Howard Lindzon » Web 3.0

Today's Lesson: How to Call a Top!

Howard — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:30:42 +0000

It’s easy. Just keep calling for it.

I have said China was topping at least twice including yesterday.

Josh Kopelman has an excellent post written for Alley Insider about ‘Bubble’ calling.

That’s why Josh is a great venture capitalist with bazillions and I am a thousandairre :) .

Google/YouTube Video Adsense…A Historic Day for Web Video?

Howard — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:59:55 +0000

It seems that way with Google’s release of Video Adsense. Straight from the horse’s mouth .

I sold half my Google position in celebration of the euphoria…at $617.

Lot’s of nerd takes over at TechMeme. I like reading Ashkan on days like today who has an entrrpreneurial, ground floor media view on the announcement .

I respectfully disagree with his view on Content being the next big wave of VC investment , just not enough leverage, but if he’s right, great.

Matthew Ingram says it could be genius or desperation . I don’t think it’s either, just business. The desperation thing makes for good headlines, but come on Matthew, Google paid squat (inflated paper) for this business and I have said from day one that the deal was cheap. The stock market money agreed. This is no Skype.

What is amazing is how huge a lead Google now has in Video. It’s like every other player has backed off, stood still and switched away from being in the market with YouTube. That is never a good thing for the market. Great for Google’s stock though…hence the $600 plus price tag today.

Web Trends…The $100k for My Kid's Education Better Spent on a Their Start-Ups

Howard — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 04:27:21 +0000

Paul Graham’s essay – The Future of Web Startups – has become pretty viral in the VC and Nerd Community. Rightly so…it’s awesome. Not so much for the thoughts, but for the organization of them and the structure.

Trader Mike linked to it yesterday and this morning I see it on Fred’s blog .

I have spent the last few years thinking and trying to prove that it does not matter where you call home to a web start-up. I still believe that the management and investor group make the difference, but Paul has a different point of view and a great one:

The question of whether to be in a startup hub is like the question of whether to take outside investment. The question is not whether you need it, but whether it brings any advantage at all. Because anything that brings an advantage will give your competitors an advantage over you if they do it and you don’t. So if you hear someone saying “we don’t need to be in Silicon Valley,” that use of the word “need” is a sign they’re not even thinking about the question right.

I have long thought that college for my kids will not be very important. We have lost the education race to China and India. Sorry…over! It’s just not important to our leadership. We try and encourage creativity in our house. We believe strongly in EQ not just IQ in our home.

I love Paul’s take on the subject. For the most part, connectivity, communication and social skills will rule the day for our children in the U.S. We better have them, because selling our culture (a post from May 2006, pre Google/YouTube) is our last great resource . Here’s the excerpt from Paul’s essay:

8. College Will Change

If the best hackers all start their own companies after college instead of getting jobs, that will change what happens in college. Most of these changes will be for the better. I think the experience of college is warped in a bad way by the expectation that afterward you’ll be judged by potential employers.

One of the most obvious changes will be in the meaning of “after college,” which will change from when one graduates from college to when one leaves it. If you’re starting your own company, why do you need a degree? We don’t encourage people to start startups during college, among other things because it gives them a socially acceptable excuse for quitting, but the best founders are certainly capable of it. Some of the most successful companies we’ve funded were started by undergrads.

I grew up in a time where college degrees seemed really important, so I’m alarmed to be saying things like this, but there’s nothing magical about a degree. There’s nothing that magically changes after you take that last exam. The importance of degrees is due solely to the administrative needs of large organizations. These can certainly affect your life—it’s hard to get into grad school, or to get a work visa in the US, without an undergraduate degree—but tests like this will matter less and less.

As well as mattering less whether students get degrees, it will also start to matter less where they go to college. In a startup you’re judged by users, and they don’t care where you went to college. So in a world of startups, elite universities will play less of a role as gatekeepers. In the US it’s a national scandal how easily children of rich parents game college admissions. But the way this problem ultimately gets solved may not be by reforming the universities but by going around them. We in the technology world are used to that sort of solution: you don’t beat the incumbents; you redefine the problem to make them irrelevant.

The greatest value of universities is not the brand name or perhaps even the classes so much as the other students you meet there. If it becomes common to start a startup after college, people may start consciously trying to maximize this. Instead of focusing on getting internships with companies they want to work for, students may start to focus on working with other students they want as cofounders.

What students do in their classes will change too. Instead of trying to get good grades to impress future employers, students will try to learn things. We’re talking about some pretty dramatic changes here.

The whole section brings back memories of one of my fave Rodney Dangerfield movies.. ‘Back to school’ where in his keynote to graduating schools his advice is to “GO BACK”.

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Covestor Gets Crunched

Howard — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:42:21 +0000

Mike’s an ass (TechCrunch) and he and I have come to an understanding about that (he thinks I despise him..I don’t), but Covestor was Crunched today by their new writing honcho Erick Schonfeld, their east coast meanie, formerly of defunct Business 2.0.

They definitely don’t fully get it, but they tried . Rikki and his team at Covestor have designed an extremely elegant way to share portfolio information for the masses and I wanted to be involved.

At first I did not think that people who were actually good would want to spend the time doing this, but they are and I would too if not for conflicts.

Meghann and Rose in my office are ready to go though and should be live shortly with their accounts. Pressure is on as they are relying on Wallstrip stocks.

Mint.com vs. Wesabe.com…Cage/Cat Fight

Howard — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:36:35 +0000

Not realy, just Meghann from Lindzonmerica putting both to the test. Meghann’s financial life is pretty simple but stressful like the rest of us. I asked her to start from scratch and set up at Mint.com and Wesabe.com for her personal financial stuff. She is thrilled so far.

Seeing that I think we are late in the Web 2.0 cycle of start-ups, feature sets are close. It will likely come down to good old fashioned marketing and execution. If you are in the MySpace facebook crowd, you may never have heard of Quicken so I would think Quicken could make a play for one of these very fast. No youngster wants to pay for software anymore.

Here is Meghann’s take. She is hooked by the way on her choice for now…Mint (sorry Fred):

Jumping into the assignment of finally appropriately organizing my personal finances seemed tough. Luckily, someone has finally thought of a way to synchronize an accountant, financial planner and bank into one accessible and easily used website. The product: Mint.com and Wesabe.com.

Both Mint and Wesabe are free and combine the organized and detailed approach of Quicken, with the automation and accessibility of the web. Lastly, both are completely secure, providing bank level data security and identity protection. Each site does put in their own two cents, no pun intended, into how to best plan and organize your money.

Mint is billed as the “freshest, most intelligent way” for members to manage their money online. Completely comprehensive, it is utilized with ease, providing visual displays and categories for easy organization and cross-referencing. Another added benefit of Mint is that they go beyond accessibility and high visibility by providing money-saving suggestions. Mint offers up an average of $1,000.00 in savings opportunities during a new user first session.

Based purely on aesthetics and ease in navigating, Mint has Wesabe beat. Setting up my Mint account took under 10 minutes; my checking and savings account, along with one credit card, were completely synched and uploaded, even showing me every transaction over the last 98 days. The graphics are hip and youthful, the text is well-explained and the attitude is spirited. Mint seems to be the truly modern way of managing your money.

Setting up my Wesabe account took a little more time. Initially, I had to download my bank statements to their website, but it supports very little file types. Seeing as though most banks send their statements in PDF form and Wesabe doesn’t recognize PDF’s…it was a process. Once I logged on, setting everything up was just as easy as as it was over at Mint, albeit the website isn’t as pretty, but it still works.

The most unique feature of Wesabe is the member community aspect. Wesabe members post tips and techniques to help you to save and manage your money more effectively. For example, if Wesabe registers that you bought a latte, two pairs of shoes and a bottle of shampoo, then you will have “tips” on top of your transaction listing, like “Skipping Your Latte and Saving for a Vacation” or “How to Shop Less”, all written by fellow Wesabe members. Sound advice. Unfortunately, I’m not really interested in what Dan in Delaware has to say about my morning latte routine. If you are compelled listen to Dan, then this feature may give Wesabe an edge. Wesabe also categorizes transactions, much like Mint, but also provides detailed spending and earnings summaries, with graphs, which makes it easy to detail your spending habits.

One definitive edge of Wesabe over Mint is their goals section. This forum provides a space for you to detail your own financial goals, such as “I will not overdraft my bank account” or “I will not throw money away on useless purchases”. You can garner support for your goal through discussions with other members as well.

Regardless of my preference for either Mint or Wesabe, this type of online financial planning is the future. Money management websites are visual, analytical, hands-on and most importantly, always accessible – and that is a fresh idea.

Buddy Media…A Project with 'Buddies' raises $1.5 million…My Fund Included

Howard — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 03:22:54 +0000

All Facebook is breaking the story here . I am just going to let Mike execute as he always does, but in a nutshell:

The focus of Buddy Media is to expand the AceBucks application and make it the primary virtual currency on Facebook. Acebucks will soon launch an API which enables developers to integrate the virtual currency into their own applications. For example if you are winning points on a poker application, you can convert those points into Acebucks.

Acebucks can be used to purchase both virtual and physical assets through the new Facebucks store which is about to be launched. Acebucks is being modeled after the AMEX rewards system. Buddy Media plans on launching some creative marketing campaigns via the Acebucks application.

The Acebucks application is going to be able to expand into a number of larger applications thanks to their powerhouse investment team and some pretty large partnerships that they are announcing in the coming days.

My buddy Mike Lazerow, who I met through my Buddy James Altucher , has closed an initial round of $1.5 million. My hedge fund is an investor as is James Altucher, Peter Thiel (PayPal founder, Clarium Capital and Facebook angel fame), my buddy Roger Ehrenberg , and my buddy Mark Pinkus (multiple startups, including Facebook angel).

Mike and his wife Cass were the founders of Golf.com and had a great exit to Time Warner. He has been a great help to us at Golfnow.com as well.

This one has been fun already as I have had my sleeves rolled up as well helping to get the investor team together. Of course there is major risk and the boobirds in nerdville are already out. That just makes it all the more fun when we execute.

Social Network for The Dead

Howard — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 02:51:17 +0000

I love this idea .

Nicholas Carr has all the gory details . This makes sense for me if I could get comfy with the security issue.

Mint.com…Cool and Refreshing

Howard — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 04:35:39 +0000

I am excited about the potential for Mint.com . I think young people will be all over this. Eddie just emailed me and likes it. I have young Meghann at Lindzon HQ setting up her personal finances on the site tomorrow and she will hopefully give us some young lady insight.

Personally, I just wont give all my passwords and info on my personal banking stuff over just yet. Too freaked out for that and I am an open book.

I also long ago quit the Quicken addiction, but I am itching to dive back in these days.

Here is a good review from Venture Beat . I am happy for long time blogroll and hip marketing dude Noah Kagan who is doing his thing for the Minters .

Sony buys Grouper – Not quite Apple buying YouTube, but interesting gauntlet nonetheless…

Howard — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 10:39:14 +0000

Sony takes a $65 million cash leap into the video sharing space. Cool.

I just signed up for an account. Pretty easy process. BUT, a nightmare on Safari and not the easy-one click loading process they promised me to WordPress. Then again, I am an no techno wiz.

I have read the chain of Grouper stories over at TechCrunch and based on the valuation, YouTube would be worth $2 billion. Expect the blogosphere and even regular media to be buzzing with this one.

Of course, just a month ago when YouTube was in the media for claiming to be woth $1 billion, the blogosphere was abuzz with skepticism. I took the opposite view and thought $1 billion was a buy . Nice double (in the fantasy world that I live in :) )

It’s an absolute rounding error to Sony so if they can figure out how to work it into their collosal infrastructure, it is cheap. The likelihood of them doing that – let’s just say YA RIGHT ! :) :) :) :) :)

In a cool foreshadowing of their buyout, check out the funny video of Grouper kicking their competitor’s butts:

The video comments that Grouper allows is pretty damn cool as well.

I guess congrats are in order…

UPDATE – Pete Cashmore , a smart web 2.0 dude, says this about the deal:

Where are the synergies? Grouper and Sony claim that the pairing of connected devices with Grouper’s web and desktop sharing will be a big win, and Grouper’s P2P platform could also be used for movie distribution. What’s pretty clear is that this is a technology buy, since Grouper hadn’t even made a dent in web-based services like MySpace Video, YouTube and Yahoo Video.

Also – Minic has lots of blogosphere links on the subject.

If I can just get Mr. Angry to do a 60 secong piece on why Revver is the best of all, things would be great!

Biltmore Ventures

Howard — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 02:21:39 +0000

Today we formalized a new VC firm and fund in Phoenix called Biltmore Ventures. We are shooting for a launch date of October 1, 2006.

Although I will never be considered A team (not speaking for my partners), it would not be a stretch to call us a team of Enlightened Free Agents . In fact, I love that term and I plan to use it ! :)

We will be focused on helping Arizona businesses and entrepreneurs in early stage internet and blog entrepreneurship ventures.

If the real estate market crashes, there will have to be some money earmarked for that too :) :) :)

Many thanks must go out to my Venture Dudes Blogroll for inspiring me and a few for the nudge and push to take a shot.

I will fill you in on the rest of the crew when they let me :)

The website will be up shortly and there will be more blogging from at least one of my partners.

I am amazed at the quality of deals I am starting to see spawned from this now great city so now seems as good a time as any.