Taking a break from tech for a blog post about coffee (but if you’re in San Francisco, you seriously have to check out StartupHouse). Specifically, I’m exploring how to make great coffee. The thing about making great coffee is that it means something different to everyone.  Here’s what it means to me:  The coffee is dark and flavorful.  It doesn’t taste like it’s watered down.  It has a great aroma and...

Some great pictures of the Socialize crew!

I just got a preview of a hot new coworking space that’s brand new (literally weeks old) in downtown San Francisco.  The address is 880 Harrison street.  Here’s a video I just did of the space. If you’re interested in leasing space here for your startup (or would like to do an event in this space or inquire about the Hacker Hostel), please leave a comment below and I’ll introduce you to the people running it. The...

I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t know all that much about the state of mobile advertising today, which is the first thing I said on the panel I was just on at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat conference.  I have a perspective as a developer of apps from my past life running a mobile consulting business (which we’ve since sold), and as a publisher of over 7,000 apps through our AppMakr platform, which integrates...

There’s no question about it, Facebook is cleaning up with its Social Graph.  Representing your real-life friendships in a digital manner, and helping you find new friends by trusting those you know makes a lot of sense. Facebook Connect is familiar to many of us — but this connection misses a key point. But something interesting has happened along the way:  Facebook has blinded many of us to a plain truth:  The Social...

  Thanks to Chris and the JESS3 crew for making me into an ingredient in their Startup Mixology techcocktail infographic (bottom left of the image).   This was in response to the Mixology panel I was on in DC on fundrasing from entrepreneur, angel and VC perspectives. Enjoy the...

I’ve written before about our challenges using Basecamp as we grow.   To me, Basecamp is akin to Democracy:  It’s not great, but it’s the best thing out there. (If anyone knows of better project management solutions, please post them as comments on the other thread — Basecamp is getting very long in the tooth and while I’m hoping for a significant overhaul, I’d switch to something else if I could find...

I have several amazing service provider resources in my life, including an outsourced HR professional that is stellar, a personal trainer that’s ripped, and a patent attorney that seems to know how to patent or trademark just about anything with value.  I also know the services world intimately well, as I used to run a real estate brokerage as well as a mobile consulting company.   I got a lot of press for those companies,...

I moderated a stellar group of panelists at yesterday’s Digital Media Conference in Arlington, VA, where we talked about the iPad’s disruptive effect on media (speaking of disruption, check out the Disruptathon event the night before DMC).  Here are the panel details: PANEL: Media on the iPad and Tablets (Digital Media and Mobile Tracks) Panelists Matt Jones, VP Mobile Strategy & Operations, Gannett Rob...

I captured a panel of VCs at yesterday’s phenomenal Digital Media Conference.  On a related note, I’ve written a series of blog posts about our experience raising $1MM for AppMakr.  The raise took us 14 weeks, and my goal is to help other entrepreneurs do it more quickly and efficiently.  You can read about my “Fundraising Cribsheet Manifesto” here.  Hope it’s helpful. PANEL: Investing in Digital Media:...