The Vomitorium

Y Combinator and 500 Startups - A Founders Comparison

2015-03-23T22:11:00.002-04:00

Reposted from Medium

In the last year I have had the privilege of going through both Y Combinator’s and 500 Startups’ accelerator programs — the veritable bootcamps for a generation of young and hungry entrepreneurs. While a huge amount has been written about YC, even from a few super cool friends (here, here, and here) — and to a lesser extent, but still some out there, about 500 Startups (here and here) — I haven’t read about any other founders that have gone through both programs, and certainly not with the same company in the same year, so I thought I’d shed some light from an insiders perspective.

From 10,000 feet, the two look quite similar: both are investment funds that run accelerator programs where startup companies can apply to be part of a 3 month program, receive roughly $100,000 investment for 5–7% of their company and get access to a network of partners and alumni. This all culminates in a Demo Day — a pitch frenzy of their companies progress to date in a room full of vaguely-interested investors. However, there are some fundamental differences, especially in the qualities they value in companies and founders and the value they provide them. These differences reflect their individual ideologies, and help explain the types of companies that go through each — and hopefully what I’ve seen will provide some better context for those exploring either or both.

500 Startups (B8–Jan 2014)

I’ll start with 500 Startups as we did this program first, starting in January of 2014.

The most valuable parts of 500 Startups for me:

Distribution — This was arguably the most valuable part of 500 Startups for me and the company. The primary emphasis of the program is on “distribution” — getting to your customers by any means necessary. Once you build a basic product, you need to get it out in the world and in users hands. Figuring out ways to do so, and do so quickly and efficiently, is one of the biggest separators between winners and losers. Outside of just the emphasis on distribution, 500S assigns every team a distribution mentor who works in an individual, 1-on-1 capacity to help you up your distribution and growth game. Our mentor was the talented and humble Matthew Berman (now founder of Sonar) and for the first time the program peeled away generic, high-level advice, and Matt got his hands dirty, diving straight into our FB ads account and started ripping things apart — this helped us set aggressive and actionable goals and experiments that yielded our strongest paid acquisition vehicle.
Community — Read: “Family”. If there is one thing 500 Startups does better than anyone is engender (err, pound in) the importance of community in building a startup, and indoctrinate you in their unique brand of it. The 500S Family is real, and quite active. They value and directly selects for founders that will be active in the community. This starts with your batch but extends to the far reaches of the community. During our batch we gained everything from emotional support, to technical expertise, fundraising advice, distribution help and more. Also, the late night drinking sessions and frequent meals with other teams doesn’t hurt.
Physical Co-working with Batchmates — Your batch is your immediate set of tired-eyed and generally unkempt allies in traversing the entrepreneurial journey. Getting to work side by side with some incredibly bright founders with a wealth of deep and diverse experience is awesome. Being in the trenches together lets you share more openly in triumph and defeat, and helps to level out some of otherwise sinusoidal swings you and your company will go through. We would have quick, random conversations in the kitchen or hallway daily about which investors we had just pitched, how we pulled off a certain deal, or if we could get an intro to x or y person.
Hustla’s Mentality — Hustlin’ is a part of the start-up game whether you want it to be or not. Hustling for customers, users, investors, partnerships, team members, or deals on your already-cheap office furniture. This hustlers mentality comes straight from the top — grandmaster Dave McClure shouting about it endlessly. Getting this in your head as a founder, technical or non, will help you realize that you can’t just build your product and sit idly by, but need to go fight for what you want, and a bit of slyness isn’t going to hurt. 500 screens for this from the get-go by weighting references you are able to collect from alumni very highly. Knowing this ahead of time we were able to get around 5 high-quality alumni recs.

Y Combinator (S14 — June 2014)

If you’ve been anywhere close to a startup, San Francisco, or a news outlet that covers technology, you’ve heard of Y Combinator.

The most valuable parts of YC for me:

Focus — On growth. And on making something people want. The most helpful part of the program for me was that YC has a very clear idea and focus of what makes startups successful, and they are the 2 statements above; Growth, and “make something people want.” Drilling this in makes your job as a founder very clear. The only expectations for founders in the program is that they come to dinners one night a week and participate in office hours with partners and small groups of companies in your class. The rest of the time you should be in your own office, focusing on your company and building the best company and product for your users/customers. Within days of joining partners made it abundantly clear that we should be spending every possible moment talking to customers, and knocking away at the 2/3 KPI’s we had set ourselves.
The Partners — The partners are all ballers. Almost all are startup founders themselves, and incredibly successful ones at that. Nothing parallels operational experience when advising companies. Above that, they don’t feel like hardcore investors, rather people who genuinely and truly want to help founders and startups, and to push the envelope of what companies are able to do in the world. Some of my best experiences were partners telling us exactly how they tackled a problem similar to what we were going through in their own company just years prior, with striking openness and honesty — including details about equity negotiations, litigation, and broken acquisition offers — there’s just no where else you’ll learn this shit.
Elite Network — Even with founders in my own class (S14) there was a sense of mutual admiration, awe, and wonder at how top-notch the other founders were in every possible way. This only seems to extend across the network — possibly one of the most elite in Silicon Valley. I have gotten help from YC alumni regarding fundraising, legal and company structure matters, emotional issues regarding team dynamics and so much more. The cool thing is, though, that even with the “elite-ness,” almost everyone I’ve interacted with has been incredibly nice and down to earth.
Brand / Access — While the “focus” YC provides was most helpful, the brand and access were the most valuable. Warranted or not, YC has a reverential place in the startup community, and carries an enormous amount of weight with almost all realms of the community; investors, other founders, potential employees, and partner/client communities alike. This access is nowhere better documented than during YC’s Demo Day, an exhilarating and exhausting day filled with pitches in front of an audience of hundreds of investors and hours of mingling — the result of which for us was having over 30 investors ask for introductions in-bound and another 25–30 business cards which we leveraged into a chalk-full calendar of meetings over the next 4+ weeks to raise our seed round.P.S. Coincidentally, applications for the next class for both 500 Startups (here) and Y Combinator (here) are open… Apply!

If nothing else is clear from my above discussions of the two, though, would be the fact that YC and 500S are just different beasts. YC is elite. 500 is scrappy. Dave McClure would suggest 500S “grooms ugly ducklings” while YC “farms black swans.” 500S is for hustlers who want an in on startup world and are going to work their asses off to make their company solid. YC finds incredibly fast growing companies, especially with contrarian or novel concepts, or seasoned and brilliant people to help them accelerate their growth and multiply their already likely chances for growth and success.

500 Startups is a phenomenal place to enter silicon valley, learn the hard lessons of building a product, reaching users, and running a startup. They have incredible variance in the type of companies, founders backgrounds, and stages of companies in their programs, and they thrive on the diversity. This provides for an exciting network with a lot of breadth. They are making a big play on international companies and hammering away at tried and true business models. The support structure is core to their being, and the time you get to interface with partners and staff is unparalleled.

YC is where savvy and incredibly bright individuals as well as companies that have already proven they are on an interesting trajectory go to rocketship their growth and visibility. They are making plays on the brightest and most capable people, and are visibly expanding the scope of types of companies they are interested in. They have breached new sectors such as biotech, nuclear and healthcare and don’t look to be slowing down in these non-traditional Silicon Valley arenas under Sam Altman’s leadership. They are making bets on majorly different companies, or truly outstanding brainpower to find their next home-run. Their mega successes and high-caliber partner pool speaks for itself, and the brand power and benefits in the ecosystem are unrivaled.

Personally, I got more value as a person/founder from 500 Startups, but our company was undoubtedly better off for doing Y Combinator. 500 Startups helped me enter the founders mentality with stability and structure. Partners, alumni, and other batch mates were incredibly supportive of what we were working on, and people were constantly looking to help one another. They also created an environment where discussing mistakes and failures was an important and necessary part of the process. YC was the perfect place to take a just proven model and accelerate growth. As a founder I gained focus and was able to clearly set specific goals. The company was elevated in status and our ability to both hire and raise seed capital from awesome people improved dramatically. The communities of each are unbelievably strong and unique and I’m grateful to be a part of both.

———

If you are considering applying for an accelerator with your startup, I would recommend applying to both. They are the best in the Bay Area, and if you can get into one of them it will be invaluable for you and your company. If you want advice on either, the applications, or are somehow in the situation of considering doing both, feel free to hit me up at milanthakor@gmail.com☺

Thanks to Tristan Pollock, Nate Mihalovich, Nick Bastone, Logan Randolph and Mitali Thakor for their helpful thoughts and edits.

Dreamers

2014-12-26T10:33:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.

And because of their perfect love, they began to dream together. Their dreams were of adventures and far off lands. They would be Egyptian lovers in ancient times, or sworn enemies fighting great battles. The girl was a horse and the boy was her keeper. The girl was a bumblebee and the boy was a flower. The girl was a dragon and the boy was a knight.

In a night's sleep together they'd each experience a lifetime. Sometimes the lives were short and vivid, sometimes they were long and sprawling. During their dream, they would forget that they were dreaming. And sometimes they would be pulled apart. The boy would die in an accident. The girl would be killed by a jealous lover. But no matter how long each life took, they always would awaken at the same moment, holding each other in their arms.

And together, they lived a million million lives, outlandish ones and plain ones. They learned more about each other than anyone had ever learned before.

And then one day, the girl suggested something that they'd both been thinking for a long time. The boy was scared. There was more that they still hadn't experienced together. And yet, stronger than his fear, the boy still wanted to answer the question of her laughter.

And so they laid down side-by-side, and dreamt of being each other.

The same as it was, the same as it's always been.

Start-Up Trends

2014-04-11T03:01:00.003-04:00

At a talk I went to last year Vinod Khosla called 2012 “the year of ed-tech.” Ed-tech, or education technology, is a phrase used to describe primarily software related innovation in the education field. An incredible amount of ed-tech startups cropped up in 2012, from MOOCs such as Khan Academy, EdX, or Coursera, to online skill and education marketplaces such as Skillshare and Udemy, to companies trying to rival traditional institutional education such as The Minerva Project. We also saw the rise of numerous resources for educators and school boards, and further attempts to improve or revolutionize classical education.

So, why 2012? What other hot categories have risen up each year, and why does innovation seem to come in spurts by sector?. It turns out that as in the world of Twitter gossip, trends in technology disruption are very tangible. 2013 saw a large increase in the creation, and thereby funding, of food-related startups (Munchery, Amazon Fresh, Grubwithus, to name a few). 2013 was also named by some as the “year for hardware startups.” 2012 brought us more photo sharing apps than we could possibly care to revisit. 2011 was a major year for game developers while Zynga was in its prime and Facebook games were thought to be a significant part of its revenue generating ability. More recently, we have seen a burst in 3-D printing and Bitcoin related activity in the first part of this year.

These trends are likely explainable by 4 key factors: funding environments for those sectors, the development of enabling platforms, a significant lowering of associated costs, and large scale exits in the space.

Funding environment: As investors begin to realize opportunity in a certain sector, there is often a “herd mentality” that drives more and more investor dollars to be allocated towards other projects in that sector. This funneling of capital creates a funding environment that props up innovation in one field in lieu of others for a given amount of time until there is another group shift. As some “smart money” goes into one deal in a given space other investors don’t want to be left out on a potentially massive and growing space.

Enabling platforms: As new platforms become available that make development or distribution easier there is a much stronger reason for movement to the space. For example, the proliferation of mobile devices and two major app-stores gave game developers an ideal arrangement for distribution and monetization.

Associated Costs: The ascension of hardware as an investable and growth-oriented industry came with the reduction of development costs and with the help of other new innovations such as 3D-printing. Similarly, AWS and other cloud hosting have brought down server costs to allow small web-based companies to scale faster.

Large exits: Finally, any time a major IPO or acquisition happens it makes it easier for entrepreneurs and investors alike to see potential for pursuing risk in a similar or complimentary space.

What are some trends you are noticing so far in 2014 and do you see coming up?

The Dynamics of Magical Genetics

2014-01-08T21:29:00.000-05:00

We all know and love the Harry Potter (HP) series. J.K. Rowling manages to expertly detail the boy's life and describe the wizarding world in which he lives. Beginning with the first book, and picking up in the second, the issue of the inheritance of magical ability greatly influences the actions of main characters, particularly Voldemort and his Death Eaters. In this blogpost, I will offer my analysis of the issue by focusing on the dynamics of magical inheritance through Mendellevian genetics and (epigenetics).

http://goo.gl/CaLoQ3

As I have dwelled on the subject, it occurred to me that we could approach the issues in two different ways. Under these theories, we would assume:
1) "normal" humans (a.k.a. Muggles) are the original population and a gene mutation occurred within them to allow them to use magic.
2) wizards (a.k.a. Purebloods) are the original population and a gene mutation caused a population to become incapable of using magic.

1. The Muggle Theory
One theory is that the ability to control and use magic is caused by a gene mutation in "normal" humans. The gene of which we speak most likely codes for a protein in the brain and spinal cord within motor neurons. We will call it the Magical Ability Protein (MAP). The successful production of MAP would allow for the manipulation of matter with one's mind through verbal and cognitive commands. As such, this protein would play a role in the somatic and autonomic nervous systems.

After careful analysis of the HP series, I have determined that the specific mutation would be able to be passed in an autosomal, co-dominant inheritance pattern. The principle of co-dominance can be explained through one of Gregor Mendel's own experiments. In it, flowers of red and white color were mated, and produced pink flowers. Thus, the alleles of both parents were expressed within the child. This model can be used to explain the inheritance of magic because it also explains the existence of Half-blood witches and wizards, like Harry and Voldemort. Both people had one parent of Pure lineage and another parent of Muggle lineage. As a result, the genes for Normalcy and for MAP would be passed on and expressed.

http://goo.gl/LWsh7V

One thing to note is that, in Mendel's experiment, the pink flower is less red than the red flower, yet more so than the white flower. If we relate the red color to magical ability and the white color to normalcy, Half-bloods would then be considered "less magical" than Purebloods. This notion is brought up by Bellatrx Lestrange in her statement "You filthy Half-blood," to Harry in the fifth HP book. Obviously, however, Harry and Voldemort are very powerful wizards. As a result, this gets into the classic "Nature vs. Nurture" debate, arguing the effect of one's surrounding environment versus lineage on one's ability and potential.

An example of Nature is Tom Marvolo Riddle (a.k.a. Lord Voldemort, Heir of Slytherin). He is a Parseltongue, who is able to control snakes in a unique language only known by his family. Voldemort also shows an incredible aptitude for normal and Dark magic; however, this could be as a result of hard practice. One example in favor of Nurture is Hermione Granger. While born to Muggle parents, she is an extremely studious witch, and surpasses her peers in academics, including Draco Malfoy, a Pureblood. As is the currently accepted solution to this debate, people are most likely affected by both genetic/familial environmental factors.

Purebloods in this case are the people with the MAP gene mutation in the first waves of mutation. We can usually identify these people by their possession of a House Elf or the ownership of a deep vault in the Gringotts Bank, as indicated in the second and seventh HP books respectively. Examples of such people include the Black, Lestrange, and Malfoy families. However, families like the Weasleys and Longbottoms are also Pureblood, even though they do not possess either.

Consequently, those who develop the mutation more recently such as Hermione Granger are regarded as Mudbloods because they did not inherit magical ability "naturally" through inheritance. Certain people are prejudiced toward these newer generations of witches and wizards because no investigations were carried out about the genetic bases magical ability.

http://goo.gl/dWH0bE

Enjoy! "The Wizard Theory" to be continued in Part 2!

Small acts of kindness

2013-10-17T01:12:00.000-04:00

It is hard to gauge just how much other people matter to us, and how much we may matter to them. Whether these be people close to you or just acquaintances, the effects of our actions can have tremendous ripples.

It is always worth remembering how much of a difference a random or small act of kindness can mean to others, and to recognize how much those acts mean to us. I was recently talking to some people about how I couldn't afford to break my new iPhone, and one of the friends I was telling took off the case from his phone and handed it to me. Just like that. Such a small thing that was completely un-requested yet incredibly appreciated. There is no reason to ask anything in return, nor expect to need to repay the favor. Kindness isn't a currency and should rather be a constant part of our daily ritual.

For some kindness inspiration, this is a fantastic article of a homeless man who returned $40,000 that he found in a bag asking nothing in return (though the world gave him a little fist-bump for doing so!). http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/04/glen-james-gets-huge-reward_n_4045720.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

For the Impending Zombie Apocalypse

2013-09-06T10:49:00.000-04:00

This brief-ish guide outlines what your average Joe and Jill should think about when they are caught unprepared for the impending zombie apocalypse:

For the more avid zombie enthusiast or worrier, I recommend looking into more detailed sources found below

Zombie safe house designs : http://zombiesafehouse.wordpress.com/

Cracked: http://www.cracked.com/funny-2838-zombie-survival-guide/

And apparently there’s a wiki: http://zombie.wikia.com/wiki/Zombie_Wiki

And this pretty much sums up what you want to avoid: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/zombie_how

The Zombie:

Zombies (etym. “West African origin, originally the name of a snake god, later with meaning ‘reanimated corpse’ in voodoo cult” or “from Louisiana Creole word meaning ‘phantom, ghost’” Etymonline.com) have been popularized numerous times in film and television through hundreds of works such as House of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, I am Legend, and most recently/my favorites Zombieland, and The Walking Dead. There are a few consistencies between each of these films through which we can make assumptions as to what kind of zombies we’ll be dealing with

1.) They’re dead (duh)

2.) They can be “killed” with a bullet to the head

3.) When you are bitten by a zombie, you become infected and will soon die only to turn into a zombie yourself

4.) They are highly reactive/attracted to sound

5.) They are cannibals

6.) They rely on primal instincts

Now, depending on what zombie movies you’ve seen, zombies can take on additional characteristics such as:

1.) You will turn into a zombie even after you die from natural causes (The Walking Dead)

2.) The zombie “infection” can be cured (I am Legend)

3.) The infection can affect animals (I am Legend)

For this discussion, we will, for the most part, stick to those basic 6 characteristics.

Your Strategy: Stay away from highly populated areas

Urban:

Sorry, but you’re pretty screwed. Highly populated cities will quickly gain a large zombie population, which will make leaving your home to search for food, medicine, weapons or other supplies extremely difficult. If you have a car, grab all of your necessities (food, water, medicine, weapons, family) and get out into the country as soon as possible. If you have to bunker down and stay for whatever reason, hopefully you have a decent amount of food, because leaving your apartment or building will be difficult. You want to start by clearing out your building floor by floor, room by room. If you have anyone’s phone number in your apartment, call him or her (if they are trustworthy) quickly in case cell reception fails for whatever reason. It is wiser to call people closer to you first. Once you have grouped with your floor, begin blockading entrances to your floor i.e. stairways, elevators or fire escapes until you are ready to advance.

Suburban:

Congratulations, you’re not as screwed, but screwed nonetheless! Now you’re still in a pretty highly populated area, but you’ve got a little bit of breathing room. If you’ve got a fence around your house, I’m really jealous because that’ll come in handy, but make sure you regularly check its sturdiness. Your home will be a central position from which you can mount expeditions.

Rural:

Everyone is screwed! Your biggest issue when living in a rural area is that your property is very hard to manage and defend. If you live in an open plain, you’ll have a large field f view to detect any impending attack by zombies. It will be based on your personal preference how large a barrier you want to make around your house.

If you live on a tall crop farm, your field of view is cut significantly if zombies can pass undetected through your fields. It is absolutely imperative that you protect your fields from zombies bleeding on them to prevent infection if you consume the crop. You must establish a barrier around solely your house, a portion of your fields or all of your fields based on the amount of risk you want to take when fortifying your house.

If you live in a forest, establishing defenses can be both easy and challenging. Trees provide strong posts between which fencing or walls can be established. However, forests significantly cut your field of vision especially in forests with more varied terrain.

While fortifying your house, you also need to consider safe sources of food, water and medicine if you are located far from any resource building.

Group Dynamics:

DO NOT HELP STRANGERS UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Every problem that arises within survival groups stems from someone new joining the group and wanting your stuff. If you do form a group, you’ll want to set up some sort of miniaturized government with a distribution of tasks. Group leadership on a day-to-day basis should be carried in one of two ways. The democratic approach is that all members of the group have a say in what the group should do, and while this may reduce resentment or questioning of authority, it makes all decision-making run slowly. The alternative is authoritarian. The group should elect a reasonably liked and respected individual to make concise and final decisions on the group’s actions.

Excursions:

Weapons:

While you may feel safer holding a massive machine gun or shotgun, your go to weapon should be quiet. No need to turn into Rambo. Guns should be used as a last resort in order to conserve bullets and reduce the chances of more zombies being attracted to your location.

Your ideal weapons are those that allow distance between yourself and the zombie while still being both quiet and having lethal force. Examples of such would be: crossbows, bow and arrow, or a gun with a silencer.

Melee:

I don’t know how easy it would be to get your hands on one, but a sword may also prove to be a useful weapon in dismembering your foes.

A favorite of zombie films is the baseball bat. Out of baseballs? There are tons of zombie skulls to replace them with. While not the cleanest or easiest weapon to use, with a little bit of elbow grease, it’ll get the job done. Another necessary element of a zombie flick is a chainsaw. Who wouldn’t feel safe behind a big mechanical monster of spinning spikes? You should. Were you planning on carrying extra fuel with you or lugging that thing around? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Other ideas for good melee weapons include, but are not limited to: axe, club, medieval mace, spear,

Armor:

Your best and a fairly silly way to check your protection is to try and bite or scratch through it yourself.

Police body armor is probably the sturdiest protection you can come across. For those who aren’t so fortunate to find body armor, as I’m sure most won’t, layers or padded clothing would be the best idea. Stealing from The Walking Dead, another interesting and likely effective defense would be layers of duct tape on clothing so that a bite won’t penetrate your skin. You need to be especially careful around extremities like fingers, neck, and lower legs. Padding at these locations, however, will limit mobility and reaction speed.

Travel Pack (to be brought whenever leaving your shelter in case you are unable to return that day):

-Water -Day or 2 of food

-Map -Firearm

-Knife -Matches

-First aid kit -Flashlight

Formation/Tactics:

Excursions should never be carried out by teams of more than 5 so than in the event of an emergency, a car can be obtained to carry all members of the party. Excursion teams should also not be less than 3 people to ensure enough angles are covered when exploring a location. NEVER SPLIT UP. PEOPLE THAT TRAVEL ALONE ALWAYS END UP DEAD.

There are a few primary locations (in my order of importance) you should try and raid to ensure you have all the resources you’ll need to live a thriving life during the apocalypse. Locations with larger floor space should be assumed to contain more zombies than buildings with less floor space. Each of these places has a certain amount of risk associated with a raid, so it must be a decision your group makes. Going sooner ensures you will acquire the necessary resources, but going later will ensure you are not caught in the chaos of people’s panic. Do not attempt a store raid unless you have a reliable means of escape such as a car. Also, be careful with the amount of supplies you try to carry because you still need to be mobile in the event of an emergency.

Grocery store: These are pretty tough raids because in the event of an emergency, people panic and they justifiably determine they’ll need to stock up on food and water. You might think this is the first place you should hit, and that might not be a bad idea depending on how quickly the infection is spreading. If you want to take a lower risk approach and wait to raid the building, you will need a fairly strong team of 4 or 5 people. Lots of people will be in and around grocery stores when an infection spreads, which will translate to a high zombie count you will have to deal with. Water should be your main concern followed by non-perishable food, over the counter medicines, then fruits, vegetables, etc. NEVER make a grocery store your safe house. Other survivors will desperately want food and will try and take it from you.

Police station: Weapons galore! If the police officers don’t take the guns, this is going to be your best bet at acquiring any. You’re going to want to bring bolt cutters, a sledge hammer or any other heavy cutting or smashing implement in order to get into the safety box where firearms would be stored. This kind of job would require at least a 3-man team.

Pharmacy: Basic over the counter medicines can be found in a grocery store, but it’s a good idea to acquire medicine for more specific illnesses. Your primary targets should be: penicillin, ciprofloxacin, and painkillers.

Ambulance: A decent first aid kit can be found in a grocery store if you don’t have one. An ambulance however, will allow you to acquire materials to deal with more serious injuries without having to deal with going through a highly populated hospital.

Hardware store: You've got food, you’ve got water, you’ve got weapons, and you’ve got medicine. Now all you need to do is make sure you’re safe. Fortify the area around your shelter with spikes or pits, board up windows, establish walls, have a lookout point, and keep an easily accessible escape point. You don’t want to make your shelter too appealing to other survivors in need of shelter because they might not want you living with them or living at all.

Room clearance should be done with extreme caution with multiple aides to cover your back. Be sure to check if there are cooperative occupants first before busting through their door. Entrance through locked doors should be executed based on your ability. You can try breaking the door or picking the lock, but keep in mind that you need an easy method of retreat in case things go awry. Team recommendation: 3 competent, armed individuals. Search of each individual room should be done while maintaining formation. DON’T SPLIT UP (unless you want to die).

Resource building entrance is fairly more difficult than room clearance because of an unknown number of zombies within the building and the openness of the entrance to further attack. So the only thing that should be said is be careful. If something inside isn’t completely worth the risk, don’t risk your life for it.

Go for the head.

Don’t trust anyone.

Don’t split up.

And don’t forget to have fun!

Respecting Privilege

2013-08-30T17:45:00.000-04:00

Being privileged means to have or be born into circumstances that are more advantageous than what the average person has. Privilege manifests in many forms – from trust fund babies whose parents pay for everything, to being more intelligent than the average individual, to simple things like getting an allowance and having food on the table every night from a stable family. There are certainly other types or privileges discussed in the world; white privilege, male privilege, or even heterosexual privilege, but those will not be the focus of my discussion as they are majority case privilege positions rather than higher tiered disparatous privilege.

Being privileged is often coupled with a sense of guilt towards what you have that others haven’t. This guilt is born out of a sense of undeservedness for these benefits. People are pushed to hide their privilege lest they be shamed by society for not living/achieving by their own laurels.

The glorified American dream is of a person who is able to find success based solely on their hard work and labor; who is able to build prosperity from nothing. While this is certainly admirable, and plays a large part of the American story and history, it does not need to be the only respectful way for a person to be considered successful in this country. Those with privilege needn’t shun their privilege for sake of attempting to claim an untenable and non-descript ‘American Dream'.

Privilege is a gift, and as with any good gift should be valued, used well, and not taken for granted. Leverage and take advantage of your privilege to do great things, but don't presume that because of that privilege, you're better than those who weren't so fortunate. People shouldn’t feel shame in being privileged, but should instead recognize it as an opportunity, not a stain they must hide or live without. If you can have a leg up, use it and build to an even greater height. If you have or are given something that others would love to have, value your privilege and don’t waste the opportunities you have. Being apologetic is unnecessary – as the phrase goes, you can only play the cards you’re dealt. Hiding from, or not accepting privilege is in fact a greater waste. Embrace who you are and what you have and create as much value as you can no matter the starting point.

I'm excited for the future

2013-08-16T12:40:00.001-04:00

I recently picked up (stole from my girlfriend’s bookshelf) The New Digital Age by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen. I’m about 30 pages in and already incredibly excited for not just the rest of the book, but the rest of the future that it begins to outline. The tech titan and global policy guru dive right into dreaming about how advances in technology and mobile connectivity are going to shape, reshape, and re-imagine everything from medicine and healthcare, to identity verification and creation, to access to goods and services (Unwind Me, Lyft, etc). With nano-scale robots constantly in your body monitoring for incredibly early signs of a disease or cancerous cells to holographic virtual conferencing to robots in your home making you breakfast, the future seems like an incredible place – if only we could get there quicker.

And right as I’m thinking that, BAM, Elon Musk is calling a press conference about “Hyperloop,” his revolutionary new transit system which will allow mass transit from SF to LA in 30 minutes, hitting top speeds of 800 MPH. Coupled with his other “crazy” endeavors of a long range, affordable electric car and private manned space program, I’m glad someone’s thinking this amazing future need’nt be too distant.

Can’t wait for my Jetson’s jetpack, Back to the Future hover board, iRobot personal robot and spaceships from Enders Game.

Full disclosure: I'm long the future - TSLA, ISRG, GOOG etc and considering some 3D printers!

Eat a dick

2013-02-16T03:08:00.001-05:00

First blog EVER. Should probably be cleaning my room and getting my clothes ready for tomorrow. Instead I am dicking around on the internet, watching the same songs NOT download onto my phone after numerous attempts through to the shit fucking internet conection in my house and eating boiled turnips, oh, did I mention I have to be up by 7am? How about some color? There we go...CAn it be fucking Spring already?! I need to start new, this time last year was pretty much the calm before the storm in my life, little did I know that there was a huge shit storm heading n my direction. Now, being from the midwest, when a big storm is coming all you can do is sit back and let mother nature stick it to you and hope she's gentle.....well, I went in a girl and came out a woman....eww....anyway, I'm almost done with this depressing high school makeup shit and I actually have a shot to move on to higher education.....Jesus Cristo please don't let me fall flat on my big goddamn face before May. Anyway, I'm bored and got Jurrasic Park downloading so obviously I gtg. Night....whoever the hell comes across this haha.

Awesome v Suck Part Quad

2012-11-26T17:05:00.000-05:00

As a refresher to those of you (myself included) that have spent far too long away from the Vomitorium, this is a series where I get to spell out and “rationalize” my gripes to the world, but hide the negativity by taking a step back and recognizing a few of the more awesome things out there as well.

Awesome:

Browser Tabs:

I recently tried an experiment in which I would only have one file open on my computer at a time while at work. One excel sheet OR one word document OR one browser tab. While this may have been my shortest lived project for improving productivity, I did gain a renewed wonder and appreciation for the multiple tabs on my Chrome browser. It wasn’t so long ago that you had to open separate Firefox or IE (what is this?) windows if you wanted to look at multiple sites. Such a simple feature which is now taken for granted has completely de-cluttered our start menus and made surfing even more frictionless. Awesome.

Long distance friendships:

Over the last year I’ve had friends visit from Maryland, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Canada and gone to meet people in a few cities as well. I have regular Skype and Google+ Hangouts with multiple groups of friends. I Facebook message with a group of international friends. I Vox with people as close as in the South Bay to as far as those travelling through Italy. Communication, travel, and a bit of pocket change have made connection so wonderfully possible we can now maintain relationships in a way never before possible. I highly recommend everyone taking advantage of these boons of modernity, because friendship is awesome.

Suck:

Data Limits:

Through an unfortunate series of events I was booted by AT&T from my unlimited data-plan when switching from the iPhone 2 to 3GS. After which I have been paying for the 3GB plan for $30/month which I seem to go over every other month incurring an extra $10 fee. Not only that, but no longer can you even opt for an unlimited plan with a smartphone. I thought technology was supposed to decrease costs rather than increasing them for shittier limits. It’s a huge limiting factor to the proliferation and optimal use of all the cool hardware that’s coming out, in a similar way to my battery discussion.

Heels (to keep this high-tech / low-tech thing going on)

There seem to exist people, both male and female, who are proponents of girls wearing heels. I am of the opposite camp. Most pressingly it is my opinion that the societal necessity to wear heels perpetuates a negatively sexist cultural tradition in which women try to sexualize themselves. Both parties counter to this point is that it is merely a way to promote good posture, but it is clearly not the only way to do so. Heels are largely uncomfortable for women to walk in, and it baffles me to see professional women changing into heels once they get closer to their office, only to put flats on while seated at their desk or once they’ve left the office. Why succumb to a social tradition that is painful and requires you to carry around multiple pairs of shoes? It is also not pleasant to see girls stumbling around on heels they are not able to properly handle, and then complain about after a few hours of having them on. Be comfortable!

In Support of an American Gap Year

2012-11-19T20:22:00.000-05:00

One of the most rewarding parts of moving to the Bay Area and going to UC Berkeley has undoubtedly been my exposure to foreigners; specifically, foreign students. The small bit of international travelling I had done with my family pre-college provided only a morsel of the cultural experience needed to fully grasp today’s international and multicultural landscape. One of my best international friends I met while at school was raised in southern England, attended university in Ireland, and came to the US for a year-long study abroad. But that wasn't where her cross-border experiences began, for before even entering college she embarked upon a mainstay of post-secondary life-education for much of the British Commonwealth: the Gap Year.

Taken either after one’s senior year of high school or immediately after finishing university, the Gap Year is, in its simplest form, the idea of taking time to travel between life stages. A practice that began in the UK in the 60s, the Gap Year has since seen widespread adoption in many other countries, gaining particular notoriety in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (with Ireland’s J1 culture operating in much the same vein). Students generally do a mix of volunteering, travelling, working, and otherwise being culturally immersed in international travel. My friend, for instance, did a 4 month internship in Hong Kong after which she traveled with friends through Southeast Asia and parts of Central America for another 4 months before starting her collegiate journey.

Currently, the American path post-high school is formulaic in its linear progression - graduating from high school, to a pre-college summer of fun/work, to 4 years of college (with most summers spent working or obtaining an internship), after which one usually enters the workforce immediately. Once in this cycle, and especially when in the working world, the opportunity cost of taking such a long travel break will have become too high. All too often, American youth are told and convinced that this is the best path for financial and job progression. Unfortunately, many are then saddled with an endless amount of 'what-ifs' to think about.

The Gap Year is a beautiful time of deferring the monumental cost of college to gain that ever elusive “real-world experience”, build cultural experiences and international perspective that is so lacking in modern America (only 30% of Americans even have passports!). It’s a time for you to “find yourself” and figure out what you want to do with your life if, heaven forbid, you don’t have it all figured out by 18. Oh, and you might also have crazy amounts of fun that you’ll remember for a lifetime.

Being constrained by societal perceptions of a “good path” and minuscule financial worries are just boxes that will lead you down a safe and pre-determined path rather than allowing your individuality to shape your path. You’re young, intelligent, and have all the time in the world – what a shame it would be to waste such an opportunity.

Lions, tigers, bears… sunsets, bikini-clad babes on Mediterranean beaches, and mojitos oh my!

P.S. an awesome Gap Year vid

Lobbying, Service, and Quakers

2012-11-16T11:21:00.004-05:00

For almost a year now, I have been working with Quakers at the William Penn House here in Washington D.C. For those of you who don't know (pretty much i expect everyone not a quaker), its a quaker hostel and programming center. The house itself has no political affiliation though many Quakers lean to the left. Quakerism is a religion (more of a philosophy in my opinion) that often opines that there is that of god in all of us, and we can best respect that by following what are known as the six testimonies. Those testimonies are:
-simplicity: living a simple lifestyle, generally something quakers struggle with all the time as simplicity is defined differently by different people
-peace: again a struggle that most quakers have though this generally means a committment to a peaceful world and ending all war in general. Many quakers are pacifists (famously, historically speaking) but some do have take a different interpretation. I have often heard espoused by a few that peace is generally attained when you follow the other testimonies.
-integrity: being someone of integrity generally meaning that your word is your bond and that you will act responsibly and honorably.
-community: quakers often do what they can to foster a sense of interconnectedness and community between individuals to the communities around their own. Often i think of it as if my life affects anothers then we are connected by some communal link and therefore part of the same community.
-equality: We are all equal and should have equal rights.
-stewardship: This one is often interpreted in many ways but most liberal quakers view it as stewardship of the earth and a duty to protect it from pollution and climate change.

Again i dont want to white wash anyone's beliefs, but thus far this has been my understanding of most quaker principle and theology.

The reason im writing about this is that mainly most Quakers feel the need to bring action in changing the world for the better. Quakers historically have been anti-slavery, pro womens rights and sufferage, and now recently anti-climate change. They look to create an equal society as best as they can and often they feel that change often starts with your own actions.

My work at the William Penn House however has often been to go out into the D.C. community (and even this summer out to the Indian Reservation at Pine Ridge) and help lead young people, generally college and high school students, to best be that change. By helping others through service we have done a lot. While our organization cannot be political due to a tax exempt status we often do what we can to raise others out of poorer conditions and into a life that can be led with dignity in whatever way we can. This work is tiring but often has many benefits. The other method that Quakers have historically tried to change things is through lobbying.

The quaker legislative lobbying group Friends Committee On National Legislation (quakers are also known as the religious society of friends) takes a look at the issues that face us today and gathers as much information on issues that quakers care about. They have been on the forefront of pressuring leaders to have our troops exit afghanistan and previously iraq. It can be hard and tiring work, i attended the lobby session they had back in March, and even when trying to get democratic congressman to support issues that matter to us, it often feels like as though you have doen nothing and that your efforts have been of little help. To be honest however, if you don't ask you'll never know if it was even possible to begin with, so i feel that lobbying is still a crucial part in making that change.

These two approaches have are difficult and tiring but to be honest with you, i have to state that i honestly prefer the former method. It is easier to go out to members of your local community and to help them honestly and without reservation and to help form those relationships with people you dont know and might not initially feel comfortable interacting with. Change is slow and gradual, but through community service and a willingness to help each other out and not just fall into political partisan gridlock, maybe something can happen to turn our country around. Whether you like it or not though, it all starts with you and what you do with your time no matter what your belief.

Defining Success by Awesome

2012-11-13T19:58:00.001-05:00

As I ~~approach~~ throttle past the 1 year anniversary of my entrance into “adult” life and specifically life working within Silicon Valley, I am filled with evaluative insights about myself and the world (I’m 23, so I know everything).

As my company is only slightly older than my adult life, and has gone through a few exciting start-up milestones, I have had the privilege of being on the ground floor during this boom time. What is most striking to me is the contrast my life has to that of my friends who work a stones throw away in Embarcadero Center 4, 555 California, or the towering corporate phallus that is the TransAmerica Pyramid of SF.

What time does work start they ask - how should I know? What time does work end they ask - there’s an end time? Okay Investment Bankers, we don’t work as long as you - you need that plaque to get through the day. What is my job title - well, it depends on the day, doesn’t it? How successful are is your company, they ask. This is a question I got asked recently and after some thought my answer is that we should be trying to do something awesome, and if we succeed at that, then we’ll have succeeded.

What I have found to be truly different about start-up world, and I think this is even from the start-up world of yester-year (day), is that people are building companies, products, and projects for Awesome points. Obviously the construct of financial reward is and will continue to be a huge motivator and metric of success - the aura of such not better seen than with Instagram and OMGPop’s mammoth acquisitions. However, this Awesome shift is happening right alongside the dollar signs stamp of approval.

With Zuckerburg maintaining his majority equity share in Facebook rather than raking in the quick, easy bucks, to Elon Musk leaving PayPal to create Tesla… and Solar City … and SpaceX, the Awesome is all around us. True entrepreneurs know the game can’t be only about the exit payout as there is statistically a negative expected value for their investment (time, money, etc). What drives true entrepreneurs, and what is feeding the valley right now is that entrepreneurs are coming here to do Awesome things that change parts of the world in Awesome ways, and those Awesome points are what’s really up. I say this spells good things for the future of tech in the valley, and to the nay sayers—it’s a lot harder to burst a bubble made out of dreams of Awesome rather than the gold-dive of Scrooge McDuck.

Awe·some (adj): Creating new and wonderful products and services that provide actual value to their customers.

Milan's iPhone app recommendations 8/21/2012

2012-08-21T20:24:00.001-04:00

Here are my current favorite (new) apps:

Lyft: http://lyft.me/

Their description: On-demand ride sharing
My description: Make your car a taxi. Pay 40% less than for a cab
The deets: Lyft figured out intra-city ride-sharing damn near perfectly with this app. You can seamlessly request a Lyft from wherever you are in SF, and people driving around on Lyft shifts pick you up and take you wherever. You get to your destination, say bye, and leave. The app then gives you a suggested donation price and you pay your driver via app within 24 hours. No need for dirty cash, awkward tipping, or absurd prices. Win.

Venmo: https://venmo.com/

Their description: make and share payments with friends
My description: automatically send and receive money from friends
The deets: Venmo is a phenomenal peer-to-peer payments application where you can pay friends using just your phone. You can also charge friends for money needed, which they can send to you with the click of a button. No longer is the group dinner bill splitting the splitting headache that it used to be. Get it.

TuneIn Radio: http://tunein.com/mobile/

Their description: Listen to the world through live local and global stations from wherever you are.
My description: Radio and podcasts straight to your phone
The deets: This is a great utility app for the pseudo-adult with a commute (me!). You can favorite shows and podcasts as well as pre-load them. Listen anytime on a number of topics.

Uber: https://www.uber.com/

Their description: Everyone's private driver
My description: Everyone's private driver
The deets: The flip side of Lyft in the cabs continuum. For when you when to travel a short distance in style. Just click "pick me up" and wait for a black town car or SUV come to pick you up. About a 20-50% premium on cabs, but the service is flawless, payments is electronically handled on the back end (don't even have to press confirm like on Lyft), and you get to look super classy.

Free Wi-Fi: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/free-wi-fi-finder/id307217005?mt=8

Their description: Instantly find FREE Wi-Fi internet hotspots wherever you are in the world online or offline!
My description: Find locations with FREE Wi-Fi anywhere and on-the-go
The deets: Very useful when you need to make a Skype call, send an urgent email, or finish/send something and you're on the streets or travelling. Fairly comprehensive database and solid mapping features.

Don't worry, I'm not saying these are better than my old main stays. Which, for reference, my favorites are:

Camera+, Yelp, Pandora, Kayak, Netflix, Facebook, Voxer, Swackett, WWF, Evernote, OpenTable, QRreader, Eventbrite, Google+, Zipcar, Savored, Moviefone

Beck is Publishing an Album

2012-08-15T20:04:00.000-04:00

Beck is publishing an album through McSweeney's, a Cali-based publishing house.

His album will contain NO audible songs. But it will contain 108 pages of his completely original lyrics, sheet music, and artwork for 20 new and unreleased tracks. Beck has always been a uniquely creative figure in the music industry, and this exercise really proves it.

He's taking the whole DIY model that is pervasive in all genres of music today (especially for independent artists), transforming it in a never-done-before way, and spitting it back out directly to his fans. I can just imagine all the musically-inclined people buying this "book" and going back to post their renditions of his songs on YouTube.

Although the practicality of this idea is still questionable, the idea is still very valuable to me as a music fan and industry follower. If this is indicative of even the smallest hint of a trend towards fan-centered releases, it is exciting news. The pay-whatever model was popularized by Radiohead and is now a norm for all artists, indie and otherwise. Beck's idea will definitely not fall into that same realm of influence, but I believe it is indicative of the creativity that artists and labels, especially indie ones, will have to institute in order to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack.

The T-Shirtpreneur

2012-08-07T16:23:00.000-04:00

Every entrepreneur should start a t-shirt company. Or, potentially more apt, every would-be entrepreneur should start a t-shirt company.

There is a certain rite of passage that comes with going through your first start-up. Like riding a bike for the first time and inevitably falling and skinning your knees and elbows. Or those awkward first dates where you make a fool of yourself, but convince yourself that they were just stepping stones and life lessons to do it better in the future.

If you think you want to be an entrepreneur, don’t keep saying it, go do it. Sure, you’re waiting for the right idea, the right time, and the right amount of validation. That’s fine. In the meantime, go online, and figure out how you can run a t-shirt company. This is a metaphor for any simple business with a fairly straightforward product and marketing framework that you can absolutely accomplish. Even though it may seem “simple” or “easy” there is an unlimited amount of work you can put into all features of setting up a successful business ranging from product design and development, to product marketing, to user interface, to customer service and engagement. Even in a “simple” startup you’ll be tested to make the tough decisions, and those are the stepping stones and life lessons that will truly help you be a successful entrepreneur.

So, if you’re idling away reading TechCrunch or scowering Quora for tech talk, and telling yourself and others you’re an entrepreneur, go out there and do something. Do anything. It will be hard, I guarantee it. But it will be fulfilling and exciting even if only for the process. If it’s not, you’ve learned another great lesson; you don’t want to be an entrepreneur.

Just do it.

CBS : "Just Bunches" Review

2012-08-03T08:20:00.001-04:00

My review of honey bunches of oats " Just Bunches" cereal by Post.

Overall: 5/5

Packaging and open: 4.5/5 The box seems small and compact (-.5 since I wish it was bigger), but upon futher inspection is quite heavy given its size. The weight gives the cereal a certain quality appeal. Like its more like some Andrew Revelle granola than those Zahir Cocoa Puffs. Upon opening the box, my eyes opened like I was looking into a bag of gold, it was really all bunches. Somehow, the bunches were so delicate and intricate looking it reminded me of nuggets of cannabis, but I wouldn't know, I have only seen pictures.

The Pour: 5/5. WOW. I want to give it a 6/5 but that would be improper. The lack of FBS (Flakes and other bull shit) made the pour feel great. No worry of lots of powder like with sugary childrens cereals, no broken up bits like with most other cereals in this class. My heart skipped a beat when I saw a bunch the size of Zahir's nose/Milans head roll out of the box to have a perfect splash into my milk.

Taste and Texture: 5/5 This cereal does not get soggy. As a proper cerealphile, I put my milk in first so I can avoid sogginess as much as possible, but here this tactic is unnecessary. As a side note, I use 2% Organic Milk, which has a consistency between normal 2% and whole milk. The bunches taste great, almost too crunchy at first, but after about 30 seconds enter their sweet spot, unlike other cereal which only gets worse once its in the milk. The honey notes are clear as day, but not overpowering and the bunches are just as one would expect from a proper background in HBO; They are Just Bunches. As I scoop up the bunches, I can't help but appreciate how each one of them is different, unique, like little snowflakes, but with a full 50% of your daily Folic Acid requirement. Due to their size, it is is not like fishing for my cereal as I can easily find my bunches and can bump my CPM (Cereal per minute) rate up since I no longer waste time fishing.

Nutrition: 5/5 The cereal is healthy, great for your fiber consumption and has a normal broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals. Note that as one might expect, it is lacking on vitamin C, but when I sit it next to my Wild Harvest Natural Cherry Vanilla Granola, it blows the competition out of the water.

The Milk Finish: 4/5 After finishing the cereal, the milk tastes sweet like honey. Its quite nice although subtle so if you are a small Prannoy and want your milk to taste like chocolate milk when you are done, you will be disappointed. I personally can't help but wish a little more flavor was left in the milk, but I suppose that is the price you pay for not having soggy cereal.

Overall, Post has come out with an excellent product with its "Just Bunches" offering. I would caution anyone using a teaspoon for their cereal (as I often do), that this is a table spoon cereal. Also, I would caution those who like childrens cereals to go back to their Cocoa Puffs, but if you want a Solid, crunchy, delicious and nutritious cereal, I recommend you get yourself a box and give it a try.

Against Athletic Scholarships

2012-07-27T18:48:00.001-04:00

UC Berkeley just spent $321 million (of borrowed money) on renovating its stadium, and generates roughly $25 Million per year in revenue through the football program alone. On a national scale, ESPN has paid $3.6 billion to the ACC for television rights to its games. Nike and Adidas have effectively split the schools and teams which they sponsor, and ticket costs are only rising for fans, alumni, and students alike. To say that collegiate athletics is solely a co-curricular, amateur program is as big a joke as any, one that the NCAA knows it can’t hide.

If college athletics is to be a co-curricular, amateur level division as it is purporting to be, there need to be significant changes in the organizational structure to allow it to be so. De-professionalization cannot fully take hold without taking away athletic scholarships. They are a loop-hole in the university admissions process which allows for non-academic achievement to be given monetary rewards. At a time when budgets are being slashed nationwide, and the cost of education is causing one of the worst debt crises in America, our universities are spending more than ever to retain prodigious high school talent to the tune of $200,000 an athlete.

This is not to say I don’t think athletics should play a role in the collegiate selection process. I think our hybrid education / extra-curricular qualification system is extremely valuable, and am glad that schools take so many factors into consideration during their selection process. However, to set aside rewards simply for athletes as a way to get them to come to the school is counter-productive and against the mission of these designatedly educational institutions.

Moreover, these scholarships are often open ended and loose contracts made between the University, a coach, and a 17 year old high school senior. Under the guise of being given an opportunity for a great education, student-athletes are performers that are entertaining for a multi-billion dollar industry. At any season, and at coaches discretion this scholarship can be revoked, and the metrics for keeping it are more lax than any academic or merit based one (Marshawn Lynch claims to have kept a 3.2GPA). There is a GPA floor for eligibility to be an athlete period, nothing to say of whether a scholarshiped one or not. They make no mention of need basis and rather subjectivity use it in helping them recruit talent (P. Diddy’s son is getting $50k/year to go to UCLA… an otherwise broke UC school).

We as a culture are allowing, emphasizing, and fostering one particular sector in the educational system to be given inequitable powers, and at a large cost. Let’s do away with incentivizing one extra-curricular activity over all the others, or recognize that this is a corporate program and disallow it from the tax-exempt umbrella given with the guise of educational connection.

Awesome v. Suck: Microsoft Edition

2012-07-24T19:07:00.000-04:00

Awesome: Microsoft Surface

I get excited about all kinds of applications and consumer-tech start-ups that are in the solving problems business, but I don’t often get excited by products. I’m just not a gadget guy, but appreciate good design and a healthy mix of fun and utility. Microsoft’s recently unveiled Surface tablet is the first physical product I’ve craved since the iPhone (which, can you believe it, was 5 years ago!). This is the first tablet that I’ve seen with the potential to be more than just a fun toy or accessory. Everything from the Kindle Fire to the iPad 3 has been in the middle ground between phone and laptop, but in no way able to reduce the usage/value of either.

Surface has come out fully equipped with some innovative hardware and software pieces that put it head and shoulders above the competition. On the hardware front the touch-type case looks beautiful and adds a level of function that Apple’s (phenomenal) marketing alluded to but didn’t deliver with their smart case. The simple and elegant kickstand fixes a very basic but real problem with tablets not properly supporting tabled use. The rest of the tech is impressive, sure, but pretty in line with high level industry standards. On the hardware front, Microsoft wins.

What I’m really stoked about with the Surface is the innards. For whatever Microsoft is and isn’t, it is the owner of MS Office. A proper integration of office into the tablet adds a utility level only dreamed about by the Apple fan boy sitting with his iPad during a working lunch.

There are definitely some missing pieces in this v.1 product from a notoriously slow and iterating product entity (3G connectivity and a robust developer base being the biggest two in my mind), but I’m on board for an awesome hardware play by Microsoft.

Suck: Microsoft Bing Social Search

As probably 0-10% of you know, Microsoft unveiled its ‘social search’ recently (May, actually) in response to Google’s Search Plus Your World. Using its long-standing partnership and investment in Facebook as the backbone of this play, Microsoft has pushed the envelope on social search, but it frankly falls quite short of magical.

The huge drawback to Google’s “social” integration is that when they said social, they only meant social on Google+. Even if I believe their reports of 100 Million users, I am fairly confident that neither myself nor my friends circle are avid or frequent users, and thus any search results based off this social metric screams inaccuracy to me. However, where Bing had a chance to blow us away and usher in a new era of search with it’s Facebook, Twitter, and other integrations, I honestly find very little utility from their social search bar. Almost none of the searches I typed in yielded relevant posts from my friends about those topics, even if I knew I had a friend who had recently checked in or shared an article about the topic. Secondly, I was and am still confused as to the “ask a friend” and “ask an expert” parts of the search box. What am I supposed to ask them? Where and how is it shown to them? So far I’ve answered one friends question on Bing and really have no idea where it’s showed up in his Facebook or internet world.

Overall, I think Microsoft is going down the right path towards truly improving search, and am happy to see it not following Google’s every step blindly. That being said, execution seems to be the largest challenge for the folks in Seattle, and they’re really going to have to get it together to get out of the Suck category.

Let's Be Awesomer

2012-07-06T18:16:00.002-04:00

Modernizing Tradition

2012-06-22T02:48:00.003-04:00

As we get deeper into Euro 2012 the volume of discussion gets higher and higher – even in America. One of the few countries in the world that does not go completely gaga over the sport. There are many views on why, including but not limited to; financial issues, the culture of scoring and a lack of home-town team tradition.

Whatever the reasons, this is a game that has remained relatively unchanged for hundreds of years. Below I outline 5 rule changes that could make this sport more appealing to the modern enthusiast (in my humble opinion):

1. Substitutions

The current Association Football rules allow for only 3 substitutions, and once a player is off the field they cannot come back on. By eliminating this substitution restriction, the top players can be given rest so that they may return fresher in later parts of the game. As well, fresher legs will be able to be rotated onto the field to make sure game play doesn’t stagnate due to fatigue.

2. Red cards

The yellow and red card system is inherently harsh to make very clear that fouling in a way that unnecessarily breaks the flow of a game will suffer consequences that affect the player and the team. However, the red card creating a scenario where not only the player is ejected, but also his spot on the field kept empty creates an overwhelming inequity in game play. The player should be sent off for a red card offense, but why must his spot on the field be taken up? Fair competition should be the goal, and this isn’t achieved by creating unnecessary imbalances. A potential middle ground could be borrowing the “power-play” construct from ice Hockey.

3. Penalty kicks

As it currently stands a penalty kick is taken from the 12 yard line. Penalty kicks result in a 76% conversion rate, and much higher for shots actually on goal. It is simply too easy to score at this distance. While the reason for such close placement is to disincentive fouling to stop a goal (with one goal being extremely important this makes sense), there should still be a level of difficulty that gives the keeper a fighting chance.

4. 3 periods

Taking from hockey again, three periods would allow for fresher players and strategy recoups. Not to mention some better opportunities for advertising which is integral to the sports growth in America (for better or worse).

5. Instant replay

This seems like a no-brainer, so I won’t waste much time with it. The officiating of soccer needs a revamp, and technology can provide that. There is no good reason to not try and make officiating more clear and reasonable. To limit the amount of stoppage this may create add in a challenge limit like in American Football.

Cross posted on: Metta Chronicles

iPhone Battery

2012-06-17T20:39:00.000-04:00

Okay, this has gone far too long without being properly addressed. I’m going against my portfolio (and all of Silicon Valley) here, but somebody’s gotta say something. Apple – the iPhone battery sucks. It is one of the most upsetting oversights in technology I’ve experienced in a while, and there aren’t enough people talking about it. Frankly, for you Apple, it is unacceptable.

I won’t go into detail about the countless times my battery has been at 3% when I know I have hours left in my night. Or how I routinely take my charger with me when I know I’ll be out of my house or office for more than a few hours. Or how the best present I’ve gotten in the last 2 years was a Morphie case, until I lost the charger for it, and was back to square one – that horrible red sliver on my battery icon.

If we really did send a man to the moon in 1969, I’m not willing to concede the brilliant minds in Mountain View aren’t able to figure out a way to let my phone last for > 8 hours. It’s 2012, let’s act like it.

The Culture of Education: The Educators

2012-06-13T15:07:00.003-04:00

The value of education is indisputable (note: not higher education per-say *ahem Peter Thiel* but education period, in its purest form) by the vast majority of Americans. It is the corner-stone of our progressive society, allowing for future generations to gain the knowledge of former ones in a structured manner and to build from it.

But what do we think of our educators? Teachers, who are charged with imparting knowledge upon the nations youth are dually charged with molding and shaping much of what will become their individual personalities. Kids from age 5 onwards (and in many cases younger) spend the majority of their days in the care of educators, largely within public school systems. Parents, while recognizing the inherent value in education often belittle the importance of and are condescending towards teachers as a whole. If the key holders of our educational system cannot be held to a high standard, how can the system itself?

This is a fundamental flaw in the culture of education in America.

We can recount other problems, not of lesser importance, such as the ambition gap, roles of parenting, pedagogical methodology, all the way up to the enormous burden student debt is taking on our economy (still to come in another post!) but I think we need to start at the root of the problem.

In Steve Jobs biography Steve tells us of the time he shows his dad that a microphone can be made without an amplifier, a feat his father deemed mechanically impossible. In this moment he realized he was smarter than his parents, and it was a defining moment for him. From there he went to seek knowledge elsewhere. If, however, the teachers we keep in our schools are seen as largely unambitious individuals who have settled for lack of other options in their fields (as the adage goes: those who can’t do, teach) then how can we expect children to be properly motivated and excited to go through the journey of learning under such a mentor. A system where the bottom either becomes teachers, or even where teachers are thought of as lower, can only create a downward cycle of the importance of education.

Education is in many ways a culturally dependent value, but in this instance there are things we could learn from other cultures. In a trip President Obama made to Asia he cited positively the Asian education culture having a “demand from parents for excellence in their schools, as well as an Asian hunger for knowledge, an insistence on excellence, a reverence for learning and for teachers." Higher pay for educators is a must, an easy measuring stick of the importance a society places on the future of education. But it must go further- we must respect educators as we respect education.

30 for 30 on Pete Rose

2012-06-09T11:59:00.000-04:00

"You know you can find something wrong with everybody. And if you want to harp on it [then] life's too damn short to be negative"

- Pete Rose

The highly acclaimed "30 for 30" series presented by ESPN is back in a new format. Instead of spanning a whole sixty to ninety minutes, these new documentaries are short films that will attempt to dig deep in anywhere from four to twelve minutes.

The first one, released a couple weeks ago, is Here Now, a gritty glance into the day-to-day life of Pete Rose. Mr. Rose is a MLB legend -- a player whose hustle, aggression, and relentlessness once earned him a seemingly guaranteed spot in the annals of baseball lore.

He was the leader of the famous "Big Red Machine" of Cincinnati that ruled the 1970's winning back-to-back titles and dominating the National League. Rose's stats were off the charts as he won three straight batting titles, a regular season MVP, a World Series MVP, SI's "Sportsman of the Year" award, and Sporting News' "Man of the Year" award -- all in a five-year span. He won a ring in Philadelphia and had a brief stint with the Expos before returning to the Reds and surpassing Ty Cobb as the all-time hits leader in 1985 (he still owns the title).

After his official retirement in 1986, he became the manager of the Reds till 1988 and made more than a few murky decisions that surely haunt him to this day.

As skipper, Rose definitely wagered on his own team and may or may not have bet against his team on certain nights or on other teams in the league. A search on Google will yield you more information if you're interested, but the bottom line is that his actions were unforgivable enough to earn him a lifetime ban from the MLB courtesy of the commissioner. He has been badgered on national TV by pesky reporters (search "Jim Gray and Pete Rose" on YouTube), prevented from taking part in the Reds' various ceremonial activities and forever carries the stigma of a player driven too far by his competitive fuel.

He is currently the only living player on baseball's ineligible list.

Based on the eight minutes of footage in Here Now, it seems like Rose has avoided the self-indulgent slippery slope that seems to befall so many disgraced athletes/celebrities and has come to grips with his past. But smiles and laughs aside, Rose is clearly an embattled man. He laments not having a second chance and even admits that he "would rather be managing a baseball team" than selling merchandise.

And therein lies the tragedy of his story. Pete Rose played twenty-four hard years of baseball. His zeal for the game earned him the nickname "Charlie Hustle" and garnered him a heap of accolades. Good person or not, he gave a lot of what he had to his career. Yet when trouble struck in the late-80's and 90's, he couldn't just get back out on the diamond and redeem himself. He couldn't just ignore the critics and get back to work. He was forced out of the game and left to wallow in a morass of guilt and self-pity (I guess that was the point of the ban...).

Other professionals who royally screw up at their jobs often get another shot. The Duke doctor who fabricated research that caused actual lives to be lost found work practicing at a private clinic. The banker (name disclosed) at JP Morgan who gambled away $2 billion will surely get another shot at another firm. But athletes? They are limited by the number of years their bodies allow them to play. Once the spotlight disappears, it's hard to shine again.

Pete Rose is a first-class example. What's the point of keeping him ineligible from baseball? What lesson is the MLB trying to teach? If the league thinks it curtailed cheating in any way by coming down hard on Rose, the steroids era is definitive proof to the contrary. I get that the league might look weak if it lifts the ban, but get over it. The ban has affected one man much more than it has helped anyone else. Plus, life's too damn short to be so negative.

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Original post on Metta Chronicles by Akash Pandey

Euro 2012: An Irish journey in Sports - Part One

2012-06-08T01:35:00.003-04:00

Ireland is a great sporting country, with what I believe to be the best sports fans in the world. Obviously many may counter my claim, but I will try and explain my statement.

Tribalism is the primary driving force of sport in every culture. It is our human nature to want to war and conquer, but in this civilized modern culture, we take out our tribalism through sport. This is evident by the sheer number of fans that rarely watch a game unless it involves their team and the chance at bragging rights. The Irish are no exception to this rule, but there is an element of coming together for an Irish cause that is unique to us.

This was exemplified by Ireland's victory over England in the Cricket world cup last year. 99.9% of Irish people could not care less about cricket. Apparently Ireland were competing in a Cricket world cup, and apparently we were playing England. Many a man's head bobbed when they heard this, followed by 3 minutes of banter on the subject, of which no-one knows anything. Of course we would all regurgitate something we heard once about Cricket and carry on. But then. Then Ireland were winning. And some random ginger guy was hitting obscene amounts of 'runs'.....now we are interested.

Everyone rallies around a TV or radio as we watch the game. The scoring is complete gibberish. One number followed by a separate number is the scoring system. Everyone asks those near them if they know what is going on, until one 'chancer' tries to inform everyone else what is happening. We all wait for a point where someone says "if he hits this, Ireland win'. That is the only point where we can rationalize what is happening. We all eagerly wait...then see the ball is hit and the ginger man runs. IRELAND WIN! Great craic to be had and an excuse for a pint while we all quickly go to our phones and text every English or Protestant (in jest) person we know and gloat over unheralded victory.

To be clear, there are a few hundred registered Irish cricket players compared to 250,000 in England. This was an epic victory, and The ginger man hit the most amount of consecutive runs in a world cup game in history! Long live the ginger man (Kevin O'Brien).

This first post is setting the stage for how we Irish love nothing more than being an underdog, and Euro 2012 will be a tale of the ultimate underdog. The Irish soccer team exemplifies the Irish sporting nation and nation in general; scrappy, proud and valiant in defeat. Every step we make will be a step to Nirvana. We will only get a few chances of achieving the ultimate high of witnessing Ireland lifting A Euro of World Cup. It may never happen to any Irish man but by god we will enjoy the ride.