Dig Deeper

I read a post by my friend Brad Feld this morning that struck me as great advice. Brad says:

I’ve been noticing an increasing amount of what I consider to be noise in the system – lots of drama that has nothing to do with innovation, creating great companies, or doing things that matter. I expect this noise will increase for a while as it always does whenever enthusiasm for startups and entrepreneurship increases. When that happens, I’ve learned that I need to go even deeper into the things I care about.

I've been noticing the same nonsense and I've been trying to put up blinders myself. Brad's advice is to make a list of the thing that interest you and then dig deeper on them. His is at the end of his post.

I am interested in extending the internet/web/mobile disruption we've seen in media to big industries like finance, education, healthcare, energy, etc in order to address the challenging economic and social issues of our time. I'm going to take Brad's advice and dig deeper on these areas. And I want to write more about this stuff and discuss it with all of you here.

#VC & Technology

Comments (Archived):

  1. RichardF

    I saw Brad’s post yesterday and it really rang a bell with me because I came to the same conclusion about a month or so ago and that’s what I’m doing right now. In just about every aspect of my life I’m going all in for the people and things I care about and blocking out the noise.

    1. fredwilson

      a support group is forming to rid ourselves of noise pollution

      1. awaldstein

        Honestly, i could use some support as well.Focus in the face of constant noise takes effort away from the task at hand every day. 

        1. John Revay

          YUP – I get caught up in the noise/ distractions of live.  I am worried at time I am not focusing on first things first. 

        2. leigh

          As a client of mine said to me (when i was ranting about the endless industry experts, book writers and conference speakers)…focus on doing great work and the rest shall come.She was right.  🙂

  2. Rohan

    ‘People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are.’ | Steve JobsIn this case, the noice is not even coming from good ideas it seems.. 🙂 As with all great quotes/advice/adages, while clear on first glance – very hard to do consistently, continuously and over a sustained period of time. I guess that’s life.

    1. Cam MacRae

      That’s the hardest lesson in portfolio management: To not fund good ideas so you can fund even better ones. (It doesn’t matter whether you’re funding them with money or attention.)

      1. bsoist

        Like Fred’s comparison of VC to playing poker. The best poker players know when it’s time to fold. 

        1. Cam MacRae

          That’s the next hardest lesson 😉

      2. Rohan

        Not sure if it applies to portfolio management alone, Cam.Applies to everything we do, I think – whenever we say yes to something, we say no to something else..

        1. Cam MacRae

          One perspective on this is that it’s all portfolio management: portfolios of ideas; portfolios of unread books; portfolios of friends; portfolios of businesses. etc.We have finite headspace and all too finite lives, so we must cull to the contemporaneous set of what really matters in each facet of our life.

      3. fredwilson

        yes. exactly. the opportunity cost of saying yes.

      1. LE

        Thanks for that. This:Another 25% of the time I need a little more information and request it via mail.  This has the side effect of eliminating another chunk of interactions since the person on the receiving end never bothers to respond.I do that as well and call it “giving people an assignment”. It’s also why half the battle in sales is getting back to the customer in a timely fashion with all the material they need to make a decision and making them think as little as possible. 

        1. bfeld

          Yup – I have a post coming about giving people an assignment as a way of dealing with inbound interest, especially around things like engaging with a startup community.

          1. LE

            I did an alumni interview for a local kid applying to Wharton. I spent considerable time with him. He was from Israel and had apparently learned English in the two years he was here and spoke quite well. I asked him if he had a video of how he spoke when he got to this country and a current one. I would attache that to my interview review and rec. He said he did so I said to send it to me. About a week later I got a thank you for the interview, no film and the thank you said “thank you for telling me so much about Penn”. I never told him anything about Penn I hadn’t been there in years. I never sent anything to admissions about him at all.

      2. fredwilson

        you are describing what we do every day, day after day, week after weekit can be exhausting

        1. bfeld

          There are days that it is totally exhausting. For me, like every hard workout I do, it’s ultimately liberating after a short recovery.

  3. JimHirshfield

    I start by refusing to read all the inside baseball tech stories and headlines with numbers in them (e.g. “The 3 Things Steve Jobs Wished for Before he Died”)

    1. fredwilson

      that make you click to see the next number?

      1. Wesley Verhoeve

        Such a pet peeve of mine! Pageview-isms are the worst.

      2. JimHirshfield

        It borders on click-fraud.

        1. ShanaC

          So change the way people buy media in the first place?

        2. LE

          We own domains that are monetized by ppc through both Yahoo and Google. We’ve had cases where some clicks come in at, not kidding here, $21 per click. True. And you wonder why there is click fraud.

    2. John Revay

      I further hate it when I click through and I don’t see a simple list w/ 3 bullets….instead I have to luanch a slide show or read through pages of txt to find the three items – no head lines

      1. Cam MacRae

        Look for a print button — normally puts everything on a single page.

      2. panterosa,

        I married, and divorced a reporter, 3rd gen in news biz. Am I ever glad my daughter has him to help her writing in the lead, nut graph and other ways to unbury the story. 

    3. sigmaalgebra

      If an article title has a question mark at the end, then that is a signal to me not to read the article.  Apparently the author wants to grab my curiosity or promise some drama.  What I’ve learned is that the question mark means that the article likely has no meaningful content!

  4. JamesHRH

    Hugely sage advise.i just spent time with my 17 year old niece. It is important to remember that many many people have no idea what this list looks like. So much of life is finding that out.I expect you & Brad found that easier than most.

  5. Mark Essel

    *edit*Wow, I was all kinds of loopy his morning.*edit*Glad to hear you and Brad are resolving your focus on what matters (to each of you)What matters to me, and what is potentially a profitable product/business is an impossible jigsaw puzzle. It’s a fine time to listen to the gambler for solid advice.Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, all I ever need is to see things and dreams through fascinated eyes.

  6. Wesley Verhoeve

    The increased mainstream “sexiness” of the start-up scene, recently blown up even bigger through the Instagram acquisition, certainly brings about a whole new slew of gold seekers. Those gold seekers are mostly about quick, dirty surface stuff and not about truly being part of the entrepreneurial community for the long haul, and they’re a loud group, so naturally there is media that caters to them with simplified “7 ways to get acquired” and “6 things your celebrity advisor should do” style writing.It feels like that awesome little restaurant or bar you love being invaded by the bridge and tunnel crowd once it got coverage in OK Mag after Kim Kardashian went once. Of course there’s a certain arrogance and “I was here first” snobbism in that notion, and I do think that’s something to be careful about too.Love the list notion. Going to work on mine and will post it.

    1. awaldstein

      Feel just the opposite. I share broadly my passion for amazing places like the Jura (even though the prices are going up by the discovery), shops and restaurants I discover in LES or Brooklyn or in Europe. I’ve always felt that the crossover process is good. It’s not the public’s problem for discovering the place or the band, it’s just how stuff happens. There’s always a pile on effect but it morphs into a new norm over time. And of course, designing crossover is what marketers do. Understand how to spread the word outside of the core group is part of what building markets is about.But, I’m with you on focus all the way.

      1. Wesley Verhoeve

        Funny thing is, I’m actually a total Gladwellian “maven” about the things (and places) I love. The “problem” with snobbism is that we’re typically only mavens for “our kind” of people, not gold seekers or bridge and tunnel, if you will. It’s a silly concept, but I think we all fall prey to it sometimes.

        1. awaldstein

          True.I spend a lot of my time, personally and as an advisor, figuring out how to build crossover into community. So I guess when I walk around LES or the E.Village and see food, art, wine, fashion innovation I’m always thinking about the parts that feel deeply right and can resonate more broadly.And in today’s world where we have a global marketplace the idea of niche as a business model, no longer means small ( http://awe.sm/5lWHM ).

          1. Wesley Verhoeve

            Ditto. I spent a lot of my time thinking about the same at @FamilyRecords. Since we’re both New Yorkers maybe we should share our lessons learned over coffee sometime.

    2. gorbachev

      The golddiggers will never get anywhere, unless they actually have something positive to contribute.As anyone working for a startup knows, it’s hard work that gets rewarded.The “top 10 list” type of “journalism” is why I stopped reading Mashable some time ago. I will do the same with anyone else that goes there.

      1. Wesley Verhoeve

        Ditto on the Mashable comment. Same for me for music website Complex, which has quality writing but awful pageview tricks.

  7. Patrick Morris

    I think this what happens when businesses are formed without trying to solve a problem and lose focus on what their end goal really is. A similar tone came from an HBR post that focused on focusing on problems instead of passion http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/201…

  8. Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

    Amen. Looking forward to the discussions.

    1. William Mougayar

      Yes, and we need more ACTION coupled with the Discussions.

  9. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

    I think you are again getting into the noise when you say ‘etc’. CUT THAT OUT.All my attention on your healthcare and education (in the same order) initiatives and talks…that is all my small brain can accommodate.

  10. John Revay

    A few years ago (around the time of the 2008 elections) – I thought Energy and Healthcare – were the big issues – both were sky rocking past the rate of inflation.  I like the fact that Education is on your list.It is sad when you look at the US rate of spending vs return and compare them to other countries around the world – we are clearly not getting the bang for our buck (Healthcare & Education).All big issues

    1. Dave Pinsen

      US health care is expensive, but in areas such as cancer treatment, survival rates tend to be higher than those in Europe.Education in the US is expensive as well, but if you adjust for demographics, our outcomes compare favorably with those of other countries.

      1. JLM

        You capture perfectly one of the basic truths of healthcare.If you are healthy and not sick, none of this means anything and that is likely to be the majority of your life.  I hope that it is so.If you are sick, very, very sick the US is the place to be from the vantage point of outcomes.  You will conquer more serious illnesses if you live in the US and your survival rate will be higher.The challenge is leveling the costs between it costs nothing to be healthy and it is very, very expensive to be very, very sick.Then, of course, you have that bitch Mother Time.  As you age, you have a higher probability of getting seriously ill.

        1. ShanaC

          If you can afford it.And the more long lasting the disease is, the  more complicated it gets to afford….

          1. JLM

            And this is why they invented insurance to pool the risk and to minimize the individual cost. To spread the cost widely among a large cross section of folks.Health insurance is different from health care.Health insurance implies catastrophic coverage in much the same way that automobile insurance does not pay for gasoline, oil, maintenance, tires and hygiene.  Those routine costs are paid for by the owner.A car accident — a bigger problem and a catastrophe — is paid for by car insurance.In the twisting of the argument about health care, the debate has commingled preventative care, routine care, physicals and such silly subjects as contraception.These things are like routine automobile expenses, costs that should be borne directly by the insured.Serious health care costs should be the subject of health care insurance and should be treated like an auto accident — catastrophic care costs.

          2. ShanaC

            Yes, the debate is definitely commingling very different sets of issues.The kid in this story is where the issue cuts: http://www.nytimes.com/2012…What kind of care is the kid getting – serious disease, he’s had a transplant, takes drugs for the transplant….but this isn’t a catastrophe per say, his treatment isn’t a once in a lifetime event. He’s going to be having very expensive treatment for the rest of his life.And from personal experience, preventive care can be very expensive in the short term, even if in the long term it brings down the cost of the catastrophe being prevented.We need to re-evaluate how healthcare works to make catastrophes more affordable…..

          3. kidmercury

            #truth

          4. Dave Pinsen

             And the more routine stuff policies are required to include, the more expensive the policies become.

          5. LE

            I think the same way but I think the argument on the other side would be that the sheople wouldn’t do the preventive care and then total cost that the pool would pay for would be significantly higher. 

          6. JamesHRH

            Amazingly, the implication that those two services (everyday & catastrophic health care) should be treated differently is coming true, IN CANADA.If you are 50+ & get diagnosed with cancer, your fastest way to a CAT scan is through queue jumping @ a private clinic. WHich is paid via supplemental health insurance (or self insuring!).Accurately stating this problem, as you have JLM, is huge leap. Terrific stuff.

          7. fredwilson

            we’ve talked about this ad naseum here at AVC but i think the big revolution in health care will come when we decide as a society that health insurance is only for catastrophic care and everyday care must be self insured.

        2. Dave Pinsen

          The resources available here are amazing. One thing that recent experience impressed on me though is that your mileage may vary — you will get better care if you or loved ones looking out for you are vigilant. That vigilance also affects outcomes: there are lots of links in the chain where mistakes can happen, from physicians, to pharmacists, to patients.Being sick isn’t only expensive but time-consuming too. One specialist refers you to another, and pretty soon your calendar is filling up with them.

          1. Donna Brewington White

            “That vigilance also affects outcomes”It is amazing to me how true this is.  All healthcare is not equal.  I have experienced several situations in which the advice of the medical professionals has been self-serving, financially motivated or with the aim of perpetuating medical dependence.All this said, I have also been exposed to some of the most admirable medical professionals imaginable.  Sadly, the side of town you live on can determine the quality of care received.  While I am fortunate to live on the side of town where I have the advantage, I am still concerned that this disparity exists.  And as the parent of a child with a chronic illness, our worst experiences have been those times when the care he needed took us to practitioners who served a wider socioeconomic range and seemed unaccustomed to having their actions questioned by patients.  I shudder to think of the choices some people have made based on their medical advice.

      2. raycote

        Serious question ?Are those survival rates higher across the board or just for those that can afford access to treatment?

        1. Dave Pinsen

          Patients who can’t afford treatment in the US still get treatment, via Medicaid, charity care, and other programs. As for whether charity/Medicaid patients were included in that study, I don’t know.

    2. laurie kalmanson

       if the costs of the wars were added into the price at the pump, research on renewables would be a bargain: it’s still math, just different math

      1. John Revay

        I like your math

        1. laurie kalmanson

          same, same. economics: people and their governments can decide what to fund, or they can let interests that do not align with theirs do it

      2. Dave Pinsen

        At the risk of riding a tangent, the wars weren’t about access to oil. We were able to get all the oil we needed before invading Afghanistan and Iraq the way we get any other commodity: by buying it (or by producing it ourselves; in the case of oil, we did and still do a combination of both).The problem with renewables isn’t a lack of capital. It’s that they simply don’t currently provide enough energy in a concentrated and convenient form to supplant fossil fuels. President Obama gives a speech about them, and then gets into an armored limo which drives him to a jet, both powered by fossil fuels.

        1. laurie kalmanson

          we disagreethe economic subsidies to fossil fuels distort the price and make them artificially inexpensiverenewables subsidized to the same level would be inexpensiveremove the market distortions: or apply them differently

          1. Dave Pinsen

            Economic subsidies don’t explain why the president’s car and plane are powered by fossil fuels; energy density does. See “Why Gasoline is Still King”. Excerpt:A gallon of gas weighs about 6.3 pounds and produces roughly 35 kilowatt hours of energy. That’s enough to burn a 100-watt light bulb continuously for more than two weeks. A lead-acid battery could do the same thing without needing a recharge—if it were the size of a desk and weighed a ton. Energy density is the point. We just haven’t come up with a fuel or a device that will safely and economically offer the same calorific value in such a small space as an automobile’s gasoline tank.

          2. laurie kalmanson

            hydrogen cars, electric cars: there are many alternatives available now and in the futurefree your mind

  11. kidmercury

    once you dig deep enough almost all the big problems are a by-product of the massive failure of governments around the world; we are witnessing a complete breakdown in the social contract. it is time for a new world order. how best to get there? dig deep enough and you’ll find out…….9/11 was an inside job,kid mercury

    1. John Revay

      #grandconspiracytheory

    2. Matt A. Myers

      Governments are elected by people, so in reality it’s massive failure of people. It’s a tricky situation though because people are busy, they don’t have time to do the problem solving and accountability-checking, and so people trust their representatives are doing what’s best.

      1. kidmercury

        people aren’t busy, they have plenty of time for football and garbage reality tv. rather people are ignorant, don’t care, and will resent you for reminding them. but fortunately, we are approaching the breaking point — the point at which ignorance will no longer be a viable strategy. then, finally, we get to all the good stuff.  

        1. AgeOfSophizm

          Its all about breaking their egos.  The ego is where it is at.  Once you break that down, you have a fresh, clean slate and we can then go about the business of creating a beautiful world full of creativity and true passion (i.e. not the kind of passion that fully back their favorite baseball team and maybe even willing to get in a bar brawl over it, definitely not THAT kind of passion!).

          1. kidmercury

            yup — i agree 100%

        2. LE

          have plenty of time for football and garbage reality tv.I’m not a sports fan but I’ve definitely seen proof of how sports has helped people in business. Along the same lines I like reality TV. There is actually much one can learn about human behavior from studying people on reality TV if you know what to look for. But I will give you one theme to go forward on and rant about. Talk about the amount of energy wasted because of soccer moms and parents obsession with their kids playing sports and after school activities. Not only does this obsession cause problems with the mothers (they are stretched thin, gain weight and ignore their health) they waste gas and energy driving back and forth in SUV’s hauling their kids around every day. 

          1. kidmercury

            i like and watch sports, that is not what my comment was about — it was only a simple example. the comment was about how people are willfully ignorant and will resent you if you try to awaken them from their ignorance. all this is fine, though. i’ve already learned that very few will be persuaded to change their mind because of raving lunatics like myself; in fact most will grow more defensive of their right to be ignorant. but as the situation becomes more severe they will realize paying attention to the truth is their only option. 10 years ago a non-violent revolution was unthinkable. soon it will be inevitable. 

        3. raycote

          Ignorance is popular because its easy to learn!Seriously though – to be fair many people simple never have the resources, including educational opportunities, require to even start building any kind of independent world view. If that is really even possible. I’m not sure? Many of us are simply victims of social circumstance. I like this cliché:Their are only three types of people- People who don’t even think to think- People who think they think- People who actually thinkAnd nobody who belongs to the last group would ever self proclaim their membershipYou are lucky enough to have the talent, emotional tenacity and educational resources to belong to that third group.Still you might want to ease up on the many who have never had the opportunities required to enjoy that status.

          1. kidmercury

            you make a good point about how i am fortunate and admittedly it is something i lose sight of. but at this point, i feel like the vast majority of people who are sufficiently privileged choose not to be — which i find to be unfortunate. high speed internet in the US is accessible to large portions of the population. there is double digit unemployment and dissatisfaction with government is very high. constant war is economically destructive and appallingly immoral — yet people don’t care. how much respect do they really deserve?of course there are plenty of kids, underprivileged people all of kinds, whom i agree should be excused and it is our obligation to help them however we can. but all the people who are sufficiently privileged…..they just don’t care. i agree there’s nothing that can be done, and i suspect eventually they’ll learn the hard way. sometimes we all need to learn the hard way and admittedly it is often the best way to learn, in my opinion.

          2. FAKE GRIMLOCK

            KID RAISED TO BE IGNORANT NOT CURED BY INTERNET ACCESS.

          3. LE

            “constant war is economically destructive and appallingly immoral — yet people don’t care. how much respect do they really deserve?”It may not be that they don’t care. It may be that they don’t share the same point of view as you do.there are plenty of kids, underprivileged people all of kinds, whom i agree should be excused and it is our obligation to help them however we can. Maybe part of the problem is, well, that some people are having more children then they can afford given their station in life or their family stability. 

          4. kidmercury

            @LE:disqus what i argue is akin to arguing that 2+2=4. i try to stay away from subjective things like abortion and or gun control (sometimes i’ll comment on guns but i understand that is a subjective viewpoint) but 9/11 is obvious and the facts are undeniable — to those who CHOOSE not to be ignorant of them. it is a choice and that is the entire point. the fact that people repeatedly vote for obama, romeny, or another establishment candidate that is for sure to be pro-war says it all. it says they would rather fit in then stand for peace. that is a disgusting way to behave and a society that chooses such a path is implicitly choosing to learn lessons the hard way. but that is okay, perhaps that is the way it is supposed to be. 

          5. kidmercury

            @FakeGrimlock:disqus yes, internet access does not magically remove all conceivable difficulties or obstacles from one’s life. people can always make excuses for their actions, crying about how they weren’t given enough. personally in my opinion if one is given access to reasonable education, sufficient health, and a decent family, there is no excuse for their ignorance. there tens of millions of people, perhaps hundreds of millions of people, who are fortunate enough to have these basics provided for them. yet they choose to put their head down and conform. that is the only problem with society.   

        4. Mark Essel

          Ok, no arguments there, except that we’ll always find distractions and time to unwind.

      2. FAKE GRIMLOCK

        THAT PROBLEM WITH PEOPLE.MOST OF THEM IDIOTS.ALSO, THEM ELECT GOVERNMENTS.

        1. LE

           Did you ever see cows stand in a field all day and just graze on grass? They do that because they can.

    3. ShanaC

      Not all, I can think of some big problems that are the result of changes in our knowledge.

      1. kidmercury

        okay, name one. 

        1. ShanaC

          Right now I am trying to wireframe out a family tree maker specificly designed for tracking familial* diseases.  I happen to need one, because I’m being told I need genetic testing and genetic counseling – and they want a family tree with certain limits on it.Before genetic research became big, this was not a useful thing to have.  Now that it is getting cheaper to spin out genomes and look at variants of different genetic codes (and how different variants interact with each other) it actually makes sense to get a bunch of people’s family trees and start running algorithms on them as groups to give us better research ideas.  This is especially true since if you can look at one group of diseases with a known genetic cause, and see a relationship with another group that is clearly familial but with unknown/unclear genetic causes, you now have a guidepost to look for a cause or maybe even a cure.I also know factually this is not happening.  Mostly because the software just to capture family trees en mass isn’t there.  That and because major genetics labs tend to take the tact of comparing diseased tissue with healthy tissue from the same person (or at least they do for cancers)

          1. kidmercury

            but WHY isn’t the software there? could it because monetary policy is so dysfunctional that leads to bubbles in sectors like facebook widgets while creating disincentives to invest in more valuable opportunities?more to the point, the whole medical institution is controlled by pharmaceutical companies. all they want to do is sell drugs and vaccines. the “science” they put out and try to foist upon the world will say this much as well. regulatory agencies as they currently are exist to protect pharmaceutical incumbents. 

          2. Luke Chamberlin

            Pinning the rate of technological progress solely on the government is giving that institution a bit too much credit, no?

          3. kidmercury

            sure, it’s not entirely government’s fault — and we’re the ones who elect them and put up with them so it ultimately comes back to the pepole — but i think government has held us back greatly. monetary policy fuels bubbles that misallocate capital, concentrates wealth, regulators become protectors of established incumbents that are threatened by technology……if the institution of government was reformed, we would see remarkable progress.  

          4. Mark Essel

            The fault lies not in monetary policy, but in the inability of existing social structures to adapt to present needs. At least that’s the trend I’m seeing in your examples.

          5. ShanaC

            No, this is seriously just a gap in research knowledge plus missing computer power that has just been filling out for the past 20 years.And not all science is funded by pharma.  Some is.  And as much as their are environmental causes at play, doesn’t mean that all is cured by fixing that.  

          6. Ruth BT

             Way to go Shana, this sounds like a great and useful project. I am surprised that there isn’t something like this already out there. From a research point of view it would be interesting to tease out but I wonder what it would look like in the hands of the insurance business – not so great I would think.

          7. ShanaC

            I was surprised too.  I found this one by accident, I had to fill out a form (that still needs to be filled out) and fax!? it back to my doctor so I could go for counseling.  I also know that my handwriting is unreadable. :)If I am not mistaken, insurance companies can’t discriminate based on health information, including genetic – just because you are a carrier for something doesn’t mean you will get said disease.if you want, once I resolve the issue of the path one would take to fill out this form, would you like to alpha and a half test it?

          8. Mark Essel

            Good luck in your research

          9. ShanaC

            I’m probably not going to be the researcher in the end.  Just the database owner.

    4. raycote

      Maybe its not so much a failure of governments around the world, maybe its more the fact that all flavours of modern governance(including corporate & personal) simply embrace and extend the hull speed limitations of the human wetware – localized shot-term self-interest/survival ?Conspiratorial efficacy is the evolutionary strange attractor around which survival at every level pivots.Translation:Consciousness, volitional-cognitive-inferential-power is by evolutionary design the very definition/embodiment of conspiracy. Conspiracy is the core fabric of our biological existence. It is an existential necessity!How do you like that for grand social nihilism  !What if one were to accept this premiss, that pinkness(self-interest & greed) are the biologically-enforced penny in the currency of all human affairs?The social/technical challenge then becomes:How do you construct a workable/sustainable Mexican-stand-off at multiple levels across 7 billion people stuck on a spaceship running out of supplies.”GIVE UUUUP !FROM FIVE O’CLOCK IN THE MONINGTILL 10 O’CLOCK AT NIGHTGIVE UUUUP !DID YOU HEAR THAT!GIVE UUUUP !Not really but the problem is much much more than just non-tivial.It make colonizing the moon look like a cake walk.Proselytizing any particular brand of secular or religious moral fiber seems to be pointlessly exhausted at this juncture.That leaves the construction of some sort of colossal Mexican-stand-off, organic-noosphere, anarchist-style, social-networking mechanism   capable of enforcing a sustainably optimal distribution of wealth, power, education and control all while pushing up against the onslaught of billions of years of organically honed localized volitional self-interests.All the while, short of the X-Men arriving to save us from ourselves, having to rely on same said localized-volitional, conspiratorial, self-interest-players to construct this new biologically transcendent existential framework. Just a tad bit of a self-referenial strange-loop collective social challenge.Who’s on first ?Google – Facebook – Apple – Gov.org ?The mothership centralized client-server design philosophy simply flies in the face of billions go years of time tested organic realism.Sorry you stirred me up and I got carried away as usual ;-)Keep up the good work stirring – its important and effective!

      1. Mark Essel

        I have long thought the client server relation to be well suited to the incumbent social heirarchy. Each business becomes their own mini-government and we reinforce the ones we believe in.Only when there is no such thing as centralized bottlenecks (everyone and thing is a read/write node), and information flows freely (not free of value, but free of artificial taxation by middle tiers) will our social evolution shift.

      2. fredwilson

        i like it when you get carried away ray

  12. awaldstein

    Figuring out the balance of thinking with your head not your heart is key to me. One may drive the other but real goals cut through the chaff of ‘interesting’ fast.

  13. LIAD

    I read this post yesterday on Transformational Entrepreneurship. It did a great job of reminding me to maintain long-haul focushttp://bit.ly/Im9nSH

    1. leigh

      Great post.  Social innovation driving business and brand will be one of the biggest forces driving trends in the next 10 yrs.  

    2. AgeOfSophizm

      I agree, great post.  Without mentioning it explicity, the blog seemed to be concerned with the notion of negative externalities, placing businesses that create negative externalities in the following category (section):Section 1: Negative Long Term Societal Impact [-5,0]Persuade people to buy things they don’t need or that harm them long termExploit peopleWaste people’s timeMake people or the world unhealthyGive a false sense of satisfaction or accomplishment  Something I think about a lot is the concept of a “clawback”.  For instance, Coke has made millions upon millions for its shareholders and executives (privatized gains) but has creative massive amounts of destruction for society (make the losses public).  Hmmmm …sounds eerily akin to our present financial system!  We can now look back historically and scientifically make the claim that HFCS is detrimental to our health and even poisonous.  So Coke has not created any value at all, they have destroyed it.  Countless doctor bills, dentists bills, etc… Even capitalists can’t argue with a clawback.  If it is proven that a company has destroyed value over time, the capitalist would say that they should be penalized for it.  A=A.

  14. William Mougayar

    USV goes Vertical. Tackling industries challenges is a Big, Bold and Brave objective. I hope these industries get to participate in the debate, and not be baffled by it like Media was. Here’s a hint- tack on the word “social” in front of each industry and the vision starts to get clearer. Social finance, social education, etc.

    1. Dave Pinsen

      Here’s a hint- tack on the word “social” in front of each industry and the vision starts to get clearer. Social finance, social education, etc.I don’t see that. Not everything is social. If you go to a doctor to get your genital warts treated, you’re probably not going to want to share that on Twitter. Same if you’ve been drawing down your retirement account to make the mortgage payments since you lost your job, or if you just found out that your daughter placed in all remedial classes at school.

      1. JimHirshfield

        Oh, privacy, that pesky detail.

        1. ShanaC

          we need a series of discussions reevaluating how privacy works.

      2. William Mougayar

        Of course, not to that extent! I was focusing on the macro level first.

      3. kidmercury

        suppose you have no money to afford an overpriced doctor visit or overpriced insurance, but can afford going online and interacting with a doctor provided your interactions are public so that the doctor’s knowledge and community wisdom can scale. social is closely related to peer production which is closely related to making things cheaper. everyone likes cheap stuff, doubly so in a world populated by debt slaves with no money.

        1. Dave Pinsen

          Social media isn’t how a physician’s knowledge scales. It scales through professional journals, as it does in other fields. A physician sees an interesting case and he submits a paper on it to JAMA or another peer-reviewed journal.

          1. kidmercury

            i was referring to how a physician’s ability to serve scales, although i think peer production/social enables knowledge scaling as well. witness the learning environment here. jama is social media, just put it online in a social network and toss in some badges for accreditation and you have a social media version. 

          2. laurie kalmanson

            family practitioners in a pediatric practice scales that practice — they do sniffles and vaccines. serious stuff goes to the md.for underserved populations, access to a virtual trained professional is better than no access at all

          3. Dave Pinsen

            Calling a peer reviewed professional journal “social media” is moving the goal posts.

          4. kidmercury

            @daveinhackensack:disqus no i dont think it’s moving the goal posts. social media is getting a bunch of people in one spot talking. you put a peer reviewed journal online, and you have social media. enable comments and toss in some badges and it becomes fancy social media. maybe facebook will buy it!

          5. muratcannoyan

            Social Media is where patients are looking for healthcare information. Physician could use social media to inform and educate their patient base. 

      4. Tom Labus

        Everyone needs to watch what and where they say stuff.

      5. William Mougayar

        But social has a role to play in healthcare. Let’s not confuse social with privacy. Sheryl Sandberg tells a story where a Mom posted the picture of her ill son on Facebook and a “Friend” who was also a neighbour immediately contacted her as she recognized the rare disease he had because her son had the exact same thing. They rushed him to the hospital and saved his life.

        1. awaldstein

          The social web is a fabric of our lives. No question as per your example above.Doesn’t mean that social or even community is a part of your model per se. Social doesn’t bolt on to models well. If you use Facebook to raise money for a cause, like an operation, the physicians themselves aren’t part of that model.

          1. William Mougayar

            Hmm…but if it benefits the patient, that’s good, no? That’s healthcare. We don’t have to touch all the players immediately. Users first. Patients first. The rest will follow.

          2. awaldstein

            Of course.I am not talking about social good. I’m talking about your biz model. In this case the health care provider’s model.Depending on outward bound social ricochet as a distribution strategy is something you can raise a glass to when it happens but not something that should be relied on without deliberate intent.

      6. awaldstein

        I agree.There are social loops with almost every business even if it’s in the referral end of the business. Think about your dentist or doctor.But the idea that all businesses fall under the category of social is just not correct as a blanket phrase. The customer world is changing but this is not a broad sweep of one business design fits all.The most popular post I wrote last year basically said that if you can’t answer the question ‘Why share? Why care?’ from your customer’s point of view why are the buttons there? ( http://awe.sm/5lWOC ). Surprising how incredibly difficult a question this is to answer for most businesses.

        1. falicon

          “why” is always a very hard question to answer…which is also why it’s always my favorite to ask and think about….in fact, as I’ve blogged about before ( http://falicon.com/post/125… ) I’m often obsessed with the “why” 😉

          1. awaldstein

            You are a smart web thinker so it is no surprise that you are similarly obsessed.”Why care? Why share?’ is a t shirt I should make.

          2. William Mougayar

            But Sharing is a means to an end- from Paul Adams’ book, see my review http://blog.engag.io/2012/0

          3. Cam MacRae

            That’s a great post, and I love @wmoug:disqus ‘s comment too – I’ve heard a similar thing elsewhere but can’t for the life of me remember where.

          4. Dave Pinsen

            Here are two answers to “why” users should share that apply when users are paying: – To get a discount. – To get more product.I added the first one to the web version of Portfolio Armor after the discussion prompted by Arnold’s most popular post last year: users can send an email to a friend telling them about the site, and if the friend joins, both the current user and the friend get a 10% discount on the membership fee. I’m looking to do something similar with the mobile version, but that’s going to be a little trickier. Would be cool to bounce an idea or two off of you related to that next time we meet.Regarding the second answer to “why” (get more product), apparently Drop Box does that, because I saw a tweet from someone recently saying he would get extra storage or whatever if someone joined using the link or code in his tweet.

          5. falicon

            Those are good ones…but there are lots more…here are few of my personal favorites:1. To associate with a set of ideals, people, or emotions.2. To experience, or re-experience, a specific emotion.3. To save time and/or energy.4. To remove a pain point or make a problem go away….if focus on, and sell on just product and price, you will eventually be fighting for a commodity to survive and scrape by…when you compete on emotion, you play a completely different level where price becomes only a small fraction of the equation…Focus on ‘why’ someone should love your brand or product…help them experience the answer to that, and you are more than half way to success…

          6. Dave Pinsen

            To clarify (I’ll edit my previous comment to make this more clear), I was referring to reasons why users should share, not why they should use the product themselves. Your 3. and 4. definitely apply to users of Portfolio Armor, but don’t necessarily give those users reasons to share.Agreed about the downsides of competing on price.

          7. falicon

            Sorry my bad for mis-understanding…though I would say that there is also a very strong emotional tie to sharing as well.I have only ever shared something to get a discount or get more a product a few times in my life…more often than not, I share stuff because it makes me feel good to share the things I get value out of with other people (because internally I *think* it will help others feel good).There is also a strong drive for fame when thinking abou sharing…which is why ‘breaking news’ and attribution are such hot topics and important these days…people like to be thought of as experts in stuff, and quality sharing can help to define you as such.For Portfolio Armor…I think you have to think about the reasons people love and use the product…and how that can be augmented by them sharing the product (or if it isn’t, then what sort of reward or personal value/emotion can they get from sharing it?)…if I’m making lots of money using Portfolio Armor, it’s very likely I want my close friends and family to also be able to make lots of money (and thereby have more security and freedom)…make that benefit and story clear to me as a reason to share the product and there’s a good chance I’ll do it (for free)…

          8. Dave Pinsen

            It was my fault for not being clearer initially.I share products and services for the same reason as you — it makes me feel good to share things I like with others. Ideally, it would be great if PA users did too, for the same reason, but the discount is there as an added boost.One of the trickier issues WRT sharing and Portfolio Armor, I think, is that my demo is middle aged (I’m assuming that from the dot.com 1.0 email addresses some users have). That makes sense in that older users will be more likely to have accumulated portfolios they want to protect, but I suspect the older demo tends to be less interested in sharing/social media.

        2. Dave Pinsen

           I remember that post. I made some tweaks to the web version of Portfolio Armor prompted by our discussion. Don’t think you got a chance to check them out though.

      7. JLM

        ” If you go to a doctor to get your genital warts treated, you’re probably not going to want to share that on Twitter.”Crazy thing is that if you are Kim K, you probably would, no?Funny stuff, Dave.

        1. William Mougayar

          Actually Jeff Jarvis @jeffjarvis notoriously tweets & writes about his penis adventures as he was facing prostate cancer. He claims it helped him deal with it.

          1. JLM

            One.  Step.  Too.  Far.

          2. ShanaC

            Xeni Jardin also has been tweeting about her adventures of breast cancer.I’m considered ultra-high risk for breast cancer currently.  Watching her on twitter is actually a bit relieving about my future.

          3. JamesHRH

            @JLM:disqus Maybe it helped him……but…

      8. ShanaC

        No, but I might want to share a diagnosis of cancer….

    2. JimHirshfield

      No argument on the “social”, but it’s more, right? Add dis-intermediation (been talking about that for 15 years), transparency, and social in the “good for society and the planet” sense…more?

      1. William Mougayar

        Agreed. Social is a disturber for sure. You can tack-on Collaborative, Open, Peer-to-peer, Real-Time, etc… In hindsight, social is a means to an end, not the end itself. It enables and enhances a number of things.

    3. falicon

      I think it’s more about stepping back and looking at how the facts of today can help us better deal with an imperfect world:1. Everyone (for the sake of this argument) has a fairly powerful computer in their pocket all the time.2. Anyone can access anyone else at just about any time (regardless of location, background, status, etc.)3. Anyone can access just about any bit of recorded history/knowledge at any time (and add to it)….given these three general facts, how should education work? What should healthcare be? What can we now/finally do that we just never could before (but always wanted/needed to)?Most of the ‘rules’ we live and operate under in today’s world weren’t designed to build a utopian society…they were designed to deal with an imperfect one, based on the knowledge and resources we had at the time…we’ve got new resources and knowledge now…how can we best use them to deal with our imperfect world today?

    4. hypermark

      I think that the paradox of any disruptive technology is finding the balance between ‘confusing attributes with outcomes’ (i.e., just spray social on that. it will make it better), and rethinking the entire equation for a truly better outcome.There are so many industries where just asking the question of how might this be better through…social, analytics, curation, co-creation, better incentives and platform-ification…IS the right start.By the same token, in the industries currently needing the greatest disruption (energy, education, finance, health), the incumbent interests are so entrenched at so many levels that the biggest game changers may not be in the areas of WHAT and WHY, but instead, HOW.I see this in the educational space where a paradoxical question is do you route through schools are around them.

  15. Alex Murphy

    I think that part of what causes more noise to some is that there are more people speaking.  Some people say that this is a sign of a bubble, that all of the good ideas have passed us by.  While there are likely more bad ideas, I think there are more good ideas to come and think more people involved is better, not worse.  Kind of like going to a sporting event with 70,000 people instead of 7000 people … more energy, more enthusiasm, more fun.  Also more noise.As it is related to what to do individually, I think that it is really a matter of paying attention to what users and customers say.  When the noise volume goes up, it is harder to hear what they are telling you right at the point in time when it is most important to hear it.

  16. andyswan

    “You’ll make your startup at least 5x better if you replace ‘read about Instagram’ with ‘talk to a client’.”  — Andy SwanCelebritizing VCs and startups, “pivots”, all this crap.  It’s a distraction but only if you let it be.Today’s post on andyswan.com goes directly to the solution….pretty much the same as yours and Brad’s.

    1. JimHirshfield

      So you’re not going to produce a TV show: Web 1.0 Stars; Where Are They Now?Thanks for the link – “roombatreneurs” – love it! BTW, who’s that in the photo on the motorbike?

      1. andyswan

        I have no idea but I am sure I’d get along with both of them

      2. ShanaC

        I personally actually would like to see this show as a history documentary.  I covered this material in a history class I took, and I could see it being very useful going forward in terms of “history of business”

    2. steveplace

      you know andy’s a big deal when he quotes himself

      1. andyswan

        It’s important to establish prior art.

        1. ShanaC

          Maybe we should celebrate patents instead (tongue in cheek gesture here)

          1. James Ferguson @kWIQly

            ShanaC – :)Maybe Google could ask an ex CEO of Sun about GPL and whether Java – “the name”  is more interesting than “Java” the technology.  If they do not know the answer they could get a version at the oracle of their choosing.

    3. ErikSchwartz

      The most important lesson to learn from instagram (or rovio, or even Facebook for that matter) is if you become a black swan is stay lean and don’t go crazy and fuck it up.But you can’t plan for that stuff. 

      1. andyswan

        If I become a black swan I will need to start using more sunscreen

    4. LE

      I’ll be the “Andy Swan” to your comment here Andy.Isn’t it possible that jealousy and wanting on behalf of the sheeple helps people get off their ass and motivates them? If not, then why any awards, talk or recognition of achievement? Right now there’s a kid growing up in Brooklyn. And he wants to be that Instagram guy. The noise does have some value.

      1. fredwilson

        yes it does. but it can also be noise. 

    5. Mark Essel

      Talking about customers doesn’t get readers on tech blogs, and news media. They know their customer, and it’s not entrepreneurs. Not that there aren’t business opportunities in the Hypesphere, just ask Don King.

    6. fredwilson

      andyswan.com is awesome in so many ways. the girl on the bike anchors that post and that advice so damn well. 

  17. Brandon Marker

    preach.A good amount of people, more than usual, are texting me with various ideas to go and start something. None of these are areas that they specialize in, or hold a good amount of knowledge in. Just popular industries that they assume everyone that joins sees the ‘pay window’ 

    1. fredwilson

      the pay window should not be the goal. it should be the reward for hitting the goal.

      1. Brandon Marker

        absolutely. 

  18. Luke Chamberlin

    This is an area where I’ve been impressed with Google Ventures (energy investing, life sciences) http://www.googleventures.c…Looking forward to more discussions on each of these industries.

    1. Tom Labus

      I like them trying to go to space.  Better than GOOG “offers”

      1. Luke Chamberlin

        Two for one tickets to Mars!

        1. Tom Labus

          Great line.

    2. panterosa,

      Great link – to the kind of companies which I want deeply to exist.

    3. fredwilson

      i think crowdfunding is going to be a massive blessing to these industries

  19. Tom Labus

    At some point a generation or so ago our economy turned on everybody in a nasty fashion.It’s a long way from Goldman turning down hostile M&A work to creating synthetic bloody CDOs in order to loot and hold up their own customers.Aim as big as you can and let’s go!!  Everything is in play!

  20. brian trautschold

    Strongly agree – When the water is warm & frothy, everyone is jumping in… The echo chamber is ringing at full strength now, and will continue – as long as there is excitement more and more nonsense will ensue… Tomfoolery if you will.- Is seeing “who’s the next $1B startup” on USA Today/ Reuters saddening? Yes- Reading editorial “battles” on who is ‘the next’/ cooler/ more valley/ startuppy is – Expected, #Highschool2.0 – Hearing questions from non-entrepreneurs about whether your startup is the next “insta-what” or can you guys pull a “whatchya-gram”? – Painful/ Scary- Getting questions from your friends parents (unsophisticated tech investors) on how to “help you guys/ get into a startup/ buy stock” – Drop_Dead_TerrifyingGreat advice as usual, we’ll be keeping our noses to the grindstone.  (speaking of, playoffs this weekend, #Grizz #GRINDHOUSE)

  21. panterosa,

    Education, energy, and healthcare are my overlaps so I will be glad to see where the discussion leads.Education disruption is my prime goal and I dig deep on how to make that happen everyday. MY BF is in med school and wow have I had an eye opener to what works and what doesn’t in medicine/healthcare.For us to dig deep on topics, we need that noise free time – which includes outside noise, and of course inside noise, our own other thoughts. As my coach has pointed out, I am the source of many of my own distractions. Though I could counter that I approach my own work just as Steven Johnson approaches his books, and that is the success of my thought process.By most of your standards I am probably a hermit, but that’s how I shut out the noise. The recent post here on where do you get your news, I didn’t reply to. I hear news from my friends, because I don’t read anything else (unless AVC counts as news). The bigger your subject, often the bigger a hermit you need to be for a solid portion of the day.

    1. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

      Inner noise is the root cause of all. The more the inner noise and all the outer noise seems like signals.That i think is the topic of today. Cut the inner noise. The outer noise automatically reduces (Or at least you see them as noise and not as signals). Resonance.

      1. panterosa,

        Resonance. Perfect. 

      2. ShanaC

        This makes me want to find a buddhist temple and learn to meditate….

        1. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

          If medidation is what you want. Do it.What i meant was reduce your enthusiasm to do everything on this earth. Choose only few (3 or max 4)where you really want to make a difference in the next 5-10 years and focus and do only that.

  22. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

    Noise is also a signal … only difference WE are not interested in that noise/signal. The fundamental phenomenon is Resonance which distinguishes noise from signal (or signal from noise).What would have been our thoughts if economy is at its peak and all our investments are returning 500 times back … all those noises would seem like signals to us. We would be picking on every noise and betting on them more.P.S.After 1-year of research i thought Fourier is not that impressive and after 5-years of research i found I am an idiot not to get impressed by Fourier at the first place.

  23. Peter Cranstone

    I’ll be interestedin reading your posts.  We’ve beenidentified by VDC Research as a startup with potentially disruptive andimportant technology within the mobile ecosystem. We appeared in their Q1 FAST ForwardReport – A Classic Attack from Below – Gauging the Impact of Best-of-BreedMobile Upstarts.

  24. laurie kalmanson

    less noise, more meaningless entertainment, more actionless shallow, more deepoutstanding

  25. Skinner Layne

    This is an unfortunate but expected consequence of the innovation cycle. But we should notice that the effects are diminishing over time. We are not witnessing the same level of recklessness that accompanied the first wave of Internet entrepreneurship in the 90s. People are learning lessons–slowly but surely. The more worrying part of the noise in the system is the increasing loss of the counter-cultural element of tech innovation. As we are witnessing the emergence of the Start-Up Industry, we forget that Silicon Valley was born during the height of the Anti-Vietnam Protests, Civil Rights Movement, and Women’s Liberation Movement in the center of support for those causes. Genuine technological disruption requires a disjunctive break with history itself. I fear we have been riding the wave of that original break for too long, and its effects are waning.

    1. fredwilson

      it may be that tech entrepreneurship’s counter culture movement has moved to new places, in parts of the world that need it most

      1. Skinner Layne

        I am hoping to start seeing that counter-cultural aspect emerge here in Chile. The danger is that the rest of the world (at least from my experience living in Latin America for the past 4 years) is that emerging countries are trying to copy the US tech communities successes, but they have failed to recognize any of its root causes. So they are making cosmetic gestures to encourage the kind of start-ups that would be characterized as “noise” under its definition here. What I am seeing is traditional finance people (who in Chile all come from the major economic groups/families) subsuming the nascent venture capital community here. By throwing money at non-transformative ventures, they are protecting their own interests through signalling to would-be entrepreneurs that there is a model to follow and you can get funded if you don’t deviate from that model. I somehow wonder if it wouldn’t be better for emerging tech communities to exist without Venture Capital for a number of years in their early stages, with venture capital being a lagging indicator of a successful entrepreneurial community rather than a leading indicator of it. This is a topic that warrants far more discussion…I’d love to see a post here an AVC about the “missionary” work of the US tech community in emerging economies.  

  26. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

    In Resonance with my inner voice.Reduce the inner voice (noise) and the resonance will take care of cutting out the outer noise.

    1. panterosa,

      Resonance with inner voice has timing to make it more resonant. Perhaps that is the broader point of the day – not just how, but when, under what conditions, do we resonate the most. How do we stay in tune with that groove?

      1. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

        No. I think you got me wrong. I said reduce your inner voice/noise. Focus only on few noise/voice…you will find resonant signals, people, conditions, time.First you resonant with inner noise and find which are signals…you can’t do what google, facebook, Instagram, kasi, fred, JLM, shanaC, … are all doing. Focus only on few noise and make them the signals…then everything else fall in place (when, condition, who, how).

  27. LD Eakman

    This reminds me of people talking at a concert, go up to the front and drown out the noise with music!

    1. fredwilson

      got to get to the front!

  28. John Minnihan

    I mentioned this on the twitr machine, but I since was reacting to this post, I’ll add it here – jbminn–Ignoring the noise is tough, but necessary.

    1. fredwilson

      the machine:http://www.moma.org/collect…my favorite painter and my favorite paintingit is my twitter backgroundhttps://twitter.com/#!/fred…

      1. John Minnihan

        Yup.  Brad used that in his background for a while, too.

  29. ErikSchwartz

    Another big sign for me is that companies that use technology and a bit of social are suddenly labeling themselves “technology companies”.Subscription commerce companies are not tech (heck they are not even a new idea). 

    1. William Wagner

      It hurts my brain to call any company that “uses” technology a “technology company”…  McDonalds is a “fast food” company, but their business is not eating the burgers.

    2. LE

      Kind of like me calling myself a “sailor” when I know enough to take out a hobie cat. Not you, who has sailed oceans (still impressed with that..)

  30. testtest

    my take on education is it’s now free (or near free). don’t try and disrupt what’s already free. take a chuck of money, go to a developing country, train people up with the free information, significantly reduce the cost of developing products and pump out products at a cost of production way below what is currently being seen.

    1. William Wagner

      Information is free and bountiful now – but education isn’t just information.  Peter Cooper, the founder of Cooper Union where I went to school, said that education should be free – and his legacy still gives out free tuition to students in NYC.      But recently the charity model that has been bolstering his financial legacy has been faltering (there are lots of reasons why) and the school and alumni are up in arms about charging tuition.  I’m going to say that merit-based free education is the right way to go – but it needs to live inside the world at large and not try to float on charity – and not just circle around making products, either.  

      1. testtest

        education is information and the willingness to work. paid education is like paid gym membership: you get access to the resources and then to benefit you do the work. access to the resources are now free.” and not just circle around making products, either.”tell that to someone who wants to feed their family and is willing to work harder then anyone in a “developed” country.one of the reasons america overtook england as the leading world power after the industrial revolutions is because educational efforts were made in useful areas (such as engineering), rather then the classics.on a side note: paid education is a con. the bits of paper are handed out to help people who are too stupid to recognize someone who’s smart.

        1. William Wagner

          I challenge you to learn Solid Mechanics or Thermodynamics just using pure information from Youtube and sheer will, and then go build a product using them 🙂

          1. testtest

            there’s around 9500 videos on youtube for the search term ‘thermodynamics’, so it would be a reasonable place to start. and the khan academy has some good intros.according to the google keyword tool there’s around 22000 exact-match searches for the term “laws of thermodynamics”, so there’s a little interest in the area–could do an interactive eduction product. however, the CPC for the keyword is around $0.09, so not very commercial (more informational in nature).i’m going to have to decline your offer and treat it with the seriousness it deserves: none.

          2. William Wagner

            Sorry, I was talking about a real product, in all seriousness.  Not a repackaging-information “product”. Something like those things people came up with during the industrial revolutions.  You know, big chunks of ugly metal – burning stuff, making power, doing real things in reality.  How did those guys figure out how to turn burning dinosaur feces into…. well, modern society?  I can tell you Information/education had very little to do with it.

          3. testtest

            “I can tell you Information had very little to do with it.”what happens when trains go faster than the horse and carriage? how can you telegraph what time a train will arrive to keep industry on schedule? yes, the telegraph.how can you organize inventory in factories? and manage supply chains? management (information workers).what is at the heart of the web?what is finance?the timing and quantity of oil shipments is worth more than the oil itself.i assure you that information had/has everything to do with it.so i’ll continue to work at the informational layer. feel free to believe that information has no importance.and, humans were around after dinosaurs became extinct.

          4. William Wagner

            I’m not dissing information – I love information and work with it daily.  I’m just working off your original supposition that dumping information on developing countries would “significantly reduce the cost of developing products and pump out products at a cost of production way below what is currently being seen.” and you’re just making a lot of noise about something else 🙂

          5. testtest

            “I’m not dissing information – I love information and work with it daily.  I’m just working off your original supposition that dumping information on developing countries would “significantly reduce the cost of developing products and pump out products at a cost of production way below what is currently being seen.” and you’re just making a lot of noise about something else :)”no you’re right. i retract everything.and lucky i re-read the part you edited: “I can tell you Information/education had very little to do with it.” (see attachment)otherwise i would have come to the conclusion that you’ve been talking rubbish. i should have preempted your edit.

          6. LE

            I get your point. You are saying there is an important element of interactivity in learning that can’t be done in many cases (but not all) without the ability to ask a clarifying question or be pointed in the right direction or be corrected or observe others.I don’t know anything about the subjects you are referring to but I know for example that you can’t learn martial arts by books or instructional videos. It takes interactivity. And you can’t learn to sail without a sail boat. Or learn to fly a plane. Or learn to negotiate by reading a book.And by “I challenge you” it’s probably more relevant to say “challenge the average person wanting to learn”. Since there are always outliers that can pick up things in non-traditional ways. 

          7. William Wagner

            It’s even more than interactivity – there is a societal “zeitgeist” (excuse the trite) that puts pressure on the unlearned to learn in order to do what society needs or wants – those outliers you mention are the ones that break molds in society to find what’s next.   You can’t buy that pressure, or you get things like CDO’s and credit default swaps.      The pressure also doesn’t come from an ocean of free information (the pressure -> ocean metaphor here is more than surface deep), that stuff just kind of sits there.  Today the smartest kids in America that learn Solid Mechanics don’t use it to build solid things – they use it to build Instagrams and CDO’s, because that’s where the societal and monetary pressure is.phantom edit: And my interaction with Chris up there demonstrates that perfectly: when I said learn Solid Mechanics and make a product, in his mind he instantly made a “learning tool” product – not a solid one.

          8. testtest

            “I don’t know anything about the subjects you are referring to but I know for example that you can’t learn martial arts by books or instructional videos. It takes interactivity. And you can’t learn to sail without a sail boat. Or learn to fly a plane. Or learn to negotiate by reading a book.”that’s more tacit knowledge, LE. a ton of knowledge can be passed in digital form.

          9. testtest

            “Today the smartest kids in America that learn Solid Mechanics don’t use it to build solid things – they use it to build Instagrams and CDO’s, because that’s where the societal and monetary pressure is.”how do you make CDOs (it’s without the apostrophe, as it’s not a possessive or a concatenation) with solid mechanics? i’m genuinely interested!  “phantom edit: And my interaction with Chris up there demonstrates that perfectly: when I said learn Solid Mechanics and make a product, in his mind he instantly made a “learning tool” product – not a solid one.”how do you know in my mind i “instantly” made a learning tool. how do you know i didn’t think of a few different responses and pick the most appropriate? how do you know i was being serious? it was a ridiculous comment in the first place. you added random constraints (subject and platform) for the sake of your argument, and you thought it was a compelling challenge. it wasn’t. it didn’t move the conversation forward at all. it’s the type of thing a young child would say (i have no idea how old you are).

          10. William Wagner

            Just for your indulgence; because you seem like a guy into finance and stocks based on your twitter – You might be able to learn something useful in your business with a little solid mechanics, which applies the same types of mathematics used to make things like CDO’s.  Economics 407: Financial Econometrics uses the same type of maths as Mechanical Engineering 407: Solid Mechanics.  All you have to do is turn Forces into Dollars.  I didn’t even have to resort to ad hominem to tell you that 🙂 Also, just go to Bloomberg or Goldman and see how many engineers they have working on that stuff. It would blow your mind

          11. testtest

            “Economics 407: Financial Econometrics uses the same type of maths as Mechanical Engineering 407: Solid Mechanics.  All you have to do is turn Forces into Dollars.”f = mass * acceleration is the same as x = y * z. letting any of the variables equal whatever. great, so mathematics can be used across disciplines. but, if it doesn’t apply then it’s useless.specifically, how do you make CDOs with solid mechanics. does solid mechanics overlap enough with the probability modelling used for CDOs?does the mathematics used in solid mechanics help with RGB color transformation used in photo filters?”Also, just go to Bloomberg or Goldman and see how many engineers they have working on that stuff. It would blow your mind”so your premise is that bloomberg or GS have many engineers working in the area… therefore it proves that *solid mechanics* can be used to make CDOs. that doesn’t follow.

          12. William Wagner

            “specifically, how do you make CDOs with solid mechanics. does solid mechanics overlap enough with the probability modelling used for CDOs?”Sorry, there’s this thing called abstract thought – sometimes I use it to expand the reach of my mind.   All those engineers at Goldman that brought us CDO’s somehow figured it out, they made the connection between Stress Tensors (a relation of two vectors) and multiplying two vectors of incoming cash flow and interest.   Instead of making a big-ass piece of metal they made a big-ass investment.  But they weren’t certified Professional Engineers (there’s no certification in that industry) so their structure did not stand the test of time (like the Tacoma Narrows bridge).  I can go further with the metaphor – but it will have to stay in the abstract.Also, the RGB thing – yes, yes it does.

          13. William Wagner

            I was interested to find out a little more myself so I dug up this doc.  http://www.vwl.uni-mannheim…  Just replace “economics and finance” with “mechanical engineering” and you have an upper level treatment on the subject.  Sorry I never worked for Goldman to tell you the intimate details of how their finances worked up until the collapse of 2008.

          14. William Wagner

            Finally… all I have to do is turn it back around to your original assertion:   How do you make Cheap Products with Free Information and Education??????

          15. testtest

            “All those engineers at Goldman that brought us CDO’s somehow figured it out, they made the connection between Stress Tensors (a relation of two vectors) and multiplying two vectors of incoming cash flow and interest.   Instead of making a strong-ass piece of metal they made a strong-ass investment.”you’re taking the piss.tensors deal with linear relationships. CDOs were based on the gaussian copula function. gussian. normal distribution.you’ll say anything.

          16. William Wagner

            Thanks for that – and missing the point about abstract thought 🙂

          17. William Wagner

            Also – to indulge your reference further…the Gaussian function in this case is a single input or output function.  In solid mechanics we would call it a forcing function or displacement function.  But how do you put together n Gaussian functions when you have n types of debt to put together in a CDO?  Thats where things get hairy and complex linear math has to get involved.

          18. William Wagner

            Shit, I even found the Wikipedia page you read – and it even mentions bridge analysis right after quantitative finance.  I will say anything, and Wikipedia will back me up.http://en.wikipedia.org/wik

      2. ShanaC

        I have friends who have been worrying about that changeIf cooper union goes to a tuition model, where do you think serious and free education will go?I see two models – one is there are these humanities discussion groups popping up in brooklyn.  The other is I see the downgrading of the university experience all together – when the CUNY schools took in everyone and made them pay, that’s when they lost their reputation as good schools.

        1. William Wagner

          Education is an investment.  But as for student loans and the education-finance complex in the U.S., it is basically throwing money into a hole – expecting students to pay back loans with hypothetical jobs.  That’s why there is a lot of hoopla about a student loan bubble about to burst.  Back to education being an investment:  the education provider should treat it as such.  Colleges should act more like incubators;  providing concrete investment (i.e. education and facilities) and mentorship in exchange for business equity.  That should be the contract from the beginning – but as I see it, this type of thing typically happens post-facto at graduate isntitutions only – I guess that’s why Stanford has so much moolah to throw around.

    2. kidmercury

      absolutely. that is the formula and it is a gold rush opportunity. the challenge, and it is a big one, is successfully immersing and marketing yourself in a foreign culture. but definitely some companies that have sufficient bankroll should pursue this idea, it is a huge opportunity. 

    3. fredwilson

      ^10

  31. MartinEdic

    I’m interested in how pre-equity funding is changing due to the crowd/Kickstarter thing. Funding to build prototypes and proof of concept without an expectation of ownership by supporters. In many cases they represent pre-sales such as Kickstarter, in other cases support for a cause or research that has a personal connection like Innovocracy.org (I am affiliated with that). This is unfolding very quickly yet has depth I think.

    1. fredwilson

      it would be ironic if VCs invested in the thing that put them out of business. if that happens, i hope it happens to me.

      1. MartinEdic

        Yeah, interesting quandary but a real test of our commitment to fostering innovation in areas that don’t always offer a quick return. And there is the speed and simplicity aspect. Put your project out there, promote it socially and get feedback very quickly from the crowd, a simple up/down vote.

      2. Dennis Carlson

        I’m constantly trying to put myself out of business.  It’s a liberating space to be in and actually opens unlimited opportunities. 

  32. Mark Lau

    Would love to work with you Fred on developing a better financial institution model that extends mobile and internet further into the fabric of banking.  We’re constantly looking at new things here at SVB, and talking about innovation and value-creation for our clients (not just better banking process automation).  You and Brad are definitely on to something.

    1. fredwilson

      it is likely not a bankhere are two of our more recent investmentshttp://www.lendingclub.com/http://www.fundingcircle.com/

  33. JLM

    In many ways what you are describing is the validation of what is happening.When the printing press was invented a whole lot of crap got printed just because of the availability of this technology but the GOOD STUFF, the REALLY GOOD STUFF got disseminated far and wide.Sometimes the price of progress is that a whole lot of crap obscures the brilliance.Think about the JOBS Act — access to capital made easier by the exemption of certain requirements for “emerging growth companies” — can you just imagine the abuses of this?But somewhere in that same stream of emerging growth companies is a spark of genius that may cure cancer.The conversation has moved from the written word to the digital word and the highways are going to be crowded.

    1. AgeOfSophizm

      JLM – why “cure cancer” when we could maybe focus on what is causing it in the first place?  I think that maybe a lot of hospitals, researchers, insurance companies and the like may go out of business if god forbid we focus on cancer prevention!  What will they do?  Where would the world be if we didn’t have our precious cancer?Apologies if this seems a bit snarky and I know you were just providing an example to further an argument.  I’m frankly just sick of this meme of cure, cure, cure.  We need to prevent, prevent, prevent (to the extent we can, of course there will always be cases that are unpreventable.  But I’m wondering what % of heart disease, cancer, etc… cases are easily preventable vis a vis a healthy non GMO diet, exercise, and a strong family support unit).

      1. JLM

        I agree with you more than you agree with yourself.The cure for cancer is likely prevention in the long run.I was only using it as an example of success because it is such a large issue.I often think that a candidate could get elected on the simple premise of — not one more aircraft carrier, advanced jet or howitzer until breast cancer and prostate cancer and colon cancer are eradicated.

        1. AgeOfSophizm

          I had a feeling you were in agreement, I just saw an opportunity so I took it!  I like your political angle.  I think it is supremely powerful because so many people (far, far too many) either have battled cancer or know someone close to them who has battled the disease.  Heck, I just got done reading Brad Feld’s post on his friend Andy Sack who battled it.  

          1. JLM

            Think about all the bullshit in the world that could be done away with if we just focused on a culture of life — saving lives and making them more joyous.This from a former professional soldier, mind you.

          2. AgeOfSophizm

            I think about it a lot – and it saddens me because it so ridiculously easy and within our grasp, yet we fail to achieve it.  It’s almost like living in a terrible dream.

      2. Donna Brewington White

        I am so WITH you!The prevailing attitude toward healthcare is sickening.  Literally.

    2. fredwilson

      you just gave me my post for today. that is a gift and i thank you for it.

  34. JLM

    Evolution v revolution is simply a matter of how hard the accelerator is being pressed and how carefully the guard rails are being respected or even if they exist.Look at any fundamental struggle — freedom, as an example — and think how long it took to get us to the size of our government v how quickly the Arab Spring (big head fake in my view) may move those countries from despotism to, hopefully, freedom.You might even consider that those uprisings were made possible by the Internet, email and Twitter.In the frothiness of this change, it is imperative to focus, focus, focus on what is really important.  It is not so important that they have free elections as it is they have great candidates.Changing Egypt from the “generals” to the Muslim Brotherhood — a particularly vile group of chaps who were allied w Hitler in WWII — may be a step backwards taken under the false flag of democracy.

    1. ShanaC

      Why do you think the Arab Spring is a big head fake?

      1. JLM

        Let me take just Egypt as an example.The President of Egypt has been a General (Mubarak, Sadat, Nasser)  for some considerable time.  OK, Nasser was only a Colonel.  The military has hand picked the President and the President has been the hand maiden of his masters.When Mubarak wanted to appoint his son — shifting from a military fiefdom to a family dynasty (like Saudi Arabia) — the military objected and voila — riots in the streets quelled by the same military.Now the thinking is that there would be elections — oops, Generals did not want to have elections after all.Now there is the emergence of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood who are incredibly dangerous to the peace and safety of the region.America constantly makes an error in thinking that the enemies of a despot are Thomas Jeffersonian democracy lovers.The opponents of despots are often just the junior varsity of despots in effect conducting a coup d’etat under the false flag of democracy.From an American perspective Egypt represented a modestly stable left flank to Israel where much American blood, treasure and prestige are invested.  Not a good outcome for US interests.

        1. kidmercury

          on fire JLM…..totally correct……all they did in egypt was trade on terrible regime for another…..

          1. JLM

            Truth be known, they traded a bad bunch that we controlled for a worse bunch that are out of control.This will end up in a disaster before all is said and done.

      2. jason wright

        It may be more informing of those events to know of where the term ‘Arab Spring’ first came.

    2. fredwilson

      the history of the 19th century in france may be instructive in the middle east

  35. sigmaalgebra

    > am interested in extending the internet/web/mobile disruption we’ve seen in media to big industries like finance, education, healthcare, energy, etc in order to address the challenging economic and social issues of our time.Generally in business we try to make money, e.g., reach “the pay window”. Maybe this goal of making money is an indirect approach to addressing “the challenging economic and social issues of our time” but broadly seems to be about the best humans can do. Yes, it’s common to want gumment to do it, but gumment too soon is clumsy, wasteful, corrupt, etc.Yes, Bill and Melinda Gates are taking another approach, but they have $50 billion or so more than I do so far!For making money, it’s tough enough if pick projects one at a time. For> extending the internet/web/mobile disruptionthat sounds still more difficult. A way to address the difficulty is just to wait for entrepreneurs to make solid proposals. But then you will have a lot of “noise” to filter through.From history, there is a big pattern: We got bronze because it was better than wood and stone. We got iron because it was better than bronze. Steel was better than iron. Steam, better than horses and water wheels. Electricity, better than candles, gas lights, and steam. Trains, better than horse drawn wagons. Cars, better than trains. Radio, better than a music hall; TV, better than radio; the Internet, better than TV, newspapers, and magazines.So, the big pattern is that each of these big changes brought something better and/or cheaper. So, I would “focus” on big changes that can yield better and/or cheaper.The examples above mentioned bronze, iron, steel, steam, etc. Well now we have computing. Here are three examples of better and/or cheaper in computing:At Tiger Direct (where I have no financial interest) at http://www.tigerdirect.com/…can see AMD FX-8120 Processor – Eight Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 8MB L2 Cache, 3.10GHzfor $189.99; at http://www.tigerdirect.com/…can see Patriot PG34G1333EL Gamer 2 Desktop Memory Module – 4GB, PC3-10666, DDR3-1333MHz, 9-9-9-24 CAS Latency, Intel XMP Readyfor $12.99; and at http://www.tigerdirect.com/…can see Seagate ST1000DM003 Barracuda 1TB Hard Drive – 1TB, 7200RPM, 64MB, SATA 6Gb/sfor $99.99.So, there’s an 8 core processor with a 3.10 GHz clock for $189.99, 4 GB of main memory for $12.99, and 1 TB of disk for $99.99.With such parts at such prices, can bring up a busy Web site for less capital equipment than needed for a pizza shop — literally.In the history of computing, business, technology, science, and civilization, such computing parts are historic progress.So, how to use such computing components to do some things better and/or cheaper? Sure: Automate important work. So do old work better/cheaper. Also do important new work regarded as absurdly too difficult in the past or new work people didn’t even know how to do even in principle in the past.I conclude: The opportunity now that fits the historic pattern is to exploit that cheap, powerful computing along with the Internet and available platform software.I will try a little more:Finance:Use the Internet to get the data to investors in better form and make sense out of it.Offer new financial instruments and use the Internet to provide information about them.Education:First, put the materials on-line as PDF files, foils, videos of lectures, and fora.Second, for courses that need more traditional classrooms, labs, and workshops, add some cooperative arrangements with schools geographically local to the students.Third, add some testing, certification, and accreditation.Fourth, add some information to let students do better selecting fields of study and careers.Fifth, use the ‘social Web’ to connect students and employers.Here are some sources of cheaper and better: For cheaper, it’s really the students who need to do the work, not the teachers, yet the students pay and the teachers get paid. But the teachers get paid for research or inefficient teaching (in K-12, babysitting). So, it’s long since past time for nearly anything in K through a Master’s for the material to be on-line in excellent form available at low cost. For better, the on-line sources can have competition, e.g., the top 10 courses in advanced calculus or Maxwell’s equations.There is a long way to go: The best I’ve seen on the Internet is worse than the worst I ever got in a classroom. The brain-dead “message” of the “medium” of old media is still the norm. So far nearly everything in education that goes through a video camera has to be under the control of people with TV sitcom values. There should be a big opportunity here.Healthcare:There’s been quite a lot of computing in healthcare: Pharmacies have some nice computer based record systems. Likely test results and images can be sent via the Internet. DNA sequencing at least was heavily a computer problem. Further analysis of DNA, protein folding, etc. are computer problems. Much of healthcare research is applied statistics.What new applications are I don’t know.Energy:The fast Fourier transform revolutionized analysis of seismic signals, but that’s now a very old story. For what’s left to do, I don’t know.

  36. JLM

    The issue of disruption is a particularly interesting consideration in that in established industries such as finance, it is the regulatory burden that is being initially disrupted rather than the industry itself.Regulation is a funny thing, a spice really.  Needed in differing amounts at different times.I could argue that jettisoning Glass-Steagall was the right move when done initially and that reinstating it today might also be the right move.Regulation is necessary and I am not a proponent of wholesale opposition to regulation.  I am a huge fan of actually enforcing the rules we already have.But regulation can be a meaningful impediment to  innovation not in the “off with their heads” Occupy Everything view of things but in the sense that regulation is a product of its time.  And times change.  If you are regulating newspaper advertising, your rules are not really relevant to the current state of affairs.

    1. Tom Labus

      Everyone wanted to bounce Glass-Steagall in the late 90’s since Greenspan et al felt we had moved into new era where we won’t shoot ourselves in the economic foot.It also got taken out because Sandy Well wanted to complete his empire building at Citi and may have mentioned to Rubin that there was a 100mm waiting for him after the deed was done.

      1. JLM

        Tom, I agree with you more than you agree with yourself.The problem was they had a bank balance sheet which anticipated 3% capital and an 85% of assets loan portfolio.This was insufficient capital for the products they began to develop and peddle.They wrecked their balance sheet — capital really — when adjusted for risk.

    2. AgeOfSophizm

      Great comment – something I think about a lot.  It is amazing how those in power positions are able to hijack old arguments/ideas and create a backstory on how they remain applicable today.  “It worked back then so it will most definitely work today!”  Of course, they are simply acting in their own self interest to maintain the legislation and thus the status quo.

  37. Brandon Burns

    Some VCs create a lot of this noise themselves.Once a VC told me that my idea wasn’t going to be a business. He went as far to suggest some “businesses” that I should try. They weren’t relevant to what I was working on; however I didn’t have a good plan for where to go next, and had a tangental interest in one of the suggested areas, so I explored something new. I gathered a team, did research, constructed a viable business model, made a demo, and even got some investors who wanted to set up meetings with us. It fell apart. Why? I didn’t care about the subject matter, and found myself spending more and more time trying to figure out how to turn what I was originally working on, the thing I really cared about, into a something viable. I’m back on my original track, and couldn’t be happier. And feel that I’m not spewing out any more soulless crap. Every time I go to a pitch event and I hear a VC tell an entrepreneur, “I’m not sure this will work. Why don’t you try [tangentially relevant new idea],” that VC is creating more noise. The ones who can say, “This might be an uphill battle, but why don’t you try [relevant tactic to make it viable]” help to decrease some of this noise. I find both Fred and Brad to that on their blogs. The community owes you a thank you.

    1. fredwilson

      VCs are humans too. we are fallible. we are wrong. we fuck things up. putting VCs on a pedestal is a big mistake. 

      1. Brandon Burns

        yeah, i’ve learned that lesson by now. in part from previously putting VCs on a pedestal and being lead astray myself, and in part by examples of good VCs with transparent advice based on good intentions. even good VCs can give spotty advice, but when the intentions are in the right place it still works itself out. it’s hard to spot bad examples without good examples to provide contrast. cheers to the VCs who fall in the latter camp. 

      2. LE

         It’s funny over time reading the comments on this blog about how people think you are a gatekeeper and the key to their success. If they could only get their idea in front of you they would have it made.  If you don’t like it it’s not the idea but its you making a mistake (which of course could be the case obviously no doubt.)What they probably don’t realize though is that you need their idea like a reporter needs a good story or my dad needed merchandise for his wholesale business.He had a big distribution network and used to get product samples every day of which 99% he rejected. He was a gatekeeper and the key to many people’s success. But he also needed fresh merchandise like you (and Brad) need deals. And a Hollywood agent is looking for the next star.

        1. fredwilson

          bingo

  38. markslater

    this might a cyclical feature for you venture folks but i’ll touch on the entrepreneur side – as this “dig deeper” approach is what i (we) start, live and end our day with. If you are like me in the trenches trying to build something you think is important then you’ll sympathize. On any given day at any given moment – the company is a hugely noisy place. When i say noisy….i am listening to two folks now while typing it……….i mean NOISY. I am using a simple method to address this with the team (and i got the idea from a guy jimmy vanalen who is an 4 time entrepreneur i had b-fast with the other day): I drew an obolix on the wall sitting far away on a hill. The obolix for us represents a key milestone we are aiming at. i am trying to say  to everyone – whatever you are talking about if you cannot see the obolix in the context of your conversation – stop. Start-ups are inherently noisy,very noisy environments. finding the signal through this noise is i would say one of the top 3 challenges any startup faces – its been mine.

    1. Mark Essel

      Visual cue, much like post it notes. Jimmy V is on to something.

    2. fredwilson

      yup. and at least you have a clear roadmap in the short term. try being in a startup that is wandering in the wilderness.

      1. markslater

        its hard not to get pulled down a cul-de-sac. i am sitting here typing and listening to justin and milenko talk about something and wondering to myself – where’s the obolix!

  39. jason wright

     Meaning Mining….and everyone should also have an ‘out’.

  40. leigh

    Society Sundays — Yah!

  41. Iggy Fanlo

    Focusing on what’s important. That resonates in several ways. As a company builder, it says to me focus on:1. Customers 2. Employees3. by focusing on 1&2, you are focusing on shareholdersAs an investor, it say to me, curation is becoming ever more important. The amount of data and information coming at all of us is overwhelming. I need companies that create awesome filters both explicitly and implicitly with the flexibility to switch between the two

    1. fredwilson

      yes. i believe i wrote a post about that but i can’t find it now.

  42. sigmaalgebra

    > am interested in extending the internet/web/mobile disruption we’ve seen in media to big industries like finance, education, healthcare, energy, etc in order to address the challenging economic and social issues of our time.Generally in business we try to make money, e.g., reach “the pay window”.  Maybe this goal of making money is an indirect approach to addressing “the challenging economic and social issues of our time” but broadly seems to be about the best humans can do.  Yes, it’s common to want gumment to do it, but gumment too soon is clumsy, wasteful, corrupt, etc.Yes, Bill and Melinda Gates are taking another approach, but they have $50 billion or so more than I do so far!For making money, it’s tough enough if pick projects one at a time.  For> extending the internet/web/mobile disruptionthat sounds still more difficult.  A way to address the difficulty is just to wait for entrepreneurs to make solid proposals.  But then you will have a lot of “noise” to filter through.From history, there is a big pattern:  We got bronze because it was better than wood and stone.  We got iron because it was better than bronze.  Steel was better than iron.  Steam, better than horses and water wheels.  Electricity, better than candles, gas lights, and steam.  Trains, better than horse drawn wagons.  Cars, better than trains.  Radio, better than a music hall; TV, better than radio; the Internet, better than TV, newspapers, and magazines.So, the big pattern is that each of these big changes brought something better and/or cheaper.  So, I would “focus” on big changes that can yield better and/or cheaper.The examples above mentioned bronze, iron, steel, steam, etc.  Well now we have computing.  Here are three examples of better and/or cheaper in computing:At Tiger Direct (where I have no financial interest) at     http://www.tigerdirect.com/…can see     AMD FX-8120 Processor – Eight Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 8MB L2 Cache, 3.10GHzfor $189.99; at     http://www.tigerdirect.com/…can see     Patriot PG34G1333EL Gamer 2 Desktop Memory Module – 4GB, PC3-10666, DDR3-1333MHz, 9-9-9-24 CAS Latency, Intel XMP Readyfor $12.99; and at     http://www.tigerdirect.com/…can see     Seagate ST1000DM003 Barracuda 1TB Hard Drive – 1TB, 7200RPM, 64MB, SATA 6Gb/sfor $99.99.So, there’s an 8 core processor with a 3.10 GHz clock for $189.99, 4 GB of main memory for $12.99, and 1 TB of disk for $99.99.With such parts at such prices, can bring up a busy Web site for less capital equipment than needed for a pizza shop — literally.In the history of computing, business, technology, science, and civilization, such computing parts are historic progress.So, how to use such computing components to do some things better and/or cheaper?  Sure:  Automate important work.  So do old work better/cheaper.  Also do important new work regarded as absurdly too difficult in the past or new work people didn’t even know how to do even in principle in the past.I conclude:  The opportunity now that fits the historic pattern is to exploit that cheap, powerful computing along with the Internet and available platform software.I will try a little more:Finance:Use the Internet to get the data to investors in better form and make sense out of it.Offer new financial instruments and use the Internet to provide information about them.Education:First, put the materials on-line as PDF files, foils, videos of lectures, and fora.Second, for courses that need more traditional classrooms, labs, and workshops, add some cooperative arrangements with schools geographically local to the students.Third, add some testing, certification, and accreditation.Fourth, add some information to let students do better selecting fields of study and careers.Fifth, use the ‘social Web’ to connect students and employers.Here are some sources of cheaper and better:  For cheaper, it’s really the students who need to do the work, not the teachers, yet the students pay and the teachers get paid.  But the teachers get paid for research or inefficient teaching (in K-12, babysitting).  So, it’s long since past time for nearly anything in K through a Master’s for the material to be on-line in excellent form available at low cost.  For better, the on-line sources can have competition, e.g., the top 10 courses in advanced calculus or Maxwell’s equations.There is a long way to go:  The best I’ve seen on the Internet is worse than the worst I ever got in a classroom.  The brain-dead “message” of the “medium” of old media is still the norm.  So far nearly everything in education that goes through a video camera has to be under the control of people with TV sitcom values.  There should be a big opportunity here.Healthcare:There’s been quite a lot of computing in healthcare:  Pharmacies have some nice computer based record systems.  Likely test results and images can be sent via the Internet.  DNA sequencing at least was heavily a computer problem.  Further analysis of DNA, protein folding, etc. are computer problems.  Much of healthcare research is applied statistics.What new applications are I don’t know.Energy:The fast Fourier transform revolutionized analysis of seismic signals, but that’s now a very old story.  For what’s left to do, I don’t know. 

  43. sigmaalgebra

    > am interested in extending the internet/web/mobile disruption we’ve seen in media to big industries like finance, education, healthcare, energy, etc in order to address the challenging economic and social issues of our time.Generally in business we try to make money, e.g., reach “the pay window”.  Maybe this goal of making money is an indirect approach to addressing “the challenging economic and social issues of our time” but broadly seems to be about the best humans can do.  Yes, it’s common to want gumment to do it, but gumment too soon is clumsy, wasteful, corrupt, etc.Yes, Bill and Melinda Gates are taking another approach, but they have $50 billion or so more than I do so far!For making money, it’s tough enough if pick projects one at a time.  For> extending the internet/web/mobile disruptionthat sounds still more difficult.  A way to address the difficulty is just to wait for entrepreneurs to make solid proposals.  But then you will have a lot of “noise” to filter through.From history, there is a big pattern:  We got bronze because it was better than wood and stone.  We got iron because it was better than bronze.  Steel was better than iron.  Steam, better than horses and water wheels.  Electricity, better than candles, gas lights, and steam.  Trains, better than horse drawn wagons.  Cars, better than trains.  Radio, better than a music hall; TV, better than radio; the Internet, better than TV, newspapers, and magazines.So, the big pattern is that each of these big changes brought something better and/or cheaper.  So, I would “focus” on big changes that can yield better and/or cheaper.The examples above mentioned bronze, iron, steel, steam, etc.  Well now we have computing.  Here are three examples of better and/or cheaper in computing:At Tiger Direct (where I have no financial interest) at     http://www.tigerdirect.com/…can see     AMD FX-8120 Processor – Eight Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 8MB L2 Cache, 3.10GHzfor $189.99; at     http://www.tigerdirect.com/…can see     Patriot PG34G1333EL Gamer 2 Desktop Memory Module – 4GB, PC3-10666, DDR3-1333MHz, 9-9-9-24 CAS Latency, Intel XMP Readyfor $12.99; and at     http://www.tigerdirect.com/…can see     Seagate ST1000DM003 Barracuda 1TB Hard Drive – 1TB, 7200RPM, 64MB, SATA 6Gb/sfor $99.99.So, there’s an 8 core processor with a 3.10 GHz clock for $189.99, 4 GB of main memory for $12.99, and 1 TB of disk for $99.99.With such parts at such prices, can bring up a busy Web site for less capital equipment than needed for a pizza shop — literally.In the history of computing, business, technology, science, and civilization, such computing parts are historic progress.So, how to use such computing components to do some things better and/or cheaper?  Sure:  Automate important work.  So do old work better/cheaper.  Also do important new work regarded as absurdly too difficult in the past or new work people didn’t even know how to do even in principle in the past.I conclude:  The opportunity now that fits the historic pattern is to exploit that cheap, powerful computing along with the Internet and available platform software.I will try a little more:Finance:Use the Internet to get the data to investors in better form and make sense out of it.Offer new financial instruments and use the Internet to provide information about them.Education:First, put the materials on-line as PDF files, foils, videos of lectures, and fora.Second, for courses that need more traditional classrooms, labs, and workshops, add some cooperative arrangements with schools geographically local to the students.Third, add some testing, certification, and accreditation.Fourth, add some information to let students do better selecting fields of study and careers.Fifth, use the ‘social Web’ to connect students and employers.Here are some sources of cheaper and better:  For cheaper, it’s really the students who need to do the work, not the teachers, yet the students pay and the teachers get paid.  But the teachers get paid for research or inefficient teaching (in K-12, babysitting).  So, it’s long since past time for nearly anything in K through a Master’s for the material to be on-line in excellent form available at low cost.  For better, the on-line sources can have competition, e.g., the top 10 courses in advanced calculus or Maxwell’s equations.There is a long way to go:  The best I’ve seen on the Internet is worse than the worst I ever got in a classroom.  The brain-dead “message” of the “medium” of old media is still the norm.  So far nearly everything in education that goes through a video camera has to be under the control of people with TV sitcom values.  There should be a big opportunity here.Healthcare:There’s been quite a lot of computing in healthcare:  Pharmacies have some nice computer based record systems.  Likely test results and images can be sent via the Internet.  DNA sequencing at least was heavily a computer problem.  Further analysis of DNA, protein folding, etc. are computer problems.  Much of healthcare research is applied statistics.What new applications are I don’t know.Energy:The fast Fourier transform revolutionized analysis of seismic signals, but that’s now a very old story.  For what’s left to do, I don’t know. 

  44. Guesty McGuesterson

    On the other hand, once you have all this great tech up and running, the internet is for gossip :)http://wanderingstan.com/20…

    1. fredwilson

      among other things

      1. laurie kalmanson

         if you’re a fan of avenue q …  characters in the show have some perspectives on what the internet’s for.http://www.youtube.com/watc

        1. Guesty McGuesterson

          We in the Boulder tech community are with you. Our man in congress made sure to enter this into the congressional record during the SOPA hearings.

          1. Guesty McGuesterson

            oops, forgot the linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watc…

          2. laurie kalmanson

             awesome

  45. Mark Simchock

    The thing is, one (well aware) man’s noise is another (wannabe) man’s sure to win lottery ticket. In other words, I think the noise has always been there. What I’m guessing has changed – aside from the volume (pun intended) – is Brad’s (and Fred’s) perception of it.That said, I would think it might be somewhat dangerous to ignore the noise. The Internet started as a silly gnat, yes? That is, peripherial noise (so to speak) to the then super powers. Hard as it might be, the challenge, I would think, is in filtering the firehose. Somewhere in that haystack are the nuggets of gold.Or perhaps I’m misunderstood the intention of these posts?

  46. sigmaalgebra

    > am interested in extending the internet/web/mobile disruption we’ve seen in media to big industries like finance, education, healthcare, energy, etc in order to address the challenging economic and social issues of our time.Generally in business we try to make money, e.g., reach “the pay window”.  Maybe this goal of making money is an indirect approach to addressing “the challenging economic and social issues of our time” but broadly seems to be about the best humans can do.  Yes, it’s common to want gumment to do it, but gumment too soon is clumsy, wasteful, corrupt, etc.Yes, Bill and Melinda Gates are taking another approach, but they have $50 billion or so more than I do so far!For making money, it’s tough enough if pick projects one at a time.  For> extending the internet/web/mobile disruptionthat sounds still more difficult.  A way to address the difficulty is just to wait for entrepreneurs to make solid proposals.  But then you will have a lot of “noise” to filter through.From history, there is a big pattern:  We got bronze because it was better than wood and stone.  We got iron because it was better than bronze.  Steel was better than iron.  Steam, better than horses and water wheels.  Electricity, better than candles, gas lights, and steam.  Trains, better than horse drawn wagons.  Cars, better than trains.  Radio, better than a music hall; TV, better than radio; the Internet, better than TV, newspapers, and magazines.So, the big pattern is that each of these big changes brought something better and/or cheaper.  So, I would “focus” on big changes that can yield better and/or cheaper.The examples above mentioned bronze, iron, steel, steam, etc.  Well now we have computing.  Here are three examples of better and/or cheaper in computing:If go shopping on the Internet (apparently Disqus won’t let me say where! — no matter) can buy an 8 core processor with a 3.10 GHz clock for $190, 4 GB of main memory for $13, and 1 TB of disk for $100.With such parts at such prices, can bring up a busy Web site for less capital equipment than needed for a pizza shop — literally.In the history of computing, business, technology, science, and civilization, such computing parts are historic progress.So, how to use such computing components to do some things better and/or cheaper?  Sure:  Automate important work.  So do old work better/cheaper.  Also do important new work regarded as absurdly too difficult in the past or new work people didn’t even know how to do even in principle in the past.I conclude:  The opportunity now that fits the historic pattern is to exploit that cheap, powerful computing along with the Internet and available platform software.I will try a little more:Finance:Use the Internet to get the data to investors in better form and make sense out of it.Offer new financial instruments and use the Internet to provide information about them.Education:First, put the materials on-line as PDF files, foils, videos of lectures, and fora.Second, for courses that need more traditional classrooms, labs, and workshops, add some cooperative arrangements with schools geographically local to the students.Third, add some testing, certification, and accreditation.Fourth, add some information to let students do better selecting fields of study and careers.Fifth, use the ‘social Web’ to connect students and employers.Here are some sources of cheaper and better:  For cheaper, it’s really the students who need to do the work, not the teachers, yet the students pay and the teachers get paid.  But the teachers get paid for research or inefficient teaching (in K-12, babysitting).  So, it’s long since past time for nearly anything in K through a Master’s for the material to be on-line in excellent form available at low cost.  For better, the on-line sources can have competition, e.g., the top 10 courses in advanced calculus or Maxwell’s equations.There is a long way to go:  The best I’ve seen on the Internet is worse than the worst I ever got in a classroom.  The brain-dead “message” of the “medium” of old media is still the norm.  So far nearly everything in education that goes through a video camera has to be under the control of people with TV sitcom values.  There should be a big opportunity here.Healthcare:There’s been quite a lot of computing in healthcare:  Pharmacies have some nice computer based record systems.  Likely test results and images can be sent via the Internet.  DNA sequencing at least was heavily a computer problem.  Further analysis of DNA, protein folding, etc. are computer problems.  Much of healthcare research is applied statistics.What new applications are I don’t know.Energy:The fast Fourier transform revolutionized analysis of seismic signals, but that’s now a very old story.  For what’s left to do, I don’t know. 

    1. LE

      With such parts at such prices, can bring up a busy Web site for less capital equipment than needed for a pizza shop — literally.Knowledge is more important. Money is not the reason that anyone doesn’t do something with computers and it hasn’t been that way for the longest time. While the servers I bought in 1996 were pretty expensive (SGI about 7k for an Indy), they were significantly cheaper then the system that I bought in 1985 where (see attached) 2MB of memory was an addition $4,400 and a 72MB Hard disk was $7950.  And that was in 1980’s dollars.More important was the knowledge to setup the system which I figured out on the fly with the manuals.My point is, for quite some time the biggest limiting factor has been knowledge and not money. Money is actually the easy part knowing enough to do something is the harder part. (Now of course that is even more so though).

      1. sigmaalgebra

        Yes.  A powerful computer for a Web server costs less than equipping a pizza shop, but can learn to make pizzas, and also the sauce, in less than a week, but I recently spent longer than it would take to make pizzas understanding just the ASP.NET file global.asax!But what I learned about that file is general and not particular to my project and, thus, is overhead for general computer ‘skills’.  Since I’m doing my first significant Web site, I have a lot of such overhead.The work specific to my project I’ve long since done and in the time I used was much closer to learning to make pizzas!So, that the capital equipment of a Web site is less than that for a pizza shop is still surprising and can be important.  E.g., once my software is running and my site goes live, hopefully the site will become popular.  Then I will want to add more servers!  A guy with a successful pizza shop will want to add more shops!  Now the difference in capital cost gets to be really nice:  Can plug together one heck of a Web server computer for less than $1000, but that $1000 won’t go very far in the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, food safe walls and floors, ovens, walk-in, etc. for a pizza shop! 

    2. fredwilson

      yup, healthcare and energy are harder. it is easier when an industry is/can be end to end digital.

      1. William Wagner

        Crowd funded (electric) energy is within eyesight;  it’s just inside the fortress of the electric utility’s IT department.  We all get a hint of it every month on the bill

  47. Support small business

    Chad Dickerson major hypocrite getting rich off the dreams and hopes of small business owners and then making it impossible when we have to compete with resellers who have the full support of Etsy. Thsi is not ok, DIG DEEPER.http://www.regretsy.com/201…hypocrites to the corehttp://blogs.houstonpress.c…

    1. fredwilson

      chad is not a hypocrite and he is hardly getting rich. we could have a rational discussion of this issue, but not if you start off by calling names and spewing bullshit.

      1. Support small business

        Please then, let’s start the discussion. Please tell me where I am wrong.

        1. fredwilson

          pls send me an email at fred at usv dot com

          1. Support small business

            I’m mush more interested in having this conversation publicly. If, as you say, that I am calling names and spewing BS, then this would be a great forum to refute what I have said and let everyone know how Chad and his company Etsy are being unfairly criticized. I am willing to learn and admit if I am wrong.thanks

          2. fredwilson

            i need to know what your specific complaints are

          3. Support small business

            I included links to the issues in my first Post. Etsy touts itself as a site for handmade goods. It has received millions of dollars from handmade artisans who believed that Etsy was a place where they would be competing with other handmade sellers, not resellers. Etsy has been alerted to many resellers over the years, some of the resellers they get rid and some they allow to stay. Now, some resellers are being allowed to call themselves collectives so that they can stay on Etsy, take business away from actual handmade sellers and tarnish the reputation of reall handmade sellers who will now be suspected of being resellers

          4. fredwilson

            etsy has rules and they enforce them. they have a large team dedicated to enforcing the rules. maybe they should change the rules to relax them. but until they do that, they are enforcing the rules.

  48. David Miller

    I’m obsessed with building a platform where companies and their investors can create private networks to share information, ideas and data – if it were a movie, it’d be sort of like Pinterest meets Mint.com meets AngelList.The current iteration doesn’t look anything like that yet but it’s getting fairly close to being something cool.In 2012, I’m totally obsessed with delivering something an investor in privately-held instruments (companies, partnerships, real estate, etc.) would not want to live without.

    1. fredwilson

      the planets are aligning for your idea. your timing is good. now we need to see how good your execution is.

    2. Donna Brewington White

      This sounds interesting.You had me at “I’m obsessed”Unfortunately, I’m not your target audience.  Well, not yet, anyway.

    3. laurie kalmanson

      take a look at some of the hosted workflow / shared projects tools; there are elements there that could be useful to you: documents with threaded conversations, milestones, tasks, etc.

  49. davewakeman

    I’d imagine most people are in this same boat.  

  50. davewakeman

    I noticed in my own case that the noise was just killing my ability to think about what was important. In my situation I am looking at ways to better improve systems and processes and the overriding one is about health and how to make people healthier.  

  51. matthughes

    This concept is a great analogy for my entire life right now.I’m anxiously trying to do away with all unnecessary noise and distractions.I’m scaling back what I read, consume and engage in.In assessing those things, I’ve realized I have not bee focused enough. My own personal growth has been limited because of distractions.I am loving the cleansing process. 

  52. Kate Huyett

    The best way I’ve discovered for filtering the noise is to go deeper on the things in the startup ecosystem that I am passionate about, and also simulataneously to continue to explore new/unfamiliar areas outside the startup/tech world – the non-tech section of quora for example has unbelievably rich content that can give you a completely different active in shorter bursts; for longer explorations I stick with nonfiction books. over the past two weeks I’ve read The Information (the history of the bit) and Drift (Rachel Maddow’s book on how the US military has started to drift away from the US citizenry), and both made more of an impact on how I am thinking about the startup world than anything in the tech blogs. My other trick when I catch myself getting caught up in the startup noise is thinking about whether Steve Jobs would have spent all day on Hacker News. Just that mental picture makes me laugh so hard I’m unable to take the self indulgent tech press too seriously. .

    1. george

      Cool approach!

    2. fredwilson

      my daughter has me reading Roland Barthes. it is awesome to have kids in college. i am learning things i never learned in my time at MIT.

      1. ShanaC

        I’m actually curious what you think of him in terms of the internet.  

        1. fredwilson

          maybe i will post after i’ve read it

  53. Donna Brewington White

    Bring it!You’ve primed us.Besides, we all need to be doing this.  At least, I do.P.S.  Did the @Disqus:disqus  beta change?

    1. fredwilson

      seems like they took us back to old disqus while they tune some stuff. i hope everyone doesn’t mind being an early beta user here. we are doing disqus a huge favor.

      1. Donna Brewington White

        Don’t mind at all. Still need to send them my “observations.”

  54. upcountrywater

    My first post here a test of sorts….

    1. fredwilson

      not your last i hope.

      1. upcountrywater

         This was the easiest way for me to signup on here. I have since found other sign-in windows. A blog I have posted on for years is going the Disqus, route.A lot of us feel we are being absorbed by the Borg.lolz

    2. Donna Brewington White

      And so what do you think?  

  55. Brad Lindenberg

    Just read your blog @andyswan:disqus and couldn’t agree more. If pivoting is even a thought in ones mind, they are not digging deep enough. Entrepreneurs should set out to build companies, not startups – from day zero. You need to start with a big vision in a big market.If you have a small vision, then don’t start. Wait until you have a big, deep, disruptive vision, then start. The effort is often the same, it’s just the idea thats different. I dislike the term start-up and the term pivot. The context of these terms are too short term. Replace startup with company, and replace pivot with, “I have a clear long term vision so why the f**k should I pivot??”. Digging deeper is not something investors need to do. It’s something entrepreneurs need to do. They need to schlep, drive a big vision and solve large problems so that enduring companies are born. There is too little of this happening at the moment, or at least it seems. 

    1. Donna Brewington White

      When I first began hearing the concept of pivoting, it was based on being faced with death as the only other viable option — it was pivot or die, rather than “ooh, here’s an idea, let’s try this instead.”  Just because it has been misused and given a more popularized definition doesn’t necessarily make it an evil option.The option to pivot represents a true entrepreneurial choice and at times reveals the genius and perseverance of the founder.Also, while I understand where you are coming from, I still wonder if the price of an entrepreneurial culture is that some superficial ideas are going to take off from the starting line along with some deep lasting ones.  Just because you don’t reach the finish line, does that mean you should have never begun the race?  I think that society benefits from those muscles being flexed and exercised, maybe even preparing for the next race.  It’s like a form of grad school.  The investors digging deeper will help determine who stays in the race and who doesn’t.  Some are staying in the race a lot longer than they should because of padding that should never have been there.  

  56. FAKE GRIMLOCK

    CREAM RISE TO TOP. BULLSHIT TOO. IT IMPORTANT KNOW WHICH WHICH.

  57. FAKE GRIMLOCK

    THIS MAYBE APPROPRIATE FOR POST.IT GRIMLOCK OPINION ON READ TECHCRUNCH. http://fakegrimlock.cheezbu…

    1. fredwilson

      ha!

  58. testtest

    “The great scientific revolution is still to come. It will ensue when men systematically use scientific procedures for the control of human relationships and the direction of the social effects of our vast technological machinery… The story of the achievement of science in physical control is evidence of the possibility of control in social affairs” ~ John Dewey, Philosophy and Civilization (1931)

  59. Jeremy

    Sometimes you have to dig deeper into your wallet to start realizing your innovative ideas.

  60. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

    Too much of noise here with unbelievable amplitude … more than the signals!!!I will get back when you talk about Healthcare and Education.

  61. howardlindzon

    Indeed…deeep dish it.  Lot’s of extra baking too.

  62. Ciaran

    Does that mean no more Turntable posts? If so, I’m in.

    1. fredwilson

      not likely. i just met with the turntable board yesterday. i’m very excited about what is going on there.

      1. Donna Brewington White

        Me, too.  I’m speaking more experientially, of course. I’m there NOW!  I think that if you haven’t been there it is hard to appreciate the phenomenon that is turntable.

  63. Ciaran

    Sorry, one other thing. No disrespect to your friend, I’m sure he’s a very clever and driven guy. But he complains about noise, and then talks about his investment in Cheezburger.Sorry, I think that’s a business the world wouldn’t miss if we were really trying to eliminate noise and nonsense.

  64. larrybridgesmith

    Likewise!  And as a lawyer with a long time interest in disrupting the traditional legal business model built on waste (the “billable hour”) it is refreshing to realize that the “client revolution” has prompted serious consideration by the largest and most successful global law firms to adopt the appropriate level of Six Sigma and Lean project methodologies to the practice of law.  In addition, technologies that support this efficiency initiative are increasingly valuable to the legal services industry.  This is the “matter” into which I strive to dig deeper each day.  Thanks for the reminder to avoid the noise.

  65. Guest

    Dig deeper indeed

  66. James Ferguson @kWIQly

    Fred  >> I am interested in extending the internet/web/mobile disruption we’ve seen in media to big industries like finance, education, healthcare, energy, etc in order to address the challenging economic and social issues of our time.We do pattern recognition work based on energy readings – so we can tell when someone turns up a thermostat in winter then leaves it up and instead opens windows in spring – We do such things  remotely at scale from a zipcode and a string of energy readings only.  So what ?So US Green Button Initiative http://www.greenbuttondata…. has major disruptive potential but its losing track through technical incompetence – Utilities do NOT know their clients – they are a standing order bill payer at the meterIts a GREAT initiative BUTThe Whitehouse then offers a prize for a US developed electricity based App – This :a) Overlooks i18n – Its a global problem and US is way behind on many aspects of Green Technology.b) Gas / Oil is biggest waste energy source in buildings (Less gas is used but a greater proportion is wasted).c) A Global standard is needed  (Global Problem) !d) Why download and then upload to transfer data – much better for users to authorise data availability – and ask  “give me my report” – Google, Facebook,Twitter do it – can’ t a utility company?This makes the technology wholly unscalable and MUCH harder to use.So my rant Fred – hope it isn’t too off topic  – and only an email away 🙂

  67. fredwilson

    Yup. It sucks

  68. sigmaalgebra

    I believe I saw that earlier at Forbes, which I rarely visit now!At SAI, I look for content NOT from the SAI staff and tend to ignore content from the SAI staff.  Generally old media writers mess up content.

  69. fredwilson

    Thats what you do to trolls. Ignoring them is best.

  70. Brandon Marker

    Absolutely right one that one, @proales:disqus  

  71. Luke Chamberlin

    Be a gardener. Water the plants. Pull the weeds.Public outcry gets you nothing. Pull good people aside when you meet them and start a conspiracy.

  72. bfeld

    Ignore it. Spend 100% of your time on things you care about.

  73. sigmaalgebra

    > PandoDaily is startup soap opera garbageRight.  When it started, I had hopes and read some of it.  Eventually I gave up.A LOT of people, especially ones in old media writing, see such media content as just another flavor of the only thing that could matter, have no concept of anything more meaningful, and hope/assume that enough readers will feel the same.But that old media norm was a result of “The medium is the message”, and now the medium has changed permitting much greater variety in content.I feel sorry for the PandoDaily team: They do try hard, but they just don’t ‘get it’: They don’t know what meaningful content is.There is a more general pattern from C. P. Snow’s ‘Two Cultures’ which were (1) the humanities culture and (2) the science culture. The humanities culture continues to have some value, and beyond just light entertainment, but has a tough time making a solid point or saying something important about something important, is short on good methodology, isn’t very ‘cumulative’, and mostly is still stuck before the 20th century. In simple terms, old media, and PandoDaily, are from the humanities culture; so they are using techniques of the 19th century ‘literature’ to do ‘writing’ about technology in the 21st century. Sorry ’bout that. Yes, Feld mentioned “drama”. Right. PandoDaily is big on drama, so big have to believe that they believe that meaningful content and drama are much the same thing.

  74. Matt A. Myers

    Some of it might be fear of retribution, some of it might be competitive advantage – if others don’t understand and you do.It would be helpful for investors to know what’s all just hype, though that’s their responsibility to understand.It would be good for people who will buy at the IPO to know that Facebook isn’t unshakable – even though those concerns are likely mentioned in Facebook’s statements, just not in that language, and of course things are more complex than face value.People not being educated causes inefficiencies and waste, so it’s not good overall for society, though it’s good for your time and energy to not always try to educate; It’s a lot of work when you’re up against a wall of the masses, though there are grass root ways to educate people – though that’s only worth putting in the time and effort for the really big things that matters, I’ve come to find.

  75. kidmercury

    brutal disses on pandodaily in this discussion thread. hopefully we can get a member of their team to jump in. 

  76. LE

    “PandoDaily is startup soap opera garbage” I bought her book when it came out (Once your lucky twice you’re good)  http://www.amazon.com/Once-…I stopped reading after a few chapters. Interesting that in the book (published in 2008) description on Amazon, two of the example companies are Myspace and Six Apart. At least when “In search of Excellence” was published it took many years until the example companies started to suck.

  77. FAKE GRIMLOCK

    ME, GRIMLOCK, FEATURED IN PANDO DAILY STORY THIS WEEK.EVEN ME ADMIT IT TOTAL CRAP.THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH HAVE TO THREATEN TO EAT REPORTER BEFORE HIM FIX HUGE MISTAKES IN ARTICLE.

  78. fredwilson

    not retribution. sarah is a very likeable person. i am rooting for her. but i agree with your assertion.

  79. JamesHRH

    @fredwilson:disqus Have popped an email into your inbox a couple of times, (speaking of noise in the system, I bet), fyi.

  80. DelVal.biz

    Unless you have one of those cool flash-guns from “Troll Hunter” 🙂

  81. MartinEdic

    Unfortunately they seem to have just recycled the tired Techcrunch approach instead of doing something original and more thought-provoking.

  82. ShanaC

    Personally speaking, I think the issue is that humanities culture started stepping away from Dead White Men (not that reading after that isn’t important, it is).  Most people producing from a humanities perspective aren’t grounded enough in that tradition to make for good work.That, and I think science pushed away humanities, it used to be that science people and humanities people got along a lot better and there was more crossover between the two.  Now we need specialized institutes (hi Media Lab) in order to have the same sorts of conversations that were normal 100 years ago.

  83. Dave Pinsen

    The humanities culture continues to have some value, and beyond just light entertainment, but has a tough time making a solid point or saying something important about something important, is short on good methodology, isn’t very ‘cumulative’, and mostly is still stuck before the 20th century.That’s way too broad to be accurate. If your point is that some journalists writing about tech don’t have strong enough backgrounds in the field to write about it intelligently, that’s a legitimate point. But your claims about humanities more generally don’t hold up. Humanities — even if we narrow it down to arts such as novels, films, etc., and leave rigorous philosophy aside — are cumulative. Allusions to prior works of art are common. When someone makes a movie they don’t reinvent the wheel each time. There are conventions and techniques pioneered by others that they draw on. The same is true in novels and other works of art.

  84. Cam MacRae

    It’s even worse than that though, isn’t it? Their current offering is unadulterated shit. I think if Sarah Lacy, who is actually quite a competent journalist, wrote just one well researched and substantive piece per day they’d be on to a winner. 

  85. Dale Allyn

    Kind of like: “A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” – Ayn Rand

  86. leigh

    “best”customers …. 

  87. Dave Pinsen

    A somewhat similar thought (about the power of tradition/convention) occurred to me while watching a high school production of the musical version of Aida last month. I’d seen it on Broadway back in 2000 with all the production values and acting talent (Adam Pascal, Sherie Rene Scott, Heather Headley, etc.) you’d expect, but even in the hands of high school kids, the story still works. And it works because it relies on conventions — conventions that were built up over the years by Dead White Men going back to Aristotle.You’re point about the need to be grounded in that tradition is spot-on. One of the key collaborators on Aida’s story was a Live Asian Man named David Henry Hwang, one of the most respected playwrights/librettists of his generation, and one well-versed in the DWM traditions. He could have hewed closer to Verdi’s opera and depressed the crap out of audiences, or he could have done something experimental/post-modern and bored the crap out of audiences. Instead he used a combination of older and newer conventions and the story works like a Swiss watch.

  88. sigmaalgebra

    The humanities are good for entertainment.  For improving society, they can grab people by the heart, gut, and below the belt and stimulate them to action to address problems.  For ‘knowledge’, one of the most important lessons from the humanities is about people, that people like the entertainment from the humanities.The world, especially the one that was concentrating on Dead White Men, got a big shock with the rise of iron, steel, steam, electricity, radio, the microbe theory of disease, vaccines, and anesthetics.  Before then one could have an ‘intellectual’ discussion without mention of science, medical science, or engineering; afterward, the standards of intellectual safety and efficacy had changed.It remains that the humanities can entertain and stimulate.  Also for problems and trying to improve the human condition, the humanities can communicate the human experience and emotions of the problems.  So, the humanities are good at feeling the pains but usually not competitive with more technical fields for alleviating the pains.Now the humanities can contribute to a TO DO list, with some good entries, for society to address, but for safety and efficacy the work will have to move to more technical approaches.  Alas, there is large gaps between where the humanities can feel pains and where more technical fields can alleviate the pains.  In particular, for nearly anything ‘social’ we fumble terribly:  so far effective mathematical physics has been much easier than effective mathematical sociology.But for PandoDaily, and much more, there is a huge incongruity:  Commonly for an article on PandoDaily, in a corresponding thread on Hacker News the level of the discussion is much higher than in the article!  Or, PandoDaily is staying with the traditions of journalism, emotions, drama, etc. while the technical audience on Hacker News concentrates on the technology.  In simple terms, PandoDaily needs to realize that they are writing about technology for people in technical fields and not writing about movies for movie fans.  More generally, traditional journalism needs some adjustments to do well with technology! 

  89. sigmaalgebra

    > Humanities — even if we narrow it down to arts such as novels, films, etc., and leave rigorous philosophy aside — are cumulative.You described some ways. But all I said was that “the humanities culture … isn’t very ‘cumulative'”. Note “very”!So we don’t have a big difference.Given the context of the humanities versus science, one of the real keys to the efficacy of science is its “methodology” where being strongly, “very”, “cumulative” is key. E.g., I published a paper where I stated and proved a new theorem and in my proof used a classic theorem of S. Ulam with a statement and proof in a serious text by P. Billingsley. With the proof in Billingsley, there’s no doubt Ulam’s result, a little surprising, is true. Then, if the rest of my proof is correct, we get to conclude that my theorem is correct. So, I built on Ulam’s result and got a new result. My result is solid and beyond doubt. Here being cumulative has been powerful. Physics, chemistry, and much of engineering are similarly powerfully cumulative. The methodology in the humanities has nothing nearly so solid, is not “very cumulative”! Okay?

  90. Dave Pinsen

    Haven’t the biggest advances in science been relatively non-cumulative? Kuhn’s paradigm shifts?Also, humanities — well, let’s narrow it down to commercial arts such as popular novels and films — do have methodologies. There are common structures to comedies, tragedies, etc.I don’t know if anyone has bothered to quantify how cumulative certain humanities fields are, but I suspect some are more cumulative than you might expect.

  91. raycote

    How about democratic ideologies?Those seem cumulative ?I’d even make the case that humanities are massively cumulative just in a collectively fuzz logic kind of way.Science can and has often executed excellent cumulative logic to every effectively reach unreasonable social goals.Humanities work the landscape to identify reasonable social goals.Hard Science executes the strategic logical required to effectively reach those social goals.The humanities like language is much more complex and slippery. It is more like Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, a multi-dimensional perspective triangulation.

  92. sigmaalgebra

    At one time I joined a discussion group to read Kuhn’s book.  I could see that the book was ‘about’ science but could not agree that it ‘was’ science.  Sad to say, I didn’t think much of the book.Also, more to the point, that book is not an example of what I would call the ‘cumulative’ part of the methodology of math, physical science, and much of engineering.As a teenager I picked up some extra cash doing yard work.  Dad had taught me about mowing grass and cutting a good looking box hedge.  So, there was something ‘cumulative’.I have a collection of old movies on DVD or VCR.  So, sometimes I watch and try to see what reusable techniques the writer and director used.  So, that’s something ‘cumulative’.Since I like cooking, I can notice that much of cooking from Europe and especially France builds on Escoffier who built on Careme, etc.  So, I wanted a carrot dish and ‘borrowed’:  In a 3 quart pot, add 1/4 C of olive oil, about 12 ounces of diced yellow globe onion, and some (I add more than Escoffier would!) black pepper.  Cook to soften the onion without browning.  Add about 1 T minced garlic and stir in and cook.  Add 3 T of beef base, a can of beef consume, a can of French onion soup, 1 C of dry red wine, about 3 pounds of carrots, simmer, add some thyme, parsley, and Haricot Vert, simmer, and serve.  So, the whole thing is just picking out of classic French cooking, especially the beef consume and red wine.  So, that’s something ‘cumulative’.Since I like classical music, I can hear that R. Strauss built on R. Wagner and movie music composers commonly built on Strauss.  For more, Franz Schmidt was a cello player for Gustav Mahler when he was conducting in Vienna and wrotehttp://www.youtube.com/watc…NO WAY did he invent all those orchestral devices himself!  So, such music is ‘cumulative’.But I was assuming that we could agree that the ‘cumulative’ part of the methodology of math, physical science, and much of engineering was more definite, formed long, strong logical chains, and has been more productive. 

  93. Mark Essel

    This thread is a keeper. Can’t seem to reply where I’d like to though (Disqus cliffs).Beyond cumulative patterns in logic vs softer humanities, and the hypothesis of greater productivity there is a ineffable relation between emotional value, and numbers.We are more than self replicating machines, productivity will lose its edge in a world of surpluses brought on by building more blindly.

  94. raycote

    Media Lab and dSchool but . . . butSteve jobs said that was Apple’s job ?;-)

  95. sigmaalgebra

    WOW!We’re mostly talking about different things; even when we are talking about similar things, the purposes are different!Here is some of what has been ‘cumulative’ in science:  Galileo observed that except for wind resistance a rock and a feather fall at the same speed.  So, he was making progress on gravity and inertia.  He also used some then recent progress in optics to make a telescope, looked at some of the planets, and concluded that the planets rotate around the sun.There were more observations that let Kepler argue his laws of planets moving in ellipses.Newton built on a lot in math and invented calculus.  Then he used his calculus and Kepler’s laws to formulate his law of gravity and second law of motion and showed that that work explained the motions of the planets.Newton’s second law has long been central in much of mechanical engineering, e.g., for the forces on a connecting rod in an automobile engine and why drag racing engines that have 8000 RPM need valve springs with 1000 pounds of force.More work in calculus and Newton’s second law yielded the Navier-Stokes equations of fluid flow.More work in calculus and extensive observations about electricity and magnetism yielded Maxwell’s equations.If look at Maxwell’s equations carefully and notice that there is nothing there about the speed of the laboratory, then can derive Einstein’s special relativity and E = mc^2.Then E = mc^2 explained why two deuterium atoms weigh a little more than one helium 4 atom, and that fact says a lot about the energy production of a star such as our sun and starts to say where all the elements in the periodic table came from.Lagrange used Newton’s second law and law of gravity to find his Lagrangian points which are points in space where mass will have a stable orbit and want to stay there.  At least one of the new space telescopes will be located at a Lagrangian point.So, such math and physics have been a big logical ‘directed graph’ connecting points.  The points are observations and theorems.  If points A, B, and C have arrows to point D, then the truth of point D follows logically from the truth of points A, B, and C.In this graph, essentially nothing is lost.  That is, D is really true, not just 99% true!This directed graph is the sense in which the technical fields of math, physical science, and much of engineering are ‘cumulative’.Most of the progress in these technical fields since Galileo and the current power of those fields is due to the power of this cumulative methodology.That cumulative methodology has been especially effective in those technical fields.The questions you raised about politics, society, and connections from science to society, fields that, yes, also have some cumulative aspects, are a bit far from the cumulative methodology used in just those technical fields themselves.It’s not clear what the effects, cumulative or otherwise, of those technical fields will be on society and not significantly more clear to the workers in those technical fields.Mathematical physics can do a bang up job on the details of a supernova, quasar, or black hole 1 billion light years away but has a tough time being clear on what is going on in a cell in the grass under our feet!  Net, far and away, the most complicated stuff we know anything about is right here on the surface of earth, especially the human biology, psychology, sociology, and politics! 

  96. Dave Pinsen

    Cooking is an interesting example as it has scientific as well as artistic components. Similarly, film making has scientific/engineering components as well as artistic components. If you look at documentary about the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey (one of my favorite movies, btw), for example, you’ll get a sense of some of the technical challenges Kubrick had to solve in filming it. Arthur C. Clarke has also written that Kubrick was no slouch when it came to their discussions of math & science.Speaking of space and the connection between art & science, it’s interesting to note that the first countdown to a rocket launch appeared in a Fritz Lang movie from 1929.Yes, we can agree to your last sentence.

  97. FAKE GRIMLOCK

    BEST WAY TO LEAD CROWD IS GET IN FRONT OF IT AND DO SOMETHING. #BETHECHANGE

  98. LE

    If you’re not going to toot your own horn, nobody is going to do it for you:http://pandodaily.com/2012/…(It may be crap but just remember “I don’t care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.”) http://www.nku.edu/~turney/…

  99. fredwilson

    trevor reached out to me for that story via email. i replied:”his product instincts are excellent”seems like that didn’t make it into the postgive forward seems like an awesome idea. talk about leveraging large networks to solve societal problems. well played dino man.

  100. JamesHRH

    Best way to lead crowd is figure out where they could go, get in front of them (but not too far out in front), lead them there.

  101. JamesHRH

    One of your broader and more compelling posts, Siggy.In a similar vein to your ‘pains’ analogy, it is accepted in Mass Media studies that media does not influence what people think, only what they talk about / think about.I have never read Pando and will not start, after today’s reviews.

  102. fredwilson

    HN is like Reddit. and that’s why it is so great.

  103. JamesHRH

    My uncle was a high profile criminal lawyer & in Canada, lawyers are not allowed to advertise.His motto: lose a case, but never lose a reporter.@FakeGrimlock:disqus I don’t think he meant ‘put them in your belly’ though.

  104. FAKE GRIMLOCK

    ME SAY THAT WORK OUT JUST LIKE PLANNED.

  105. FAKE GRIMLOCK

    LEAD LIKE SURF. CHOOSE HOW YOU ARRIVE, NOT WHERE.

  106. fredwilson

    showing up. nice move Brad

  107. Mark Essel

    That’s lasting advice, and makes for a short blog post.How do you determine what influences and affects the things you care about without looking both ways?

  108. fredwilson

    nice one Erik

  109. fredwilson

    i will search for it. thanks for letting me know.

  110. fredwilson

    yeah. i just got through it. as good a thread as we’ve had on AVC in a while. could it be the return of old disqus?

  111. Donna Brewington White

    Yeah, I was slammed all day and just now came back and started reading.  Amazing.

  112. Dave Pinsen

    Sigma Algebra brings up some interesting topics.

  113. bfeld

    Skim a lot. Don’t feel the need to absorb and process all the information, especially the stuff that you hypothesize is noise. For me, ignore doesn’t mean “don’t see it”, it means “see it and quickly move on.” I go deep into stuff that I care about and that matters. If I determine quickly that it doesn’t, I’m gone and on to the next thing.And – most importantly – I don’t “emotionally” absorb any on the nonsense. It doesn’t take up space in my brain or suck energy out of me.

  114. FAKE GRIMLOCK

    ME SAY THANKYOU!THEM GOOD TEAM. HAVE HUSTLE, TRACTION.NEED MORE SOCIAL, MOBILE.THAT WHERE GRIMLOCK COME IN.

  115. LE

     HN suppresses opposing views. (I don’t use reddit but it appears that at least you get to see the quantity of up/down votes which  helps).

  116. LE

     Otherwise people would know I’m on the payroll.

  117. James Ferguson @kWIQly

    FG – My problem wasSurfed like lead – arrived too early.Since Product / market fit is the scarlet pimpernel.But leaders gets back on their board and are backed by their board.