Fabrice Grinda

Inferno is a good summer read

admin — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 15:37:08 +0000

I am a big fan of thrillers and loved The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Dan Brown’s books typically have poor writing and character development, but he makes up for it with fascinating plots. I also love the way he intertwines symbolism, art history and exotic locales with fast paced action; though obviously one has to suspend disbelief that a professor of symbology is the perfect person to solve these mysteries and that the Bond-esque villain just has to leave a litany of clues for Robert Langdon to unravel his evil machinations.

The book is a quick read, fast paced and fun. It does not soar to the heights of Angels and Demons, possibly because the formula he uses is no longer original. In basically every book Langdon gets himself sucked into a situation where he is called upon to provide his expert opinion; suddenly everything gets complicated and goes global and he finds himself traveling around the world looking for clues aided by an attractive woman while chased by some sort of secret organization.

Inferno follows the same formula. It is essentially a scavenger hunt set in Florence where Langdon needs to decipher clues in paintings and artefacts connected to Dante’s Inferno. However it succeeds where The Lost Symbol failed in being more interesting and engaging even if the end is a bit anti-climactic.

All in all a fun beach read!

The skiing beach bum in me is intrigued :)

admin — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 18:39:34 +0000

As you might have noticed from previous posts, I love skiing. As I am living in Cabarete these days, I have been spending more time kiting and enjoying the beach. Perhaps it is time to combine these two passions by trying “surf skiing” as demonstrated below!

Fun interview with The Next Women

admin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:07:37 +0000

I had the pleasure of having a fun and engaging conversation with Beth from The Next Women.

We covered a wide range of topics:

What I have been up to since I left OLX
How investing in Latin America differs from investing in other markets
Why Shoes4you, one of my Brazilian startup investments, failed
The opportunities in mobile
Five tips on wooing and selecting VCs
Three pieces of advice to those considering becoming angel investors
Why there are fewer female entrepreneurs than male entrepreneurs

You can read the full article at:
http://www.thenextwomen.com/2013/06/07/fabrice-grinda-investorentrepreneur-finding-vc-getting-married

Bill Gurley’s thoughts on marketplaces are a must read!

admin — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:25:39 +0000

As you can probably imagine given my recent blog post, Thoughts on building successful vertical marketplaces, marketplaces have been on my mind a lot of late.

Last November Bill Gurley from Benchmark wrote a very thoughtful article on the 10 factors that make for successful marketplaces. It’s highly recommended reading for all entrepreneurs interested in marketplaces.

Much of his thinking is in line with mine though he did a better job than me of creating a list to allow you to evaluate whether your idea is worthy.

Read the full article: All Markets Are Not Created Equal: 10 Factors To Consider When Evaluating Digital Marketplaces

Am I ambitious enough?

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:19:14 +0000

I have been wondering of late if my rational heuristic driven approach to business selection is making me under reach. I feel I have been building and investing in reasonably “small projects” in the grand scheme of things.

By comparison, Elon Musk was disappointed we were not in space yet so he built a rocket company. He wanted to push electric vehicles so he built an electric car company, then a solar company. He put all he had into the companies: 100% of his wealth, 100% of his time and possibly sacrificed his marriages.

Likewise, whenever I hear the words of the Apple Think Different ad I find myself wanting:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify and vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things.
They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as crazy, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,
are the ones who do.

My general bias is to be a fast follower rather than trying to build something new. That’s why I have usually chosen to relocate proven ideas throughout my entrepreneurial career. It’s certainly a lower risk approach, but the primary tradeoff is that the upside is usually smaller and that I don’t have the field entirely to myself from the get go.

Then again it makes sense to do things we are naturally comfortable with and good at. Moreover, it’s very possible that the unsettling feeling of under achieving is the normal byproduct of ambition. Einstein admired Lemaître who in turn admired Hubble. I suspect they often felt they could be doing more.

It’s also unclear that “doing more” resolves the issue as we just keep pushing the bar forward. This makes it hard to gauge whether we are doing enough at any point in time. Being overwhelmed with work can make the sensation temporarily disappear, but it’s not the correct solution either because it skirts the issue of whether we are doing the right type of work.

Also defining what the “grand scheme of things” means is also problematic given that on a geological time frame our endeavors have no “Meaning” or long term influence. I suppose the definition that would resonate best with me is to accomplish something that profoundly alters the course of humanity for the better during the course of our lifetime.

Food for thought!

Great speech on the five trends reshaping the global economy

admin — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:55:14 +0000

Dominic Barton, the managing director of McKinsey, recently gave an insightful speech at Stanford Business School. I encourage you to watch it.

Is risk aversion really the fear of feeling?

admin — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:12:37 +0000

Check out this interesting Harvard Business Review article:
http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2013/05/the-unexpected-antidote-to-pro.html

I updated the design of my blog

admin — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:55:07 +0000

I tried to make it more elegant, simpler and mobile friendly.

Let me know what you think!

Great article on optimal take rates in Internet businesses

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:24:35 +0000

Bill Gurley is a partner at Benchmark and an investor and on the board of Uber, OpenTable and Zillow amongst others. He just wrote a fantastic article on the optimal pricing strategy for Internet businesses. He makes a compelling argument that companies should have low rakes to establish themselves as the high volume leader and not leave an opening for competitors.

Read the full article at:
http://abovethecrowd.com/2013/04/18/a-rake-too-far-optimal-platformpricing-strategy/

The latest Tomb Raider is fantastic!

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 09:51:06 +0000

I have always been partial to third party action adventure games like Drake Unchartered and the latest Tomb Raider is a fantastic addition to the genre.

This game tells the origin story of Lara Croft and how she went from being an unsure academic to adventurer extraordinaire. The story is believable and Lara’s character is rich and nuanced. The setting is befitting the story and is extraordinarily rich in detail and history. The game also balances beautifully exploration with action.

I just finished it on Xbox 360 on hard mode and felt the difficulty and length were just right. The multiplayer is unremarkable, but it’s not an issue. When it comes to first person shooters I don’t even bother with the campaigns and head straight for multiplayer action. However, here it’s the single player campaign that really shines.

All those of you who have been yearning to unleash your inner Indiana Jones should give this game a try!