Disqus - Latest Comments for jackstackma

Re: Engadget Giveaway: win one of three Nexus 7 units, courtesy of Poweramp!

John Stack — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:55:33 -0000

Excellent! I would love to write apps for this!

Re: Engadget Giveaway: win one of three Nexus 7 units, courtesy of Poweramp!

John Stack — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:51:01 -0000

Excellent! I need one of these to dev on!

Re: Hower: Your Startup Probably Isn’t A Platform

John Stack — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:24:37 -0000

I'm not going to take any chances on my next project: To build collaboration system oriented towards conflict resolution and brainstorming that developers can extend to resolve various societal issues. I guess all that it's missing are users.
On a slightly more serious note: VC's have tended to add the '#users' modifier when defining a platform; however, technical folks (VC fodder) define a platform as a system upon which other solutions/features are built. Theoretically, at which #users made Drupal a platform? Facebook? Amazon?
Perhaps another way to define platform is: When VCs see the potential for a hockeystick in user base.

Re: The end of TechStars

John Stack — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:00:44 -0000

Congrats! I think TechStars is a wonderful program filled with great people. Nicely put!

Re: Why I employed a felon

John Stack — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:14:14 -0000

People deserve second chances. I'm glad you were open-minded (and -hearted) enough to keep him on.

A last note: Help and guidance is bi-directional. You learned something from him while you helped him.I'm glad you posted this.

Re: Morgan: Why Entrepreneurs Should Never Meet VC’s Unless They’re Formally Pitching

John Stack — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:01:18 -0000

Two great things stand out in your vc-entrepreneur" interaction style: 1. There are no rules (you'll meet and pre-empt as you see fit, ok with feeler convos.) 2. You are about relationships.

Re: Scripting News: Google-Plus is going to be your bank account

John Stack — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:50:15 -0000

I've spent years waiting for the hardware vendors to create something portable w/rt a digital identity (device/cloud combo - ala RSA devices). I shudder to think of what this actually means but I suspect that you're right.

Re: Google+ has made Twitter boring, here’s what Twitter should do about that

John Stack — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:39:09 -0000

While I respect what Twitter has done; however, I believe it expanded well beyond its usefulness - primarily due to a single number: 140. Should be interesting to watch the following: the developer ecosystem, the feature set (and competitor responses), how many people simply drop either FB or Twitter, how many personalities stay loyal to the very end, how many new types of 3rd party apps get developed to mash it all together, and of course, the continual change in the social graph.

Re: LEGO, Sexism, and Stereotype Threat

John Stack — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 10:12:22 -0000

Wow, I didn't think about this until you pointed it out. Now, questions: If they address this, how? Alternate between male and female heads when they add a minifigure? Interchangeable heads?

Re: Is There Anything I Didn’t Ask You That I Should Be Asking?

John Stack — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 10:00:00 -0000

In a way, the other two commenters (Kern/Chip) were commenting from the perspective of the interviewer and not the interviewee. Yours was from the interviewee.

You know what I liked about your post? It's a no bullshit way of dealing with things - on more than one level: You're focused on the questions and not the strategy of the caller - high value to the caller. Also, you're not pretending you're a mind reader - high value to you and the caller.

Callers/Interviewers should respect who they are calling/interviewing and not be so manipulative. They should respect the fact that you're doing them a favor.

Re: The Word Bubble

John Stack — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 08:36:43 -0000

Great Post Fred!

To me, there are still constants that go beyond the term Bubble or any opposite word you can throw at it. They are solid future value beyond any particular market circumstances, willing investors (there are always willing investors - either investing in dislocations or solid positive opportunities), and hope. I put as much credence in hope as I do terms the press keep throwing around!

Re: Passion Capital emerges from White Bear Yard with $60 million fund to seed startups

John Stack — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:02:52 -0000

How come the Brits take all the cool names? Virgin..Passion...

Re: What’s The Real Deal With AngelList?

John Stack — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 09:58:48 -0000

Wow. That was embarrassing. And here, I thought wow, Angie's List was getting VC! *Possibly related (thank you for your generosity and to Jevon.)

What's really bad is I saw Angel List earlier in the week and forwarded it to someone from Techstars. I shared the same idea with him last May. AngelList will knock it out of the park if well-moderated, loaded with quality Angels, and if everyone "just gets along."

Next logical jump that I've commented on before: Quasi LLC/S-corps that allow stock issues on the open market - ala Kickstarter - but with vested ownership, common sense limits and safeguards, and ready conversion to C-corps. Better than friends and family and an excellent Angel funding mechanisms that avoids predatory practices. Penny stocks? Almost but with a lower issue cost and better controls.

And now I have to step out of the wrong plane I just got on....

Re: What’s The Real Deal With AngelList?

John Stack — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 19:14:21 -0000

I personally know one of the highest rated contractors in the country. He came from Brazil, frequently living on jobsites while he learned his trade. (I won't name him because he is a humble man who prefers to earn his reputation.) He is living the American dream since he earned it. Angie's List helped him do that; however, he earned every bit of his rating. He won't hesitate to do the "right thing" even if it costs him.

Certainly, sites like these will bring out the best and worst in behaviors; but if this gentleman is any indication of its highest rated contractors, then Angie's List provides a valuable service. Leverage it with common sense in tow.

Now, my friend enables other tradesmen who want to own their own contracting business by instilling the best notions of workmanship and customer service that we should all expect.

Re: Microsoft-Nokia Hookup Leaves Symbian Devs Hanging

John Stack — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:41:37 -0000

Developers won't be left in the dust. They'll be leaving one object model for another. If anything, this further compresses the developer ecosystem. Will better apps be built as a result? I hope so!

Re: Weeks After Going Viral, Threewords.me Is Up For Sale

John Stack — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:20:46 -0000

Go Mark Go!!!

Re: The Numbers Reset To Zero

John Stack — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 08:56:37 -0000

New Year, New Goals, New Heights, New Enthusiam!!!

Re: Can Anything Stop The Facebook Juggernaut?

John Stack — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:38:25 -0000

How come everyone assumes someone doesn't know what they're doing? I've been in a few "littered" companies; who, despite their best efforts and the best advice still fail. I doubt that FB will be a casualty. My comments were oriented towards speculation by the press; nothing more....

Re: Can Anything Stop The Facebook Juggernaut?

John Stack — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:52:18 -0000

I'm an active FB user and many of my friends interact there. Why is it that the press creates expectations that companies should do something - like share stats or business plans - simply because the blogger/correspondent thinks they should?

I'm not sure they're making money but who cares. They are responsive to their community and it's their business whether or not they're open with their data. Very few users I know have dropped out and most check in from time to time. They share on their own pace and what they share is all about their comfort level.

As for mail, how do you offer a brand new, infrastructure-intense system to millions of users at the same time? Has anyone ever done it?

To avoid being too Palin-esque (against the press), I will say that asking questions every company thinking about which ones to respond to. I think you have your answers there. There is a natural tendency not to disclose for fear that their competition may develop a strategy going the other way. Solid thinking on everyone's part.

Re: The Name Game Works Wonders

John Stack — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:54:24 -0000

Dharmesh Shah of Hubspot and OnStartups had a great post about naming. Here it is:
http://onstartups.com/tabid...

I violated all of his rules with http://www.cexi.me - makers of locally branded mobile apps. We started with internet radio station players and are now moving into acupressure/acupuncture branding apps for practioners.

Re: http://bijansabet.com/post/833298700

John Stack — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:31:12 -0000

It was a wonderful post. Last week, I wrote an update to my post about the Public Apology Threshold - or the level of stress at which companies finally decide to apologize. I think it starts with lots of people doing it first. Perhaps an altruistic goal that can only be achieved one person at a time.

Re: Top 3 Things I Learned as a VC

John Stack — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:24:07 -0000

Good luck Rob! Will be exciting to see what you'll come up with!

Re: 1 Billion Pageviews

John Stack — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:13:33 -0000

Fred, you could make it 1.5B if you had AVC there! Congrats! I love and use the product! (http://blog.3bigheads.com)

Re: http://blog.3bigheads.com/post/538155022

John Stack — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:57:13 -0000

I see they're in Beta right now. Thanks, I'll check them out!

Re: The Stealth Mode: Trada’s Position on Staying Stealth

John Stack — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:03:31 -0000

Just when I get all used to explaining why not to go stealth, someone comes out and completely justifies the opposite! LOL! I think you nutted it on the concept of getting early customer feedback (which by their general behaviors, at least with PPC folks semi-stealth) If you don't have it, you can't launch. I think it saves time and effort and let's the marketing team and the dev team focus on what resonates instead of being focused on having a wider, low-quality audience from the onset.

Great post! Thanks!