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Google Social Search and your neighborhood connections

4. February 2010

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Google introduced the idea of Social Search back in October 2009, but I just recently started seeing instances of it in the wild.  I think this is a social version of backrub and only the beginning. The way it is shown is at the bottom of search results: Results from people in your social circle [...]

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Unnecessary Animations (and features)

25. January 2010

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I finally got around to installing Windows 7 in my laptop a few weeks ago (had to reformat – always fun) After installing it and getting back up and running I have noticed some unnecessary animations in menus and windows. After doing some research for how to turn them off, do you know what they [...]

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The Spawn of Craiglist – A Visualization

21. January 2010

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My colleague and friend Andrew Parker did a great visualization mapping startups over Craigslist categories they competes in. You should click through and read his thoughts. First, it is incredible that around 30 companies are actively attacking these categories, whether directly or indirectly, on Craigslist – more if you dig deeper and include competitors within [...]

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Pattern Recognition

15. January 2010

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Last year I was providing an update about what I do, what I work on, and how I add value to the firm I work for, and my overall job description. In a long winded explanation to my friend Andrew Weissman, he stopped me and clarified what I do in a single phrase; pattern recognition. [...]

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There when you need it, not when you don’t (Google Attachments)

12. January 2010

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I have been describing Google as the hidden social network that is there when you need it and not when you don’t. These utilities pop up when you need them most; picture storage, email, chat, video chat, phone, etc… By productizing these applications and launching them, Google would be doing a disservice to its customers [...]

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Start Today

30. December 2009

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A lot of folks are providing top ten lists for the year and even the decade. I am skipping those on my blog and ending off the year a simple statement; start today. You don’t need a resolution, a mission statement, or the perfect set of people to accomplish what you want to do. You [...]

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Disruptive

15. December 2009

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I got into an interesting 100,000 ft level conversation recently that got me thinking about the companies and people I try to meet with on a regular basis. Instead of using the normal categorizations, genres, descriptions, or wordy answers I normalized everything as disruptive. It might be overused at this point but it boils everything [...]

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The Boxee Beta Event & Boxee Box

8. December 2009

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Last night I attended the Boxee beta launch party event at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. I have been using Boxee for some time since it became a portfolio company of Union Square Ventures and written about it a few times on this blog. The last Boxee event back in March was a [...]

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Startup Analogies: Putting the wood behind one arrow

3. December 2009

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This is one I have heard at the BOD level a few times; putting the wood behind one arrow. Here is a favorite example of putting all the wood behind one arrow from the Sun CEO back in 2007. It basically boils down to concentrating on one area and focus. It provides a worldview that [...]

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99.99% (or its totally going to happen but isnt signed yet)

2. December 2009

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I hear this number a lot – 99.99%. It is usually within this context: Me: Is it a done deal? Them: Yeah totally. Me: Is the deal signed? Them: No, but it is 99.99% going to happen… This can apply to so many different things but I thought I would share a few examples below [...]

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