Archive for May, 2012

  • Privacy Is O-V-E-R Over
    Posted by on May 31st, 2012 at 6:56 pm, Comments: 0

    My sentiments below may seem in conflict with the fact that I run a fintech startup which believes deeply in pseudonymity, and protects the identity of those users who wish to remain pseudononymous at all times. But there is a big difference between that, and what I’m about to say. Privacy is O-V-E-R over. Many of you [...]

  • Utilizing the Tax Code
    Posted by on May 31st, 2012 at 2:41 am, Comments: 0

    I’m always perplexed by the argument over taxation. Should we raise income taxes, should we lower income taxes, on and on and on, it never ends. In my experience, when such a zero sum equation is fought over, it’s often the case that neither answer is right nor solves the problem. Both sides are so [...]

  • We’re Fighting Against Your Occupation…..But Please Don’t Leave
    Posted by on May 30th, 2012 at 6:58 pm, Comments: 0

    There is never any end to ridiculousness in the Middle East, each episode tops the next for the irrationality of what these people say and do. And to be clear, this takes place on all sides. This week’s episode of “I can top the stupid shit you said last week” comes from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who tells [...]

  • Presenting Estimize at New York Tech Meetup, a Huge Honor
    Posted by on May 27th, 2012 at 4:18 pm, Comments: 0

    It’s been amazing to watch the transformation of New York City into a tech hub over the past five years. I’ve learned a lot about how important communities and ecosystems are, especially when you’re trying to build a company. You need to exchange ideas with a lot of different people. You need mentors, and you need to [...]

  • Buy Experiences, Not Things
    Posted by on May 24th, 2012 at 8:54 pm, Comments: 0

    I read the abstract to an extensive research report the other day which basically said that buying experiences makes people far happier than buying things. This isn’t a surprise to me as I’ve been writing about my own feelings around access over ownership and experience over things for a while now. I own next to [...]

  • Morgan Stanley Analyst Moves Estimates Inline With Estimize Consensus
    Posted by on May 22nd, 2012 at 1:10 pm, Comments: 0

    The hoopla this morning over the Morgan Stanley analyst who revised his Facebook estimates in the middle of the roadshow is, to put it lightly, down right stupid. Let’s put aside for a second that anyone should still care at all what one analyst says about a company that they have obvious conflicts of interest [...]

  • Push Yourself To Fail, Often
    Posted by on May 21st, 2012 at 8:07 pm, Comments: 0

    I started playing hockey at age six. Some of my most vivid memories from that age are from being on the ice, or in the locker room having my skates tied by my father. I remember learning how to do a hockey stop. The coaches told us to skate as fast as we could to [...]

  • Knocking Over The Wall Does Not Itself Create A Business
    Posted by on May 17th, 2012 at 4:23 pm, Comments: 0

    Amazon has taken 30 billion dollars a year in sales away from the brick and mortar retail industry, yet it has a hard time turning a profit, amazing. Napster was a failure of a company financially, yet it completely destroyed the music industry, absolutely leveled it. I’ve been chewing on this theme for a few [...]

  • Tournament Trading Technologies Launches Super Stock Jockey
    Posted by on May 14th, 2012 at 4:14 pm, Comments: 0

    A few months back I got an interesting email from a friend within the social finance community. He said he was advising an entrepreneur building a fintech product that I might find interesting. I was intrigued as I always am with these things, so I went to meet with the founder Philip Ittleson. I walked away from the [...]

  • You Are Not The Right Founder For Your Pivot
    Posted by on May 10th, 2012 at 1:40 pm, Comments: 0

    I was asked a great question at a meeting yesterday that made me feel really good about the people I was talking with. They asked, “why are YOU the right person to build this company?” The answer is simple, my DNA (previous experience / skill set) and deep desire to build this product (Estimize) in [...]