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I’m going to build a great company. I’m going to raise Venture Capital. My VCs and I will walk hand in hand together. We're going to conquer the world. We’re going to make a difference. We’re going to be the next Facebook, the next Google. I’m going to be the next... Read More
Against all odds, Yahoo CEO, Marrisa Mayer, appeared to be turning around the sinking SS Yahoo, creating a company that is regaining the respect of growth investors. Since taking the helm in July 2012, Yahoo has outperformed the S&P 500 and tracked in-line with market leading Google. Since her appointment in... Read More
"Well when I was getting married the hotel didn't call me back fast enough to let me know if I could get a kosher meal. So I decided that the world needs a site dedicated to helping brides quickly find the right venue for a wedding. It allows you to... Read More
As an investor I judge startups by the quality of their idea and team. You can place all startups into one of four quadrants based on these measures. The Quadrants Lightning in a Bottle - Great teams with great products are the purest of gold. The highest of the high, these companies... Read More
Many recent forces have combined to create a “Startup Economy Renaissance.” Lately, walking the streets of non-traditional startup towns like New York, LA, and Washington DC, one is just as likely to bump into an aspiring startup founder as encountering an undiscovered actress serving tables in a Hollywood Boulevard diner.... Read More
Anyone can tell you what happened last year. Lots of folks can tell you what they think will happen in the coming year. But right here on this post that you are reading is the only place where you can read next year's year in review. Here’s what you’ll be... Read More
What a year it’s been – it’s a year in which the world lost a Startup Technology Icon. We saw Facebook, the envy of all startups, fall from grace, and the Jersey-Shore-ification of hustlers, hackers, and designers. 2012 will go down as the year of the Wantrepreneur, the Pret-Angel, the Series... Read More
There are several Regional Organizations that are Technology Advocacy groups. There’s the Northern Virginia Technology Council, the Tech Council of Maryland, there’s Startup DC, Startup VA, Startup MD. You’ve got DC Tech Meetup, DC Lean Startup, Founder Institute, The Middle Atlantic Venture Association The University of Maryland Dingman Center, Mindshare,... Read More
It’s happening again. DC Tech natives are restless. The Jungle Drums are pounding.The mindshare listserv is abuzz. Why do DC Investors Suck! Why aren’t DC Angels more like Silicon Valley Angels. Why can’t I get money? Why doesn’t anyone love me. Why, Why Why? Waa, Waa, Waa! ... Read More
Is Microsoft Innovative? Not as much as they once were. Is Yahoo innovative? How about RIM, or HP. These companies are decades away from their last innovation and all but Microsoft are a few last gasps away from the once innovative corpse of Kodak.What is it about innovative companies that... Read More
I started using an Android Phone in 2008. Now 3 Phone’s later, I’m tired of the instability and horrible battery life of my Motorola Droid X2. Fortunately as a Windows Champions blogger, I get free stuff from Microsoft booty. About 3 months ago, I received a new Verizon HTC Trophy Windows... Read More
“Have you been to the Mashable Party?”“Have you been to the Google Houses?”“Have you been to the Bing Lot?”“Pay for food? Why did you do that?”“The Driskil Bar is the place to be after Midnight.”“I was at this great party with Leonardo DiCaprio, Toby McGuire, great high-end sushi and JP... Read More
It’s finally here. SXSW 2012. Austin here we come. Wake up 6AM on a Saturday morning to the alarm clock warning for the 8:30 plane to Austin City. It’s just like Monday through Friday. No sleeping, no lazy lounging, no breakfast at 11 on this Saturday... but it’s worth it…..right? …..... Read More
Just a list of things I've been thinking about for a while and couldn’t find a relevant post in which to insert them. To that end I’ve collected them for a regularly scheduled steam blowing rant. By way of explanation a Buy means I’m a strong believer. A... Read More
It's a Friday in February in Maryland which means it's High School Hockey Night. The Conference leading and defending state champion Churchill Bulldogs are playing the #2 Whitman Vikings. The two teams played 4 weeks earlier in a hotly contested, down-to-the-wire, game that ended with a late tie breaking goal... Read More
Facebook will be going public at a anticipated market-cap of 0 Billion. Living Social is projecting from – 15 Billion for their public offering. Both companies are fulfilling a founders dream. The ultimate exit; a public offering. Life changes after the IPO and not all the changes are for the... Read More
Hi! I’m a recovering nice guy. I’m like on the 3rd step of my 12 step program to get more direct and less nice. Thankfully, as an angel investor, I have lots of people helping me.Let’s start at the beginning. I have a full time job, and I donate much... Read More
Sign up your startup for the Startup America Toolkit. Get great free and radically discounted products and services from companies including, American Express, Vistage, Intuit, Dell, Google, LinkedIn and Microsoft. Link here to register. Rank+ -StateStartupsPopulationPer 100K of PopPopulation Rank1CALIFORNIA55437,253,9561.4912NEW YORK32619,465,1971.6733FLORIDA29219,057,5421.5344TEXAS25425,674,6810.9925VIRGINIA1988,096,6042.45126+1ILLINOIS18112,869,2571.4157-1COLORADO1805,116,7693.52228MASSACHUSETTS1786,587,5362.70149CONNECTICUT1193,580,7093.323010MARYLAND1015,828,2891.731911GEORGIA999,815,2101.01912PENNSYLVANIA9212,742,8860.72613DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA92617,99614.895114NORTH CAROLINA869,656,4010.891015WASHINGTON826,830,0381.201316MICHIGAN819,876,1870.82817NEW... Read More
When Yahoo was Yahoo and Google was a dream, Google proposed that Yahoo use their clearly superior search engine. Yahoo turned them down and showed Larry Page and Sergey Brin the path to riches. You see Yahoo wasn’t interested in a better search. Clicking through pages to find what users... Read More
During my years as a turn-around guy, I’ve boarded many a unseaworthy, leaky vessel. This has afforded me the opportunity to be responsible for more sunken ships than the entire WWII German u-boat fleet. You see sometimes the boat comes about when you push the tiller and other times it... Read More
Image Courtesy of and article as seen in Tech Cocktail Lightning in a bottle is a rare mixture of secret sauce and execution. What is Apple’s secret sauce? How about Google’s or Facebook’s? These companies are evolutionary, not revolutionary. Apple, with its iconic Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad products, is the... Read More
Product Key A - HP Pavilion dv7 - OS Windows 7 B - Motorola Droid - OS Android 2 C- Motorola Xoom - OS Android D - Sony Viao J - OS Windows 7I'm grumpy old guy, a curmudgeon and yet I'm also a tech guy. While I'm imbued with the heart of an innovator, said heart has been... Read More
Over 25 years ago a little company called Apple took on one of the largest corporation in the world.....Big Blue, IBM. At the time IBM was the computer behemoth, closely aligned with Intel and a still nascent Microsoft. With the forces of the mega-cartel hammering at their gates, Apple played... Read More
When you listen to as many investment pitches as I have you get a chance to see people create awkward and sometimes comical situations (albeit more comical to the audience than the presenter). The interesting thing is that these faux pas are constantly repeated and with just a little preparation... Read More
I've been working in the DC-regional tech scene for over 30 years, all the time hearing we are going to be the next Silicon Valley. The next time I hear that I'm sure I will bleed-out through my ears. Setting lofty goals are all well and good. Setting unachievable goals are... Read More
SEO, SEO, SEO, SEO, that's all I hear these days. For you other old farts like me that's Search Engine Optimization. What that means according to Wikipedia's Search Optimized SEO Definitions listing is:Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page... Read More
Lightning in a bottle is the rare mixture of Secret Sauce and execution. What's Apple's Secret Sauce? How about Google's or Facebook's? These companies are evolutionary, not revolutionary. Apple with its iconic iPhone and iPad products is the epitome of execution over secret sauce. Innovation and proprietary IP has not led to... Read More
