Then there's people like me, who went straight to Boxee to register for the Alpha. People like me are harder to track, but are also worth the price of blogging!
Paul
· 1 year ago
++
Wallen's
· 1 year ago
Good point - blogging takes a lot of time, and if one gets an audience, as you did, it's a valuable asset not only to spread word of mouth in a "push logic" but also to increase USV brand awareness hence, I imagine, investment opportunities via a "pull" mechanism
Varun Narang
· 1 year ago
Hi Fred,
I love your blog! Its food for my brain. Thank you.
Can you pl. send me an invite to Boxee? My email is vnarang@gmail.com.
Cheers! Varun
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Invite sent
Guy Platt
· 1 year ago
Me too please. I went straight to Boxee to register but the email I got implied that it might be many weeks before I get an invite.
thanks Guy
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Do you need an invite from me?
Guy Platt
· 1 year ago
Please.
austinbryan
· 1 year ago
No guaranteeing you'll get the same turnaround post-Techmeme hit, but I signed up for the alpha last week and got an invite the next day.
KeithCowing
· 1 year ago
This reminds me of a Jack Welch quote. When managers used to whine that they spent so much time coaching their staff that they never did any real work, he would say "That is your real work!"
As an investor focused on web apps, social media, etc., this is real work. Even without the direct payoffs of exposure to your portfolio companies, a flow of new ideas, etc., you have to completely immerse yourself in this world to understand it. That's what you've done and it's pretty obvious that it works for you.
andyswan
· 1 year ago
More and more people are realizing that work and enjoyment are not mutually exclusive. Good for us!
Love the article. I was struck by an odd connection. I read today that PC Magazine is shutting down. I speculate that it is because they weren't doing the "realest" work of keeping the connectors and influencers interested. They let themselves be drawn into a commodity crowd. As Seth Godin would put it, they gave up their tribe for that crowd and it was a mistake.
I WISH I could get up and start working at 5am! What time do you go to bed? :P
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Sometime between 10pm and midnight, rarely later than that
jonsteinberg
· 1 year ago
Fred- I couldn't agree more. I've been making the following comment lately to business development, sales, and entrepreneur folks: "if you are not blogging, commenting, and tweeting, you are putting yourself at an unnecessary disadvantage. The online conversation is where so many relationships start that branch into real world opportunities."
kortina
· 1 year ago
Exactly, Jon. I have so many friends who just don't get it. They think the blog is about glory, or something. Twitter and blogging are pure biz dev / networking. And the beautiful thing is anyone that the 'alumni network' is open to anyone. It's not like University where you need to get accepted, pay money, and spend 4 years there.
Since we're in tech, though, I wonder if we're slightly biased. I mean, where are all the MBA's, entrepreneurs, and engineers in nanotech, cleantech, etc? Are they on some other network, or just not online?
jonsteinberg
· 1 year ago
What's nice is that its networking on the basis of ideas and thoughts. I'm sure it will move to other sectors. It's really only been this year, for me at least, that the dialogue online has translated into significant real world relationships.
kortina
· 1 year ago
I also got into this game a bit late, about 1 year ago to date. Blogging / twitter is such a huge part of work now that I can't understand how I ever did not do this stuff.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
They are busy doing real work
kortina
· 1 year ago
Good answer.
petersteinberg
· 1 year ago
I think every bit of work you put into this blog is some of the most important work you do. You've built a reputation for you and your company that brings a lot of deals to your door.
Not every dollar is equal. I know of at least 2 cases where a company chose you -- and your less "generous" offer -- specifically because of the reputation you've built.
I am generous with my time, not our investors money ;)
petersteinberg
· 1 year ago
Ah, but you've heard the expression "time is money"? Well, it can have more than one meaning.
I've seen enough companies fail and a select handful thrive to know that if I needed investment I much rather have 1) X dollars at a Y valuation from a highly thoughtful, connected, and involved investor (such as you) than 2) 1.5X dollars at a 1.5Y valuation from someone who's just writing a check.
After all, the first investor increases my odds of growing my valuation to 10Y while the second investor increases my odds of ending up at a valuation of zero.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Yup
And we work really hard on delivering on that promise
Phil Glockner
· 1 year ago
I put in my email for a Boxee trial and I didn't even think to ask you for one, Fred! Haha. My email address is phil@scribkin.com .. I'd like an invite please.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
I just sent you one
Phil Glockner
· 1 year ago
Muchas gracias!
abrudtkuhl
· 1 year ago
Are you still handing out invites? I asked on Twitter after your tweet yesterday!
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
I just sent you one
It's way easier for me to do the invites via disqus comments because the email is right there for the cut and paste
kenberger
· 1 year ago
Must have also been a lot of work to reply 'invite sent' to almost every request, when clearly each person will know that fact anyway when they get the invite.
Hopefully the big comments total raises seo, and certainly the personal touch should help the rate of actual install (though I think this is a great offering and will get great uptake anyway)
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
That was my work flow
It allows me to go down the entire comment thread and make sure I got everyone
Max Chafkin
· 1 year ago
Hey Fred,
I'd love to check out the service. Can you send me an invite too? mchafkin at inc dot com thanks!
Max
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Max - I just sent you one
maxkalehoff
· 1 year ago
Fred, Another example of the benefit of blogging....I got to know you, then you introduced me to David Kidder, now I work at Clickable. Thanks for leading leading by example and inspiring me and my work. Max
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Etsy has just hired two senior hires that found out about the positions on this blog
I just love that!
Ryan Graves
· 1 year ago
It's all about BOTTOM UP GROWTH! Startups are the some of the first to focus on it, the Obama Campaign was next, and even corporate America is catching on...
In bottom up growth you can control and interact with the perception of you as an individual and the perception of an organization! So powerful!
It's hard work to A) come up with something to blog about every day; B) to actually write the post. It's an amazing accomplishment that you've been able to keep it up for a few years now, and keep the quality so high. Keep it up!
Vaibhav Domkundwar
· 1 year ago
I totally agree with you. I can say for myself and many of my entrepreneur friends that you blog has been a really good source of true insight and in many ways it creates an opinion of you as a person, as a VC and USV as a VC firm - all good of course and I can imagine that it must be truly valuable for you and USV, besides the instantly credibility and distribution that the companies get, when you write about them here.
GlennKelman
· 1 year ago
This blog gives USV enormous credibility with entrepreneurs. Beyond the exposure and credibility the blog offers portfolio companies, it also lets entrepreneurs evaluating USV see how Fred thinks, and to imagine how he would contribute in board meetings. Otherwise, it can be hard to gauge a VC from one or two meetings, especially because the entrepreneur is usually selling his buns off in those meetings.
Redfin got very lucky with its VCs -- they are awesome -- so I'm not complaining one bit. But when you take on someone new, it helps if you can see how they think, and how hard they work.
akersmc
· 1 year ago
Can i get an invite too? :)
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Invite sent
Raju
· 1 year ago
Can I get an invite?
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Invite sent
RacerRick
· 1 year ago
Plus each person who signs up for Boxee will probably tell 2-3 people about it (especially if they like it).
davebonobos
· 1 year ago
Blogging as customer engagement, and thus, legitimate "work," resonates strongly with me. It enables a perpetual conversation with those who matter to you. It's public thinking and expression, which (usually) causes smarter discourse.
Our company makes a physical product, but we sell it exclusively online. Our website is our retail store, our blog is our feet on the street. We're small now, but I expect as we grow, our senior team will continue to blog frequently about issues fun and serious. It's part of a larger trend of information democratization that will help push businesses (in Fred's case, the personal/business hybrid model) to increase their transparency and responsiveness to their "customers", be they users, readers or consumers.
There is nothing more fun than having our business grow faster every month because of satisfied customers acting as positive net promoters of our product. Word of mouth can be our best, or our worst form of marketing. Our blog is one of the best tools we have to help ensure that we get the former and not the latter.
Chipotle
· 1 year ago
As I lay on the couch suffering with the flu, I'm wishing I could stream shows from Hulu through my AppleTV. I would love an invite sdclark5@gmailcom Thanks.
Chip
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
I just sent you one
I hope you like it and I hope you feel better
Chipotle
· 1 year ago
Thanks Fred. I'm going to hack my Apple TV this weekend.
I've been listening to the new Blitzen Trapper record, Furr. It has a few very strong tracks (Furr, Black River Killer) They obviously listened to a lot of their parents records (Dylan, Beatles, Young etc.)
Thanks again.
PG
· 1 year ago
ha, as i was reading the "invite for me please" comments on the boxee post last night, i was wondering whether u would have an assistant or intern harvest the email and followup but then you come out with this...you're solid. well done. I have no startup plans but if i ever have, i'll come see you.
austinhill
· 1 year ago
I liked this post Fred. I'm amazed by the consistency & volume of your posting, but it reminds me very much of a phrase I've been hearing Howard Linzdon use which is Social Leverage. I know a lot of VCs apply social leverage in assisting with hiring, biz dev and back room operations - but the ability to also use it on behalf of your companies on the Net is a great asset.
Venkat
· 1 year ago
I field that question often, as well. I find it a laughably naive question on many levels. A lot of people still seem to have a mental model of work as farming or factory labor. Among the roles I've heard dismissed as "not real work" are -- any sort of middle management, HR, marketing, writing. Even programming, by hardware jocks who still don't get that programming now constitutes 90% of the effort in robotics.
As a blogger and a technology project manager with bizdev responsibilities, I have done (by some people's views) none of the "real" work I was trained for (control engineering... hardware experiments and Matlab programming) for over a year now. It has also been the hardest year of my life. My individual-contributor-techie life was a cakewalk by comparison.
I agree, blogging is about the realest work I do as well.
Geoff
· 1 year ago
I'm really impressed by the range and quality of your output Fred and I'm certain if I had a fundable idea I know on whose door I would be knocking. Your blogging & speedy response to comments is truly inspirational. May it long continue!
howard lindzon
· 1 year ago
actually its still pretty lazy
howard lindzon
· 1 year ago
social leverage baby...was just kidding abiut you being lazy. stop giving all the free tips over here
simondodson
· 1 year ago
'stop giving all the free tips over here' hahaha
to true
afinanceguy
· 1 year ago
Fred, I'd like an invite. Thanks dsweet2000 at gmail dot com
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Invite sent
liza
· 1 year ago
oh, duh! i didn't even notice it was you who wrote that Boxee article. can you hit me up with an invite? please, please, pretty please :) just DM me through Twitter : http://twitter.com/blogdiva. Lurvs ya!
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Invite sent
simondodson
· 1 year ago
i actuallyt reblogged the boxee post ... great piece of s/ware
publicspend
· 1 year ago
Fred - Not only is it real work, it is actually pretty hard work. For it to be worthwhile you have to put a lot of time and focus into social media. Just like anything else it involves planning, thought and great execution. It takes alot of patience but with effort the pay back can be phenomenal. Oh, and at the same time you have to do your day job...
daric
· 1 year ago
Thanks for continuing to show us how it's done.
Say, could I get a boxee invite too?
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Invite sent
dick costolo
· 1 year ago
wait, you have a job?
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Yeah, it's called hanging out with goofs like you
DorianBenkoil
· 1 year ago
You're such a flatterer. We can't resist.
OK, Happy to try out Boxee. Please send invite?
oracleoftexas
· 1 year ago
sweet
monkeyleader
· 1 year ago
your review was cracking and prompted me to request an invite via boxee themselves, but if you have any more spare ?
nigelcooke at hotmail dot com !
cheers,
Nige
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Sure, I just sent one
rah33ls
· 1 year ago
Fred, i signed up on the boxee site, but i haven't received a response from them yet. So, if there are still some invites up for grabs -- it would be muchos appreciated.
rah33ls at gmail dot com
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Just sent one
jmcaddell
· 1 year ago
Fred, you successfully lured a new Disqus subscriber. :-)
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Yes!
Nikolay Kolev
· 1 year ago
Fred, can I please have a Boxee invite, too? My email is me at my first name dot com. Thank you!
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Invite sent
Nikolay Kolev
· 1 year ago
Thanks, Fred! I got it, I set up my account, and I'm gonna install the software in a bit. It looks great so far.
Ben
· 1 year ago
You don't hear it as much because the wave of OLD & CRUSTY is nearly gone. As the O&C leave the upper echelons of businesses to "retire" (aka. fail big for the package), in comes those who have been "waiting" for their chance to set the tone right.
Give me any company whose product/business is in the shitter...Join that product/business with someone who understands what it means to be "REAL" with customers and a market, and within a small amount of time you'll see a great turnaround.
I am a big believer in this because it takes "real work" now a days to run a company. Sitting at the top acting like you are "real" with your market is the quickest way to the bottom.
I say rush the O&C's out as quickly as possible and lets start doing "REAL WORK" again.
Thanks for letting me get that out Fred.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Any time :)
vruz
· 1 year ago
hah, it's funny you asked this question to me once :-)
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Really?
vruz
· 1 year ago
not a question exactly, but rather an expression of surprise how did I get the time to 'get anything done' aside from catching up with blogs and such :-)
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Oh yes
You are a wonder in that regard
Jimmy Gambier
· 1 year ago
Hi Fred,
Could I get an invite as well. I've used a hodgepodge of Netflix, Hulu and YouTube as well and looking forward to a unified experience: jimmy.gambier@gmail.com
Here's what's cracking me up. Venture Capital is on the very short list of occupations, where you can judge performance quickly and precisely. Click on this link, for example: http://www.ost.state.or.us/divisions/investment... Union Square Ventures2004 has returned 35.7% per year to their investors. That's a monstrous return on investment. Take a good look and compare it to other funds. Whatever Mr. Wilson is doing is obviously working. There are not many occupations like this (100 meters dash sprinters is the only one I can think of right now) , where a simple look at a single number gives you the whole picture. It is extremely silly for someone to argue the work ethics, given the performance.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
That's not true
That return is based largely on one deal, TACODA
It does not include the performance of a bunch of companies in our portfolio that are valuable but are not marked up
The only real measure of venture performance is cash on cash after a fund is fully realized and liquidated
Krassen Dimitrov
· 1 year ago
So you are saying that the final return will be even better? OK, so I may revise my metaphor, then. USV is not like a 100m dash sprinter, but more like a 1500m runner, who at the middistance is 200 m ahead of the pack... Not much difference....
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
I hope so but there are no guarantees in this business until "the fat lady sings"
Caryn
· 1 year ago
A great reminder that reaching out, connecting with our communities, contacts and customers is the most important work we do. Thanks!
Luca Conti
· 1 year ago
Could I have an invite please? Thanks :)
vasudevram
· 1 year ago
Fred,
Wonderful post, and so right.
I loved this sentence:
>Its about the "realest" work I do.
:-)
What you say is confirmed by my own experience of blogging, too.
I've been blogging for over three years now, and over time, I've been getting approached with work offers by people, some of whom say they got to know of me via my blog ...
I know a lot of other people get work that way, too.
- Vasudev
@MattWilsonTV
· 1 year ago
If you love what you do it's not work remember!
"hanging out" on social media, reading RSS, connecting people on twitter, interacting with tons of awesome people seems like a hell of a lot of fun!
All Comments
I love your blog! Its food for my brain. Thank you.
Can you pl. send me an invite to Boxee? My email is vnarang@gmail.com.
Cheers!
Varun
thanks
Guy
As an investor focused on web apps, social media, etc., this is real work. Even without the direct payoffs of exposure to your portfolio companies, a flow of new ideas, etc., you have to completely immerse yourself in this world to understand it. That's what you've done and it's pretty obvious that it works for you.
I've always found your blog very insightful.
More on my blog:
http://smoothspan.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/end-...
Since we're in tech, though, I wonder if we're slightly biased. I mean, where are all the MBA's, entrepreneurs, and engineers in nanotech, cleantech, etc? Are they on some other network, or just not online?
twitter is such a huge part of work now that I can't understand how I ever
did not do this stuff.
Not every dollar is equal. I know of at least 2 cases where a company chose you -- and your less "generous" offer -- specifically because of the reputation you've built.
Peter Steinberg
http://www.FlashlightWorthyBooks.com
Recommending books so good, they'll keep you up past your bedtime. ;)
I've seen enough companies fail and a select handful thrive to know that if I needed investment I much rather have 1) X dollars at a Y valuation from a highly thoughtful, connected, and involved investor (such as you) than 2) 1.5X dollars at a 1.5Y valuation from someone who's just writing a check.
After all, the first investor increases my odds of growing my valuation to 10Y while the second investor increases my odds of ending up at a valuation of zero.
And we work really hard on delivering on that promise
It's way easier for me to do the invites via disqus comments because the email is right there for the cut and paste
Hopefully the big comments total raises seo, and certainly the personal touch should help the rate of actual install (though I think this is a great offering and will get great uptake anyway)
It allows me to go down the entire comment thread and make sure I got everyone
I'd love to check out the service. Can you send me an invite too? mchafkin at inc dot com
thanks!
Max
Another example of the benefit of blogging....I got to know you, then you introduced me to David Kidder, now I work at Clickable. Thanks for leading leading by example and inspiring me and my work.
Max
I just love that!
In bottom up growth you can control and interact with the perception of you as an individual and the perception of an organization! So powerful!
Sorry to be self promotional but I had so much fun writing about this topic that I have to share.
http://ryanagraves.com/11/18/2008/understanding...
Redfin got very lucky with its VCs -- they are awesome -- so I'm not complaining one bit. But when you take on someone new, it helps if you can see how they think, and how hard they work.
Our company makes a physical product, but we sell it exclusively online. Our website is our retail store, our blog is our feet on the street. We're small now, but I expect as we grow, our senior team will continue to blog frequently about issues fun and serious. It's part of a larger trend of information democratization that will help push businesses (in Fred's case, the personal/business hybrid model) to increase their transparency and responsiveness to their "customers", be they users, readers or consumers.
There is nothing more fun than having our business grow faster every month because of satisfied customers acting as positive net promoters of our product. Word of mouth can be our best, or our worst form of marketing. Our blog is one of the best tools we have to help ensure that we get the former and not the latter.
Chip
I hope you like it and I hope you feel better
I've been listening to the new Blitzen Trapper record, Furr. It has a few very strong tracks (Furr, Black River Killer) They obviously listened to a lot of their parents records (Dylan, Beatles, Young etc.)
Thanks again.
As a blogger and a technology project manager with bizdev responsibilities, I have done (by some people's views) none of the "real" work I was trained for (control engineering... hardware experiments and Matlab programming) for over a year now. It has also been the hardest year of my life. My individual-contributor-techie life was a cakewalk by comparison.
I agree, blogging is about the realest work I do as well.
to true
I'd like an invite.
Thanks
dsweet2000 at gmail dot com
Say, could I get a boxee invite too?
OK, Happy to try out Boxee. Please send invite?
nigelcooke at hotmail dot com !
cheers,
Nige
rah33ls at gmail dot com
Give me any company whose product/business is in the shitter...Join that product/business with someone who understands what it means to be "REAL" with customers and a market, and within a small amount of time you'll see a great turnaround.
I am a big believer in this because it takes "real work" now a days to run a company. Sitting at the top acting like you are "real" with your market is the quickest way to the bottom.
I say rush the O&C's out as quickly as possible and lets start doing "REAL WORK" again.
Thanks for letting me get that out Fred.
You are a wonder in that regard
Could I get an invite as well. I've used a hodgepodge of Netflix, Hulu and YouTube as well and looking forward to a unified experience:
jimmy.gambier@gmail.com
Thanks,
Phil
Click on this link, for example:
http://www.ost.state.or.us/divisions/investment...
Union Square Ventures2004 has returned 35.7% per year to their investors. That's a monstrous return on investment. Take a good look and compare it to other funds. Whatever Mr. Wilson is doing is obviously working. There are not many occupations like this (100 meters dash sprinters is the only one I can think of right now) , where a simple look at a single number gives you the whole picture. It is extremely silly for someone to argue the work ethics, given the performance.
That return is based largely on one deal, TACODA
It does not include the performance of a bunch of companies in our portfolio that are valuable but are not marked up
The only real measure of venture performance is cash on cash after a fund is fully realized and liquidated
Wonderful post, and so right.
I loved this sentence:
>Its about the "realest" work I do.
:-)
What you say is confirmed by my own experience of blogging, too.
I've been blogging for over three years now, and over time, I've been getting approached with work offers by people, some of whom say they got to know of me via my blog ...
I know a lot of other people get work that way, too.
- Vasudev
"hanging out" on social media, reading RSS, connecting people on twitter, interacting with tons of awesome people seems like a hell of a lot of fun!
It's the clients calling that can seem like work