I yesterday was pretty stunned to see a Facebook post making fun of Asians. As the comments and “likes” rolled in real-time, I frankly couldn’t believe it. But, after thinking about it, I’m going to assume that the author (someone from my high school class) meant it as a harmless joke. The topics which I’d like
Polarized Politics
Late Saturday night, a high-school classmate sent me a Facebook chat message: So what is your point? Are you with [another high school classmate] and the other [Orange County] fools or do you believe in meaningful and potent American soft power politics in China of three generations of slave descendants in the White House? My
Walking Down Memory Lane
My Mr. Mom role will end in a few days. I am here on a Saturday morning at a ballet school, where one of my children takes lessons. Lots of kids and adults in the waiting area. The latter are under-caffeinated. The former appear overly so. With an hour to kill, I went for a
Guest Post: Michael Byrne on Venture Capital
I blogged yesterday about how a venture capital investor needs to persist to succeed. One reader, Michael Byrne, responded on my blog with a very thoughtful comment. For me, he truly captures a major conundrum for entrepreneurs and VCs: how much risk to take–and, which kinds? With his permission, I’m posting his thoughts below. I
VoltDB
Our company VoltDB just announced a new financing. The Wall Street Journal wrote about it here. The company is doing well, and we think it can be a driver of returns in our first fund. It is still early days, but with 400+ customers and counting, they are clearly finding a groove. I’ve received a
Back in the USSR
A college classmate shared the above photo recently. It was junior year in college, in 1989, and our merry band had just returned from the Soviet Union. We were having a mini-reunion, which I hosted (I’m at the far right in the photo). We were part of the Yale-USSR Project. Every spring, for two weeks,