DISQUS

mattmaroon · 4 months ago

My bets:
#1: Yes, though it'll be hard to tell even in hindsight.
#2: No, but maybe something a little closer
#3: No
#4: Seems inevitable eventually.
#5: WebOS is already there. Check out the homebrew app community on PreCentral. #2 might happen too if Android gets it together.
#6: Depends how you define TV.
#7: I don't know how die-hard you are, but you might get LeBron in 2010. Other than that, good luck.

fredwilson · 4 months ago

I generally agree with your bets. But that doesn't mean I won't wish for all of them

Ryan Graves · 4 months ago

I always find that the birthday suit is fun to wear to a birthday party...enjoy whatever you decide :)

Live it up, HB Fred.

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Ha!

Mike O'Horo · 4 months ago

Happy birthday from a complete stranger who's in the process of reinventing himself after getting thoroughly bored following an 18-year run in my previous biz. A month or so ago, Rick Klau, a friend at Google, suggested I follow your blog to help me understand this space. I find it refreshing, particularly given the degree of pomposity evident in a fair amount of the tech blogosphere. Some folks take themselves very seriously, indeed. Thanks for the unpretentious wisdom.

fredwilson · 4 months ago

You can thank my wife for whatever humility I have. It doesn't come naturally to me

Mike O'Horo · 4 months ago

As has been attributed to many, but I think most credibly to Dizzy Dean, "It ain't braggin' if you can do it."

Giannii · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday Fred!

ShanaC · 4 months ago

Gianni I'm like the look of the changes, we'll see how they perform.

Emeri Gent [Em] · 4 months ago

Cool ! I'm 48, Obama is 48 and you are 48. Me is gettin' to think that class of 1961 is getting to become a pretty neat one :-) Good wishes and a happy birthday to you.

Pax Tecum
[Em]

Kevin Reilly · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday. But when I read this in Google Reader an ad for ATT shows up instead of the Birthday Challenge banner. I'm pretty sure that's not what you had in mind...

fredwilson · 4 months ago

all the ad revenue goes to charity on this blog so i say "bring it on"

mfeinstein · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday, Fred. I thought you weren't supposed to tell people your wishes or they wouldn't come true. Anyway, I hope you get your wishes except #7. I am sure Boston would welcome you as a sports fan...

fredwilson · 4 months ago

You know me mike. I don't keep things to myself very well unless they are secrets shared by others

fredwilson · 4 months ago

You know me mike. I don't keep things to myself very well unless they are secrets shared by others

GiordanoContestabile · 4 months ago

Is the multiposting a way to underline that you can't keep things to yourself? :)

Jokes a part, happy b-day! Mine is on Tuesday, and I'm celebrating this Saturday with an all-day junk cruise in Hong Kong with friends, food, drinks and sea. Nothing beats that :)

fredwilson · 4 months ago

That sounds epic. Enjoy it

benjaminjtaylor · 4 months ago

Happy birthday! Great posts, comments are always engaging.

farhanlalji · 4 months ago

Hey Fred, happy birthday. Will fund a project for you and one for my baby girl Mira born this past Saturday. Nice to know she's got good company around her birthday.

markslater · 4 months ago

and my daughter arriving any day (hour)!

happy B-day fred

William Mougayar · 4 months ago

Congratulations. Do you get a day off today? or 1/2 day? or no tweets? or just an evening of R&R?

fredwilson · 4 months ago

when my kids wake up (they are teens), i'll be going offline

William Mougayar · 4 months ago

Forget about the past, you can't change it.
Forget about the future, you can't predict it.
Forget about the present, I didn't get you one.

(that's true, I donated instead)

fredwilson · 4 months ago

ha!

karen_e · 4 months ago

Happy birthday to a generous writer, thinker, and doer.

sushantanand · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday! What's the b challenge?

fredwilson · 4 months ago

you can give any amount to any teacher's project in donors choose

Sampad Swain · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday Mr. Wilson. It's been a pleasure reading your articles and being a passive voracious reader of your thought process. But today it imminent that I pen down a wish-note to you.

Cheers to the bright future ahead. Ahem!

@Sampad

Chris · 4 months ago

Happy b-day Fred! Hope you have a good one!

jedc · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday, Fred.

Unfortunately, I think cold fusion will be a reality before a championship Knicks, Mets or Jets!

fredwilson · 4 months ago

i'll take that trade

kirklove · 4 months ago

I hope 7 of 8 come true.

Go Sixers, Phils, Eagles. (Sorry I can only go so far wishing you a happy birthday).

fredwilson · 4 months ago

well the Phillies have just killed the Mets of late so you must get
some joy out of that

cbarchak · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday Fred! I am taking your wish for Cold Fusion as a wish for abundant, non-polluting economical energy, which I join you in. Cold Fusion, itself? Fugeddaboutit.

fredwilson · 4 months ago

you are right. i don't really care how we get there. cold fusion is a
metaphor more than anything else

doke01 · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday!!!!

jasonspalace · 4 months ago

i think we're set on 4 & 5, keep fingers crossed today anyway, happy birthday!

Keenan · 4 months ago

I like your enthusiasm, Jets, Mets, Knicks winning again? Might be your next start-up. To get them winning would require a killer effort, worthy of investment.

Happy B-Day! (already curious about your 50th b-day post, guess I don't have to wait too long though, it's just around the corner) ;)

Pawel T · 4 months ago

All the best!

MattCope · 4 months ago

From your blog to God's ears!

Anselm · 4 months ago

Fred, Happy Birthday! Anselm

bfeld · 4 months ago

Happy birthday my friend.

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Thanks brad. I see you got around to your 'fred inspired' post. Nicely done

aaronklein · 4 months ago

Happy birthday, Fred! It's only been a few months since I found your blog, and already, I feel more inspired on a variety of topics than I have in a long time. :)

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Wow. That's a great thing to hear. Now I'm more inspired!

kidmercury · 4 months ago

happy birthday boss!

to be honest i'm a little concerned about your wishes, not sure if they can come true, particularly when the american people refuse to do anything to make them come true. the mets wish will be the toughest, so long as they are in the same division as the phillies there is no hope for them. best to just jump ship and pretend you were a phillies fan your whole life, it will be a lot more fun when the phils win the world series again this year.

marko · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday!!

And agree with kid....love the blog but unfortunately very bearish on this set of wishes...too bad, cause I think its in everyones best (self) interest to see them happen...

1) short
2) short
3) ?
4) short
5) long
6) short
7) short...speaking as a lifetime Expos and Maple Leafs fan who lost the will to go on ;)
8) long

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Well at least you like my donors choose thing!

fredwilson · 4 months ago

If I give up on the mets, jets, and knicks there's no chance I'm rooting for Philly. Like Boston, I've got too many scars with those teams

Eyal S. Goldwerger · 4 months ago

Happy birthday! (and a totally cool birthday gift idea - kudos)

ShanaC · 4 months ago

Happy birthday. As the oLd Saying Goes, May you Live to 120, and may you love ever moment of it.

Edwin Khodabakchian · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday. Thank you for hosting this great blog and community.

CCjudy · 4 months ago

You are a wonderful person having a super wonderful birthday from Judy

Lincoln Nguyen · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday Bud

daryn · 4 months ago

Happy birthday Fred!

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Thanks for the coffee daryn. You made the gotham gal's day

DaveinHackensack · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday, Fred.

You do have some health care investments, don't you? How do you imagine #2 will affect them if it happens? For my part, I hope that wish of yours doesn't come true. I suspect it won't have any effect on your health care either way, but will result in worse health care for most middle class Americans.

fredwilson · 4 months ago

We don't have any health care investments. But we'd like to invest at the intersection of the web and healthcare

I don't understand why it is so hard for this country to just step up to the plate and agree to provide health care for everyone

Most other wealthy countries in the world do this

kidmercury · 4 months ago

worse for lower class and upper class too, as it will destroy and politicize innovation.

good for government and the pharmaceutical companies that lobby for control of legislation, though.

Mark Geller · 4 months ago

Fred, Happy Birthday and many happy returns! I have been a long-time reader and have not commented until now. What great birthday wishes, I hope they all come true, except being from Akron OH, I am a Cavs, Browns, and Indians fan! I am happy to give to help out schools, and especially music programs.

Have a great day,

Mark

fredwilson · 4 months ago

I like the cleveland teams fwiw

Daniel Ha · 4 months ago

Happy forty-eight!

sayemislam · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday, Fred!

To touch off one of your previous posts... Buffett and Munger always make analogies between investing and bridge. Like any card game, it does have a fixed number of hands, but what makes bridge unique is that it has approx 635 billion possible hands. That's why it takes experience to be a winning bridge player and there's no other substitute for that.

Just like investing, it seems.

Hope the extra year is adding to that wisdom - hope you enjoy your 48th!

sippey · 4 months ago

Happy birthday, Fred!

jeromecamblain · 4 months ago

happy birthday Fred,
lots of hapiness and a great health to your loved ones
and many happy restaurants experiences

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Thanks for all your help in the past year on the restaurant front jerome

adamhirsch · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday!

EricFriedman · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday Fred - looks like the Donors Choose challenge is almost complete!

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Thanks eric. I'm going to keep it up until the end of the month because I'm winning in the august birthday competition at donors choose

Krassen Dimitrov · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday and may your wishes come true! Although "TV everywhere" sounds like a monumental annoyance... but I know what you mean

Yule Heibel · 4 months ago

Oh wow, almost missed this - Happy Birthday to you, Fred! Hope you get your wishes!

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Me too

ppearlman · 4 months ago

thats pretty old dude.

http://bit.ly/UrAqG

fredwilson · 4 months ago

no fair bringing mel brooks into this discussion

robyncowie · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday. Like Mike, I've never posted before but I'm a long-time lurker who has been privledged to learn a lot from the conversations you've started. My company is a mobile tech start-up that's been fortunate enough to raise money in these tough times, and I've learnt a lot about investor perspective from your site which has been really helpful. I'm based in Melbourne, Australia and actually came across your site just as you visited Down Under last year. I had to post today, because it's my birthday today too :) and I liked your birthday wishes a lot. But now that I have, I will make an effort to contribute more. Best wishes.

kidmercury · 4 months ago

happy belated birthday to you!

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Happy birthday!

David Semeria · 4 months ago

You've got the most gorgeous right eye in Christendom

Nick Giglia · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday, Fred. I've really enjoyed reading your blog since discovering it a few months ago.

I echo almost all of your birthday wishes - though I'd like to throw a World Series for the Yankees and a Stanley Cup for the Islanders in there.

As for Wish #4 - what do you think would need to happen for the IPO market to pick up? There's no shortage of good ideas, and the market is probably, in some ways, dying for a blockbuster IPO. What would have to happen to overcome the trepidation in the market and among the investor community?

fredwilson · 4 months ago

We need a blockbuster ipo

Healthy Dieting Products · 4 months ago

happy birthday Fred! wish you all the best!
your wishes is really inspiring!
thanks for sharing it!

sachxn · 4 months ago

which are the two other mobile OS other than iPhone.

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Don't know yet. We just need some

Robert · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday Fred.

I'll bet you never give up on the Jets or Mets. I am sure you favor the underdog

fredwilson · 4 months ago

I do. Bigtime

WAnderman · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday Fred. May your wishes come true.
From a 7-28-61er

Ellen · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday. What did the Gotham gal make for the occasion?

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Lobster paella and two birthday cakes. She fed about a dozen people last night

DanBlank · 4 months ago

Happy birthday! (other reason for leaving a comment: to check out Disqus v3)

ruchit · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday Fred!

Andy C · 4 months ago

OK - so this is Disqus V3 - live and exclusive on Fred Wilson's blog. Fair enough as he is an angel (investor).

What differences do I see ? I can see the number of my comments/links. And, err, that appears to be it.

Surely there's more or is all the fun stuff on the back-end (as the actress said to the bishop) ?

fredwilson · 4 months ago

I'm not an angel investor. Our firm is an investor. And this blog was the first blog to ever run disqus publicly back in the summer of 2007. Its a bit of a tradition to do a beta test here before going live everywhere

koichi · 4 months ago

New Disqus looking good!

JLM · 4 months ago

Happy Birthday and thanks for a year of interesting and stimulating commentary! Ahhh, 48, I remember it well. Two years from the abyss and yet you don't really know it yet.

Here is my birthday toast to you:

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the rain fall gently on your fields,
May you be in Heaven half an hour before the Devil knows you're gone!

Whose favorite toast was that?

David Semeria · 4 months ago

A very naughty kite flying farmer (just a guess).

JLM · 4 months ago

Ronald Wilson Reagan --- it is a famous Irish toast

Reagan offered this toast the first time that Margaret Thatcher visited the White House.

Of course, the Irish have more good toasts than any other nationality because they drink.......................................more whiskey than any other nationality.

I forgot to say --- I am part Irish!

David Semeria · 4 months ago

Well, being born in Liverpool, it'll be no surprise to hear that I'm part Irish, too (bejesus!).

It's a good toast, though not quite as good as the (ever so slightly paraphrased) Sicilian one: "May all your enemies wake up tomorrow and decide to go somewhere else".

fredwilson · 4 months ago

I was going to guess reagan. Not sure why though

JLM · 4 months ago

I have been re-reading Peggy Noonan's book --- When Character Was King --- and I am amazed at what a great man Reagan was. It seems one second he was an "amiable dunce" and now he's a genius. It is really sad that he deteriorated the way he did.

What I find most fascinating about his history just now is that he did so many interesting things --- actor, soldier (Cavalry branch), union president, entrepreneur public spokesman for..........GE, politician, rancher (well gentleman rancher, it's not really a ranch if you can see your neighbors lights), writer and President.

My favorite story was an exchange between Michael Deaver and Tip O'Neill wherein the Speaker questioned why Reagan had such confidence. Deaver laughed and said: "The guy dated (slept with?) Lana Turner and married Jane Wyman. Wouldn't that boost your confidence?"

fredwilson · 4 months ago

Those woman are before my time I'm afraid.

fredwilson · 4 months ago

I don't know. Do tell

fredwilson · 4 months ago

I don't know. Do tell

Aruni · 4 months ago

Happy Belated Birthday! Hope you had a wonderful day.