hany's tech thoughts, links, musings
Apr 29 || Category: Links

Perhaps You No Longer Need A Co-Founder


Geoff Lewis:

There have always been successful single founder companies, but they were true outliers. That will change: Today, it is more possible than ever before for one person to effectively lead both building and selling during a consumer internet startup’s early growth phase. I’m seeing it done first hand by some of my single-founder friends, each of whom I believe will be wildly successful.

I strongly agree. My favorite point is when he compares finding the perfect co-founder to finding the perfect life mate.

Yet the odds of finding a co-founder who’s a true partner – in every sense of the word – are about the same as your odds of finding that perfect spouse… Did I mention 50% of marriages end in divorce?

So true.

Apr 29 || Category: Links

Caterina Fake’s Advice: Want To Be An Entrepreneur? Drop Out Of College.


An interesting viewpoint on a topic I’ve strongly thought about in the past.

College works on the factory model, and is in many ways not suited to training entrepreneurs. You put in a student and out comes a scholar.

Entrepreneurship works on the apprenticeship model. The best way to learn how to be an entrepreneur is to start a company, and seek the advice of a successful entrepreneur in the area in which you are interested. Or work at a startup for a few years to learn the ropes.

Apr 29 || Category: Links

Why Did So Many Successful Entrepreneurs And Startups Come Out Of PayPal?


Great question that I’ve often tried answering. Keith Rabois, EVP of strategy and business development at Slide, takes a stab at finding an answer.

Apr 29 || Category: Links

Yahoo Execs Make Mad Cash


Silicon Alley Insider:

According to an SEC filing, this compensation includes a salary of $969,872, stock awards worth $12,974,722, an option award worth $29,169,334, a non-equity bonus of $1,500,000, and “other” compensation worth $2,615,345.

Some others made bank, too:

CFO Timothy R. Morse – $6,170,193
Ex-CFO Blake Jorgensen – $2,102,994
EVP Hilary Schneider – $5,261,775
Departing CTO Aristotle Balogh – $5,584,251
Top lawyer Michael J. Callahan – $3,925,04

I want to know how this is compares with other technology company. Would love to know how much Marissa Mayer or Jonny Ive make in comparison.

Apr 29 || Category: Thoughts

Creeps Of The Week: CNET


CNET just broke a story saying they found out who was involved with stealing the iPhone prototype in that Silicon Valley bar. Turns out they’re two guys, 27 and 21. That’s fine and good journalism; congrats on the scoop.

The creepy part is what comes next, after finding the names. It looks like they simply googled the guy and posted everything they could find. This part was especially creepy, but more interestingly just plain unimportant:

An Amazon.com list, currently unavailable, that appeared to have been created for Wallower by a friend, suggests gifts including a book on climate change by Al Gore, a Kindle, and–perhaps presciently–a book co-authored by ex-hacker Kevin Mitnick titled “The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders and Deceivers.”

Clearly having “The Art of Intrusion” on an Amazon.com list made by a friend leads to the exact reasons behind why the crimes happened…why can’t CNET respect itself sometimes and stop trying to be the next bottom-feeding Valley Wag?

Apr 29 || Category: Links

Ben Horowitz: Why We Prefer Founding CEOs


Thankfully, the craze to bring in outside CEOs to take over young technology companies has slowly started decreasing in Silicon Valley.

Ben Horowitz outlines the reasons why he personally will prefer that the founder is also the CEO, namely:

Innovations are product cycles. Professional CEOs are effective at maximizing, but not finding, product cycles. Conversely, founding CEOs are excellent at finding, but not maximizing, product cycles. Our experience shows—and the data supports—that teaching a founding CEO how to maximize the product cycle is easier than teaching the professional CEO how to find the new product cycle.

There are exceptions, notably Eric Schmidt & Google. The reason behind why that works, according to Horowitz, is that the Google trio truly embrace shared leadership, something that almost no one can pull off.

Apr 24 || Category: Links

Tech Startups vs Rock Bands


Nice image showcasing the similarities between starting a successful technology startup and starting a successful rock band.