If Samsung really does name its next line of phones and tablets Galaxy Sleek, someone should get fired. Not only is there absolutely no fluid way of saying the name, it’s just plain stupid. It’s akin to naming your car the Chevy Quick, or BMW Solid-door-thunk.
Branding matters, people. Naming your devices after terms that you hope potential buyers would use to describe them is a fool’s game.
I thought about writing a big list of all the things that have positively impacted my life in the past year. Then I realized that I’d forget far too many and I’d have to come back later to add them. In all, it’s a bad idea to try to list everything, at least for me.
What I will do, however, is list a few things that have not just impacted me, but rather have left me forever changed for the better. So much has happened in these past couple of years that I can’t even begin to list them all, but a number of people and things are due way more credit than I could ever give so I should at least try.
First and foremost, my marriage to my amazing wife, Candace. We knew, from the moment that we saw each other, that it would happen. What we didn’t know is the road that would come over the following three years. But through the best and the worst times in my life, she has been there. I am eternally, immeasurably blessed by the fact that she would choose to spend her life with me.
My munchkins, Payton and Eli. Seeing how much they’ve grown in this past year, both in wisdom and stature, is mind-blowing. They are a constant reminder of what’s truly important in life, instead of what’s merely urgent.
The Next Web, and the stellar team that makes it all happen. Man, what would I do without these guys? From my boss, to our editorial team and the guys behind the scenes, working with this group is an absolute pleasure each and every day. I am incredibly fortunate to just be a part of it.
TechStars - Yeah, TechStars. The things that I have learned in the past year by being able to work on stories about this organization and its graduates has completely changed the way that I look at the professional world in which I work.
Startups. Man, you want to have your world shaken up? Bury yourself into the startup scene for a few months. For those of you who have trusted your stories to me, who have asked me for help to get past obstacles and who will continue to do so in the future, I’m eternally grateful. You men and women make every single day at my job seem completely unlike a job.
Boulder, Colorado and my extended family. Maybe it’s the people, maybe it’s something in the mountain stream water. Whatever it is, Boulder has left an indelible mark on my heart. It really is a second home to me now. It’s a home that I miss when I’m gone and can’t ever wait to see again. The faces and smiles of my friends, from Elaine and Ef to Jana, Monika, Ryan, Zack and everyone in between means more to me than I could ever tell them. The only thing I hate is opening my mouth about how magical this place is, because I want to keep it all to myself.
If you’ve taken the time to read this, I’m thankful for you too. Here’s to many more years of thanks to come.
If you talk to almost anyone in technology, they’ll tell you that there is a war going on to hire engineers, developers and other technically-oriented folks. As I’ve found from my interviews with founder across the world, it’s not at all uncommon to see huge “perks” being offered to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars in signing bonuses, above-average founder share allotments and the like, just to make sure that you can hire the right people.
But there’s a lesser-known war that’s going on, as well. It’s in the world of technology blogging and it’s heating up to levels that are bordering on crazy. As visitor numbers (and thereby potential revenues) continue to climb, the best in the business are being hunted for their skills. What’s interesting, though, is that they’re not always being hunted by other publications.
If you look at the landscape of technology blogging in the past year, you’ll see bloggers starting their own companies, moving into the positions of Angels and VCs and taking on important roles with staggeringly-profitable giants. But it’s not all that surprising.
There was a common understanding, at one point, that you had to hold an MBA or have a technical background to be successful working in tech. But times have changed. While the degree and the experience are still important in some instances, the social capital and connected life are at least equally (if not more) important today.
This is what bloggers do best. We make contacts, we make friends and we find out the things that we aren’t meant to know. It’s our job, and thereby our livelihood depends upon us being able to do these things effectively and then tell the stories once we’re finished.
In short, we are the Rolodex that you can’t buy in any store, but we offer far more than just a database of great contacts.
As “outsiders” to the space, we tend to have a better understanding of how the rest of the world is going to see a product. We have an innate ability to look at things from different perspectives than are afforded to most founders and CEOs.
So now publications are having to fight not only against one another for the affections of their top-tier writers, but also against the siren song of the startup life. For some of us it’s an all-too-tempting call and we abandon what we’ve been doing in order to try our hands at something new. Venturing into the unknown isn’t something that we fear, rather it’s a life in which we thrive.
For those who do choose to stay with fingers to the keyboard, the average compensation is growing tremendously. In talking to people 2 years ago when I started, and talking to some of the same people within the past couple of months, I’m seeing dramatic increases in what is considered to be the “industry standard” for salary and benefits. For the professional tech blogger, the title is not something that you necessarily visit in hopes of moving on, but rather it’s a title that you grab and keep because of the life that you get to live.
And not for nothing, but finding dependable, talented writers is insanely difficult. I won’t get into specifics of our hiring that I’ve seen at TNW, but I’ll tell you that it’s mind-boggling to see the number of people who either can’t or won’t do the work that’s required.
I say all of that to say this - if you’re wanting to get into tech blogging, be ready to pay your dues and earn your respect. But if you stick it out, you do your work and you find your niche, it’s the best freaking job in the world.
In case you don’t follow me on Twitter and haven’t seen my updates the past few days, I’ve spent the better part of this past week in Detroit, talking cars with the team from AutoWeek and ShopAutoWeek.com, the magazine’s new venture into car buying advice. While I don’t typically cover automotive technology, I thought it would be a unique opportunity to see the inside of GM and Ford, as well as a chance to pick the brains of the editors of a major automotive publication.
The first thing I will say is this - AutoWeek is killing it. If you’re not familiar with the brand, it’s a 53 year old publication (started in 1958) that boasts an impressive subscriber base and has mastered the art of the transition into digital as well. I’ll talk more about that on The Next Web, in the days to follow, but suffice it to say that these guys know their business and they’ve become masters of learning, all while running the ShopAutoWeek venture in a startup mentality.
Typically speaking, when press are invited to an event, it’s like getting a vacation from a timeshare pitch. Oh sure, you get to go, but you’re going to be bombarded with hours of useless drivel about the company that provided the trip in hopes that you’ll write about them. Not the case when it came to this voyage and ShopAutoWeek. We had about 30 minutes of “here’s our history and here’s what we’re doing”, but then the rest of the day was spent enjoying drives across the Michigan highways, eating incredible food and talking about the cars from the standpoint of a reviewer. In short, a complete change and breath of fresh air.
I had the chance to drive a few vehicles in Detroit. I started the day with a Honda Odyssey, a decked-out, 8-seat family cruiser. From there I hopped into a loaded up Toyota Camry (even loaded to the gills, this is still the most boring car on the road) and then it was time for lunch. Post-lunch driving found me in the pilot’s seat of a hybrid Kia Optima, a car that I’d own in a heartbeat, and the one that got the most surprised reactions for the day.
I did get a chance to drive a Chevy Volt. While the driving experience was quite nice, GM’s choice to use expensive, shiny plastic throughout the car completely ruined my impression of it. Add to that a $40k price tag and you’re talking about a car that’s probably doomed for failure.
What’s interesting, though, is that you can’t really compare it to a Prius or a Nissan Leaf, as the car works differently than either of these. The full-electric option, combined with a gas engine that kicks in after the battery has discharged, sets the Volt into a class of its own. It’s an amazing concept, but the execution of design is beyond poor. Chevy needed to run the Volt project from a startup mentality and sell to a new audience. What they’ve done, sadly, is everything except that.
I’m sure that I’ll do more writing about the cars later, as I have some pretty strong opinions on them. But what I found most interesting was something that was in the back of my mind all day long - startups like Bidzuku (a Florida-based company that is absolutely going to kill the market when it debuts) are set to be part of the resurgence of the automotive industry.
Let me explain - The cars are back. Finally. Manufacturers are making cars that people want to buy right now. Ford, Kia and Hyundai are the three who really stand out, and they’re three companies that have come back from the brink of death. But buying any of these cars is a gigantic pain in the tail, so startups that make the buying process, the insurance process and the ownership of a car easier are all going to upend the market in the next few years. People are more careful with their money right now than they have been in years, so it only stands to reason that they’re going to use products which make sure that money is put to work wisely.
So thanks, Detroit. Keep your chin up. Your city will overcome the problems that have plagued it. And thank you to AutoWeek. If I wrote about cars, I’d want to do it with your team. But most of all, thank you to the startups that talk with me on a daily basis. You are the pulse of what will drive us all forward.
I’m hearing lots of talk lately about winning the game, whether that be from a tech blogger, from startups or from Angel investors (I’ve seen the same talk from all three sides). I can’t help but think that it’s ultimately dangerous, not to mention foolishly arrogant, to operate under the premise that everything you do is all about you.
Because let’s face it - if you’re talking about “winning” then you’re talking about you. You may put it under the pretense that it’s about a team, but your words are saying that the team doesn’t matter.
One could argue that every action is inherently self-motivated, that people like Mother Teresa do what they do because it makes them feel better. Perhaps there’s a bit of truth there, but I can assure you that she never stood around pounding her chest about having won the game. Remember what your dad told you? It’s just as easy to be a poor winner as a poor loser.
What’s interesting, to me, is that in every single instance in which I’ve seen someone claim that they’ve won, they’re talking about something which truly has no winner. Oh sure, you might have a streak of great investments, perhaps you’ll have a successful exit or two or maybe even be at the top of the Techmeme Leaderboard, but none of these are “winning”. You’re just doing well for a period of time until someone comes along and does better.
If you’re doing whatever you’re doing — in the world of entrepreneurship, blogging, business or whatever the case may be —because you think you have a chance at winning, then I strongly encourage you to reevaluate your priorities…and your definitions. Unless you’re a sports team, winning should never be the primary goal.
I know my goals. Winning isn’t one of them. I know that, by providing the stories that other people aren’t getting, by being not only faster but more thorough than other places and by working with my team at TNW that we’ll continue to climb in popularity. But even if we were sitting at the top of Techmeme, the top of Technorati and elsewhere, we still haven’t won. There are no winners. The “game”, as it were, continues every single day. That game is a relentless pursuit of that which can never be obtained - perfection. The closest that you can come is to set goals, celebrate lightly when they’re achieved, then move on to the next one.
Now that the season is over and the dust has settled I thought it time to weigh in, from an outsider’s perspective, on how TechStars was represented by Bloomberg TV. If you’re reading this then you probably know that I have the utmost respect for TechStars, both as a business and from the point of what the organization does for the entrepreneurial startup culture. I consider my professional relationship with the organization to be one of the most important that I’ve had the chance to nurture, and I will continue to do so moving forward.
But if you’ve watched this past season of TechStars on Bloomberg, I think you’ve not seen a representation of life inside the TechStars walls as I’ve had the chance to see it.
I can’t help but feel that editorial choices made for the sake of entertainment have gotten in the way of showcasing the true talent that these chosen startups have. In the production of a “reality” TV series, the things that make each of these startups incredibly real was lost and I fear that some of them will be ultimately damaged by a misrepresentation (or lack of representation) on the part of Bloomberg.
When the show was announced, David Cohen uncovered the fact that TechStars had been approached by a number of outlets previously, and that TechStars ultimately decided on Bloomberg because the company felt that it was the network which would most accurately display what TechStars is all about, preferring fact to creative edits.
But what you saw in the show was not what I saw in person. Granted, the majority of my time with TechStars has been spent in Boulder, but I’ve been to the New York offices as well. The closest glimpse of reality that was presented was done so only under narration, with quick edits. What was put out there for consumption was a watered-down version, high on drama and low on reality.
The reality of TechStars is walking into a room that is silent, filled with people who are head down into the day’s work. Often times that work lasts not just one day, but two or three or until the person doing it simply passes out on a couch for 2 hours before going back again.
Or sometimes the room is raucous and noisy. Impassioned debates over code, APIs and the like happen pretty regularly, whether you’re in a room or walking down the street. Heck, I went to the restroom in Boulder and overheard engineers from two companies in a friendly spat over the benefits of one programming language versus another.
But I get it - that doesn’t make good TV. Unfortunately, what does make good TV sometimes requires misrepresentation.
I was never a fan of ToVieFor. When I saw Melanie pitch at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco last year I took the time to walk away and get a drink. It just wasn’t compelling. But I don’t have any doubt that her blog entry about “TechStars, Lies and Videotape” is anything less than the God’s honest truth. Running a company is insanely, prohibitively difficult at times. Melanie was made out to be an incompetent, headstrong and clueless leader. But I can tell you with absolutely zero doubt in my mind that if those descriptors were fact, she’d have never made it into TechStars.
You do not BS your way into TechStars.
Another instance came to light in the drama surrounding Immersive founder Jason Sosa. Now I won’t make it seem like I know the story, but I can tell you that the choice of David Cohen and David Tisch to stay rather mum on the subject doesn’t bode well for the Bloomberg-presented version of the story. Sosa spoke to Jason Calacanis over on Launch.is and I’ll leave you to make your own decision on what really happened.
The final problem that I have is that some companies were completely ignored, save for when it became more “dramatic” to show them. Namely I’m talking about CrowdTwist. Not familir with the name? That’s not surprising. You never heard about them during the show. And yet, with a $6 million series A, led by impressive names, the company is doing incredibly well. But, you know, they apparently didn’t have the right stuff for TV, except for the next-to-final episode.
I say all of that to say this - If you think you know what life is like inside of TechStars after watching a highly-edited, dramatized TV series, please think again. The organization, the business and the ethos behind both sides of it…all of these things are near-magic when it comes to TechStars. The organization boasts an 80%+ “hit rate” of successful companies, and it does so by being incredibly, tediously selective about which ones it chooses to accelerate.
I’ll freely admit that I don’t even know the full story of TechStars, but I do feel that I have a pretty good idea about what goes on inside the walls. As a fan of the organization, I hope that this is the only season that we see on Bloomberg. If I may be so bold, if you want to know about the real first class of TechStars NYC then I suggest you read my colleague Courtney Boyd Myers’ in-depth look at the history, genesis and graduation of it.
Thank you so much to all of you who sat in and listened, interacted, Tweeted and otherwise made giving this presentation an absolute joy. If anyone has audio or video from it, send me a link eh?
Mom and dad had me and my 2 step-brothers.
They worked hard every day, for the government, at jobs that barely paid the bills.
But they still did it. Every day.
Things got better because they worked hard.
I graduated high school at 17, went straight into the Army.
I made some poor financial choices.
Got out of the Army, took a number of jobs, paid my taxes, paid my bills.
Went to college, paid my own way.
I have 2 kids and a wife, I work 70-hour weeks and I still pay my taxes, still pay my bills.
I’m a conservative Christian.
I think that many conservative Christians are a complete embarrassment.
The occupiers of Wall Street or any other street don’t represent me, but I fully support their right to be there.
I’m just tired of hearing about it.
Stop whining, start working. Hard.
Things will get better because you’ve worked hard.
The quote is attributed to Steve quite often, but he makes it very clear in his 2005 commencement address to Stanford University that the words didn’t come from him. I don’t, however, think that there is a better phrase to describe the life of the man who has left us all too soon.
There’s not much I can say that hasn’t already been said, other than to simply reflect on the past couple of years for a moment, and to put into words why the impact of Steve’s death has been so heavy on me personally.
I had always seen Macs from the view of a typical Windows user. They were overpriced, but pretty. When the iPhone came out, I scoffed as I wrote on the screen of my Treo 755. I had learned to write code on an Apple II GS in high school, but that was the end of my experience with Apple.
Until I bought the iPod touch.
It’s often been said that the iPod touch is the gateway drug for Apple. That was precisely the case with me. I was enthralled, but I still used Android phones and my Toshiba laptop. When I started working for The Next Web, I was offered the chance to get a Mac at a price that I could afford (read: “next to nothing”). I had taken a vested interest in Apple because TNW opened my eyes to how the company had forced the world of lifestyle electronics to keep up, so I took the offer, not knowing if I’d actually like the machine.
My love affair went quickly. First the iPod touch, then an Apple keyboard, then the Mac, soon after I stepped away from Android and (with the help of my friend Jeff Cormier) I got an iPhone. The Apple TV entered soon thereafter and I’m excited to see what the future holds for Apple products.
Every time I lay my hands onto an Apple phone, MP3 player or computer, I can feel Apple’s ethos. It is the understanding that Apple wants to change the world, and the only way to do that is to hack and slash through the rough while charting your own path. I won’t argue the semantics of this, because that feeling is different for everyone, but this is what runs through my fingertips.
When you have a passion for marketing, for product and entrepreneurialism to the level that I do, it’s nearly impossible to look at Apple with anything less than profound respect. Apple has changed not only the world of personal electronics, but many other worlds as well.
I suppose that we could all spend the next couple of days talking about Steve, mourning his loss and such, but I don’t think Steve would want that. I think if he were able to pass a message on to the rest of us, it would be something to the extent of “it’s OK to mourn, but now we have work to do so let’s get to it”. And so that it’s exactly what I’m going to do.
Steve was only 22 years my senior. It’s a healthy dose of reality to understand how quickly life can pass and how fragile it is. I can only hope to accomplish, in my years that remain, a fraction of the impact that Steve managed. So thank you, Steve Jobs. These past couple years of my life, and the impact that your genius has had in them, have forever shaped how I approach the world around me.
Stay hungry, stay foolish.
The image for this post was made by a 19 year old young man in Hong Kong. The single most fitting thing I’ve seen when it comes to the life of Steve and the legacy that he leaves.
