So, i don’t know if i’ve told you this, Dear Reader, but I’ve been doing the Mr. Mom thing over here for 3 week. I’m doing this because Diane is working in Colorado Springs Monday-Friday on a film. It’s always been her dream to both work in Colorado and work on films. This was her first opportunity, and passing on it was just not in the cards. So, i’m not at home, a la Michael Keaton.
So, what have I learned in these three weeks: Continue reading “Mr. Mom: Things I’ve Learned”
This speech, sent to me by my cousin Nelly, really made my night tonight. It’s by Syracuse professor and NYTimes writer George Saunders.
I think it’s a great message we all should listen to:
Down through the ages, a traditional form has evolved for this type of speech, which is: Some old fart, his best years behind him, who, over the course of his life, has made a series of dreadful mistakes (that would be me), gives heartfelt advice to a group of shining, energetic young people, with all of their best years ahead of them (that would be you).
And I intend to respect that tradition.
Now, one useful thing you can do with an old person, in addition to borrowing money from them, or asking them to do one of their old-time “dances,” so you can watch, while laughing, is ask: “Looking back, what do you regret?” And they’ll tell you. Sometimes, as you know, they’ll tell you even if you haven’t asked. Sometimes, even when you’ve specifically requested they not tell you, they’ll tell you.
So: What do I regret? Being poor from time to time? Not really. Working terrible jobs, like “knuckle-puller in a slaughterhouse?” (And don’t even ASK what that entails.) No. I don’t regret that. Skinny-dipping in a river in Sumatra, a little buzzed, and looking up and seeing like 300 monkeys sitting on a pipeline, pooping down into the river, the river in which I was swimming, with my mouth open, naked? And getting deathly ill afterwards, and staying sick for the next seven months? Not so much. Do I regret the occasional humiliation? Like once, playing hockey in front of a big crowd, including this girl I really liked, I somehow managed, while falling and emitting this weird whooping noise, to score on my own goalie, while also sending my stick flying into the crowd, nearly hitting that girl? No. I don’t even regret that. Continue reading “Be a Little Kinder”
I don’t really like Google Glass as it is now. There’s no way that the look of it will ever let it go mainstream. However, i do like:
What i want to happen is for them to build just these three use cases into normal looking glasses. Get a few versions of Warby Parker that have Glass integration into them. Then it’ll be sweet. I want to wear regular-looking glasses and go about my day and if i want just touch something and have it start recording. That’s when Google Glass wins.
I’ve said this a million times and i’ll say it again for the record. If you’re a music internet application and you have full music streams, you’re not making any money.
I was reminded about this again today when i read this article about Spotify:
Spotify’s 2012 results are out today, with Reuters reporting that the private company had revenue of 435 million euros, and a 58.7 million euro net loss.
The revenue figure is impressive, more than doubling 2011′s 190 million euro tally. However, the company’s net loss widened in the year, even as it saw a dramatic expansion of its top line from 45.4 million euros to the aforementioned 58.7 million figure.
For some background, Toby and I founded the music company Qloud back in 2006. We had 20 million monthly users, did over a million streams a day, and were acquired by SpinMedia. But, given that kind of traffic, there was still no way we could make money. Let me explain why:
That last point is the key point. You’ll never make a profit. They will never allow for it. You’ve signed a deal with the devil and unless you can have a product that doesn’t rely on a mainstream back catalog of music (i.e. eMusic), you’re screwed.
So, while i love Spotify and Rdio and use them all the time, don’t expect them to IPO any time soon, or ever.
I love watching standup comedy. I’ve always thought that good standup is 50% content and 50% delivery. Some people are great at delivery (Sam Kinison, Aziz, Michael Richards) and some people have great content (Patton Oswalt), some are just pretty good at both (Jim Gaffigan, Daniel Tosh), while the legends are great at both (Chris Rock, Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle).
It had been a while since I’d seen Jerry Seinfeld do standup, but I recently went and saw him that the Buell Theater in Denver. Let me tell you, he killed it. I was crying for most of the show. He’s still got it. Here’s a clip of some of his new stuff that he did on Jimmy Fallon:
I also listed to him on Howard Stern where he did a really long interview. He goes deep into his process of creating a joke and while he’s still doing comedy. I love long interviews like this.
Some items
One of my new favorite things to do is watch the PandoMonthly videos. They are really long – usually over 90 minutes – but it is a super in-depth interview with one of the internet’s big dogs. My favorite one so far is a 2-hour video with John Doerr who worked early on at Intel and sits on the board of Google and Amazon.
Last night i watched Fred Wilson’s interview. Some highlights:
All in all, some good stuff. The full video is here:
This is a photo sending service much like others but it’s also totally different. What is it? It’s a way to send photos to people. What you do is:
On the service, it seems like just a simple app, but the step number 2 above makes it completely different. Having an app that removes a saved copy of a photo frees you to take stupid pics and reply to stupid pics with other stupid pics. At one lunch, i must have sent 10 photos to someone because the photos were little messages not items to be admired. And, i’m not the only one. Check out the number of photos flying through the service:
In a world where we have unlimited storage, it seems strange that people want an app where the photos don’t exist. But it’s not about the storage or lack thereof, it’s about the expectations. With the photos disappearing you are free to take a chance and make something whimsical. I love it.
If you haven’t tried it, sign up and send me a photo. It’s pretty fun.
I listened to this podcast (This Week in Venture Capital) about a company focusing on organizing a students debt and loans. More than the company, the stats really stuck out for me. Here they some and what they mean:
Student debt is HUGE. Student debt over last 10 years has doubled to a trillion dollars. Here’ the breakdown:
People can’t get jobs still. 50% of people graduating from University are unemployed or underemployed
It’s not just poor, it’s a lot of people. 2/3 of all students graduating in 2008 took on debt
It’s a problem that isn’t being solved. Of the 2008 grads that took on debt only 22% of these are current (aka up to speed on their payments)
It’s not just young people anymore. 34% of all outstanding debt in US is held by people 40 years or older
This is fundamental problem in America and it’s impacting everyone at all ages and areas. I feel like it should get great attention and be a bigger part of the “what’s wrong with America” conversation.
Luckily, the changes in the education system will cause more schools with more affordable opportunities to emerge. Kahn Academy U can’t come fast enough apparently.
I’m just happy that someone is keeping track of this. However, i wish it wasn’t money raised but revenues or net revenue or something like that. I know it’s harder to capture, but it sends a better message.
The Vikings announced a while ago that they would build a new stadium, but just this week they revealed what it’d look like – and whoa is it beautiful. The new stadium will be one of the advanced, state-of-the-art facilities in the world. Some highlights:
Clear is the new retractable:
There is no retractable roof, but it will be made entirely of cutting edge materials and glass that will make the roof and the sides clear. There will also be five clear pivoting doors that will be the largest in the world of their kind:
Versatility
This will be the most versatile sports facility in the US, capable of hosting Final Fours, World Cup or MLS soccer, concerts, baseball, or Super Bowls. It will seat 65,000, expandable to 73,000 for the Super Bowl.
Total Baller
This is probably the coolest stadium I’ve ever seen. The innovation with the largest pivoting glass doors in the world, to the largest clear roof in the world and the first on a stadium in the nation, to the bowl that is level with the street as you walk in, to the modern lines and glass ceiling just combines well and works
Totally awesome.