I am 28, and live in Tribeca, NYC. I am the founder of perpetually.com, run the tech community JellyNYC, founded StartupXmas and help with New Work City.
In November, 2008, I invested in Frogmetrics, the customer feedback and analytics startup.
I used to work for a statarb hedge fund in New York City until resigning in search of new and more fulfilling challenges.
I take photos, say things, and occasionally use Facebook. Also, I like email.
Stephen, Owen and twelve of our closest friends are just back from Les Arcs! As a side note, it was interesting how productive I was with Perpetually because of France’s lack of good internet access.
Me & family on the men’s downhill course in Whistler over Christmas. Happy opening games!
David Rose occasionally shows up in my inbox by way of Columbia’s BVC mailing list. This week he hit a nerve:
The bottom line is that raising money from anyone, including both angels and VCs, is really, really tough. Since only the top 2% of companies looking for angel funding succeed in getting it, that means you have to be one of the top two deals out of a hundred who are looking for the same money…and many of the others have companies that are much further down the path than you are.
He’s looking at fund raising like it’s some sort of goal. Fund raising is a friction to your success. A necessary one, sometimes, but a friction nonetheless. Most technology startups can choose early on to spend time looking for seed money or build a prototype instead. Assuming you could achieve either, in one scenerio you’d end up with no business and some money, while in the other you’d have a tangible product and a hungry market vying to invest in its success.
The time and distraction of the fund raising process must be worth the benefits, right now, to your business. Outside investment is not an achievement or a prerequisite to success. It’s just one of several strategies that can help you out along the way.
Via Fred Wilson,
I believe that in startups, like venture investing, the cost of making a bad decision is not nearly as great as the benefit of making a good one. So I like action oriented leaders. …
If you are “action oriented” in your hiring, you’ll make more hires and more of them will not work out.
This feels exactly right for startups, and it’s one of the key advantages a company like ours has versus someone much larger. Every person we’ve hired for Perpetually jumped first into a small project that could be completed in about 10 hours. Most often it’s the tip of the iceberg for a much larger idea the candidate will focus on if they’re hired. Joining our team should be a smooth transition with few if any surprises. If the candidate is excited and curious, that’s a very good sign. If they can’t communicate or deliver, it gives us an opportunity to improve early on.
Hiring is a two-way street, and this quick-fail approach has proven to be an excellent way for candidates to learn about how we work and if they want to stay. We’ve definitely found great people, in less time, because of it. It’s exactly how I hope to find talented a front-end person as we start a new search this week.
James!
Times Square
Peter!
Uptown 1 Train
42nd & 9th ave
Mark!
Stephen!
Halloween Meme: Candy for Strangers
The Mission: Give candy to strangers in exchange for a photo!
Via The WSJ:
Andrew Toth has been working on his replica of a first-class Pan Am cabin for 20 years. He has a huge stockpile of original straws, cutlery and cups and reseals peanuts to match the original.
He sounds like an obsessed camp nutcase! I’m totally inspired!
A dollar bill signed by Michael Moore, from just after he interviewed a few of us over dinner a few months ago for his new movie, which just came out today. I was supposed to be paid $1 for the interview asked him to sign one of mine instead.
