to a deal is not hard when you get thousands each week. Saying "no" to any of the carefully selected portfolio companies has far reaching implications into your own self-assessment as a qualified investor, and not just those that trusted you with their money. Oftentimes a start-up has to invest two to three years of development before launching any regular operations. Then its another year or two to see if it works. A lot of people have invested time, energy, and money into the success of the company, and nobody wants to see failure. I liked your comments on Tech Crunch's "Dead Pool" that I read on "The Deal". People invest their souls into these companies to solve their customers problems, your problems. If someone makes their failure a public spectacle, that someone reveals absolute shit for their own character.
http://www.thedeal.com/tech...

The third and final movements are the big and highly publicized exits that build your reputation as a VC, thus securing contributions from contributors to your next fund.

I aspire to be a VC one day, but I'm also apprehensive of the responsibility.

Re: One Business Worse than Mahalo.com - Avatars!

RAGZ — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:15:18 -0000

Wow, a lot of opinions about cartoons. I thought mine was damned cool for my company, when my designer made them 5 months ago, but all of a sudden everyone is using the same app he must have used. They are cool while they remain unique.

OH YEAH - How could you possibly knock the word Avatar? At least the word has an origin resembling it's current usage. I don't love the term 'avatar', but I'd have attacked "blog", or "blogging" long before. Sound a dog makes when puking.

In English, the word has come to mean "an embodiment, a bodily manifestation of the Divine." However, the Sanskrit word Avatara means "the descent of God" or simply "incarnation."

Re: Livingstone

RAGZ — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:17:49 -0000

Looks nice!

Re: Ping Pong…LindzonPalooza East Coast - Game ON!

RAGZ — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:36:05 -0000

Howard, you'll meet me and my partner, who is Chinese and holds the paddle upside down crazy-man style, when you make it to Boulder, CO. You're going to love our biz too judging from this post, as a customer!

Seriously, good luck. I'm a good ping pong player and draw my skills from college tennis days, but Peter, my Chinese partner, is Olympic caliber, and there is simply no pressure with this guy, just grinding. He-like-uh-to-talk-uh-da-shit-uh-too. :)

Re: Thinking About Blackberry Apps

RAGZ — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 13:40:06 -0000

You guys and my mom. She's still using her Treo and I don't think she'll ever switch. I think they could still turn themselves around, but they need to take some serious self-evaluation measures, and learn from the success of iPhone and Rim upstarts.

Re: Thinking About Blackberry Apps

RAGZ — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 13:34:10 -0000

Telenav is so cool! I love looking for free WiFi everywhere I go.

Re: Thinking About Blackberry Apps

RAGZ — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 13:31:55 -0000

Great post, sums up my Blackberry experience completely. My app order closely resembles yours.

I do suggest that you download Yahoo's free suite. It's surprisingly readable, and I find it far surpasses Google's. I'd have died long ago if it wasn't for the GPS that comes with the phone, even though Google Maps gives much better routes.

My issue with Blackberry and it's app ecosystem is that they really "nickle and dime" you. You can't really test any of the paid apps out there before buying them, and the few that I've seen aren't worth the money people pay for them.

Re: Livingstone

RAGZ — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:37:06 -0000

Oh man oh man oh man, I love me some Graeters. And to think, the rest of the world, save for 0.001%, has no idea that the best ice cream ever invented could be sitting right in front of them. It's better than sex... well, most sex.

Re: Covestor Opens Up

RAGZ — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:24:01 -0000

Everyone knew about those investments, you're right, and the market rush to invest in those companies inflated values even more. However, these were not cases of someone following another. These were the iPod and iPhone, Google Search Technology and YouTube, and our country's famous thirst for oil (I wait in a coffee shop for my bike to finish getting serviced, and you debated over Bart or renting a car).

I'm not arguing that a good investment can't be public knowledge. I'm arguing that a great investment is typically the result of someone's personal hard work, as in life's work, and that sort of knowledge is invaluable. How else does one find a great opportunity before others? Let's stick with Apple. Covestor attracts those that follow those that follow Apple, but Apple is really just following the person that I'm referring to, Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs created the iPod 5 years after my friend, Bill, first showed me his MP3 player, and told me it would replace our cassette players. I laughed at the time, because it was huge, but it did store over 100 songs. Bill has been right numerous times with hugely successful technologies, and I'm listening to him a lot closer now. Like Steve, they both saw the opportunity before anyone else. Now, Steve has a very high benchmark to keep pace with.

I'm simply looking higher up the food chain. Investing in Apple is following. Investing in the Steve's and Bill's of the world, first, is my goal, but it isn't easy. Realizing them for their potential takes incredible personal knowledge and foresight in that industry. Right?