Disqus - Latest Comments for Chris Yeh

Re: Executives vs Leaders

Chris Yeh — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:14:47 -0000

In addition to some of the other resources mentioned, I think that Marcus Buckingham does a great job of distinguishing between leaders and managers in his book, "The One Thing You Need To Know."

In it, he writes:

"To excel as a manager, you must never forget that each of your direct reports is unique and that your chief responsibility is not to eradicate this uniqueness, but rather to arrange roles, responsibilities, and expectations so that you can capitalize upon it. The more you perfect this skill, the more effectively you will turn talents into performance.

To excel as a leader requires the opposite skill. You must become adept at calling upon those needs we all share. Our common needs include the need for security, for community, for authority, and for respect, but for you, the leader, the most powerful universal need is our need for clarity. To transform our fear of the unknown into confidence in the future, you must discipline yourself to describe our joint future vividly and precisely. As your skill in this grows, so will our confidence in you."

When I see Hillary, I see a manager, not a leader. The two are necessary, but very different.

For those who don't have the time to read the whole book, I've also posted a summary here:
http://bookoutlines.pbwiki.com/The%20One%20Thin...

Re: Please Barack - Don't Stop Debating

Chris Yeh — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:43:06 -0000

While I agree that more debate is better, this is politics 101. Obama's campaign realizes that they have a massive financial advantage over Clinton. Agreeing to debates is like giving Clinton free airtime--especially when Obama lures in most of the viewers.

By sticking to the paid air war (where his fundraising prowess gives him a big advantage) and the ground war (the retail politics at which he excels), Obama maximizes his relative advantage. In contrast, debating with Hillary Clinton plays to her strengths in policy and overall experience.

It's an uneven playing field, but then again, the playing field is uneven in Clinton's favor in other ways, so I can't really blame the campaign for their strategy.

Re: Saving Money On Startups

Chris Yeh — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:10:36 -0000

I can always tell when a marketer or entrepreneur doesn't know what they're doing if they insist on hiring a PR firm.

There are times when you need a full-service PR firm, for example, if you're a consumer/media startup that needs mainstream press. But it's appropriate for few early-stage startups.

I like the evangelist concept, but I think it is important for the founders/execs of any Web 2.0 startup to be active in the blogosphere themselves. It's too easy to become insulated from reality.

My own strategy is to supplement my own marketing experience with a few low-cost PR consultants to handle the smiling and dialing--they have the pre-existing relationships and know the media game. But I don't end up paying $15K/month for PR "strategies" that are no more likely to work than my own ideas.

Please note that there are plenty of PR firms that do a great job, and I happily recommend them when I think the fit is right, but bringing in a PR firm at the wrong time is unlikely to deliver a positive ROI. I don't know about you, but I can think of a lot of things to do with $180,000!

Re: The Audience Prompter

Chris Yeh — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:42:22 -0000

When I was at the Web 2.0 Expo last year, I ended up taking over Chris Pirillo's Ustream channel for about half an hour. There is nothing like being able to see chat reactions in real-time to read the tone of a room.

I think people are far more willing to be expressive (even rude) via chat, than they are in person. That's probably why it works so well.

Re: Making Sense Of Dichotomy

Chris Yeh — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:47:53 -0000

Public market issues inevitably impact the venture market, though there is a definite lag. During previous downturns, venture investing has always been impacted. Those who deny this fact are like the real estate economists who repeatedly and loudly proclaimed, "Housing prices never decline."

However, this doesn't mean that we should stop making investments. Many of the best investments are made during bad times, when bold investors have less competition and can get better terms, and when portfolio companies don't have to worry about scores of me-too competitors getting funded.

The issue is that when investing during a downturn, it becomes even more essential to have a plan for raising subsequent rounds of funding. The "Field of Dreams" approach no longer suffices, and high valuations from the good times may turn into dangerous millstones when trying to raise more.

Re: Venture Fund Economics: Gross and Net Returns

Chris Yeh — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 10:30:36 -0000

Fantastic post, Fred! I've been working with the venture industry since 1999 (and investing alongside VCs since 2003), and I've never seen anyone better explain the model behind one of their funds. Thank you.

The most shocking stat was that carried interest only ended up being about 2X the management fees. I always thought the ratio was much higher. Given this fact, isn't it important to the VC model to be able to make some money off the management fees?

It also emphasizes what a good deal the hedge fund guys get.

Re: Venture Fund Economics

Chris Yeh — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 10:42:00 -0000

I believe that $1MM comes from the practice of using "M" to stand for 1,000. That's why we use the term "CPM" for cost per thousand.

My guess is that "M" actually comes from the Roman numeral.

Re: Always Treat Money Like It Is Your Own

Chris Yeh — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:34:43 -0000

Great post, Fred. I added my own corollary:

"If you always treat money like it is your own, other people are more likely to trust you with their money."

People know that I am so cheap that I cannot bear to waste money, even if it isn't my own. And when people invest in one of my startups, they know I'll do my best not to spend their money unless it's absolutely necessary, even if it doesn't always make me the most popular guy in the office.

http://chrisyeh.blogspot.com/2009/01/always-tre...

Re: Confessions Of A Pack Rat (aka My Document Retention Policy)

Chris Yeh — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:31:17 -0000

Could not agree more, Fred. The main reason people have these anti-retention policies is because it's so difficult to conduct a discovery production in most companies. But if you can produce the requested documents in 5 minutes of time, that reason doesn't hold water.

Hopefully, you don't get sued. But if you do, it pays to keep everything.

Re: Super Bowl Ad Ratings

Chris Yeh — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:52:39 -0000

I would argue that the Hulu commercial should be considered the most successful, since it generated the most voting. There's no such thing as bad publicity!

Re: Thoughts on Presenting at the MIT VC Conference Showcase

Chris Yeh — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:25:20 -0000

Charlie,

Glad you liked Ustream and plan to do more with it in the future. Warms the heart of this investor!

The next time you do a trade show, the best practice is now to use pop-up stands. These are a lot easier to lug around than boards or a booth, and look very professional:

http://redexhibits.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIE...

Keep up the good work!

Re: Twitter, Ustream — how much is too much?

Chris Yeh — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 01:31:40 -0000

Mathew,

The lead investor in Ustream here. I too have been fascinated by the adoption of the Ustream service. I'm fond of telling people that live video is inferior to recorded in almost every way except one--it is truly interactive.

I don't think anyone knows where the interactivity will take us, but I'll bet it's going to be interesting.

Re: Twitter, Ustream — how much is too much?

Chris Yeh — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:44:59 -0000

One interesting development at Ustream is that last week I spent some time on the phone with someone from a well-known NGO. They plan to use Ustream to broadcast live from within their public protests. It's this kind of immediacy and first-person POV that I think will provide a shot in the arm for television journalism.

I also agree with some of the other commentors, who worry about information overload. One thing that Ustream will have to work on is some kind of real-time discovery and filtering mechanism. The "traditional" methods of Digg, del.icio.us, et al, will not suffice for live video.

Re: Twitter, Ustream — how much is too much?

Chris Yeh — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 10:14:18 -0000

Mathew,

Do you know the Huffington Post folks? Would love an intro!

--Chris Yeh (Ustream investor)

Re: Hillary uses the N word

Chris Yeh — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:06:14 -0000

The Beast must be stopped! Here's my little contribution: Transformers "Destroy" and "Protect" movie posters, with Hillary as Megatron and Obama as Optimus Prime:

http://chrisyeh.blogspot.com/2008/02/one-shall-...

Re: Web 2.0 as the “Founders Game” | Charles Hudson's Weblog

Chris Yeh — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:20:32 -0000

Hey Ben, aren't I the one who always tells would-be entrepreneurs that there are many easier ways to get rich? Credit where credit is due, old friend!

I didn't choose entrepreneurship to get rich--if I wanted to do that, I could simply have stayed at my first employer D. E. Shaw & Co. (David Shaw recently sold a 20% stake in the company to Lehman Brothers for $3 billion, and most of my former colleagues are multi-millionaires by now). I'm an entrepreneur because I enjoy it. Although it is my contention that without at least the slim chance of getting rich, I couldn't justify it. Entrepreneurial wages and payoffs may be worse than Wall Street, but we're not talking NGO-level compensation here.

Re: Would You Spend the Next 20-30 Years of Your Career in Silicon Valley?

Chris Yeh — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:19:01 -0000

Everything ultimately depends on the outputs. The old model worked because the ultimate outcomes (widely adopted products, big-money IPOs and M&A) were large enough to pay for the front end of the process.

Right now, no one knows whether the ultimate outcomes for web services and SaaS will be large enough to pay for the front end investment.

Yet at the same time, the old model no longer works either; consumers and businesses are no longer willing to fork over the dough for an upgrade cycle or for perpetual licenses.

My guess is that the front end will have to be reengineered, with bootstrapping having to suffice until the entrepreneur has built a scalable business with a clear path to profitability (which, by the way, Digg and Twitter have not).

Re: Would You Spend the Next 20-30 Years of Your Career in Silicon Valley?

Chris Yeh — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:38:19 -0000

It may very well be that startups stratify into two layers--those which have a shot at outsized returns, and those that don't. Entrepreneurship doesn't always have to follow the traditional Silicon Valley model...think of "The Millionaire Next Door." Most millionaires are owner/proprietors of low-tech businesses like dry cleaners and car washes.

It may be that we'll see a split between "car wash" startups and "change the world" startups. Which would reflect a natural maturation, though I must admit, I too prefer the "change the world"-style returns!

Re: VentureBeat Launches

Chris Yeh — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 04:04:20 -0000

Congratulations Matt! Best of luck in your quest to be the latest to jump from journalist to content mogul. Om better watch out!

Re: Wetpaint raises $9.5M for consumer wikis, meanwhile Jot is absent

Chris Yeh — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 18:14:04 -0000

Just a quick plug for PBWiki, the little company that could in which I'm an investor:

While WetPaint gets plenty of press, notice that PBWiki, which is spending a fraction of the money, is holding steady at double the traffic of WetPaint:

http://www.alexaholic.com/pbwiki.com+wetpaint.com

Re: PayPal’s “other” story, and Wikio, Infinera, Zoho, Omnidrive & more

Chris Yeh — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:43:35 -0000

I have absolutely no insider knowledge here, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that Portfolia is a personal finance application for women. It's a huge market, it represents 50% of the population, and the startup's name and the presence of various HBS professors screams investing tool.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 03:48:10 -0000

KM4:

I'd love to explain the post further, but you'll have to be a bit more specific with your critique in order for me to respond.

In general, the point of my post was simply that the conservatism of the PayPal team, which is often viewed as an irrelevant eccentricity, may actually be a contributing factor to their success. The irony is that because entrepreneurship is generally better practiced by outsiders, Republicans may have an advantage in areas where they are outcasts. As a corollary, I suspect that in "red states," Democrats make better entrepreneurs.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:24:23 -0000

Enrique,

I'm not trying to argue that being a Republican makes you a better entrepreneur...I'm arguing that being an outsider makes you a better entrepreneur, and that paradoxically enough, in the Bay Area, Republicans are the biggest outsiders.

It's not the political beliefs of the PayPal team that made them successful (though they might argue that with me), it's the fact that they "thought different" than the rest of their peers.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 23:07:45 -0000

I love the idea of connecting the PayPal team to their Animal House counterparts. Anyone from the old PayPal days want to take that up? Is Peter more of an Otter or a Boon? Who's the real Bluto? And who would be Flounder....

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 13:26:11 -0000

Courtney,

Go to any party in the Bay Area, and tell everyone that you're an ardent supporter of George W. Bush. If you don't feel like an outcast afterwards, you're fooling yourself.

If I wanted to be Rush Limbaugh, I'd go around attacking "liberals" and accusing Hillary Clinton of dark deeds and conspiracies. All I'm trying to do is point out is the irony of how 20 years ago, Steve Jobs and Mitch Kapor were outsiders, and today, Republicans are the outcasts.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:34:15 -0000

Sundar,

I totally agree that Democrats should do better as entrepreneurs in conservative environments (though Austin would probably be an exception, since it is heavily Democratic).

Certainly it's not true that all it takes to be successful in the Valley is to vote Republican. If that were true, all of us entrepreneurs would register GOP immediately. But it does seem like Republicans are disproportionately represented in the ranks of successful entrepreneurs, given their rarity in this neck of the woods.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:42:49 -0000

Sundark,

Let me quote my column:

"Iâ€™m going to argue that the success of PayPalâ€™s GOP mafia is simply the logical extension of one of the eternal truths of Silicon Valley: Outsiders make the best entrepreneurs.

And in our neck of the woods, Republicans are the ultimate outsiders."

I think it's pretty darn clear that I'm not saying that Republicans make better entrepreneurs, I'm saying that outsiders make better entrepreneurs, and paradoxically, in Silicon Valley, Republicans are the ultimate outsiders.

I must say that the degree to which people have misread my arguments is quite disturbing--it shows that partisan politics is blinding folks to anything other than the label of one's political party.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:42:24 -0000

Sundar,

I do not believe that I ever tried to "pin entrepreneurial success on just a single factor" or argue that being a Republican would "guarantee" success.

While it would be nice if a scholarly study existed to show whether or not Silicon Valley Republicans were disproportionately successful, I'm unaware of any such study, though if you can produce one that contradicts my speculation, I'm all ears.

I've simply noted that A) Republicans are outsiders in the Valley, B) Outsiders have historically had more success as entrepreneurs, and C) The success of the PayPal team at that company and many others could be seen as supporting the conclusions that Republicanism might be correlated with entrepreneurial success.

If you wish to dispute the facts that went into my argument, by all means do so. Right now, it seems like you are setting up straw man arguments that you easily refute, but which don't reflect my actual column.

This suggests that either you are misunderstanding my words, which proves my point about how partisan politics is making it difficult for people who practice it to evaluate things objectively, or you using an feigned misunderstanding as a rhetorical technique.

I don't have any goal to convert people to being Republicans; I'm simply highlighting an interesting and somewhat counterintuitive observation.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:26:19 -0000

Joe,

I'm glad you feel like you "got me" by exposing a public post from my very own blog (which appears in the "About the Author" section) that links to this one. But don't be surprised if few think that this qualifies as much of a gotcha.

Hell, if you want to claim that I'm a Republican, you can point to this post in which I freely admit to having voted for Republican politicians (which, incidentally, must be true for most people in California, since Arnold Schwarzenegger easily won re-election):

http://chrisyeh.blogspot.com/2004/09/republican...

The bottom line is, everyone who writes in to attack my logic and arguments has to misinterpret my post and claim that I'm arguing something that I'm not.

Joe, you call my classic syllogism "pretzel-style" logic. To paraphrase "The Princess Bride": "Socrates, Aristotle, Descartes? Morons!" All right then, what is the right argument?

Assuming that one agrees that outsiders make better entrepreneurs, and that in Silicon Valley, Republicans are outsiders, show me what kind of logic allows one to conclude: "But Republicans won't make better entrepreneurs because they are not the *right kind* of outsiders."

This kind of insane troll logic should be exposed for what it is, whether its the idiocy of intelligent design, or raising minimum wages. To pick and choose when to apply logic depending on one's political beliefs is nothing more than hypocrisy, a crime of which both Republicans and Democrats are plenty guilty.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:43:06 -0000

Joe's argument speaks for itself. I rest my case.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 23:22:07 -0000

Joe, a wise man told me, you can either be right, or you can be happy.

All my readers know that I prefer to be happy. They also no that I harbor no hatred of liberals or conservatives. If agreeing with The Economist makes me a vile, evil Republican in your mind, then count me in. Believe what you want to believe, and go in peace.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:19:00 -0000

Courtney,

I definitely believe in attracting flies with honey rather than vinegar, but I also believe in fighting vinegar with vinegar. I am grateful that you and Joe have taken the time to engage in dialogue!

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:25:12 -0000

Joe,

Thanks for your recent comment. I'm glad that you are trying to be non-partisan (as am I--I generally self-identify as independent, though I do end up voting for Democrats and Republicans because, well, that's who ends up on the ballot).

I agree with your argument about the fallacy of the undistributed middle--note that I was careful to indicate that I was only speaking of Silicon Valley Republicans.

I would definitely speculate that Democrats in the OC make better entrepreneurs than OC Republicans.

On another level, you can see the corrosive impact that incumbency has had in Washington. When the Republicans were on the outside looking in, they actually generated interesting ideas and promoted reform. Then when they took control of Congress in recent years, they tossed their ideals aside and focused on the classic Washington activity of pork-belly and partisan politics, as exemplified by Tom DeLay and crew.

It's also important to remember that Republicans, like Democrats are a fragmented bunch. There are the Eisenhower Republicans, Ayn Rand Republicans, and Moral Majority Republicans. Each has very different characteristics, and can barely stand the other!

Re: Mayfield’s Palihapitiya: “White male circle of insiders”

Chris Yeh — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 10:33:52 -0000

Whether or not the talk was taken out of context, it's clear from the comments that some people do feel that the Valley is exclusive.

I wouldn't necessarily characterize it in terms of race or gender (though many women I know have assured me that the female experience is very different), but I will say that the desire to feel like part of the "in" crowd and the pain of feeling excluded still apply, and in spades.

Everyone knows that there is an in crowd, especially in Web 2.0. Heck publications like VentureBeat, GigaOm, and TechCrunch act as de fact gatekeepers (though I admit that Matt is probably more egalitarian than Om or Mike). And while that status makes the insiders feel good, those on the outside looking in can't help but feel envious of the incredible feast of opportunity that always seems out of reach.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 15:10:19 -0000

Phil,

I believe I stated very clearly:

"I do not believe that I ever tried to â€œpin entrepreneurial success on just a single factorâ€ or argue that being a Republican would â€œguaranteeâ€ success.

While it would be nice if a scholarly study existed to show whether or not Silicon Valley Republicans were disproportionately successful, Iâ€™m unaware of any such study, though if you can produce one that contradicts my speculation, Iâ€™m all ears."

Ultimately, I'm just a guy with a blog commenting on what I see as an interesting possibility. I don't claim to have followed the scientific method--after all, how many blog postings include peer-reviewed primary research?

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:24:51 -0000

Phil,

I'm glad that you enjoyed the article. I have to disagree, however, in your assessment of "Thank You For Smoking." TYFS was written by Chris Buckley, a conservative. It was rewritten for the screen and directed by Jason Reitman, a self-described libertarian. And of course the film was produced by David Sacks, a member of the PayPal team, and a former editor of the Stanford Review.

What makes the film so successful is that it defends freedom of choice, not smoking, and attacks the hypocrisy of the mainstream.

Don't forget that this is a movie where the hero is a tobacco lobbyist, and the villains are the liberal senator and the intrepid investigative reporter.

The thing that seems to trip people up is that the movie is incredibly funny, and humor has not been a noted attribute of mainstream Republicans in the US. Nonetheless, I would argue that things like "Thank You For Smoking" and "Team America: World Police" express a point of view that Republicans would feel more at home with than Democrats.

P.S. Watch for an upcoming blog post on humor and politics.

Re: RaiseCapital, a site where entrepreneurs can pitch VCs

Chris Yeh — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:06:13 -0000

As an investor, I'm skeptical of this kind of site. Selection bias clearly applies...the best entrepreneurs don't need to expose their ideas in public, which means that the best investors would avoid something like this like the plague.

What would work is some kind of LinkedIn group for angels, so that entrepreneurs could find a better way to be personally introduced to investors.

Re: Y Combinator continued

Chris Yeh — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 15:00:01 -0000

At the end of the day, no one puts a gun to the head of the Ycombinator entrepreneurs and forces them to take the money. The fact is that people are lining up to apply for the program. And by the way, the main benefit of the program is its ability to hype your startup, not the measly amount of money on offer.

Now if I were to choose between taking money from Paul or taking money from Jeff, I would take money from Jeff--as an individual angel investor, he has achieved an order of magnitude (or two) more returns for his entrepreneurs than Ycombinator has. But I would gladly take money from Paul under the right circumstances.

I also think that Paul has done a great job of convincing more young people to start companies, which is good for all of us.

That being said, I can't help but be envious of Paul. I wish I could invest $5K for 6% of a company, common stock or no!

Re: StartupSearch gives you data on start-ups

Chris Yeh — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:39:22 -0000

Just had to chip in when I saw my name in the sample graphic. As Crick said, it will be interesting to see how this develops. Anything that saves me time is valuable to me.

Re: TheFunded reveals blacklisted VCs

Chris Yeh — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:26:30 -0000

Any added transparency is almost always helpful. But I'm guessing that being on the "suspicious reviews" list is unlikely to discourage entrepreneurs from pitching to Matrix, Kleiner, Benchmark, USVP, Clearstone, et al. Heck, I'd love to be listed with those firms on just about any list.

Re: Collaboration company PBworks adds project management tools

Chris Yeh — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:48:47 -0000

Thanks for the piece Anthony! The entire team here at PBworks is very jazzed about the release. Tired, but jazzed.

Even better, our customers have reacted very enthusiastically. Hopefully this new product will make their lives a lot easier.

Re: Summer Plans!

Chris Yeh — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:31:52 -0000

Very cool! Let's meet up while you're in the Valley.

Re: Kottke Komments

Chris Yeh — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 03:08:51 -0000

Ha, creating mirror sites to add comments to sites without comments is brilliant. He should crank out one for Seth Godin as well.

Re: Town Hall Liveblog

Chris Yeh — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:30:31 -0000

Best commentary ever!

I'm glad you had the stomach to watch the whole thing so I didn't have to. The parts I listened to in the car were cringeworthy, though I agree that Obama won.

Re: links for 2007-03-28

Chris Yeh — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 03:14:14 -0000

Chris Yeh, one of the angel investors in Ustream here. I continue to be amazed by the Justin.TV phenomenon. Tickled pink about all the attention he's drawing to live video online. I must admit that I'm still puzzled by the level of interest incredibly boring video draws, but that didn't stop me from telling the Ustream guys to send one of their founders on the road with his camera.

As a well-known speaker, you should consider doing a weekly show on Ustream!

Re: Ustream: Live Streaming Video Made Easy

Chris Yeh — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 02:53:53 -0000

Glad to hear you'll be checking out Ustream. Feel free to let me know what you think, and I'll make sure your feedback gets to the team.

--Chris Yeh (Ustream investor)

Re: Services Worth Paying For as a Startup

Chris Yeh — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:22:35 -0000

When you're just starting out, PBwiki (http://pbwiki.com) is a good way to document what you're doing and collaborate with any co-founders. The business version with all the bells and whistles is free for 3 or fewer people, so you don't have to pay anything until you start to grow.

There's also a more basic free plan that you can use, but most companies prefer the extras on the business package.

Disclosure: I am an investor in and currently an employee of PBwiki

Re: 4 Features That Will Make Ustream Kick Ass (of Live TV at least)

Chris Yeh — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 02:23:29 -0000

Kfir:

Ask, and ye shall receive.

Here at Ustream, we know that it's critical that we provide tools that let our broadcasters shine. We definitely intend to offer an entire studio suite. Some of these products will be plug-ins from partners, others we will build ourselves.

Our goal is to let you kick ass so that we all succeed. No timeframe yet on your specific features, but the ability to switch cameras/streams on the fly is a top priority.

--Chris Yeh (Ustream investor)

Re: BlogTV vs Ustream.tv - it is not technology, it is strategy

Chris Yeh — Tue, 29 May 2007 23:23:10 -0000

Kfir,

Thanks for the nice post on Ustream. We definitely intend to set things free and provide a flexible and modular platform that people can modify to suit their particular needs. But we also intend to add more features and functionality, because that's what the users want.

As you so insightfully perceived, it's not about technology, but about what the users can do with it.

--Chris Yeh (Ustream Investor)

Re: 3 lessons from a web idea that didn’t go anywhere

Chris Yeh — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 02:37:08 -0000

Whenever someone comes to me with an ecommerce idea, I tell them to sell some of their stuff on eBay and let me know about the results.

One entrepreneur actually refused to do the experiment. "Chris," he said, "I might learn that my idea sucks. I'd rather not know that until after I've raised my money."

I think he was missing the point. I'm sad to report that the business failed.

Re: Why do people avoid checking their assumptions?

Chris Yeh — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 00:13:15 -0000

Venerable, eh? Now I really feel old! Not to worry, I'm just happy that when I creak around on my walker and gum my lunch, young entrepreneurs still listen.

Re: Your ad-supported Web 2.0 site is actually a B2B enterprise in disguise

Chris Yeh — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:31:14 -0000

There is a lesson to be learned here--if something is easy, it's probably not worth doing.

If monetization were simply a matter of plugging in ad networks, everyone would be rich. Monetization (B2C or B2B) is always hard work, and anyone who thinks they can avoid it is deceiving themselves.

Re: 5 factors that determine your advertising CPM rates

Chris Yeh — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:15:35 -0000

Andrew,

It's great to see someone actually break out realistic CPMs. I can't tell you how many entrepreneurs I've met who quote $20 CPMs in their business plans. A sure sign they've unfamiliar with online advertising.

Re: Moving to SF and joining the tech community - Lessons from my first year

Chris Yeh — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:46:39 -0000

Andrew,

It seems like only yesterday that we met for the first time. You'd done a phenomenal job of establishing yourself in the Valley. Now it's time for me to learn some lessons from you on viral marketing!

Re: Facebook Apps: Why they’re focused on fun instead of utility

Chris Yeh — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:30:26 -0000

Good analysis, but I don't think it fully explains the situation. After all, things like Hotmail and LinkedIn are utilities, but seem to have achieved widespread usage regardless.

While you point out that the rise of so many recreational apps has a tendency to crowd out utility apps, it seems like you can get around it by using the email invitation systems of Hotmail and LinkedIn.

It just seems to me that folks are in a recreational mood when they use Facebook. This may change in the future (as our perception of the Internet has changed over time).

Re: From analog dollars to digital pennies: The crisis in traditional media

Chris Yeh — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:20:51 -0000

While I agree with your analysis, I don't think that the shift to the digital world means the end of the old media world.

As fragmentation increases, there is a countervailing desire for the simple, even the pre-processed.

Note how the rates for advertising on the few remaining "universal" outlets like the Superbowl, or overseas, Premier League Football continue to rise despite declining audiences, simply because they are now the only vehicles that can deliver a mass audience.

There is a place for lowest-common-denominator entertainment, simply because people are lazy and like to belong.

That being said, those who deny that a shift is underway have their heads in the sand.

Re: More gloomy news on the advertising recession

Chris Yeh — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:06:33 -0000

I blame the classic fundamental error of online advertising: Failing to understand that the value of advertising depends ultimately on its ability to influence consumer purchasing.

When the economy goes in the toilet, advertising should follow. Just because there are more impressions to go around, doesn't mean there are more advertiser dollars chasing them. For advertising spend to rise, so does purchasing.

Re: Amazon Associates stats for this blog

Chris Yeh — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:28:44 -0000

On the plus side, your lifetime revenues of $92.44 put you ahead of many companies!

Re: What if interviews poorly predict job performance? What if dating poorly predicts marital happiness?

Chris Yeh — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:02:47 -0000

So Andrew, based on this research, how would you change the dating process?

Re: Technical question..

Chris Yeh — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:58:43 -0000

Simply right-click on any flash movie in ustream.tv (e.g. the one on the home page of ustream.tv) and set the microphone and camera to your iSight or whatever you want and done. My guess is that sometimes the Adobe Flash camera recording applet has messed up default settings.

http://www.rolandtanglao.com/archives/2007/04/1...

Re: 2007/04/15/ustream-narcissism/

Chris Yeh — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 02:52:30 -0000

It used to be, on the Internet, no one knew you were a cat.

Now, thanks to Ustream, they will.

More seriously, I suspect that live video will follow the same trajectory as web sites and blogging--initially, people will wonder why anyone would want to read/listen to/watch a bunch of narcissists talking about their cats. Over time, however, as the tools develop to help people separate the wheat from the chaff (or the compelling from the non-compelling) the medium will change in grow in ways we'll never be able to predict.

Does anyone else remember how the Internet plays a key role in Orson Scott Card's novel, "Ender's War?"

In it, the hero's brother and sister end up essentially ruling the world through blogging, thanks to their online influence.

Will we see a Scoble/Pirillo ticket vs. Arrington/Winer in the 2016 election? Who knows--that's what makes this fun.

--Chris Yeh (Ustream investor)

Re: Is GSpot (Google + JotSpot) Release Imminent?

Chris Yeh — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:19:08 -0000

In a word, yes. Google Sites is now out. I'll expect the review soon. If you need access, I can invite you to one of my Google Sites wikis.

Re: Is GSpot (Google + JotSpot) Release Imminent?

Chris Yeh — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:19:08 -0000

In a word, yes. Google Sites is now out. I'll expect the review soon. If you need access, I can invite you to one of my Google Sites wikis.

Re: JotSpot Born Again as Google Sites, the Wiki-less Wiki.

Chris Yeh — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:18:14 -0000

GSpot...you are a riot.

My take is that Google is releasing Google Sites in a "let's throw it against the wall and see if it sticks" fashion.

They can afford to do this, since the massive gravitational pull of Google attracts millions of dollars worth of free publicity for anything it does.

I think this explains the lack of integration with other Google apps...why do the hard work of integration until you're sure that people are going to really use it.

Hopefully the added media attention casts extra light on suite vendors like ZoHo as well as collaboration specialists like PBwiki.

After all, as the leader in on-demand wikis for business and education, PBwiki hosts 450,000 wikis, has thousands of paying customers, and is trusted by paying customers like Facebook, Symantec, DePaul University, and the FDA.

Re: JotSpot Born Again as Google Sites, the Wiki-less Wiki.

Chris Yeh — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:18:14 -0000

Re: 3 Half-Truths about SaaS

Chris Yeh — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:43:58 -0000

What I've seen at PBwiki is that enterprise sales is still very much alive and well. While self-service revenue continues to rise, we get the bulk of our revenues from our enterprise sales group.

Re: 3 Half-Truths about SaaS

Chris Yeh — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:43:58 -0000

What I've seen at PBwiki is that enterprise sales is still very much alive and well. While self-service revenue continues to rise, we get the bulk of our revenues from our enterprise sales group.

Re: ScanCafe Can Save Your Old Photos Before It’s Too Late

Chris Yeh — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:48:28 -0000

Love it Zoli! I have tons of albums dating back to my childhood. This is phenomenal.

Re: ScanCafe Can Save Your Old Photos Before It’s Too Late

Chris Yeh — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:48:28 -0000

Love it Zoli! I have tons of albums dating back to my childhood. This is phenomenal.

Re: Am I Really So Sexy? C’mon…

Chris Yeh — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:26:18 -0000

Actually, I think it's the glasses. I showed your picture to a friend who is an afficianado, and he swears he remembers seeing you in some films during the early 90s....

Re: Am I Really So Sexy? C’mon…

Chris Yeh — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:26:18 -0000

Actually, I think it's the glasses. I showed your picture to a friend who is an afficianado, and he swears he remembers seeing you in some films during the early 90s....

Re: Credit Crunch Has Reached Bloggers

Chris Yeh — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:43:20 -0000

I predict that a theme entitled "Flat Broke" would do well. Or my personal favorite, "Unemployed Bum."

Re: Credit Crunch Has Reached Bloggers

Chris Yeh — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:43:20 -0000

I predict that a theme entitled "Flat Broke" would do well. Or my personal favorite, "Unemployed Bum."

Re: http://www.zoliblog.com/2009/03/17/are-you-left-brained-or-right-she-can-tell/?nucrss=1

Chris Yeh — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:10:35 -0000

This is an awesome illusion. I found that the best way to switch directions was to tab away to another screen, then tab back. I was able to make it switch back and forth several times.

Also, the woman is clearly naked; the animation includes visible nipples.

Re: Atlassian’s Corporate Values: Open Company, No BS

Chris Yeh — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:56:28 -0000

I love Australians, and I love what these guys do.

Re: How Leo Laporte May End Up Owning Twitter

Chris Yeh — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:44:29 -0000

The question is, could a moron in a hurry mix up TWiT with some sort of Twitter TV show? My guess is, yes.

Re: ScobleCam coming?

Chris Yeh — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 23:01:04 -0000

Earlier, colin commented that this technology has been around for years. Absolutely true. Heck, webcams have been big since the mid 90s, so for over a decade. The difference is not in the technology (though that certainly helps), but in the audience itself.

The rise of social media / user-created content means that people want to interact with their media, to be a part of the conversation. It's the fact that the audience is finally ready that makes this the right time.

--Chris (Ustream investor)

Re: Why Kyte.tv is better than life streaming

Chris Yeh — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:36:16 -0000

Robert,

As a few folks have indicated, the key to live is interactivity. But it's tough to be interactive all the time. It's hard to be "on camera" around the clock, and I do believe that this will limit the appeal of lifecasting.

Nonetheless, I think that everyone has some use cases in their lives for live video, and that all those 1-hour, 2-hour, or even 5-minute videos will add up over time.

The trick is finding a way to highlight the interesting live experiences!

--Chris Yeh, Ustream CEO

P.S. Zennie is absolutely right that we need to do more with our Web site and service. We're definitely not content to rest on our (modest) laurels.

Re: Kyte.tv vs. PodTech.net (Adobe announces new Flash player)

Chris Yeh — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:30:24 -0000

Great discussion about the various strengths of the different platforms.

I think what this discussion shows is that video is the future of online communications. Ultimately, we are visual creatures, and the desire to see is so strong that we put up with what are still very early-stage implementations.

At Ustream, we believe that the interactivity of live is a killer app, but I can also see the importance of recorded as well. No one would argue that the music industry should consist solely of live performances, or solely of MP3 downloads.

Ironically enough, when the phonograph first came out, musicians fought the technology tooth and nail, figuring that it would kill the market for live performances.

The real interesting challenge is finding a way for all of these platforms (PodTech, Kyte, Ustream, Operator11, etc.) to work together. I'll be watching with great curiosity.

Chris Yeh
CEO, Ustream.TV

Re: JotSpot Reborn

Chris Yeh — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:43:51 -0000

Beautiful...would you write one about PBwiki as well? We need a poet laureate.

Re: UStream.tv – The Next Big Thing?

Chris Yeh — Mon, 07 May 2007 03:20:24 -0000

Jeff,

Glad you're taking an interest in Ustream! The Beta 2.0 version is going to streamline the UI to make it easier to perform key tasks: finding a show, broadcasting a show.

--Chris Yeh (Ustream investor)

Re: …Test your idea with only one person

Chris Yeh — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:30:02 -0000

Entrepreneurs need to be fearless about data, and welcome the possibility of failure.

You can't be driven by opinion polls, but neither can you operate solely off of faith.

The key is to seek out as much information as possible, and make the best decision you can.

Asking one person simply isn't enough.

Re: Blogging Audiences and Feedback

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 01:33:45 -0000

Success means different things to different people. Like you, I'm content to write about the things that interest me, and to let the chips fall as they may.

Re: Ideal first round funding terms

Chris Yeh — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:14:39 -0000

As a serial entrepreneur and investor, I agree with most of what you recommend. The two points on which I differ are as follows:

1) I don't you can ever do a deal where all the investors get is common stock. That is as dangerous a misalignment as any; the day after the closing, entrepreneurs could liquidate the company and pocket 2/3 of the financing.

2) I agree on subsistence-level (e.g. $40K) salaries for seed round deals, but once a company raises a real A (e.g. $3 million) or is profitable, you should pay something closer to market.

a) It's unfair to ask founders to essentially lose money for an extended period of time.

b) The below-market salaries will distort your view of the company's profitability

c) Founders who actually have families will be priced out of the startup game. I have 2 small children, which means for cash flow purposes, $40K isn't subsistence, it's a cash hemorrhage.

Don't get me wrong; subsistence salaries are great for seed stage deals, and I did the same when I was at Ustream, but it was always intended as a super short-term (3-6 months) situation.

Re: The VC Model, The Funded, and The Problem With Associates

Chris Yeh — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:53:31 -0000

Hey Brandon,

When it comes to the VC model, I think that Churchill's old dictum about democracy applies. The system is broken, but so far, no one has come up with a better one.

Entrepreneurs need risk capital, and as problematic as VC investments can be, the alternatives are even worse.

Banks? The government? Angels? Please.

I'd be curious about potential alternatives to the VC industry. Personally, I see some promise in single GP structures like Jeff Clavier, but that remains to be proven.

Re: The VC Model, The Funded, and The Problem With Associates

Chris Yeh — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:59:34 -0000

1) Allow founders to take money off the table. Agreed. There is a misalignment of incentives; VCs want moonshots to maximize expected value, but the utility of one's first million is much higher than that next million.

2) Have standard Series A docs. Absolutely. 99% of the time, a plain vanilla termsheet should suffice.

3) Let founder/CEOs continue to run the business. This depends on the founder/CEO. Many times, the person who can get the company off the ground does not have the skills to lead it to success. The correct answer should be, "I'll be happy to bring in a CEO if we're all convinced it will increase expected value for everyone."

4) Be okay with smaller returns. I disagree that VCs should be satisfied with smaller returns, but liquidation preferences above 1X are unnecessary and abusive.

5) Reduced management fees and increase carried interest. I totally agree with this one; management fees incent bloated funds. And if you really believe in your investing ability, you'd want to boost carry as much as possible.

What %s do you think would work?

6) No founder will ever go for it.

Re: Wiki Hosting Firm PBWiki Gets Angel Money

Chris Yeh — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 07:18:56 -0000

David, you should also mention that PBWiki hosts over 130,000 wikis, making it the single largest wiki hosting company.