Disqus - Latest Comments for jbminn

Re: Facebook As The Ultimate Surveillance Machine

John Minnihan — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 11:35:05 -0000

I deactivated+deleted my fb account back in late DEC 07.

A post I wrote then, which I ref'd last week on twitter, included this line:

"Beacon was designed as a social-spying program, etc... and Zuckerberg himself seems like the type of person I wouldn't trust if he lived across the street"
- me, 06-JAN-2008

Re: Book: A Second Chance

John Minnihan — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 10:12:54 -0000

I was overwhelmed as I entered the gym w/ you + the others a couple weeks ago. Walking thru the tunnel of outstretched arms was an experience that really impacted me.

I arrived w/ anxiety, fear + a lifetime's attitude toward forgiveness (i've been in the 'you only get one fuckup' camp). I'm now nearly done w/ the book Cat gave me as I left.

I have a new - and I hope long-lasting - attitude that we *all* deserve second chances. When those around you don't give up on you, you can grow beyond your worst actions.

You know how this touches me personally.

Re: Our Investment in K9 Ventures

John Minnihan — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 10:24:11 -0000

Manu's name came up in dinner conversations twice over the years - once w/ a founder in Menlo + another time at a closing dinner for [redacted]. I haven't met Manu (yet) but have a highly favorable impression of him based on these conversations.

Over the span of a couple or few years, both stories were thematic wrt how good the experience w/ Manu had been.

Re: In The End, Entropy Always Wins

John Minnihan — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 14:21:46 -0000

thanks Brad.

this has been + continues to be an exercise in acceptance

Re: In The End, Entropy Always Wins

John Minnihan — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 12:24:41 -0000

letting go of the certitude of control + assumption of longevity are critical. you're eventually confronted w/ it, whether ready or not

faced this last month w/ my mom's death + it's ongoing w/ my dad's serious illness.

these are just the two most recent reminders of the axiom.

Re: I Don’t Accept This Apology

John Minnihan — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 16:29:44 -0000

Posts like this - and the direct, consequential action you + the Foundry partners have taken - are why you (+ they) are so widely respected.

Leadership takes many forms and this is an important one.

Re: Does VC Fund Differentiation Matter?

John Minnihan — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 12:07:54 -0000

someone once said that any deal - or series of deals, i.e. a fund - is all abt economics + control. Nothing else (much) matters.

The only factor that impacts e+c across all the deals in a fund - i.e. differentiates from other funds - is the people.

Re: Monthly Match: National Immigration Law Center #NILCMatch

John Minnihan — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 09:54:59 -0000

Thank you. Leadership without action is just talk.

I appreciate that you back up your beliefs + words with tangible actions.

Re: Empty Out Your Junk Drawer

John Minnihan — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 11:33:37 -0000

I call this simplifying.

As you know, I used to do component-level repairs on data center stuff. Over those early yrs, I accumulated a ton (maybe literally) of odds + ends: cables, cable crimpers, breakout boxes, keyboards, monitors, boards, power supplies, tools... lots.

When Jen + I decided that we'll be moving to a beach (or near-beach) locale in 3 yrs or less, I started a wholesale throwaway of this stuff. The first to go was the Cable Box.

It's super clarifying to acknowledge 'This is cluttering my life. Goodbye'.

Re: The Fight Between The Future And The Past

John Minnihan — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 18:54:41 -0000

Insightful. You're right.

Re: The Fight Between The Future And The Past

John Minnihan — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 11:50:02 -0000

"It is a struggle against the inevitability of change"

This is good summary of it.

As you know, I've spent a lot of time over the years going into companies large + small (WMDC, Amazon, Wily, Stubhub etc) redesigning dev processes to increase efficiencies, yada yada yada.

A consistently appearing issue I encountered was people's resistance to change. It's thematic. The psychology at play here is nothing new. Many (most?) people seek out + get comfortable in systems that favor them - or at least don't actively disfavor them - and then work really hard to maintain those systems when even the *perception* of disfavor emerges.

I saw this dynamic play out over + over again.

Re: New Registration Status at Foundry Group

John Minnihan — Mon, 23 May 2016 10:35:38 -0000

more seriously - is this in response to a new industry-wide req/reg or is it unique to FG?

Re: New Registration Status at Foundry Group

John Minnihan — Mon, 23 May 2016 08:47:11 -0000

look at you with the cryptic

Re: Do You Regret Failed Investments?

John Minnihan — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 10:20:30 -0000

i'll be there at 3pm

Re: Do You Regret Failed Investments?

John Minnihan — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 10:16:21 -0000

I can easily + rationally state that regret - as I experience it - ranges from simply unproductive to mentally destructive. We've discussed this several times over the past 10 years.

Unfortunately, my rationality isn't always front + center when this emotion emerges. Regret is closely tied to shame for me: I'm embarrassed at an outcome. Disappointment quickly turns to regret, which can - and with a few very specific, big things, *does* - linger.

It's tricky, as they say.

P.S. have fun over the weekend... is the pool open yet? 72 + sunny Sat.

Re: Help Me Understand The Value of Slack Instead of an Email List

John Minnihan — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 14:23:41 -0000

what's old is new again etc.

I've been invited to several slack channels + created a couple of my own. I ultimately quit participating because each deteriorated pretty rapidly into random, interupt-driven chit-chat. I have twitter for that + don't need/want another tool for that type of discourse.

Main takeaways for me:

- slack is neat, but really has nothing functionally 'new' wrt communication. If you need to converse privately + send/save attachments, email continues to perform well

- there's a whole lot of me-too-ism around its use recently that makes we suspect there's some 'look shiny' happening

- if I need to comm privately w/ folks, I'll text. If urgent, I'll call (i have your cell #, so heh)

- virtually everything that slack does - and does well, admittedly - I can do in email or another low-friction tool I already use. Sorry Stewart.

All that said, the video stuff that's emerging looks super interesting + the company Stewart + team are building really does seem to be amazing. I hope I'm at least 1/2 as thoughtful + empathetic as he is while I'm running my own business.

Re: The Retrade

John Minnihan — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 14:29:50 -0000

VCs who do this get a rep for being flaky. Founders talk + for those w/ a strong network, they hear of + avoid 'em.

If I wanted to deal w/ the 100% certainty of litigation, I'd name names. The upside just isn't there. As Brad has said in the past, avoiding a public food fight while privately being vocal is the best path. I now share that view.

Re: Founders – Use Your Down Round To Clean Up Your Cap Table

John Minnihan — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 12:08:44 -0000

"the real pain happened between 2000 and 2005"

Indeed. Mine was compressed into the Apr - Nov 2000 period. Everything that cld go wrong did, nearly entirely as a result of exogenous events in the capital markets.

That said, I may have been able to ride it out had my burn been lower. We were at $118k per month when our A round blew up. There was no plan B + it sucked in ways that haunted me for a looong time.

Lesson? Every Plan A requires a plan B which requires a plan C which requires a plan D. If you get to plan E, run like your life depends upon it, because it prob does.

Re: Introducing The Dial Telephone

John Minnihan — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 09:35:54 -0000

when I pitched freepository in '99, among all the blank 'I don't get it' stares was this comment from Andy Bechtolsheim: "no one will ever put their source code on a server they don't own"

Like Duncan Watts says, everything is obvious once you know the answer.

Re: Introducing The Dial Telephone

John Minnihan — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 09:30:47 -0000

I got my first cell phone, an in-car Audiovox w/ pristine call quality, in 1988.

I'll never forget a coworker, riding w/ a group of us in my car to lunch one day, asking me 'why would you ever need a phone in your car?'

That same coworker left her purse at the restaurant + realized it on our drive back to the office. I used the cell phone - mostly hands free even then - to call 411, get the restaurant's phone number, get connected + then ask them to walk out + check where we'd been sitting. They found the purse + held it for us while we drove back to get it.

No one will ever need a phone in their car, indeed.

Re: Running With The CEO

John Minnihan — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 13:11:40 -0000

when you get it, lemme know. i'll be camping out at foundry waiting my turn.

Re: Running With The CEO

John Minnihan — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 12:48:27 -0000

do you have / are you getting an Occulus Rift?

This looks pretty cool:

http://business.transworld....

Can't tell if this will be a consumer product or not; looks like this is describing a demo version that toured motocross races.

Re: Running With The CEO

John Minnihan — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 11:23:40 -0000

yeah, I didn't really expect your position to have changed.

Re: Running With The CEO

John Minnihan — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 10:52:40 -0000

wld love to get you out on the trails on a dirt bike.

I know your position on bikes, but properly geared up this can be tremendous - and safe - fun.

Re: Boxing in Boulder

John Minnihan — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 13:04:25 -0000

I'm sure a therapist wld have a field day w/ this, but I've been in maybe 40 fights, cld be close to 50. I 'won' abt half. I have scars on my face from a couple, spent a few nights in jail after bar fights etc. Not exactly stellar stuff.

This is an embarrassing thing to admit as an adult, but there it is. Why? Where I grew up, influence of older bros, influence of their friends... I went thru a period where I didn't tolerate much from anyone.

Many of the later fights involved coming to the aid of others when they were being bullied. I am proud of that, but it's still a weird road that got me there.