tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145316782009-11-06T16:42:09.463-05:00Thoughts on novel businesses, inspiring entrepreneurs and venture capitalJeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-56725320328884034302009-07-15T22:02:00.003-04:002009-07-15T22:11:19.308-04:00

Just a few years ago, the industry-leading incumbent in the Internet local search category was IAC's CitySearch.com. It had an apparently unassailable position in local search with no meaningful competition.Well, times have changed. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome gave a speech earlier this afternoon during which he mentioned a number of leading Internet companies such as Google, Twitter,

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com2http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2009/07/leaders-can-fall-fast-on-internet.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-67556507649576944912009-01-04T22:09:00.002-05:002009-01-04T22:20:23.578-05:00

Over the last few months, I added three new blogs to my reading list, and they're all related to venture capital and entrepreneurship.  Some are not new, but they're new to me, and I think they're all worthy of a regular reading.  Let's hope the respective authors each do a better job posting fresh content than I have been doing.Jeremy Stoppelman, a founder and the CEO of Yelp, is offering up a

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com1http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-year-new-blogs-to-read.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-38926611108068133532008-11-04T21:26:00.002-05:002008-11-04T22:08:24.856-05:00

It's not often that the venerable New York Times publishes a glowing piece on one of my portfolio companies. This is a welcome bit of good cheer amidst the backdrop of a generally gloomy economy.  When I invested in the young company founded by Jeremy S. and Russ S. back in 2005, Yelp had attracted about 100,000 San Franciscans to its site.  Today, with more than 15,000,000 monthly visitors, it

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com11http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2008/11/ny-times-says-yelp-has-arrived.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-14696344903428688252008-11-02T14:31:00.005-05:002008-11-02T15:01:58.469-05:00

I admit that I'm a frequent reader of Valleywag, a low-brow blog full of silicon valley gossip.  It's often pretty funny, and I know many of the people referenced in the stories, which only adds to the entertainment value.Last week, however, the blog ran an entry containing a fabricated story.  The entry was meant to embarrass Jimmy Wales, an entrepreneur we backed two years ago.  If there is

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com1http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2008/11/humor-without-lies-please.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-20282893321092476882008-10-01T21:49:00.002-04:002008-10-01T22:01:08.617-04:00

I got nervous today when I heard one of my consumer internet portfolio companies had posted a political advertisement on YouTube. It seemed obvious to me that any consumer company is likely to alienate half of its customer base by making a political statement. No matter how well-executed the ad, it is guaranteed to hurt business as much as it helps.It appears that I may have jumped too quickly to

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com1http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2008/10/portfolio-company-politics.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-74657580708682521232008-09-29T17:40:00.003-04:002008-09-29T17:42:10.456-04:00

Doesn't this new version of the dollar bill do a perfect job capturing the essence of the Treasury Department's current state of mind?

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com0http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2008/09/money-fears.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-61463943505898611152008-09-18T19:43:00.002-04:002008-09-18T20:40:16.571-04:00

I got a first-hand sense of how badly Goldman Sachs felt the pressure of the crumbling financial markets this morning.   At the start of a private company's board meeting I was attending, a director received a call on his cell phone.  One member of the board had not yet arrived, so the director answered the call in case it was the missing attendee.  He dispatched with the caller after about a

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com0http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2008/09/oh-my-goldman.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-14733860684165928062007-10-22T15:40:00.001-04:002007-10-23T07:23:32.403-04:00

For several months now, I have been privately telling anyone willing to listen that search advertising, though incredibly effective, is over rated. At first glance, it would appear that advertising to someone in context of his search activity is an utter utopia for marketers. What better time to advertise a DVD player, for example, than when a consumer types "DVD player" into Google's search box.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com12http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2007/10/he-has-no-credibiltiy-but-i-think-hes.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-87705312944861990662007-05-10T16:41:00.000-04:002007-05-10T16:54:36.170-04:00

I always like to know what smart, tech types include in their daily reading. Yesterday, I learned that a very successful entrepreneur (and good friend of mine) named Chris Dixon put up a web site with links to a few dozen of his favorite blogs and websites, and this afternoon I finally got around to studying the list. I have been particularly curious to know what Chris reads because he always

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com5http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2007/05/what-are-you-reading.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-83116720309559602222007-03-29T17:53:00.000-04:002007-03-29T18:27:32.456-04:00

With the astounding growth of auction-based pay-per-click (PPC) advertising led by Google and Yahoo over the past several years, there is a great deal of discussion about click fraud. I think most people are completely missing the point. Those who are complaining about the issue really have nothing to complain about. Bizarrely, those who are getting screwed haven’t even uttered a peep.Click fraud

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com9http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-click-fraud-theory.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-91185735008842306972007-03-25T21:32:00.001-04:002007-03-25T21:38:55.358-04:00

Anyone thinking about starting or joining a consumer Internet startup should be able to answer the following question, and if the answer is "d) none of the above," then I'd suggest looking for a new job.So, here's the question: does your company attract users with any of these things?an inherently viral ideasearch engine optimized content that grows naturally with usagethe ability to spend money

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com7http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-simple-multiple-choice-test-for.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-22741135832610845302007-02-27T21:59:00.000-05:002007-02-27T22:25:12.067-05:00

As an investor in Yelp, I was delighted to discover this blog post by Peggy Wynne Borgman, the owner of Saratoga Spa. In it, she admits to ranting about the dark side of user generated content for months before recently changing her tune and "falling in love" with Yelp.Initially, I wondered: why the sudden change of heart? Had a savvy business person at Yelp managed to bribe Peggy into becoming a

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com3http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2007/02/small-businesses-are-starting-to-get.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1165813925798493442006-12-13T19:36:00.000-05:002006-12-13T19:36:46.536-05:00

Several months ago, I confessed to being a Scan Artist. I bought a fantastic, speedy desktop scanner from Fujitsu and converted almost every paper record in my home office into a PDF file. I don't keep hard copies of anything anymore.There are many virtues to a paper-free life. For those of us living in small Manhattan apartments, the space saved by eliminating paper files was enough, by itself

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com12http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/12/sleeping-at-night-for-5-month.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1162672319995519512006-11-04T14:31:00.000-05:002006-11-06T21:44:41.103-05:00

Changing gears -- smoothly and at the right time -- is something that the best venture capitalists do extremely well. By changing gears, I mean shifting from one investment theme to another.After building expertise in big box retail investing, for example, it's no easy feat to abandon that knowledge to pursue something totally different like communications investing. Yet that is precisely what

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com1http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/11/changing-gears.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1159324464472893902006-09-26T22:23:00.000-04:002006-09-26T22:34:24.486-04:00

Several months ago, I wrote my initial "shorts and longs" blog entry covering a few things I'd bet against (shorts) and a few things I like (longs). Here's a new entry in the longs column: the US economy relative to the rest of the world. There has been a lot of talk about the US losing its leadership position to China and/or India over the next few decades. I think it's going to take a lot

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com8http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/09/shorts-and-longs-contd.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1153261306228463232006-07-18T18:21:00.000-04:002006-07-18T18:37:39.686-04:00

Howard Dean is often credited with being among the first to tap the power of the Internet to further the goals of a political campaign. It didn't end well for Mr. Dean, and I'm not even sure he deserves all the credit he gets for injecting the Internet into politics. I am convinced, however, that he was on to a big idea.Since the 2004 Presidential race, there has been very little discussion in

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com0http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/07/howard-dean-started-it.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1151020586391590762006-06-22T19:51:00.000-04:002006-06-22T19:56:26.420-04:00

It's not uncommon to see company promotional materials in the form of t-shirts, mugs and pens.This is my first sighting of a new form of logoware: an imitation diamond-studded belt buckle. Perhaps the start of a new trend?

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com5http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/06/t-shirts-pens-mugs-and-belt-buckles.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1148487501903896322006-05-24T12:16:00.000-04:002006-06-22T20:02:48.876-04:00

I don't have any scientific evidence to back up a full-fledged assertion, but I have always suspected that a key success factor behind the simple text ads that comprise search marketing is their subtleness. They look just like natural search results, and I don't think most consumers actually understand the difference.I run Google ads on my blog, and last month I received this note from Google:

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com3http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/05/not-evil-but-pinch-of-deliberate.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1147748010510357222006-05-15T22:40:00.000-04:002006-05-15T22:53:30.526-04:00

Until today, I didn't fully appreciate how aggressive Google had become with its desire to own datacenters around the world. Of course I have heard countless stories of the massive server farms Google operates. One rumor even suggested Google built a meaningful single digit percentage of all PCs last year.Still, I was stunned to learn from a young New York based startup about its recent run-in

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com7http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/05/googles-iron.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1147100262156892442006-05-08T10:39:00.000-04:002006-05-08T11:06:57.013-04:00

Some people have such great phone voices that it's hard not to want to talk to them. A multi-hundred million industry emerged based on that observation. Marketers persuaded consumers to call 1-900 lines (often, though not always, for sex chat) and relied on their operators' ability to give good phone to keep consumers engaged as the bills ran up at the tune of $5 per minute.Excellent reporters

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com2http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/05/giving-good-phone.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1144364092189422732006-04-06T12:52:00.001-04:002006-04-06T18:54:52.203-04:00

MIT Technology Review's Simon Garfinkel has announced he, too, is a Scan Artist. He has good taste in scanners. Welcome to the club, Simon.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com1http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/04/scan-artist-population-continues-to_06.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1144364068358639272006-04-06T12:52:00.000-04:002006-04-06T18:54:28.423-04:00

MIT Technology Review's Simon Garfinkel has announced he, too, is a Scan Artist. He has good taste in scanners. Welcome to the club, Simon.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com1http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/04/scan-artist-population-continues-to.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1142702230970159812006-03-18T11:39:00.000-05:002006-03-18T12:17:10.993-05:00

Rupert Murdoch, the man behind News Corporation, has been both praised and ridiculed in the press for propelling his media empire onto the Internet with the acquisition of MySpace. Newsweek called it "Murdoch's New Groove" and the Techdirt headline mockingly shouted "All Hail Lord Murdoch of the Internet" as if to say he just discovered the Internet, and he's already declared himself

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com0http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/03/actually-its-ruperts-third-try.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1142268905066471422006-03-13T11:32:00.000-05:002006-03-13T16:46:36.830-05:00

I use Yahoo every day. It is my Firefox homepage and accounts for more of my web traffic than does any other site on the Internet. I'm clearly not alone. According to this Alexa chart, Yahoo serves almost 3x as many pages as Google.Seven years ago, I invested the time to customize a My Yahoo page and have incrementally added quite a bit to it since then. It has become my primary RSS aggregator

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com3http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/03/to-yahoo-or-not-to-yahoo.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14531678.post-1141880257447105092006-03-08T23:02:00.000-05:002006-03-09T12:50:24.113-05:00

In this blog, I have focused on topics related to areas I think are ripe with innovation and, therefore, present fertile ground for venture investing. And I have rambled on about miscellaneous gadgets, technologies and anecdotes that have captured my imagination (or at least my attention). I deliberately shied away from referring to my Bessemer investments to prevent this from becoming a

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05059215947606354026noreply@blogger.com2http://nothingventurednothinggained.blogspot.com/2006/03/helping-of-my-yelping.html