March 2011
13 posts
Push Notification Overload
Push notifications on iPhone are a total mess. The signal-to-noise ratio when my phone buzzes is quite poor these days.
Apple is doing the classic bad design cop-out move: give the user explicit, fine-grained permissioning and then dust their hands of the problem. I have 27 different apps I can turn on or off in push notification settings and in each one I have 3 options to choose: badges,...
“I never trust anyone who’s more excited about success than about doing the...”
– XKCD alt-text on this comic.
AirBnB $0.02
Fred Wilson posted about why he missed AirBnB. Paul Graham then posted his email thread between himself and Fred about why Fred should invest in AirBnB. Both posts are rare insights into the process by which VC deals get done (or in this case, passed on). They’re both “must reads.”
Since both Fred and Paul have opened the kimono here, I don’t think I’m crossing...
App-Only Distribution
There’s a new trend in the distribution strategy for new web services: app-only distribution.
Look at the following three splash pages from new web services:
Pose
Instagram
Ditto
They all feature the following:
Big links to download the app via various app stores.
A big picture of the app running on a phone.
Some description of the value the service offers.
None of these pages...
Godspeed Tickets
Anyone interested in two tickets to Godspeed You Black Emperor show this Thursday in NYC at St. Paul’s Church? It pains me to give them away because I’ve wanted to see them live for like 10 years now, but I’m not going to be in the city, so I can’t make it.
Since the show is Thursday and today is Monday night, I’ll give them to the first person that will cover the...
Group Messaging Etiquette
A body of Internet etiquette (Netiquette) has emerged over time. Small things like: not syndicating links to your new blog post 5 times in an hour, being conservative in your usage of caps lock, knowing when to D msg VS @reply on Twitter, or responding to an introduction by BCCing the introducer to spare his/her inbox.
Netiquette is never predefined when a new technology is launched. Instead it...
The Everywhere Opportunity
A local angel I respect a lot said to me recently, “Greplin seems a lot like GoogleDesktop.” Greplin is a way to search your gmail, gcal, gdocs, Facebook, twitter, dropbox, etc from one search box. I’m a huge fan of Greplin so this comment made me stop and think.
The most important difference between Greplin and GoogleDesktop is the ability to search your personal data from any...
“Twitter in particular had the tendency to cause social events [at SXSW] to blow...”
– Anti-Social SxSW - Laughing Meme on technology and SXSW.
Kik
Spark Capital has made a number of investments over the years in social networks. With investments in companies like Twitter, Boxee, ex.fm, Tumblr, Svpply, and gdgt, we’ve spent a lot of time focused on the ways people connect with each other publicly, and how those connections differ based on purpose.
Each of these companies represents a separate and unique graph that is specific to the...
The Most Disarming Pitch
I’ve been in a few pitches with founders recently who use a very disarming and surprisingly effective tactic.
Within the first few minutes of the meeting, after small talk has closed, the founder will say, in no uncertain terms, the key reasons NOT to do this deal. The meeting then proceeds, and the founder will on occasion reference back to these anti-reasons as they become relevant in...
