Disqus - Friends of spencerfry

Re: Achieving Excess Returns

albert — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:29:16 -0000

The difference between outperformance and luck is getting harder and harder to determine as there are more and more investors!

Re: Achieving Excess Returns

albert — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:35:18 -0000

The model may be basic (that's why it is a model and not reality), but it has to be right to succeed. And coming up with a right model requires deep understanding. It is the model that provides a signal.

Re: Achieving Excess Returns

albert — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:52:03 -0000

What constitutes a risk free rate of return is an interesting question. I still think that's short term US government debt (at least when you live in the US).

Re: Covestor Launches Investment Management

albert — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:45:52 -0000

Congrats on the launch! Just took a look. Interesting model. Look forward to seeing how many folks sign up for shares.

Re: The Project of a Lifetime

whitneyhess — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:35:13 -0000

I couldn't agree with you more, Josh. I was at Yad Vashem last summer and it was a wildly moving experience. I haven't seen the Post Secret exhibit, but a good friend of mine did and she said she still thinks about it years later. It's not just the subject matter (though that's certainly part of it) but using the design of the museum to shape the experience is incredibly powerful and it's something other spaces should do a better job of.

Re: The Project of a Lifetime

whitneyhess — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:30:45 -0000

I can't wait either! Thanks so much :)

Re: The Project of a Lifetime

whitneyhess — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:30:29 -0000

That isn't going to be difficult I imagine. Thanks so much :)

Re: The Project of a Lifetime

whitneyhess — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:30:07 -0000

Thanks so much, Ellie! I wasn't involved in the RFP process, but I'm thrilled that Happy Cog East pulled me in.

Re: The Project of a Lifetime

whitneyhess — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:29:11 -0000

Of course I wish you were part of it! Hope things are going really well for you. We should get together soon.

Re: The Project of a Lifetime

whitneyhess — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:28:42 -0000

Yay thanks!

Re: The Project of a Lifetime

whitneyhess — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:28:26 -0000

I couldn't have put it better. Thank you so much.

Re: The Project of a Lifetime

whitneyhess — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:28:03 -0000

Thank you, Aaron! You are always such a great encouragement to me.

Re: Foursquare

albert — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:42:32 -0000

Thanks - Fred will be at defrag and definitely will be checking in!

Re: The Mobile Challenge

albert — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:05:54 -0000

Glad to hear that that the discussion is helpful to an entrepreneur - that's one of the reasons for us to write these posts!

Re: Launching a New Site for Union Square Ventures

albert — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:08:51 -0000

Agree with the sentiment. There is work to be done on connecting these things up.

Re: Launching a New Site for Union Square Ventures

albert — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:44:18 -0000

Thanks - glad to hear that's servings its intended purpose!

Re: http://jackcheng.com/30-minutes-a-day

jackcheng — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:20:05 -0000

Hey Merrick, looks like you're making some great progress already! Thanks for sharing.

One quick design suggestion I have is to make the boxes a little wider. I think that the brief moment you mark off that box in the calendar should be the most gratifying feeling in the world. In the case of a printed calendar, the sound and feel of the ink or marker on paper is its own pleasure. Maybe the website version can have its own small effect that captures the ritual in an appropriate way.

Re: Why Is Microchunked Video for Education Not (Yet) Taking Off?

albert — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:32:34 -0000

I had an immersion experience of sorts myself when I spent my first year in the US as an exchange student in Rochester, MN. Definitely interested in learning more about Paedea, although at present we are not planning to invest in Asia.

Re: Don't Let the Funky Math of Convertibles Bite You

albert — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:15:05 -0000

Thanks, although that may be stretching it a bit! Bijan had a related post today also and apparently Brad Feld did a couple of days ago (but I somehow missed that). Will try to pull them all together at some point.

Re: Don't Let the Funky Math of Convertibles Bite You

albert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:19:37 -0000

We always look at everything on a fully diluted basis. I think if you present a deal to existing or potential investors you should do the same. It's not a good way to start off a relationship or to treat existing investors to have them surprised about the full impact of a deal.

Re: http://jackcheng.com/idea-judge-a-book-by-its-cover

jackcheng — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:13:00 -0000

Hey Kevin, Amazon changed their API since this launched, and I didn't have the time nor urge to update it, so I let the domain lapse. On to bigger and better things!

Re: Programmer-Archeologists Needed

albert — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:01:41 -0000

That does sound painful!

Re: Network Effects And Scale Economies (aka Spolsky vs. Heinemeier)

albert — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:42:56 -0000

Thanks for pointing out those things about Atlassian. Agree that there is definitely a fair bit of switching cost, but I have been surprised by folks switching other things that would appear to have high switching cost (e.g., version control systems). So some of that depends on how much integration has taken place and how hard or easy it is to export from existing systems and import into new ones.

Re: Network Effects And Scale Economies (aka Spolsky vs. Heinemeier)

albert — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:00:06 -0000

Not sure this really qualifies as a network effect since it doesn't actually increase the value of the service to users. Maybe on an "expected" value basis it does.

Re: Network Effects And Scale Economies (aka Spolsky vs. Heinemeier)

albert — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:58:38 -0000

Agreed - in fact a well managed user community is very much a form of network effect.