Scott Rafer's Blog

"I’m sure I’ll spark the ire of some VC’s for saying so, but there is certainly such a thing as..."

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:58:05 -0800

“I’m sure I’ll spark the ire of some VC’s for saying so, but there is certainly such a thing as black-out days in venture capital. It’s worth you knowing this so you don’t waste your time.
…
It is very difficult to raise venture capital between November 15 – January 7th. It is also very hard to raise VC from July 15 – September 7th. (you need to have had your first meeting even earlier.) If you’re thinking about raising VC and have not yet started the process [on Nov. 9th], you’ve probably already missed the boat for 2009.”

- VC Funding Season Ends Next Week

"He was confusing “the accounting” of the effort with achieving the goal."

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:39:49 -0800

“He was confusing “the accounting” of the effort with achieving the goal.”

- Relentless – The Difference Between Motion And Action « Steve Blank

Rafer sez:
When asking founders what their milestones are, the answer is too frequently ‘Hire two engineers’ or ‘Support our burn for 15 months.’ SteveB has it exactly right. Those are just motion (i.e. uses of funds) not action. Action is milestones — get ramen profitable, close our first 4 large accounts, prove our conversion rate, etc.

"You think abortion is wrong? Don’t have one. I think killing people is wrong, so I’m not in the..."

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:39:46 -0800

“You think abortion is wrong? Don’t have one. I think killing people is wrong, so I’m not in the army. My tax dollars still go to fund it, though (in fact about 21 cents of each of my tax dollars). My tax dollars also go to keep prisoners on death row even though I think the death penalty is morally wrong. My tax dollars fund Guantanamo and Bagram, extraordinary rendition, and Jim DeMint’s salary, all of which I find disgusting. So why is abortion, a legal medical procedure, so remarkably different that we have to go overboard making sure tax dollars don’t fund it?”

- Hey Stupak, women’s bodies are not bargaining chips, by Sarah Jaffe (via pcquotes x lavenderlines) (via spaceships) (via pukomuko)

hiten:cyan1975: Advertising/Ambient: Ebay - Moved to...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:39:46 -0800

hiten:cyan1975:

Advertising/Ambient: Ebay - Moved to Ebay

Rafer sez:
I never did find an effective way to short retail real estate. I should have tried harder, clearly.

"We realize the word “Collective” sounds a bit radical, even socialist."

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:39:47 -0800

“We realize the word “Collective” sounds a bit radical, even socialist.”

- Image by Lincolnian (Brian) via Flickr

cdixon.org – chris dixon’s blog

Rafer sez:
This sounds like a very healthy add to the ecology. Even the marketing makes me happy.

Launching a New Site for Union Square Ventures

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:39:16 -0800

continuations:

This morning we have launched the new web site for Union Square Ventures at usv.com.

We are very excited about all the dynamic elements on the site. For instance, if you visit the page for a portfolio company such as foursquare, you will see recent blog posts, tweets, photos and videos about the company. The same is true for the team pages. Here is my page as an example.

The dynamic content is aggregated using Magnify. We have also chosen to replace the thesis page with one that combines blog posts that together give a much better and evolving view compared to a one-off summary.

The new site is the work of the wonderfully talented Phoebe Espiritu and was project managed by our own Eric Friedman. A huge thanks to both for a job well done.

Rafer sez:
@albertwenger why didn’t you user Tumblr for the individual streams within the new site?

Google to buy mobile ad network for $750 million - Yahoo! Finance

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:03:55 -0800

Google to buy mobile ad network for $750 million - Yahoo! Finance:

Rafer sez:
I frequently post about ‘1st-time founders should go get a little rich and then decide if they want to go big. The odds of success suck to badly otherwise.’ None of that’s going to change, but Omar, AdMob’s founder, clearly made himself one of the exceptions. Looking back over the past 5 to 10 years, just what fraction of the exceptions were Sequoia-funded? 25%? 30%? Wow.

thedailywhat: Tee of the Day, Too: “El Vetica” by Mike...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:00:39 -0800

thedailywhat:

Tee of the Day, Too: “El Vetica” by Mike Monteiro.

“Celebrating the career of Mexico’s only typographer/luchador.” Genius.

[via.]

"Lawmakers were wrong to repeal the Depression-era Glass- Steagall Act in 1999, Reed said. At the..."

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:03:52 -0800

“Lawmakers were wrong to repeal the Depression-era Glass- Steagall Act in 1999, Reed said. At the time, he supported overturn of the law, which required the separation of institutions that engaged in traditional customer banking services from those involved in capital markets. “We learn from our mistakes,” said Reed, who wrote an Oct. 21 letter to the editor of the New York Times endorsing a division of banking activities. “When you’re running a company, you do what you think is right for the stockholders. Right now I’m looking at this as a citizen.””

- Reed Says ‘I’m Sorry’ for Role in Creating Citigroup - Bloomberg.com

This is the exact problem with Western capitalism and something I suspect I’ll harp about for the rest of my life. Our form of capitalism requires it’s companies to constantly be making more profit than before. Simply making as much of a profit as the previous quarter is considered a failure. It’s not possible for their to be endless growth in a world with fixed resources, capital and labor. It can be achieved temporarily, but never permanently. This principle destroys companies, economies and society with it.

(via tedr)

Rafer sez:
@tedr I think the solution lies in something easier than changing capitalism. The issue is that those increasing profits translate into increasing political power. Campaign finance reform would lead us to a much better place.

Ad Spending Across Four Benchmark Sites | Shift Market

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:02:00 -0800

Ad Spending Across Four Benchmark Sites | Shift Market:

Rafer sez:
The concentration of media spend isn’t news, but the details are interesting.

Good Judgment Comes with Experience, But Experience Comes from Bad Judgment

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:19:34 -0800

Good Judgment Comes with Experience, But Experience Comes from Bad Judgment:

Rafer sez:
A beautiful remark. I tend to use, ‘Sometimes you get what you want and sometimes you get experience.’ This one’s probably better.

Dear Steve Blank, this is incredibly irresponsible

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:44:21 -0800

Dear Steve Blank, this is incredibly irresponsible:

caterpillarcowboy:

rafer:

Steve Blank Quote:
It should go without saying that this post is not advice, nor is it recommendation of what you should do, it’s simply my observation of how companies using Customer Development positioned themselves to successfully raise money from venture investors.

Rafer sez:
I’m all for being non-judgmental, but this is ridiculous. When you are in a position of authority, it’s incumbent upon you to say when something is a terrible idea. Do not publish instructions on precisely how a founder would poison the next couple years of their lives.

I’ve shared my thoughts on it, but I’m curious (since you have more experience than me) what you find so objectionable.

Rafer sez:
@cowboy You aren’t the only one who asked, so I must have been unclear. Blank is laying out a path to raise a round of capital before there’s a business. Raising such a round has such a tiny, tiny probability of providing economic benefit to first time founders that it’s the startup equivalent of Russian Roulette instructions — using five bullets instead of one.

He ought to have written “Don’t do this” across the top in big red letters. And since that’s the case, why write it at all?

jryu: e-commerce-growth-tbi.jpg (via E-Commerce Sales Are Down...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:54:09 -0800

jryu:

e-commerce-growth-tbi.jpg (via E-Commerce Sales Are Down For The Second Straight Quarter)

Rafer sez:
Netting out Amazon would be both fascinating and ugly.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), simply put, had a quarter to die for, the kind that all shareholders have on their wish lists. The Q3 numbers, which were released on Thursday after the bell, speak for themselves. Net sales: up 28%. Operating income: up 62%. Per-share profit: up 67% to 45 cents. Free cash flow for the trailing twelve months: up 98%. Yep, Amazon’s fundamentals seem to be heading in the right direction.

(via shizzledizzle)

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:01:54 -0800

(via shizzledizzle)

Dear Steve Blank, this is incredibly irresponsible

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:36:14 -0800

Dear Steve Blank, this is incredibly irresponsible:

Steve Blank Quote:
It should go without saying that this post is not advice, nor is it recommendation of what you should do, it’s simply my observation of how companies using Customer Development positioned themselves to successfully raise money from venture investors.

Rafer sez:
I’m all for being non-judgmental, but this is ridiculous. When you are in a position of authority, it’s incumbent upon you to say when something is a terrible idea. Do not publish instructions on precisely how a founder would poison the next couple years of their lives.

vizz:icodeforlove: This is absolutely hilarious!

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:24:20 -0800

vizz:icodeforlove:

This is absolutely hilarious!

"I think that we are necessarily moving toward a geek culture. The health of our society is going to..."

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:30:59 -0800

“

I think that we are necessarily moving toward a geek culture. The health of our society is going to rely on information technology. It’s going to rely on a familiarity with math and science and technology. Geekery in general is founded on questioning and proof via analysis of the actual world and not the world as we wish it to be. By contrast, jockdom — not sports — jock culture proceeds from a certainty you create in your mind: ‘My town is the best because the incredibly wealthy owners decided to keep the team for now.’ Or, ‘My political team is the best because it was my dad’s and they best stoke my primitive fears,’ as opposed to ‘They have the best policies for me and my family.’

Jockdom is very noble. It’s not deliberative. It’s certainly the best way to win wars. It’s the best way to motivate teams of people to fulfill a goal — not just war, but getting things done. The most important way to motivate a factory floor. But as you know, we’re not as much of a manufacturing society as we were before. China and other big industrial nations are rewarding their nerds and technicians rather than creating a culture that makes fun of them — it would be wise for us to embrace the book-smart as much as our culture has traditionally embraced the street-smart, the jock-smart. I’m not saying nerds must have their revenge; I’m just saying the time for wedgies is at an end.

”

- john hodgman (via nomcakes) (via thisboyisexhausted) (via nattles) (via superamit)

"In about 20 years, these people will live in a world where those same people WILL be able to get..."

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:29:08 -0800

“In about 20 years, these people will live in a world where those same people WILL be able to get married, and they will have to shamefully explain to their grandkids why they were on the front page of the newspaper celebrating an ignorant and hopeless cause.”

- TheGreg on Maine’s victory of bigotry (via marco)

"Visitors to your site can get to know each other better by sharing details about themselves that are..."

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:15:09 -0800

“Visitors to your site can get to know each other better by sharing details about themselves that are relevant to the site they’re on. As a site owner, you can help them do this by visiting the new “Interests” section of your Friend Connect account, where you can add site-relevant questions that people can answer when joining your website or via the poll gadget.”

- Official Google Blog: Google Friend Connect, now more personalized

Rafer sez:
Smart.

Dear Apple, I understand you are trying to get a head start on the future and all, but some of us need a keyboard/pad. Jeebus. Stop this frickery.

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:39:06 -0800

stfupinup:

Sincerely yours,
That one girl that refuses to get
an iPhone unless it comes to T-Mobile
and gets a keypad.