Zynga. Internet fortunes won and lost. IPOs. VCs. Victories and colossal failures. That was my morning meal. I caught up today over breakfast with Rich Levandov of Avalon Ventures (one of the Zynga investors). He and I have so many overlapping friends and contacts, and so, it was good to meet up finally with him. We
J.D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, and The Smiths
Every fall, I read again J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye” and Ernest Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast.” I discovered the books in high school, and for some reason, I’m drawn to them when the leaves turn to brilliant orange and yellow here in New England. I’m not sure why I re-read them, now that I’m
Sexual Predators and the Internet
I’ve been battling a bug this week, but am glad that I attended a recent morning talk by Dan Conley, the Boston District Attorney. He mentioned what we all know: the Internet is a cool place but can be dangerous for children and teens. But, he cited by name the many Web sites to which
TechStars, a Chinatown Feast, and Community Building
I had “open office hours” at the CIC’s Venture Cafe last week. It’s a great program whereby any entrepreneur can sign up for a chat with a VC. It’s an open and inclusive program. All are welcome. Andrew Singleton, the coordinator, was awesome. I ran into an entrepreneur afterwards. He asked me: “Is it worth
The Entrepreneur’s Arms Race of Perception
After an awesome community-building party at Bessemer, I chatted outside in the cool of the night with an entrepreneur. Now, I’ve written before about this person (see “VC Arrogance: Inevitable?”). He is incredibly sharp. He mentioned something I’ve never heard before: “It’s very hard to have trusting and open relationships with other entrepreneurs.” He thinks
My Children and Swimming at the YMCA
I am at our town YMCA this Saturday morning, watching two of my children take swimming lessons. We have what some consider to be a “large” family. Yet, it doesn’t feel large to us. Each child is so unique and is such an individual. It would be impossible to lump them into a homogeneous group.