Disqus - Friends of Shripriya

Re: It’s science: Money, like sex, drives us crazy

davemc500hats — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 14:27:11 -0000

actually, the rush of buying Google occcured when i bought it @ $85, and also later when i sold it @ $180, but i doubt i would have a similar rush now @ $400 ;)

Re: Mullenweg: We don’t want cash…well, ok, maybe we’ll take some

davemc500hats — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 09:47:22 -0000

blog for money, get advice.

blog for advice, get money.

Re: Open Thread: What’s the hottest private Silicon Valley company right now?

davemc500hats — Wed, 10 May 2006 05:53:32 -0000

hmmm. both facebook & youtube look like home runs, and i'd agree with mac s comment that linden labs also appears in that category.

based on recent valuation alone i'd say facebook, but i don't think we've seen the end of the growth curve on either youtube or linden labs yet.

a few other companies that should have a decent-to-big payday somewhere in the future:
- BitTorrent
- SixApart
- LinkedIn
- Digg

maybe also Mozilla.com? (dunno what the picture looks like there due to the non-profit ownership, but they're certainly pulling down real dough)

and while we're on the non-profit front, couldn't fail to mention:
- Wikipedia
- Craigslist
- Mozilla.org

lastly, there's probably a bunch of adult sites and SEM/lead-gen companies no one's ever heard of that are making buttloads (no pun intended) of cash too. not my thing personally, but since you asked... ;)

- dmc

Re: PR done badly

davemc500hats — Tue, 16 May 2006 01:40:34 -0000

i'd have to agree... making a good pitch means knowing your audience, and in this case that would mean reading Robert's blog and realizing he's going through some major stuff.

doesn't mean the world has stopped and you're not pitching him, but it does mean you need to do your homework and get a better picture of how he'll receive the pitch given the circumstances.

part of "doing good PR to bloggers" right is about building an ongoing relationship with them, and learning more about their lives / reading about their interests... not really any different than any other medium / personalities, but it's a lot easier with bloggers to just read what's happening with them.

- dave mcclure

(ps - robert: best wishes for your mom, also you & the rest of your family. take care)

Re: Buy our house

davemc500hats — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 13:13:01 -0000

so unfortunately robert, that money will pay for an extra bathroom for a house in the bay area... maybe you get a hot tub thrown in for good measure in HMB ;)

welcome to the bay area real estate market!

sigh.

- dmc

Re: http://laughingsquid.com/syd-barrett-wish-you-were-here/

davemc500hats — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 06:12:23 -0000

bunch of interesting stuff on wikipedia about syd barrett, also Pink Floyd in general.

So, so you think you can tell heaven from hell,
blue skies from pain
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts? Hot ashes for trees
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears
Wish you were here

Re: Clearstone’s David Stern: “Will MySpace eat its young?”

davemc500hats — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 03:08:10 -0000

>>..Everything that eBay does in their ecosystem and developer networks supports transactions and growing eBay revenues

mmm, that's a bit of an overstatement.

certainly, prior to being acquired by eBay, those of us at PayPal did not particularly feel like eBay mgmt was being focused on "supporting the ecosystem" while they were shoving Billpoint down their users' gullets. only after it was apparent that PayPal was kicking their own solution's butt did they decide to acquire the company, and then IMMEDIATELY in Q3 & Q4 of '02 after the acquisition, eBay marketplace transaction volume took off and the stock went on a tear for the next 2 years.

however, over the past few years eBay mgmt has certainly shown a fondness for PROFIT growth over REVENUE growth, and has apparently made the decision to optimize for profit in the short-term. this was made evident in their decision to raise pricing twice in the past 2 years, at the same time their own data indicates that growth has been slowing on the marketplace on both US domestic and international fronts.

while i respect David's experience & insights, i would not say that eBay has always shown particularly brilliant judgement in how to support growth in its own market.

imo, the paypal opportunity is still larger outside the eBay marketplace than on it. it will be interesting to see if Meg ever decides that 3% of the entire retail merchandising market is a bigger pie than 7-9% of the [much smaller] auction market.

- dave mcclure

[full disclosure: i used to work for PayPal, an eBay competitor^h^h^h^h^h company]

Re: Clearstone’s David Stern: “Will MySpace eat its young?”

davemc500hats — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 06:18:32 -0000

okay, i agree that's on target analysis.

much as i'm impressed with my ex-paypal peeps over at YouTube kicking butt, i've also been impressed that MySpace videos is doing reasonably well themselves.

i've met the folks down there, and they're a lot more clueful than you'd imagine most large portals / acquisitions to be. i'd agree that MySpace will likely start to extract every possible piece of value from its ecosystem, especially with Ross Levinson (super bright guy) & Rupert running chaperone.

still, for folks that run fast & hard & innovate, i do think there are plenty of opportunities to "draft" off the MySpace ecosystem... just as PayPal did with eBay. in fact, i'd say YouTube could inspire its own group of ecosystem wannabes.

watch this space ;)

- dmc

Re: TechCrunched!

davemc500hats — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 17:36:36 -0000

nice shots robert :)

Re: Wablet offers IM widget, but filters out the riff-raff

davemc500hats — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 06:39:24 -0000

hey it's green & blue! i guess it's gotta be good, right? ;)

seriously, that does look rather interesting.

Re: VentureBeat is back

davemc500hats — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 17:24:17 -0000

>> Two wordsâ€¦ Load Balancer! :)

nope, actually i prefer 3 words:

dedicated. sys. admin.

congrats matt, and hope things go a little less rocky as you roll on ahead :)

- dave mcclure

ps - we had our moments during the GigaOm launch too... seems every blogger going commercial appears to have had their own private trial by fire.

Re: Why I hate Evite

davemc500hats — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:27:07 -0000

i trust Auren's opinion & perspective on eVite, however the disclaimer that he's an investor in Socializr should go right at the top.

(makes a big difference whether that information is available to readers *before* the endorsement vs after)

note: there are also several other evite competitor sites with products in alpha or beta. while i agree with Auren that eVite hasn't been innovating much, i don't think Socializr will be the only available option.

- dave mcclure

Re: The downfall of female role models

davemc500hats — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 04:01:16 -0000

problem: not enough female role models / leader stereotypes in tech & business.

solution: teach girls math & science, have them play sports, wait 40 years.

we've been working on it for about 20-30 years, but the cohorts probably aren't quite old enough yet... however if you look at the change in just the past 10 years in Fortune 500 CEOs and the Senate and the House, the change is quite noticeable. nowhere near parity yet, but dramatically improved from two decades back.

i was raised by a single mother who was a business owner & entrepreneur. she overcame... pretty darn sure joyce will too. (and if i have a damn thing to say about it, so will my daughter; due in january :)

joyce: you & mary hodder better kick ass. my kid's gonna need someone to look up to... don't you dare disappoint her!

- dave mcclure
http://500hats.typepad.com/

Re: Best Wishes to Damon Billion, the Customer and Community Advocate

davemc500hats — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 18:42:48 -0000

(uh, very flattering pictures of both of you guys ;)

great hanging out with you guys last weekend, and here's to Damon's overthrow of the thai government on his first week in town!

(i think he's really going a little too far trying to impress his fiance...

- dave

Re: Sell Valentine, Sell!!!

davemc500hats — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:38:41 -0000

yeah, i've been noticing that too... fortunately i don't drive rush hour most of the time, but yesterday i was trying to get up to the city for an event and it took 75 minutes from menlo park (normally a 35 minute drive). arggh.

i don't think we're over the top, but it's certainly busy again.

Re: The downfall of female role models

davemc500hats — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:46:05 -0000

>>What needs to change is womenâ€™s contributions need to be treated fairly and equally.

Shelley: how do you propose to make this happen?

people shouldn't be poor or ugly either, but nothing changes until you either 1) give money, or 2) do something.

what's your solution?

Re: Matt Parker / Trey Stone Universal Movie

davemc500hats — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 11:47:09 -0000

really... where the hell did that come from? a bit long, but effin hysterical. and the bit parts by everyone are amazing (spielberg included)

Re: Google is missing an important marketing angle: video demos

davemc500hats — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 10:44:12 -0000

excellent post & observation.

we just uploaded the oDesk product demo to YouTube a few weeks ago, and almost instantly it was in the top 10 results on Yahoo for oDesk. darn impressive.

(the quality of the oDesk video is a bit rough on YT; we probably need to improve that... but the results speak for themselves).

nice heads-up robert!

- dave mcclure
http://500hats.typepad.com/
http://www.odesk.com/

Re: The downfall of female role models

davemc500hats — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 13:33:03 -0000

shelley: i am surely not suggesting this is a problem for women only to solve. that said, i'm a big believer in "The Lord Helps Those Who Help Themselves".

rather than simply observing there's a problem or carp about "society" having to do something, i'd propose more specific ways to address the situation.

given the choice of solutions proposed "gold star day" for women (yours), or the option to create more programs for science, math, & athletics for females at the primary & secondary school level (mine)... somehowe i think mine might be a little more effective.

Title IX is a much more constructive longitudinal approach to addressing these issues than waiting for "society" or someone else to solve the problem. cheers to Patsy Mink.

Re: The suits vs. the geeks

davemc500hats — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:50:18 -0000

totally agree, clothes DO NOT make the man. (nor do jeans either, but we're talking more about the default being suit expectations, not jeans expectations).

Silicon Valley was made mostly by people in plain, everyday clothing who did amazing things; not people in amazing clothing who did plain, everyday things.

- dave mcclure
http://500hats.typepad.com/

Re: HalfBaked.com — Entrepreneurial Improv

davemc500hats — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 01:01:40 -0000

nice job Amit! looks like a great performance :)

one other tweak i think might improve the model -- have the groups publicly announce their choice of words before they begin brainstorming, and let the group that announces *first* be able to pitch *last* (or perhaps let them choose their slot). and the group that chooses their words *last* has to pitch *first*. i think it will help for people to push each other to choose quickly, and thereby gain slight advantage to be able to pitch later.

anyway, seems like the general model works pretty well... i was asked to run another HalfBaked session at the O'Reilly E-tech conference, and we'll keep sharing notes on how to make it better.

nice job on the video! great to have this recorded :)

- dave mcclure

Re: Are people afraid of Google?

davemc500hats — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 00:00:15 -0000

well, these days i think a lot of people rip rip Google as much as they do Microsoft... guess that's a pretty good measure of their success, eh?

in fact, i even got invited to coffee and made a friend there over over this critical post about the Google black hole of new product launches.

however, arrogance & secrecy aside, they usually do a pretty good job of innovating, so i try and be even-handed when i think it's merited. for example, if they're doing what i think they are with Google Checkout then it's a pretty smart move.

if there's anything i'd criticize them for, it's that the culture is SO secretive. for a company whose stated mission is to "organize all the world's information and make it universally accessible", they sure do a good job of making sure *their* information is universally hidden ;)

anyway, i give them kudos for the YouTube acquisition... the ex-PayPal folks over there i worked with definitely deserve credit for the amazing service they built. it's impressive Google recognized they were losing the battle in that market and bought the winner before someone else did.

but i agree, there are some similarities between Google in the late 2000's and Microsoft in the early 90's.

- dave

Re: Of Cool Grandmas

davemc500hats — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 00:05:55 -0000

this post makes me smile :)

someday i'd love to meet your grandparents... and introduce them to my son.

Re: Richard Edelman calls…

davemc500hats — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 07:11:47 -0000

accepting responsibility without subsequent accountability -- ie, someone resigning or getting fired, or at the least being censured -- is NOT "responsibility".

interestingly, Edelman's blog comments are now being held for moderated approval... not sure if that was the case prior to the past few days, or whether Richard just wanted the weekend off. the last comment on his blog was posted just after 5pm on friday.

in any case, steve's blog comments are posting, and my response is noted here:
http://www.micropersuasion....

i'm not a PR expert, but i am a blogger... certainly more transparency, disclosure, and *accountability* is needed here.

- dave mcclure

Re: Spock offers an ambitious “people” search engine

davemc500hats — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 02:36:31 -0000

Spock rocks. 'nuff said.