Wow

I came upstairs to my office at 5:15am this morning with a simple plan. I was going to read through the comments to yesterdays post and select one and write a blog post.

5am to 7am is my writing/thinking time. At 7am, I head downstairs and wake the family.

It's 6:53 and I've just finished wading through the 344 comments/suggestions and doing my own liking/voting/replying to them.

Quora cannot hold a candle to this community when it comes to startups and technology and investing. You all are simply amazing. If anyone wants to know my secret sauce when it comes to investing, all they need to do is wade into those comments. It's a gold mine.

I promise I will get to blogging about the top five or ten liked comments. And I will aslo blog about another twenty or thirty topics in there that I particuarly liked. But my time for blogging is over today. Time to wake up the family.

#VC & Technology#Web/Tech#Weblogs

Comments (Archived):

  1. Julien

    Happy day!

  2. RichardF

    enjoy

    1. Donna Brewington White

      monstra mihi what?you were waiting for someone to ask, right?

      1. RichardF

        amicum Google

        1. Donna Brewington White

          haha — “Abigail’s Big Table of Useful Latin Phrases” helped me out.Gotta love Google.

          1. RichardF

            they’ve got nothing but love from me and when I have google searched wired into my brain I’ll love them even more!

  3. ErikSchwartz

    It’s the least we could do.Thanks for providing the nexus of the community.

  4. hungrygardener

    I believe it’s a testament to your ‘public personna.” You come across as a very likable guy.

  5. awaldstein

    Thank you Fred!This community keeps giving to everyone who spend the time to contribute.

  6. reece

    awesome stuff.I love this community.

    1. William Mougayar

      It’s addictive.

      1. reece

        Like.[hey disqus – it’d be cool if i could actually ‘like’ a comment via email. Maybe {Like}?]

        1. FAKE GRIMLOCK

          LIKE COMMENT BY EMAIL GOOD IDEA. @disqus, YOU GUYS WORKING ON IT?

          1. Tereza

            It’s been suggested in the past but haven’t seen it!Also, i’m not thrilled to not see Like scores on iPad/iPhone renderings.They motivate me to participate and I participate most on the go.

          2. Matt A. Myers

            It’ll reduce visitors to a website, and may reduce engagement because by going to website people have opportunity to be exposed to other comments..

          3. FAKE GRIMLOCK

            HOW THAT DIFFERENT FROM REPLY AND LIKE FROM DISQUS PAGE?ME, GRIMLOCK, USE DISQUS.COM FOR FOLLOW THINGS, ONLY GO TO REAL SITE IF NEED MORE CONTEXT. SOMETIMES TINY DINO BRAIN NOT REMEMBER WHAT DISCUSSION ABOUT.

        2. fredwilson

          yes, yes, yes

      2. reece

        Like.[hey disqus – it’d be cool if i could actually ‘like’ a comment via email. Maybe {Like}?]

      3. reece

        Like.[hey disqus – it’d be cool if i could actually ‘like’ a comment via email. Maybe {Like}?]

    2. Tereza

      sniffle. sniffle.we love you too, Reece!!!!

      1. reece

        ha. thanks Tereza.

      2. Matt A. Myers

        <3

        1. Donna Brewington White

          +1

  7. jptucker

    It was in our own selfish interest to get rid of your blogger’s block.Looking forward to the posts!

    1. Tereza

      Simply the title “Bloggers Block” beckoned a deafening silence, heard ’round Fredland.What to do, but storm in to fill the void??

    2. FAKE GRIMLOCK

      GREAT LEADER NEVER SHOULDER BURDEN ALONE. IS ALSO HELD UP BY THOSE THAT FOLLOW.FRED NOT CHANGE INTO TRUCK, BUT HIM STILL PRETTY GOOD LEADER. ME, GRIMLOCK, LIKE HIM.

      1. Matt A. Myers

        I lol’d so loudly…

      2. Donna Brewington White

        …maybe changes into a sports car…we really don’t know do we…

  8. William Mougayar

    Wow back at you: You’re the only blogger I know that says “I don’t have anything to blog about”, and gets 350 comments in 24 hrs. :)Have you seen this Quora thread “To what extent has Fred Wilson’s blogging helped his business?”http://www.quora.com/Fred-W…”It’s because he shares his wisdom.””How he manages to filter all that information must be exhausting.””Its become the wiki for all things VC from my view.”

    1. fredwilson

      no i didn’t see that because i don’t use quorait bugs me when people talk about me therethey should talk WITH me here

      1. William Mougayar

        Wait until they start discussing you on Facebook 🙂

  9. William Mougayar

    “The Key to Happiness is Excitement for the Future”I saw this post today, referencing the Future Trends report from Econsultancy. Worth a read- focused on social, mobile & data. It does a good job summarizing the key trends, some of which were discussed here.http://socialcommercetoday….

  10. kidmercury

    You got dissed at the crunchies…..snubbed in various” top VC blogger lists” that said paul graham and brad feld were better…..people thought it was over, they thought the fredland heyday had come and gone…..WRONG. 344 comments. Yeah. Youngsters can try chewing on that.

    1. Tereza

      Knucklescrapers, all of them.Freddie’s got the juice.

      1. FAKE GRIMLOCK

        GRIMLOCK KNOW FELD, HIM NOT ALL THAT.

        1. fredwilson

          FRED KNOW FELD BETTER, YES HE IS ALL THAT

          1. FAKE GRIMLOCK

            SEE? THIS WHY US LOVE FRED. HIM HUMBLE.NO GET GRIMLOCK WRONG, FELD GOOD GUY. HIM JUST NO FRED WILSON.

        2. Tereza

          lolI was just speaking for dramatic effect.But you wouldn’t understand the notion of ‘dramatic effect’, or would you, Fake Grimlock.

          1. FAKE GRIMLOCK

            OF COURSE. EVERYTHING ME, GRIMLOCK DO AM FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT.IT HARD NOT BE DRAMATIC WHEN 50′ TALL METAL LIZARD. ME STAND OUT IN CROWD.

    2. Donna Brewington White

      proof is in the puddin’ baby

      1. kidmercury

        hey donna, how do you spell “people who bet against fredland”?E-M-B-A-R-R-A-S-S-E-D

        1. Donna Brewington White

          High five, Kid.

    3. fredwilson

      i was happy to be dissed at the crunchies, happy that feld had to be first on a listi am wishful that BI would take me off their stupid listsranking people is awful. it is demeaning to people. it is not how the world works.

      1. leigh

        This months Vanity Fair, had a great quote from Lauren Bacall…“There have always been rumors about me: Oh, she’s very difficult. Be careful of her. People who don’t know me—even some people who do know me—know that I say what I think. Very few people want to hear the truth. Bogie was like that, my mother was like that, and I’m like that. I believe in the truth, and I believe in saying what you think. Why not? Do you have to go around whispering all the time or playing a game with people? I just don’t believe in that. So I’m not the most adored person on the face of the earth. You have to know this. There are a lot of people who don’t like me at all, I’m very sure of that. But I wasn’t put on earth to be liked. I have my own reasons for being and my own sense of what is important and what isn’t, and I’m not going to change that.”

  11. andyswan

    Alright lovebirds, finish up the schmoozefest and get back to work.

    1. Tereza

      pucker up, buttercup

  12. Greg

    Fred, I know you’re awesome but don’t pressure yourself with the posts. Taking a few days off wouldn’t be a bad thing.Much thanks,Greg

  13. Tom Labus

    Lots of good stuff yesterday!!!!!Congrats to all.

  14. paramendra

    Go wake up the family.

  15. jefftala

    I’m impressed with the hours you keep. What’s a typical day like? How many hours do you sleep each night? How often do you get exercise? (I remember that you sometimes blog from the gym, impressive!)

    1. Tereza

      he velcros his iPad to an ellyptical machine

      1. fredwilson

        please keep that out of my obit

    2. fredwilson

      i try to sleep 7 hoursi make sure to get 6 hoursi can get done so much from 5pm to 7pm, including a trip to the gym for an hour three to four days a week

      1. Raj Gokal

        Can you get a little more specific? This is specifically what I came to the comments for…What do your days look like, and what routines do you try to stick to?

        1. fredwilson

          get up at 5, work till six or seven depending if i go to the gym, go to thegym at least three times a week, have breakfast with my family and havedinner with my family unless my wife and i go out, go out with my wife atleast once a week and ideally two or three times a week, work in betweenbreakfast and dinner, go to board meetings in person, meet with as manypeople as i can every day, let my assistant control my schedule between 9and 6, let my wife control it after 6. the only time i control is themornings and that is when i get all my work done.

  16. Tereza

    I’ve said it before but I’ll summarize why AVC works here.1. People respond to people, not brands or companies or ‘media’2. People respond more to people they like3. People can’t help but answer questions4. People like to be helpful5. People interact more and try harder when their actions are visible to people they know, and who know them.

    1. Tom Labus

      True across the board!!

    2. markslater

      people want to talk with people. when they know that a real person is there – it changes how we all behave. Wait until people start to real share their buying interests online and a service pops up to match them with a real person eager to win their business 😉

      1. awaldstein

        That’s the promise (and dream) of social commerce…no?

        1. Tereza

          …as well as something i still have to come up with a name for — it’s social services — meaning, services as opposed to products. Social commerce is very product-oriented. Services are a totally different sell and a huge % of our economy.And as we know, services are all about people.

          1. awaldstein

            Everything is about people.Been thinking a bit about how the adjective ‘social’ in front of most anything is not that elucidating.Whether it be products or services, its all part of a community referral based structure. Duh…its social because people are.Maybe I’m about to utter the marketing blasphemy that we need less new terms and simply evolve meaning to encompass the times.Good thought to take to the gym.

          2. Donna Brewington White

            …and that’s one of the things I love about the social phenomenon — after so many years of depersonalizing and dehumanizing business…business is being forced to fit around people and not the other way around…

          3. markslater

            Social for me is latent or passive.People will converse around stated interests and intentions going forward.

          4. Tereza

            yes. and interactions are most useful if the person either knows *you* extremely well, or they know *the issue you’re dealing with* extremely well. and nirvana is the intersection of the two. that’s perfection, tailored to you and your issue, right now.

          1. Tereza

            nice. i’m signed up. we’re working on similar things and should get our heads together.

          2. markslater

            hey – just answered a few questions! i also invited my wife. Looks great Tereza -lets share some ideas – once we open up so that you can see the service – i think it will be very obvious how we can work together

          3. Tereza

            awesome. yeah, my spidey sense tells me we’re both in the business of taking real conversations that do or should take place in real life, and driving out the inefficiencies and making them effective over the platform that sits in our pocket.cool, can’t wait.

          4. Dave W Baldwin

            looks good Mark. We truly are not far apart in our thoughts.Saw your response Waldstein regarding passive and you’re right as we look into the future.

        1. mike gilfillan

          Awesome idea! I swore that if I did another company, I would implement a similar concept for each employee (including CEO) so that everyone could give/receive real feedback vs. the glib stuff you hear in annual reviews. Could be painful, but everyone should have a chance to hear the real truth.

          1. Tereza

            Thanks so much, Mike!Glad (or not?!) to hear you’ve had a similar experience. Perception is a highly imperfect marketplace!Like you, I’ve seen over the years in work environments situations large and small where people fall out of touch with how they’re perceived. And more often than not, the people above and around them are not skilled nor courageous about giving concise, actionable feedback to help us correct course mid-stream. But then the person gets slammed at year-end. It happens often, and it’s not fair.But this in fact occurs throughout our life stages and spheres. Think dating, weddings, parenting, divorce, job search, health/wellness, and generally, our appearance and behavior.There are lots of things our friends would like to tell us. And there are lots of pros, many local, who are very well-equipped to help us get from Point A to Point B in a given domain.We began focusing on appearance. Lots of smart tech- and VC types told us to ‘focus’. And we tried, but it didn’t seem right. Thing is, just like in high school, who wants to get stuck in a never-ending convo about how they look (or their hair, or their wedding) 24/7? You need to shake it up.Our users are smart and authentic. So to encourage daily use, we gave them freedom to ask what they want. It quickly got very interesting! Smart people ask smart things.And being a voyeur into authentic decisions and personal transformations is addictive. You want to help, in part because you see yourself in their shoes.We all just want to be our true selves, but just a little better. It’s what life’s all about!

      2. Tereza

        honestly now, mark, what could you possibly be talking about?

    3. Donna Brewington White

      Got an idea. You should start a company around these premises. 😉

    4. daryn

      Well put (again) Tereza!Fred writes great content, but the biggest factor in me being here everyday, and being active in the comments, is Fred himself and the rest of the community here.That’s why my vote is for more storytelling, and if there are more guest posts on here, I hope they keep the spirit and personality of the blog and community in mind.

    5. Tereza

      There were three features specific to that post, that set things off:6. Fred’s plea felt authentic7. Idea-generation means everyone should have something to say, and ‘no wrong answers’ = no-risk commenting8. Fred explicitly promised to read and consider each commentGreat case study!

      1. fredwilson

        yeah, and i had no idea how long it would take to read and consider everyone

        1. Mark Essel

          Are you still seeing a steady growth in regular readers? Wonder when the comment stream will consistently exceed your (and the avc community’s) inbound. I scan the comments a couple of times a week and pipe in or like shared opinions/experiences.

          1. fredwilson

            it is hard to measure regular readers, but i am seeing steady growth inreaders

    6. fredwilson

      yupnumber one is a really big deal

  17. Dale Allyn

    I agree, Fred. I’m currently in Thailand and just finished up a long day of meetings (10:40 pm here). I didn’t get to read yesterday’s post, so having just skimmed it I now have some great reading material for tonight and tomorrow a.m. Combine that with finishing The Blue Sweater within a day or so and I’m feeling pretty flush.You have curated a wonderful community here. Congratulations.

    1. fredwilson

      did you like Blue Sweater?

      1. Dale Allyn

        Yes, Fred, very much. Quite an inspiring story. Actually, I’m not quite finished, though expect to soon. I’d like to give it to a friend here in Thailand who is on the international council of advisors to the Asian University for Women (which I blogged a bit about) before I leave. I think her daughters may enjoy it.

  18. Fernando Gutierrez

    Yesterday I was in a couple of planes most of the day and couldn’t catch up, what a day I missed! I agree, this is an amazing place.

  19. Aaron Klein

    I was traveling yesterday so didn’t get here until later in the day on the west coast. Read the post in google reader, clicked through with three ideas to share. And of course, this awesome community had already thought of them. So all I did was like things.The Andy Swan blank check post should be killer.

  20. Steve Poland

    How are there no trolls on this blog? Do you have someone curating the comments, or is Disqus just simply amazing?

    1. Dale Allyn

      This is a “circle slash troll” community. It naturally repels trolls through common sense policing.

    2. markslater

      thats a good question – its extremely rare to see non relevant / abusive comments here

    3. fredwilson

      it started with my brother Ted who was the bouncer in the beginningwhen he went cold turkey on social media, The Kid stepped into that roll, which he still hasbut now, all the regulars here bounce

  21. FAKE GRIMLOCK

    COMMUNITIES SAME AS EVERYTHING ELSE. ONES GROWN NATURALLY HEALTHIER AND MORE BETTERER THAN ARTIFICIAL ONES.THIS ONE LIKE 100% ORGANIC, FAIR TRADE, LOCALLY GROWN FARMER’S MARKET COMMUNITY.

    1. William Mougayar

      They’ll get crushed if they appear.Bring them on. JLM is our commander We have the ammo

      1. FAKE GRIMLOCK

        WHAT YOU TALKING ABOUT? YOU WANT TO SHOOT FARMER’S MARKETS? WHAT THEM EVER DO TO YOU?THAT MUCH HATE ORGANIC POTATOES AND HAND MADE JEWELRY VENDORS NOT HEALTHY. SHOULD PROBABLY SEE DOCTOR.

        1. ShanaC

          Do you prefer sweet or regular potatoes

          1. FAKE GRIMLOCK

            GRIMLOCK ONLY EAT BACON, HUMANS, COFFEE, BEER.POTATOES JUST GARNISH.

          2. ShanaC

            I really hope there are vitamins involved on a daily basis

          3. Mark Essel

            My transformers lore conceals any mention of Grimlock eating bacon or humans, I assumed his diet consisted of shrubbery and sweet sweet energon cubes. Is this a crack in your metallic veneer, am I seeing through a simple but clever ruse “FAKE” Grimlock.Transformers, Grimlock 101: http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Grim

          4. FAKE GRIMLOCK

            ENERGON HARD TO FIND, GRIMLOCK CONVERT SYSTEMS TO RUN ON BACON, MEAT, COFFEE, AND BEER.HUMANS OFTEN FULL OF COFFEE OR BEER, MADE OF MEAT. IF ONLY MORE HUMANS ALSO FULL OF BACON, THEM WOULD BE PERFECT FOOD.

        2. William Mougayar

          I was replying to Steve Poland’s comment about trolls not showing up here. For some reason Disqus messed-up the thread.

    2. fredwilson

      fair trade indeed, love this comment grimlock

  22. Daniel

    I don’t suppose you’d like to start your own Q&A community would you? :)If so, let me know! [email protected]

  23. ShanaC

    Yup, isn’t it great to have a community that one is part of – they will be there to help

  24. Donna Brewington White

    Thank YOU Fred.You have created one of the most fun places to be on the internet.(Especially for someone with an insatiable desire to learn from and interact with really smart and interesting people. Even though I do feel a bit like Gidget around here half the time.)

    1. Roland Haddad

      Fun, Educational, Diverse, Eye Opener…It’s like a virtual university where Fred is our cool professor who teaches us something new everyday, engages us to discuss and answers our questions. Thank you Fred

  25. John Rorick

    I rarely if ever post, but last night my wife overheard me exclaim “I got just as many likes as Suster!” and looked at me cross-eyed. I had no idea how much this little corner of the web had grown on me. Much obliged for all of the information.

  26. William Carleton

    Fred, sorry I missed the chance to suggest topics yesterday, but I’m staying tuned. You show the rest of us how to aspire and reach outside ourselves.

  27. John Sharp

    There’s a lot of blogs out there that talk about the “art” of venture investing – this is one of the very few communities dedicated to discussing the art AND science (math) behind successful investing. I learn something new every time I come here.

  28. mike gilfillan

    Looking forward to a Marketing post (& comments) based on the number of Likes from yesterday! This is one topic where there is a lot more art than science.

  29. Pete Meehan

    Clearly a case of true content.Content that meets the needs of a specific community segment. Excellent.Everybody is happy, and that’s not typical.

  30. JohnieRocket

    Great information!

  31. fredwilson

    shhdon’t let my secret out