My answer generally centers around the fact how I have a great team of managers, that they are so good and reliable, that Fon has an amazing pool of talent, I also talk about how much I delegate, and that is all true. There is another side to this question that I have not told journalists. I have…

In 1957, Gordon Moore and the “Traitorous Eight” formed Fairchild Semiconductor and created the basis of what would become Silicon Valley. But despite the undisputed importance of the microchip, Fairchild’s biggest contribution might have more to do with how the company was started than what it…

Mar 2, 2012 at 7:58pm ET by Greg Sterling For years Google Maps were the standard for publishers and developers wanting to integrate maps into their sites. Google Maps were part of the original “mashup.” Google’s early API, consumer popularity and easy (read: free) licensing terms fueled rapid…

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or subscribe via email. Thanks for visiting! I had this ethical dilemma pop up on one of the first deals I even did as a VC. I had been looking around at several deals in late 2008 as the markets were tanking. I had…

“Study Hacks” answers the question “Why elite players are better than the average players?” in his post titled ”If You’re Busy, You’re Doing Something Wrong: The Surprisingly Relaxed Lives of Elite Achievers.” Interesting conclusions… The obvious guess is that the elite players are more dedicated to…

As I mentioned in my first post in this series, we dove into the App Store with a ($2.99) Productivity App called TouchBase Calender. It was a part-time effort as we were wrapping up other commitments, with the goal of learning about the App Store, getting up to speed on the iOS SDK and Objective-C,…

I have the benefit of seeing lots of startups pitch their teams and watching many seed-funded companies establish their early org structures. I’ve found that there are certain types of orgs and titles that I have a naturally visceral reaction towards. For example: - Having any more “C’s” than the…

From Marc Andreessen’s “Moby Dick Theory of Big Companies“: You can count on there being a whole host of impinging forces that will affect the dynamic of decision-making on any issue at a big company. The consensus building process, trade-offs, quids pro quo, politics, rivalries, arguments,…

Every time you fly on an airline, your name is sent to the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center to make sure you’re not a terrorist in disguise or something. If you have the misfortune to be on the TSC’s No-Fly list, you either aren’t allowed to board your flight or are subject to hours of interrogation…

The following is a guest post by Rob Walling. Rob Walling has been an entrepreneur for most of his life and is author of the book Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup. He also authors the top 20 startup blog Software By Rob, that's read by tens of thousands of startup…

I came across a funny cartoon the other day that captures an interesting aspect of our purchasing behavior. We are perfectly willing to spend $4 on coffee (for some of us this is a daily purchase), or $500 on devices that you can argue we don’t really need. However, when it comes to buying digital…

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) leaves a press conference on April 14, 2011. They are among six Democratic senators who introduced a constitutional amendment that could effectively overturn the Citizens United case. (Photo: Philip Scott Andrews /…

Tips, Tricks and Resources for Analytics, Marketing and Testing. Free Updates In Your Email Inbox Join For Free! We see it all the time. Your business is picking up steam, you’ve got traffic and customers, but your website search engine optimization (SEO) stinks. You never even gave it a college try…

by Joshua Porter The fastest way to improve your interface is to improve your copy-writing. I remember the first time I realized how much even the smallest copy can matter in an interface. It was on an e-commerce project at UIE for which I had created a checkout form asking for billing information.…

Why does folk music collector Alan Lomax have a copyright interest in “Takeover” by Jay-Z? I learned the answer from Creative License: The Law And Culture Of Digital Sampling by Kembrew McLeod and Peter DiCola. It’s a companion book to the invaluable documentary Copyright Criminals. The story of…

On April 30, 1943, a fisherman came across a badly decomposed corpse floating in the water off the coast of Huelva, in southwestern Spain. The body was of an adult male dressed in a trenchcoat, a uniform, and boots, with a black attaché case chained to his waist. His wallet identified him as Major…

Built by Harvest Chosen Chosen is a JavaScript plugin that makes long, unwieldy select boxes much more user-friendly. It is currently available in both jQuery and Prototype flavors. Project page on GitHub Standard Select Turns This Into This Multiple Select Turns This Into This Support Single…

If you're new to negotiating or find it difficult, here are some missteps to avoid. Every entrepreneur spends some time haggling, whether it is with customers, suppliers, investors, or would-be employees. Most business owners are street smart, and seem to naturally perform well in negotiations. You…

When video rental and streaming company Netflix released its Netflix API, it was meant to support its DVD-by-mail business. In the time since the Netflix API was released, the business has shifted to streaming instant video, from hundreds of devices. Meanwhile, the Netflix API hasn’t changed much…

Satellite image of the Natanz nuclear enrichment plant in Iran taken in 2002 when it was still under construction. The image shows two cascade halls, in the upper right corner, as they were being built deep underground. The hall on the left, Hall A, is the only one currently operational and is the…

by anthony on 05/05/11 at 7:54 pm [Note: This article was also published on SmashingMagazine: Innovative Techniques To Simplify Sign-Ups and Log-Ins] There are many ways to design sign up and login forms. Most designers are familiar with the conventional ways. But understanding and applying a few…

Gamification is the high fructose corn syrup of engagement. Kathy Sierra radar.oreilly.com

Kalen Smith writes about investing, retirement, money management, and business related topics on Money Crashers, one of the top personal finance blogs online. Kalen is a paid contributor to Wealthfront. Many investors are frequent traders; they believe they can time the market to buy low and sell…

Washington's spending has recently been higher as a percentage of the nation's economic output than at any time since World War II. But by the same measure, Washington's revenues are the lowest in more than 60 years. So does the U.S. have "a spending problem," as Republicans keep repeating in the…