Startup Grind 2014

I attended the 2014 Startup Grind event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California earlier this month. Derek Andersen has started quite a movement here. It was the highest energy startup event I’ve attended in years–and the cast of speakers was spectacular. I particularly enjoyed listening to George Zachary, Reid Hoffman (founder LinkedIn,Continue reading “Startup Grind 2014”

Zuck is learning Mandarin–are you?

I read this morning that Mark Zuckerberg spends an hour a day studying Mandarin. I’m very impressed. What a great investment of his time! I’ve been considering doing this for several years now. Imagine how fluency in this language and familiarity with the Chinese culture might impact Facebook’s value and reach in the coming years.Continue reading “Zuck is learning Mandarin–are you?”

Living Blogging AlwaysOn OnDC; Tony Perkins welcomes attendees

I’ll be live blogging the AlwaysOn OnDC Summit for the next 2 1/2 days. Tony Perkins, founder of the Churchill Club, Upside Magazine, Red Herring, and Always On took the stage to welcome the attendees. Tony is telling how he grew up in Portola Valley not far from where the Home Brew Computer Club met.Continue reading “Living Blogging AlwaysOn OnDC; Tony Perkins welcomes attendees”

Brainstorm Breakfast for Entrepreneurs in Rexburg, Idaho

I worked this week in Missoula, Montana where my brother and his family live. On my way home, through Idaho, I decided to stop in Rexburg, the home of BYU-Idaho, and do some networking with entrepreneurs here. In the tradition of the old Provo Labs Brainstorm Lunches (nick-named Twinkie Talks because the restaurant we ateContinue reading “Brainstorm Breakfast for Entrepreneurs in Rexburg, Idaho”

To Blog or Not To Blog

So I’m definitely not unique in thinking this thought or typing this phrase. Searching Google yields 257,000 pages that contain the phrase “To Blog or Not To Blog.” So clearly a plethora of deep thinkers have pondered this question. But the reason I am pondering whether to blog and how often strikes me as somewhatContinue reading “To Blog or Not To Blog”

Solve Nation’s Problems with Citizen 20% Time

Google is the most innovative company in the world, in large part because they hire smart people who get things done, and they give their engineers 20% time to work on any project they want. Google has found a powerful way to unleash creativity to solve incredible technical problems. I wonder what would happen ifContinue reading “Solve Nation’s Problems with Citizen 20% Time”

Near Death Experiences

No, this blog post is not about metaphysical near-death experiences, but I bet the title caught your eye. (As an aside, I read the book Life After Life as a teenager, and thought it was pretty interesting. Since reading that book, though, I’ve seen many efforts to commercialize near-death experiences that I think are bogus.Continue reading “Near Death Experiences”

What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Danny Ainge

Tuesday night the Boston Celtics won the NBA World
Championship (4-2) by beating the Los Angelels Lakers by 39 points in game six
at Boston Gardens.

The Celtics won only 24 games last year, but this year
experienced the single biggest turnabout in NBA history, after Danny Ainge
orchestrated two major trades
last summer, bringing Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen
to Boston.

Danny Ainge is my favorite basketball player/coach/general
manager of all time. While most people will agree with me that Michael Jordan
is the greatest NBA player in history, and it is popular to say, “I want to be
like Mike,” personally, I’d rather be like Danny.

Best Entrepreneur Lecture Series Online

My favorite collection of entrepreneur lectures is from Stanford University\’s Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Series. I highly recommended downloading these from iTunes or listening to them while you work. You can find scores of incredibly valuable lectures here. One of my favorite\’s is a recent lecture by Reid Hoffman, founder and Chairman of LinkedIn.com.

The best online collection of interviews with startup entrepreneurs is probably at npost.com. There are 167 so far.