Disqus - Latest Comments for brandonk

Re: Why Trust Matters

Brandon Kessler — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 11:34:11 -0000

Great deck!

One point: on Slide 16, not sure many would put Bitcoin with all its fluctuations as more trusted than the USD.

Re: OnlyOnce, Part XX

Brandon Kessler — Thu, 02 May 2019 11:15:02 -0000

Congratulations Matt!

Re: Progress Is Ugly

Brandon Kessler — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 13:38:25 -0000

"If we wait for those in power to grant permission to innovate we won’t get anywhere. Most everyone understands that." <--- big caveat here for companies that play fast and loose with our data and create fictional rationalizations like 'Zuck's Law'

Re: Addition by Subtraction

Brandon Kessler — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 09:36:36 -0000

Here here. Always loved this about the companies you all incubated at Betaworks too. It was often about highlighting a tiny but powerful feature, even before mobile made that more necessary.

Re: Streaming The Olympics

Brandon Kessler — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 11:25:20 -0000

I’m 44 and do the same thing. :)

Re: Jurisdictional Competition

Brandon Kessler — Sun, 09 Jul 2017 10:04:50 -0000

"You extract profits with your currency" <--- Sorry team, I've read all the articles and still haven't seen one person argue logically that a speculative 'currency' can act legitimately as 'share price.' Wish @fredwilson would; eager to learn.

Re: Jurisdictional Competition

Brandon Kessler — Sun, 09 Jul 2017 10:00:27 -0000

Except that, unlike the examples you listed, tokens are supposed to represent a company's underlying value. It's share price under the guise of currency.

Re: Doing The Heavy Lifting

Brandon Kessler — Sun, 25 Jun 2017 22:03:29 -0000

A board is there to oversee a lot more than growth. They're there to make sure the company is functioning properly. These aren't rumors, these are employees leaving in droves due to culture for years.

Anyway, seems we're pretty far off in terms of what a board's duties are.

Re: Doing The Heavy Lifting

Brandon Kessler — Sun, 25 Jun 2017 20:39:08 -0000

Oh please. Did you read about the report? HR wasn't even keeping records. This isn't about the VC knowing about every case, this was about a poisonous culture. Everyone I know in tech knows at least one person who has left Uber due to their horrific culture.

The board is in charge of oversight including HR and culture, and they did a shameful job, no matter how many voting rights Travis had. Every board member should step down.

Re: Doing The Heavy Lifting

Brandon Kessler — Sun, 25 Jun 2017 10:26:03 -0000

Sorry @fredwilson but Uber's board waiting until a female engineer wrote a blog post about her manager inviting her to be in his open relationship on her first day, and having that be the straw that revealed their epic shit show, is the epitome of a board *not* rolling up its sleeves. It's shameful how out-to-lunch they were, or more likely, willingly ignorant.

Re: ICOs and VCs

Brandon Kessler — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 09:30:09 -0000

OK but in non-crypto world, the share price of a company is not the same as the value of dollars people exchange for the company's goods and services.

With tokens, they seem to be the same. What's the sound economic view behind that actually working? (Not coming at this with a judgement in mind, but sincere curiosity.)

Re: ICOs and VCs

Brandon Kessler — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 09:25:21 -0000

You say "the price of a token."
- Is the token price always tied to the underlying currency (ETH)?
- Has there been a token whose price is fixed to dollars?
- Can there be technically?
- Would the community reject it?

Re: ICOs and VCs

Brandon Kessler — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 06:07:58 -0000

Can someone please explain how companies that do ICOs can have a stable business model based on tokens tied to an unstable cryptocurrency? Serious question, thanks.

If I understand correctly, for this stuff to work, entrepreneurs need:
1) A product people love
2) A second product people love which is their token and Ethereum replacing dollars
3) A stable price

Is that correct?

Re: Make America Hate Again

Brandon Kessler — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 21:03:41 -0000

Agree

Re: Make America Hate Again

Brandon Kessler — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 12:54:04 -0000

Right after you.

Re: Make America Hate Again

Brandon Kessler — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 12:35:21 -0000

I'd rather undergo a prefrontal lobotomy than to read Breitbart, but I don't think Disqus picking and choosing whose comments to power is wise unless it goes against their terms of service or company values, which who knows - it might, but I doubt it.

But if it does, I don't see how a (disgusting) Trump administration decision should be the deciding factor to ban a corporation. I imagine some comments on the site speak out against the ban. Why not register your thoughts there?

Re: Make America Hate Again

Brandon Kessler — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 11:18:07 -0000

Completely agree, and happily I auto-paid the ACLU. Censorship is against the point of this post @fredwilson

Re: Online Publishing Should Look At Steem, Not Spotify, For Inspiration

Brandon Kessler — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 09:28:29 -0000

"You can buy tokens if you want to speculate on the value of the network." I don't know about others, but I find it hard to understand the value of a two-in-one: a new social network and a market-based speculative currency. Reminds me of bitcoin vs blockchain.

As for community tipping, makes sense to try!

Re: Fun Friday: What Is Exciting These Days In Tech and Startup Land?

Brandon Kessler — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 12:07:45 -0000

I'm excited about Emotech, or at least that's what I call it. Technology that brings people together, that motivates people, that understands some of our weaknesses and helps us mediate them, that focuses on self-improvement whether it's at home or in the workplace. It's a combination of technology and psychology.

It's out there a little bit with meditation apps, with work and personnel-improvement apps, with some slack bots that make us more happy and productive, and with some little bits of AI. I think there's a demand for technology that makes us better and happier, rather than just connecting us.

Re: Fun Friday: How Will You Watch Monday’s Presidential Debate

Brandon Kessler — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 08:53:02 -0000

Definitely on Twitter! If they can figure out a sort of 'magic timeline' for public events that lets you easily extend beyond your own timeline for one event, then Twitter will finally find its voice. Twitter is the new 'smart tv.'

Re: Video Of The Week: Khizr Kahn’s Speech

Brandon Kessler — Sat, 30 Jul 2016 11:58:34 -0000

Given they're not calling for bans on entire religions nor one election away from the presidency, it means he is uniquely insane and dangerous.

Re: What Do You Do? What Do You Say?

Brandon Kessler — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 11:26:19 -0000

Great post Fred. I think it's worth mentioning at work. Here's what I slacked my team fwiw:

I just want to write the team to acknowledge some of the horrible events in the world around us lately, particularly the tragedy in Nice yesterday. On some level I assume we should keep work as work, just as politics should not be in the workplace. But when people are attacked, including in countries that are friends of ours and where our employees have family (or are currently visiting), it's worth mentioning. I know I think about it often, including at work, and I imagine you do too. So, here's to the wellbeing and safety of all good people around the world, and here's to peace and problem-solving.

Re: Twilio: Powered by Innovation

Brandon Kessler — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 23:15:46 -0000

Agree Twilio is an incredible(!) company with a superb team and great investors such as yourself! Disagree that they haven't focused, though.

It's hard to get more focused than a voice API for developers. Moving from that to SMS two years later, but still as a developer-focused API is a far cry from not sticking to your knitting.

They could have launched a consumer voice app and competed with Verizon, or Vonage, or Skype, or WhatsApp. They could have said, 'developers are too niche.' Instead they stuck to communication APIs, focused on hackathons and developers, and in my view never left their wingman -- to their credit.

Re: Vacation Policy

Brandon Kessler — Wed, 25 May 2016 23:14:49 -0000

Can you reply with those studies? Would love to read them. Thanks.

Re: When You Have Concerns

Brandon Kessler — Wed, 18 May 2016 09:21:28 -0000

Great point. The conversation and plan must have integrity and not be just a formality.