my only purpose is to build a company that develops several different internet technologies.
in the meantime Fred, i am humble for any of your time and wisdom.
William Mougayar
· 1 month ago
I look forward to the meetup on Wedn. I'll be coming from Toronto and combined it with other business, but it was the impetus for the trip. Fred's community building and real-time meeting are perhaps a sidekick benefit of the Donor's program, but these are symbiotic and well done. I just wanted to know if Kid will be standing at the door, or he gets the evening off as bouncer? lol...:)
fredwilson
· 1 month ago
donors choose will be doing bouncer duty on weds night
lawrence
· 1 month ago
There is a lot of feet on the street fund raising / activism here in San Francisco. For the most part, it bums me out how clueless they are about the online communities and tools around them that could greatly help their causes. They want me to digest a project, agree to contribute, and break out my check book all while standing on the street.
Donor's Choose is the nextgen version of this sort of activism. You read about the project (from among several), learn about the recipients, and even get to interact with the people - I was thanked twice for my donation by the teacher who was looking to raise money for a projector. Of course there is stuff like Twitter and FB integration.
Good stuff. Have a great meetup!
Jeff O'Hara
· 1 month ago
Congrats, was glad to be a part of it. Sorry I won't be able to make it to NY for the meetup :(
awaldstein
· 1 month ago
Fred--congrats to the entire community on this. I'm happy to be part of this and plan on stopping by on Wednesday.
ShanaC
· 1 month ago
Got class. Got lots of class. I actually will have to watch that night Startup.Com that night for class (we start the 90s in business history)
DaveinHackensack
· 1 month ago
Startup.com is an entertaining documentary. I believe Fred met one of the principals in the company that was the subject of the film.
fredwilson
· 1 month ago
There's a scene in that movie in the conference room of my prior firm, flatiron partners. Fortunately we saw through their flimsy business plan. We did fall for a few others though. It was a heady time. I learned a lot from it
ShanaC
· 1 month ago
It would be so cool to have "best of" notes before Thursday. Though that would totally piss my teacher off. Especially when I have to write papers.
howardlindzon
· 1 month ago
amazing. well done all
fredwilson
· 1 month ago
It is amazing howard. That's a lot of money. I'm kind of stunned myself
ShanaC
· 1 month ago
Tomato Nation makes me want to buy tomatoes. Has to be said.
As for your numbers, Well we know you seem to have a top off point of readers, the better question is what is going on with those readers via income and demographics that can push the number higher. Or get you more readers, or both. We just have to figure out why your numbers are your numbers. What did you do differently? What was externally differently?
Further- I think actually doing these sorts of analyses would be helpful not only to donor's choose, and also be very helpful to knowing who is reading the blog, why they choose to read or click on something, buy something, do something on the web, and what is the background causes. Really could reshape if we throw out normal assumptions and run test cases on ourselves. But that's just me. I think your blog personally is a early warning sign of a lot of web things. Also a just me thing.
All totally possible in my book. I believe in growth. Always. You have the number...
ShanaC
· 1 month ago
One caveat- I don't think you get enough women on a day to day basis. Would still be interesting to see what would happen if you ran with all the blogs that participated the metrics of what caused people to donate to DonorsChoose in the end- it could be very telling about advertising on the Web.
fredwilson
· 1 month ago
You are right about women. They don't gravitate to the topics I write about
ShanaC
· 1 month ago
There is a reasonyou never see me talking about shoes here, but that I do talk abou tthem with my female friends. Think how wierd that would be. I'm nerdy enough for the tech discussions. I like it for some reason. But I also love shoes. And I have a passion for fun stockings and bright nail polish, much to the chagrin of my friends in conservative jobs (and I refuse to change, I think it's important to have personality when you dress).
Here you see golf and I pass. It's a real macho atmosphere. I expect that your office and a lot of tech places are similar. I'm never going to get that. I'm ok with that. A lot of women are not. We're gendered. I was raised to respect the gender line. Guys need to be guyish. I'm not, and I don't really want to be. Writing for a gender neutral audience is difficult, because it's about how do you appeal across two sometimes very different mindsets, especially when they compete in very different worlds, and in very different ways. There are a bunch of articles floating around right now about "VC gender Gap" I suspect that some of it is that women think different about career goals and career planning, about how a work environment should be like, and what counts as competitive and successful; I've been tracking some of them. To get women to come here, you are going to have to come to heads to heads about why women choose certain professions, and what their concerns are that are holding them back, and what that does for the men in the same professions. it's a really frightening discussion for everyone involve- since it implies massive social upheaval about the meaning of basic gender roles.
In the interim: I'm going call out some really locker room like behavior. For those women who choose to come, you are very welcome here. I'll be perfectly happy to have you in my clique of girly only things while the guys do the guy stuff that I will never fully understand.
fredwilson
· 1 month ago
I am going to do something soon to get at that demographic data in a fun way shana
You'll be distressted to know it involves hunch
ShanaC
· 1 month ago
I do not hate Hunch! If anything, I think Hunch is like crack, any could totally manipulate me back, and I find that scary o_O.
Perhaps you should get your facts straight before you accuse anyone of scamming
kidmercury
· 1 month ago
IMHO mikey makes some very good points and that is a great and much needed article, although i think the primary culprit is facebook. i view it as their responsibility to protect users against scams.
ShanaC
· 1 month ago
Alright- There are a bunch of reasons why this is happening as explained to me by users of Zynga games. Considering that right now I don't have any relationship with them beyond pundit and applicant. I've got no fear.
Smart users understand the internal game economy. They're also the most monetizable when it comes to qactual purchases of anything. "We the nerds" and all.
They also know, as explained to me here, and by actual USERS!!!! that it isn't worth it. They know that playing for fuel in Farmville won't get them along any faster in the game, really. Same with mafia wars. It passes the time. Real strategy is semi-abset, or absent enough that I can have all these games explained to me in 20 minutes flat. And that there are game guides floating around on the internet.
(This is the joy of being a college student who is a size 0-4 in a Zynga shirt, people will actually explain you stuff if you asked politely and explain why)
They also know the offers will not add any benefit in their lives they either cannot get elsewhere- or get cheaper. So wrong aim. I once asked one person if there was in game communication or teamwork- not fully, or not to an extent where it was clearly neccessary. This is to Zynga's et all disadvantage as Viral Games- they are not played as groups, or clearly played as groups. Even if you are on a team, it is your facebook friends- in no way do the games force you to make contact with them in order to game strategic advantage, or to force a purchase. No one has to talk to each other to coordinate to do well if they so choose, including if they want to purchase.
The only reason I mention this, because it was explictly mentioned to me, by users, that the reason that they think people buy stuff is Bling for themselves and for gifts. or to One up. Even though right now they are proof of concept of virtual goods, they have to figure out under what situations people will buy- and it has to be one that pushed by a community to get some greater reward. Until the games are very communally oriented, it will be very hard.
@ Zynga if you find this, I really do believe in games. Push yourself hard. Be strong.
kidmercury
· 1 month ago
great comment, shana. while i think zynga is the most promising internet company i know of, i agree with your disses on their games not being communal enough. in my opinion, social networks need a mission statement, and games need to advance the mission statement. at least that is the framework i use.
fredwilson
· 1 month ago
But mikey, as you call him kid, doesn't have all his facts straight. And you can tell who is feeding him if you read the post carefully
kidmercury
· 1 month ago
if you are ever up for elaborating or providing a rebuttal, that would be really cool -- i think it's a really important issue for those in the social gaming biz. and of course you know i would much rather pounce on mikey than give him credit.
ShanaC
· 1 month ago
I can't, but I avoid techcruch unless I have to because it is a huge flog. It's a gigantic advertisement.
Still, as with all Mass media on the web that gets to a critical mass point- it obey's my new law.
It links at a rate of n^n rate, though it may be more now. He's not only a Locus point of distrubution, where his work obey Reed's Law, since he is considered a central point of (albeit bad) news, but also one where it obeys Sarnoff's Law, since it is distrubtory news placed in a Linked environment.
It moves extremely quickly if it is a hot spot. Fred, to quote Mcluhan
"Cardinal Newman said of Napoleon, "He understood the Grammar of gunpowder." Napoleon had paid some attention to other media as well, especially the semaphore telegraph that gave him great advantage over his enemies. He is on record for saying that "Three hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.""
kidmercury
· 1 month ago
well of course it is with great pride that i did not donate to perpetuating the public indoctrination system, but it is good to see the monetization potential of blog stars like fred and tomato nation. fred managed to raise 18k from 205 people, imagine if something real and cool was being sold -- i think the monetization potential would be even greater.
ShanaC
· 1 month ago
Kid, you are a great bouncer. Never Forget That. ;)
fredwilson
· 1 month ago
Like what? I can't imagine anything cooler than educating kids
kidmercury
· 1 month ago
i meant selling stuff, although now i wonder if you could raise more money through charity than through selling stuff? that'd be terrible, but i think it is quite possible.
as for what's cooler than educating kids, well, 9/11 truth, of course! besides, once kids are educated in that, they will have all the knowledge they need to fix the problems their ancestors handed them.
Anu Nigam
· 1 month ago
Minor typo, "17,824" should be "18,824" based on the spread sheet. You made $1K more!!
Congrats!
fredwilson
· 1 month ago
Thanks
Ethan Bauley
· 1 month ago
I have to say that I'm pretty blown away by how much bigger the total $ raised was this year, especially when you exclude the HP contribution...
And your note about increasing the # of participants is interesting, too...it seems like the Meetup incentive really drove that metric. Really cool idea for layering more game dynamics on top of the Challenge.
Next year we should do something wacky with the DChoose API + the SMC!
We'll have to have a brainstorm on that one ;-)
fredwilson
· 1 month ago
I'm happy to do that ethan. Thanks again for getting HP involved
All Comments
guess what? soon anyone will be able to specify relevance;
suredone prototype beta v0.1 http://motorcycleparts2u.com
my only purpose is to build a company that develops several different internet technologies.
in the meantime Fred, i am humble for any of your time and wisdom.
Fred's community building and real-time meeting are perhaps a sidekick benefit of the Donor's program, but these are symbiotic and well done.
I just wanted to know if Kid will be standing at the door, or he gets the evening off as bouncer? lol...:)
Donor's Choose is the nextgen version of this sort of activism. You read about the project (from among several), learn about the recipients, and even get to interact with the people - I was thanked twice for my donation by the teacher who was looking to raise money for a projector. Of course there is stuff like Twitter and FB integration.
Good stuff. Have a great meetup!
As for your numbers, Well we know you seem to have a top off point of readers, the better question is what is going on with those readers via income and demographics that can push the number higher. Or get you more readers, or both. We just have to figure out why your numbers are your numbers. What did you do differently? What was externally differently?
Further- I think actually doing these sorts of analyses would be helpful not only to donor's choose, and also be very helpful to knowing who is reading the blog, why they choose to read or click on something, buy something, do something on the web, and what is the background causes. Really could reshape if we throw out normal assumptions and run test cases on ourselves. But that's just me. I think your blog personally is a early warning sign of a lot of web things. Also a just me thing.
All totally possible in my book. I believe in growth. Always. You have the number...
I'm nerdy enough for the tech discussions. I like it for some reason. But I also love shoes. And I have a passion for fun stockings and bright nail polish, much to the chagrin of my friends in conservative jobs (and I refuse to change, I think it's important to have personality when you dress).
Here you see golf and I pass. It's a real macho atmosphere. I expect that your office and a lot of tech places are similar. I'm never going to get that. I'm ok with that. A lot of women are not. We're gendered. I was raised to respect the gender line. Guys need to be guyish. I'm not, and I don't really want to be.
Writing for a gender neutral audience is difficult, because it's about how do you appeal across two sometimes very different mindsets, especially when they compete in very different worlds, and in very different ways. There are a bunch of articles floating around right now about "VC gender Gap" I suspect that some of it is that women think different about career goals and career planning, about how a work environment should be like, and what counts as competitive and successful; I've been tracking some of them. To get women to come here, you are going to have to come to heads to heads about why women choose certain professions, and what their concerns are that are holding them back, and what that does for the men in the same professions. it's a really frightening discussion for everyone involve- since it implies massive social upheaval about the meaning of basic gender roles.
In the interim: I'm going call out some really locker room like behavior. For those women who choose to come, you are very welcome here. I'll be perfectly happy to have you in my clique of girly only things while the guys do the guy stuff that I will never fully understand.
You'll be distressted to know it involves hunch
Considering that right now I don't have any relationship with them beyond pundit and applicant. I've got no fear.
Smart users understand the internal game economy. They're also the most monetizable when it comes to qactual purchases of anything. "We the nerds" and all.
They also know, as explained to me here, and by actual USERS!!!! that it isn't worth it. They know that playing for fuel in Farmville won't get them along any faster in the game, really. Same with mafia wars. It passes the time. Real strategy is semi-abset, or absent enough that I can have all these games explained to me in 20 minutes flat. And that there are game guides floating around on the internet.
(This is the joy of being a college student who is a size 0-4 in a Zynga shirt, people will actually explain you stuff if you asked politely and explain why)
They also know the offers will not add any benefit in their lives they either cannot get elsewhere- or get cheaper. So wrong aim. I once asked one person if there was in game communication or teamwork- not fully, or not to an extent where it was clearly neccessary. This is to Zynga's et all disadvantage as Viral Games- they are not played as groups, or clearly played as groups. Even if you are on a team, it is your facebook friends- in no way do the games force you to make contact with them in order to game strategic advantage, or to force a purchase. No one has to talk to each other to coordinate to do well if they so choose, including if they want to purchase.
The only reason I mention this, because it was explictly mentioned to me, by users, that the reason that they think people buy stuff is Bling for themselves and for gifts. or to One up. Even though right now they are proof of concept of virtual goods, they have to figure out under what situations people will buy- and it has to be one that pushed by a community to get some greater reward. Until the games are very communally oriented, it will be very hard.
@ Zynga if you find this, I really do believe in games. Push yourself hard. Be strong.
Still, as with all Mass media on the web that gets to a critical mass point- it obey's my new law.
It links at a rate of n^n rate, though it may be more now. He's not only a Locus point of distrubution, where his work obey Reed's Law, since he is considered a central point of (albeit bad) news, but also one where it obeys Sarnoff's Law, since it is distrubtory news placed in a Linked environment.
It moves extremely quickly if it is a hot spot. Fred, to quote Mcluhan
as for what's cooler than educating kids, well, 9/11 truth, of course! besides, once kids are educated in that, they will have all the knowledge they need to fix the problems their ancestors handed them.
Congrats!
And your note about increasing the # of participants is interesting, too...it seems like the Meetup incentive really drove that metric. Really cool idea for layering more game dynamics on top of the Challenge.
Next year we should do something wacky with the DChoose API + the SMC!
We'll have to have a brainstorm on that one ;-)