Writing.
Essays since 2006, plus a few things first published at USV. Occasional by design. The podcast lives on its own page.
- I agree with Ted Cruz: let’s supercharge the Internet marketplace
There has been a lot of debate about how to protect Internet Freedom. Today, Senator Ted Cruz has an op-ed in the Washington Post on the subject, which starts out with an eloquent and spot-on assessment of what we are trying to protect: Never before has it been so easy to take an idea and… Continue ...
- This is what an Internet Candidate looks like
I just donated to Christina Gagnier‘s campaign for congress. I’ve gotten to know Christina recently, and I really hope she’s able to pull through this race and make it. We need smart people in DC who understand technology, tech issues, and tech policy. She is without a doubt one of those people. S...
- Disgusting
I got this in the mail: It’s an ad for an extended warranty, disguised as an urgent extension of existing coverage. This makes we want to throw up. A business blatantly based on tricking people. “Immediate response to this notice required…. Our records indicate that you have not contacted us to hav...
- Becoming a leader of men
In terms of leadership, I’ve done some hard things. Building teams, reorganizing a company, dealing with failure (and success), letting people go, navigating competition, etc. But I suspect all of that will pale in comparison to what’s up next: this weekend I begin my career as a little league coac...
- Every once in a while I’m reminded of how awesome the Internet is
I woke up this morning, early, to an email from my mother-in-law pointing me to this: It’s the story of a 9-year-old boy who built an arcade out of cardboard boxes in his dad’s used auto parts shop. Kids at school teased him about it, and he had zero customers, but he had built something… Continue r...
- Dropbox and personal data
More and more, recently, I’ve been noticing web services that use Dropbox for storing user data. For example,1Password, OneName and Diaro. With all the talk about user control of data, data liberation, privacy, etc — I actually feel like this is is a super nice approach, at least for some use cases...
- The sweetest pitbull
I had crazy week last week. On Monday, I went to NYC for the day for work, and was overcome by a strange dizzy feeling. Walls spinning; hard to concentrate; nauseous. I thought — maybe I’m just dehydrated. I took a rest during the middle of the day; I drank a lot of fluids. I made… Continue readi...
- The open internet and the freedom to innovate
I spent the last two days in meetings with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and his staff, discussing their proposed Open Internet rules (aka net neutrality). Monday’s meeting was with a group of NYC VCs, and Tuesday’s meeting was with group of NYC startup CEOs and GCs. Coming out of these meetings, and af...
- Joi’s 9 principles of open innovation
I spent the day Tuesday at the Civic Media conference, put on annually by the MIT Center for Civic Media and the Knight Foundation. In addition to being a gathering of a fabulous community of civic hackers and builders, it’s also where Knight announces the winners of the NewsChallenge grant contest...
- The FCC open internet vote
Yesterday, the FCC met to vote on its notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the Open Internet. As was generally expected, the commission voted, along partisan lines, to move forward with their plan for Open Internet rules — a plan that, as currently designed, would allow for fast lanes and slow l...
- FCC’s response to the VC open internet letter
Over the weekend, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler sent a response to the letter that over 100 VCs and angel investors submitted last week. In the letter, we stressed the importance of an open internet as a foundation for the stunning levels of investment and innovation we’ve seen in the internet applicati...
- Defending the open internet
Over the past few weeks, the future of the open internet has come into sharp focus, as the FCC’s 2010 open internet rules were struck down in court, and then plans for new rules from the FCC came into public view. Amidst fears that the internet is f**ked, debate has raged about what this all… Conti...
- Turning 35
Today I turn 35. 30 was certainly a milestone, but somehow 35 feels more solidly different than 30 did (or maybe I’m just 5 years in to being used to 30-level grownup-ness). Closer to 50 than to 20. Gives me shivers thinking about it that way. For a while now, it’s seemed that every… Continue rea...
- I don’t know how to shop anymore
The sole is starting to peel of from my snow boots, so I’m in the market for some shoe goo or Gorilla Glue. I’d really like to get it today because the flapping sole is getting annoying. As I was thinking about this just now, I realized that I don’t know how to shop anymore.… Continue reading
- Total freedom in exchange for total surveillance
Today I signed up for TSA Pre-Check. I gave the some (rather minor) details about my background and scanned my fingerprints. In two weeks, I’ll get a known traveler ID, and will then be able to skip the line and keep my jacket/shoes/belt on when traveling domestically. Convenience in exchange for ...
- Pond hockey
Happy New Year everyone. I love new years. It always feels to good to turn the page and have a shot at a fresh new year. And new years in New England is always so so cold — which I think really helps mark the beginning of the real part of winter and the turn… Continue reading
- Pebble: first impressions
Last week, having been inspired by (of all things) this awesome and awful samsung gear commercial, i ordered a Pebble smartwatch. I can’t remember the last time I wore a watch — maybe it was 20 years ago in high school. My standard line for the past 10 years has been “why do I need… Continue readin...
- Yahoo! User First Conference: Winning on Trust
“It is trust, more than money, that makes the world go round.” — Joseph Stiglitz, In No One We Trust The week before last, I visited Yahoo! to give the keynote talk at their User First conference, which brought together big companies (Google, Facebook, etc), startups (big ones like USV portfolio com...
- Momentum on my mind
A few weeks ago, Brian asked Brittany and me: “do you think it’s better to build your career around skills or around ideas?”. Brittany immediately said “skills” and I immediately said “ideas”. We argued about it for a few minutes, and ultimately we both agreed that skills and ideas are both importa...
- The Regulation 2.0 challenge
Last night, I had the pleasure of joining Meetup.com GC David Pashman‘s NYU Law class on Internet and Business Law for Technology Companies as a guest speaker. Over the course of the past semester, David’s students have played the role of internet company General Counsel, working on a variety of le...