BLOG STARTUPS, VENTURE AND THE TECH BUSINESS
September 2 2011
by John Backus
AT&T’s Sneaky Pricing: Customer Service #Fail!
If customer service matters, then the DOJ should block AT&T’s purchase of T-Mobile. OK, a bit draconian, but, now I have your attention. I have been an AT&T wireless customer for a long time. In fact we have 3 AT&T wireless accounts in our house, all with pricey iPhone data plans. I also have the ...
August 8 2011
by Todd Hixon
Tablets Turn 18
We’re now 18 months post the iPad announcement. Like an 18 year-old, the tablet has matured a lot, but still has a way to go. Here are some key things I have learned. Tablets are a new, major segment of the mobile device market, 40-50 million units this year, a big fraction of the ~250m ...
July 30 2011
by John Backus
Worst Analysis of Entrepreneurship and VCs EVER!
Wow. It isn’t often that I drop everything after I read and article and feel compelled to respond. But I was dumbstruck when I read this piece in the Washington Post today. It was titled: Five myths about entrepreneurs. In around 1000 words, he went on to trash the National Venture Capital Association, Peter Thiel, ...
July 7 2011
by Thanasis Delistathis
What’s in it for Skype?
Facebook announced a new feature that allows users to communicate with their friends via video calls. The backbone of the service is powered by the skype network. I was curious to see how the service worked so I tested it with a couple of colleagues. To enable it, I had to click on a friend ...
July 5 2011
by Scott Johnson
Execution is Everything
The most common mistake entrepreneurs make is overestimating their ability to execute. This is so common that I am surprised it is so rarely written about. Sometimes perfect market timing (aka luck) can mask less than stellar execution. But 99% of the time, great execution is everything. Execution is the really hard work it takes ...
July 4 2011
by Todd Hixon
A Tale of Three Cities
In the past month I’ve been to venture conferences in three cities: New York, San Francisco, and Boston. (I rarely go to so many; events conspired this year.) This invites a comparison. The New York conference (TechCrunch/Disrupt) stropped its edge and trumpeted media, personalities, and disrupting everything, not least venture capital (more here). There were ...
June 17 2011
by Todd Hixon
Customer-Driven Health Care
We’ve made several health care related investments recently: Qliance, Healthwarehouse, and Truveris. Customer-driven health care is the theme that unifies them. When customers (individuals and health plan payers) take charge, things change in good and important ways. And customers are taking charge because the cost of health care has become unaffordable for everyone, even the ...
June 15 2011
by Thanasis Delistathis
Think Different: Apple Retail Stores
A couple of months ago my Mac Air’s operating system was fried. The Finder was malfunctioning and I couldn’t get an anything done. I took it to the Apple store around the corner from our office. The rep at the Genius Bar hooked it up to a hard drive and asked me to come back ...
June 13 2011
by Todd Hixon
Physics & Politics
I have always loved finding the non-obvious underlying truth, which is why I studied Physics and would be a sad failure in politics. My favorite part of TechCrunch New York was the presentation by EcoMotors, a company that wants to reduce oil consumption and CO2 emissions by producing a much better internal combustion (IC) engine. ...
June 10 2011
by Thanasis Delistathis
GroupOn: Amazing biz model or “ponzi scheme”?
Does GroupOn have a sustainable business model? Not a day goes by when I don’t have that debate with another VC or entrepreneur. They went from $0 to $2.5BN annual revenue run rate in less than 4 years. Arguably the fastest growing company in history. It almost sounds too good to be true. Can it ...
