Rob Go's Tumblelog

New pair of jeans from true apparel

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:39:04 -0400

New pair of jeans from true apparel

theletterb: Some one get me in to cryogenic freezing until this...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:01:20 -0400

theletterb:

Some one get me in to cryogenic freezing until this movie comes out…

This could be huge

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:22:00 -0400

This could be huge

Formally Announcing Spark's Investment in Twitter

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:48:13 -0400

bijan:

It’s no secret that I’ve been a Twitter user and a big fan of the service for some time now.

In April of last year, I wrote a post (on my old blog) about getting into the feel of Twitter, the potential for 3rd parties app and enjoying all of my 19 friends that were in my immediate Twitter network.

Then about a month after that, I wrote this post about being addicted to Twitter. That post is interesting to me. I linked to a great post by Dave Winer and I also urged my friend Howard Lindzon to start using Twitter. As you can see from his comment, he wasn’t a user at the time. Now Howard is a very active user, following 140 people and has 975 followers. Pretty cool.

Since my original post, I’ve been using Twitter daily it seems. My network on Twitter has grown and I’m getting more and more from it. More sites are building in Twitter functionality too for games, music, and video. And users are doing more with it too.

I’ve also spent a lot of time with Jack, Ev, Biz & Jason over the past year. They are a fantastic team. I admire their passion and dedication to make Twitter into a global communication utility.

Today Twitter announced a new round of investment. And I’m thrilled to join their board of directors along with our investment in the company.

We need more simple user interfaces

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:53:25 -0400

I spent this past week in Maine with my wife, her family, and a group of friends. We stayed at a beautiful house in the mountains that was decked out with a great collection of A/V equipment. Huge flat screen TV’s, an even larger home theater linked to PS3, a hard drive with 150 movies, Direct TV, etc.

The problem was that it was almost impossible to figure out how to use this stuff. We had a bunch of technically savvy folks, but it took us two days to figure out how to use the hard drive with movies. When we called the owner, he was completely baffled, and advised us to call “the guy who set up the system” who never got back in touch with us.

There is something seriously wrong with this picture. Activating a home electronics system shouldn’t be this hard… it’s “consumer” electronics, after all. If activating a system is this hard, imagine how hard it is to set this system up, or to troubleshoot it.

I think a source of this problem is actually excessive choice and configurability. As is described in The Innovator’s Dilemma companies tend to innovate against the needs of their best customers and most advanced users. But in the process, they overshoot the needs of other consumers who care less about advanced features or endless customization and just want to watch a good movie (ok, I’m paraphrasing the book big time).

The point is that simplicity goes a really long way. Part of the appeal of Tumblr is that it hits you in the face with the few actions that matter (Text, Photo, Quote, Link, Chat, Audio, Video) and when you choose one of these actions, the next steps are stupid simple. There is a ton of customization available to Tumblr users, but the bar for doing this is higher than a service like Wordpress. But the consumers who just want to share their thoughts and a photo here or there have a perfect solution to their problems. Also, we can easily piggyback on the efforts of those who do take a little more time to customize the service (thanks Bill Israel!)

I wish consumer electronics companies would take a page out of this playbook (easier said than done, I know). But wouldn’t it be great to be able to buy a really good “home media center in a box” that is just rediculously easy to install? Isn’t there a better way to control these devices than these unintelligible remotes with dozens of different buttons? Isn’t there a better way to build these devices so that I don’t have to break my back trying to plug the right cords into the right holes, and the back of my media center doesn’t look like a jungle of tangled wires?

I think consumer electronics should be designed with simple-minded guys like me in mind :)

Great article by Tim Keller

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:34:22 -0400

Great article by Tim Keller: (via rmyung)

My friend Kurt on the bagpipes

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:20:43 -0400

My friend Kurt on the bagpipes

My view for the week

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:09:14 -0400

My view for the week

Please convince me to get an iphone!

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:28:05 -0400

Please convince me to get an iphone!:

I really want to get an Iphone. Serious. It’s cool, sleek, provides the web at my fingertips, and is the ultimate all-in-one device.

I’ve been reading all these articles recently praising the new 3g iphone. But I keep looking in vain for the things that really matter to me. Maybe I’m too simple minded, but what I really care about is:

1. Does email and calendaring work seamlessly?

2. Can I type quickly and accurately?

3. Can I live with just one device in my pocket?

From what I can tell, the new iphone, with all the new functionality and speed still does not deliver on these. I don’t think text input has been improved significantly. Every time I play with an iphone in an Apple store, I keep hoping that a light turn on in my brain and I’ll figure out how to use the keyboard properly. But those dreams are always crushed and I walk away a little more depressed than when I came in.

I think Apple may be able to make email and calendaring work seamlessly. But I think the proof is in the pudding. Given my skepticism about text input, email and scheduling needs to be really really good for me to consider a purchase. And unless email, calendaring, and text input work, I don’t see how I can possibly give up my Blackberry.

Iphone fans… what’s the answer? Do I need to invest more time into learning the nuances of the iphone’s functionality? Will the new iphone solve all my problems? Are all the other benefits so overwhelming that they make my top 3 priorities less important? Or do I just have to give up my dream of a single device for business and personal use?

Berkman Center Panel on Non-Competes - June 19th. Great Panelists!

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:46:35 -0400

bijan:

I’m thrilled to announce that Rich Miner has agreed to join our panel for the upcoming Berkman Center event about employee non-competes. Rich is a successful entrepreneur. He was the founder of Wildfire and also cofounded Android which Google acquired and is now driving their open source mobile products from Cambridge, MA.

I care a great deal about this issue. If you are concerned about innovation and how Massachusettes treats employees vs California & another states than I encourage to you come to this event.

As a reminder, the event is free (and includes cocktails/reception) but RSVP required. June 19th from 3-7pm.

I hope to see you there. Click here to see full info and RSVP information.

Gorgeous afternoon in Bryant Park

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:41:27 -0400

Gorgeous afternoon in Bryant Park

Congrats to Dennis, Herb, Miles, and Dmitry

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:07:00 -0400

Hollywood reporter published its list of top 50 digital media innovators and it was great to see a bunch of folks in the Spark family included. In addition to the entrepreneurs we have backed like Herb Scannell, Miles Becket t, and Dmitry Shapiro, it was great to see my colleague Dennis Miller on the list as well. It’s been a blast working with Dennis this past year. I’ve learned a lot from his deep industry knowledge, savvy people judgement, and vision for how media is evolving.

Congrats also to our co-investors and friends of the firm who are also on the list. Very cool.

Math Magic

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:09:00 -0400

I was hanging out with my friend Matt Onsum on Saturday, and being the math nerd that he is, he shared a couple cool “math magic tricks” with me. Check them out… they aren’t too difficult to figure out but are pretty interesting.

Magic Trick # 1

Three guests check into a hotel. The Cashier says the bill is $30 so each pays $10. Later the cashier realizes the bill should only be $25. To rectify the situation, he gives the bellhop five singles to return to the guests.

On the way back to the room the bellhop’s greed sets in and he decides to give each guest 1 dollar and keep 2 for himself.

So in the end, each guest has paid $9. Three times nine is 27 and the bellhop has $2. Two plus 27 is 29. What happened to the missing dollar?

Magic Trick # 2

If a = b = 1, then:

a = b
a² = ab
a² - b² = ab-b²
(a-b)(a+b) = b(a-b)
a+b = b
2 = 1

What is going on these days?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:53:08 -0400

Is it me, or is there a lot of bad mojo in the air these days? And I’m not even talking about the economy or the stuff hapenning in China and Myanmar.

Universal Studios Fire

Apartment Fire in Peabody, MA

Boston Common Shooting in broad daylight

NYC Crane Collapse

I think we could all use some good news

Laugh For Relief - Fundraiser Tonight for the Earthquake in China

Fri, 30 May 2008 09:38:29 -0400

Laugh For Relief - Fundraiser Tonight for the Earthquake in China:

This is short notice, but my friend Trent Yang is helping to put together a fundraiser to support the relief effort in China. Details below. Should be a good event for an important cause.

Laugh for Relief 2008

A standup comedy show benefiting China’s Earthquake victims

All proceeds go to the American Red Cross, China Earthquake Relief

Featuring the best comedians in New England.

- Sandy Asai, a favorite in clubs and colleges

- Shaun Bedgood, winner of the Catch a Rising Star competition

- Joe Wong, Finalist in the Boston Comedy Festival

- And more to come!!…

Location: The Cambridge YMCA Theater, 820 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA

Time: May 30th (Friday) at 8:00 PM

Ticket Price: $15 (buy on-line (best)) or pay at the door

Hiking in new Hampshire

Sat, 24 May 2008 12:15:28 -0400

Hiking in new Hampshire

Palo alto from above the trees

Tue, 20 May 2008 20:15:09 -0400

Palo alto from above the trees

Fidelity makes bid for online-auction glory - The Boston Globe

Tue, 20 May 2008 16:54:20 -0400

Fidelity makes bid for online-auction glory - The Boston Globe: Nice article about some of Fidelity Ventures’ recent deals. Congrats to my brother-in-law Larry Cheng who led a number of these marketplace investments.

peterwknox: Price Is Right Idiot is Today’s BIG Thing - MAY...

Tue, 20 May 2008 16:43:57 -0400

peterwknox:

Price Is Right Idiot is Today’s BIG Thing - MAY 19, 2008

Just in case you were feeling particularly dumb today, here’s someone dumber to make you feel better.

Please join us at an upcoming Berkman Center event - "Employee Non-Compete Agreements: Protecting Innovation or Stifling It?"

Mon, 19 May 2008 14:04:21 -0400

bijan:

I’ve been discussing the notion of getting rid of non competes for some time now.

I believe that it stifles innovation and there are better ways to deal with protecting the employer and at the same time creating an environment that fosters the creation of new value, new ideas, new products and new companies.

Many people have agreed with this notion and supported this effort thankfully. At the same time there are plenty of people that disagree and others that continue to have questions in their mind about this topic.

So with the help of the fine folks at the Berkman Center and my firm Spark Capital, we are hosting an event to discuss this topic openly. We will have individuals on the panel that have different points of view and we will very much be looking to hear from those that attend as well.

Here’s the official invite. Please join us and pass along this invite to others. It’s free to attend but RSVP required. Thanks!

~~~

Employee Non-Compete Agreements: Protecting Innovation or Stifling It?

A Discussion Hosted by the Berkman Center and Spark Capital; Sponsored by Gunderson Dettmer and Silicon Valley Bank

Thursday, June 19th from 3:00-7:00PM

The use of employee non-compete agreements by Massachusetts companies is routine, with employers mandating that employees steer clear of any business of a competitive nature once they leave their present jobs, typically for a year or more. Many believe these agreements are critical to guarding a company’s hard-earned intellectual property — protecting legitimate business interests, and thus our region’s economy. Others, however, believe that non-competes are nothing more than handcuffs that prevent talented entrepreneurs from bringing new innovations to market and, in some cases, even driving entrepreneurs to leave the region to pursue their innovations elsewhere. In this session, we’ll bring together some of the area’s best known venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and executives to explore the issue of non-competes and weigh the pros and cons of their use here in the Commonwealth. Are non-competes protecting innovation and economic growth in Massachusetts? Or stifling it?

Panelists will include:

Jeremy Allaire, founder & CEO, Brightcove

Melanie Haratunian, general counsel, Akamai

Paul Maeder, general partner, Highland Capital Partners

Lee Fleming, associate professor of business administration, Harvard University

Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital

Moderator: John Palfrey, Clinical Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School

Join us on Thursday, June 19th from 3-7PM in the Ames Courtroom at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Mass. The panel will be followed by a cocktail reception.

RSVP required by 6/12: Please email your name, title and company to Amar Ashar at the Berkman Center: ashar@cyber.law.harvard.edu