Lefty December 26th, 2006
I’m back in NYC after spending Christmas in Philadelphia, and I’m happy to report that I scored some sweet gifts (including Born to Controversy, the new Roddy Piper career retrospective DVD!) But what I’m perhaps most excited about is my new digital camera and the new Flickr account that I set up to go with it! I’ve been using Flickr for a long time as a kind of photo search engine, but always only as a consumer of content. I’ve never had my own account or posted my own photos. One of my goals for the new year is to change that, and to try to post lots more photos that I can link to from this site. Flickr has got a ton of great features, including geotagging, posting photos directly to your blog from a cell phone camera, and groups. I’m looking forward to having some fun getting to know the feature set a lot better over the coming months. With my mini-vacation to Grand Exhuma coming up on January 11th, I should have a good opportunity to take lots of photos and get them posted upon my return to NYC. Stay tuned.
Lefty December 19th, 2006
Tonight after work I swung by ITP’s 2006 Winter Show, which showcases the favorite creations of students in that program over the past semester. I had never been to one of their shows before, and it was quite a scene. There were easily several hundred people there, and dozens of installations utilizing various web-based, interactive, or mobile technologies. I knew a few of the presenters from the Stern business plan competition, and I got to chat first-hand with the inventors of several clever and creative projects. Highlights included an interactive clothing line, a wireless network that allows your plants to call you when they’re thirsty, a site that lets you monitor your favorite rock bands, and a Google maps mash-up that charts eco-friendly businesses across the U.S.
Lefty December 18th, 2006
There was an interesting story in yesterday’s NY Times, entitled “From Lips of Children, Tips to Ears of Investors”, focusing on how technology investors in Silicon Valley are turning to kids for help in assessing potential investments. Like a lot of stories in the Times, it has a little bit of gimmicky feel. At the same time, it’s noteworthy to see the extent to which VCs go to find out about new technologies and to validate their choices.
Lefty December 18th, 2006
I officially finished my Fall semester at NYU! Now I’ve got six weeks off from school, which I’ll use to read anything that’s not a textbook, fix up our apartment, and also head off to the Bahamas with Emily for a brief vacation. I’m thinking that I may only take one course in the spring, as I’ve been feeling a little burned out lately. Or I may pick up an additional course in entrepreneurial finance if the mood strikes me.
Lefty December 18th, 2006
Time Magazine just announced its Person of the Year for 2007, and it’s you. Of course, it’s not really you, cause what they hell did you do to deserve being Person of the Year? What the issue is really about is “Web 2.0″, that annoying buzzword used to refer to the current generation of web apps that rely on user generated content, social networks, and lots of neato AJAX widgets.
According to the article, the democratizing influence of Web 2.0 has caused a sea change in the culture by allowing normal citizens to spout off endlessly via the Internet. It’s basically the same story you’ve probably read a hundred times already if you’re someone who’s been following the internet and technology the last couple of years. Of course, I love the current crop of “Web 2.0″ apps, and I’m an avid user of many of them (Wikipedia, YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace, Flickr, etc.) But as someone who appreciates the Great Man theory that is disparaged in the article’s opening paragraph, awarding the Person of the Year award to “You” seems like a massive cop-out. How about giving it to one of people who was instrumental in actually creating some of these sites? Or a major figure in politics or culture? What’s the point in having a Person of the Year award if you’re just going to twist its meaning to award it to some broad technological innovation?
Anyway, I’ll likely browse through the print version when it comes out. In addition to the main article, there looks to be several supplementary articles and commentary on Web 2.0, so hopefully there will be at least a few nuggets of wisdom in there.
Lefty December 18th, 2006
To celebrate finishing my last final, I was able to overcome my eremitic inclinations (for the second weekend in a row!) and actually attend a few social events this past weekend. Saturday night I hit up a party that an old pal from OgilvyInteractive threw in Williamsburg, as well as another event thrown by a fellow derby announcer in Park Slope. Sunday afternoon, a friend from Wunderman had a get together in Prospect Heights, and I got to play in a hockey scrimmage Sunday evening.  I’ll see if I can keep the socializing going for awhile, or if I revert to my normal state of not interacting with any large groups for months at a time.
Lefty December 18th, 2006
Surfing around the web recently, I discovered nextNY. Their blog is very focused on the tech and entrepreneurship scenes in NYC, and I’d recommend it to anyone who shares those interests. Recent posts include an interview with a NYC-based VC, profiles of NYC start-ups, commentary on east coast vs. west coast entrepreneurial culture, and recaps of their recent events. I haven’t had a chance yet to check out any of their social events, but I hope to soon.
Lefty December 13th, 2006
While perusing Venture Voice, I found a reference to a blog posting by a Wharton student about the value of an MBA education to entrepreneurs. With a title like “Where Entrepreneurship Comes to Die”, one would be right to believe the author is not overly sanguine about the degree he’s pursuing. This is something I’ve certainly thought about a lot over the last year, as my principal interest in signing up at Stern was to improve my overall business knowledge with the hopes of launching another company at some point down the road. This puts me in a distinct minority among other Stern students, the vast majority of whom are working up the ladder at various Wall Street financial firms. (And, frankly, I can’t blame them after reading in yesterday’s NY Times that the average bonus at Goldman Sachs this year was $622K!)
Anyway, I certainly agree that a school can’t guarantee entrepreneurial success, or give you a great business idea, or change someone with an employee disposition into a great builder of organizations. And the legions of successful entrepreneurs pulled from the ranks of college dropouts (like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and the Google founders) are ample proof that a formal business education is not a requirement for entrepreneurship.
At the same time, however, my time at Stern has been a huge value to me so far. I had virtually no business education as an undergrad at UT Austin (where I majored in Radio-Television-Film, of all things). I was able to glean a good amount of knowledge from working for other companies as well as from running Jinx Multimedia for five years. But the knowledge that I’ve gained through approaching fundamentals (like finance, marketing, accounting, economics, and strategy) in a rigorous academic manner has allowed me to exponentially increase my insights into how business works. And, for that reason alone, I consider my time (and money) spent at Stern to be well-spent. I probably won’t be able to truly judge whether it was all worth it for another ten years or so, but at this point in time I feel very confident about my decision.
Lefty December 13th, 2006
I just heard news that the business plan that me and my ITP teammates are entering in the Stern Business Plan contest has made it past the first round! Next step: a revised concept summary and further refinement of the financial and marketing details.
Lefty December 13th, 2006
This last week I got to attend two fun holiday parties. The first was for my employer Digital Pulp, and it also doubled as a celebration of the company’s ten year anniversary. The owners rented out a great space at the SoHo restaurant Barolo, and even went so far as to take the impressive step of getting an ice sculpture made of the company logo. There was delicious food and drinks, as well as insightful conversation with colleagues and clients. I had to leave for about an hour in the middle of the party to meet up with some Stern students so we could finalize a group presentation (on the imminent Eurozone expansion) due on the last day of our Global Economy class. But afterwards I headed right back to the action and had a nice late night. It was definitely the most fun I’ve had at a company party in recent memory, and I certainly enjoyed the chance to get to know all my new co-workers a lot better. Check out some sweet Flickr shots here.
On Saturday evening, Emily and I trekked up the BQE to my old hood of Williamsburg and hit the Penny Larceny/Lil’ Red Terror holiday party. It was more good times all around, but there was one key experience that I think will change my life forever: my first ever attempt to play Guitar Hero 2 on PlayStation2 (which was set up in one of the extra rooms.) I have to say, my take on “Search & Destroy” was pretty solid for a first timer. If anyone wants to get me a Hannukah present, this one’s a no-brainer. Pictures are here.
Next week I’ll be hitting up some events thrown by old Wunderman colleagues, as well as some more derby folks.