fyi.etc

Progress Report: The Sharing Economy is coming of age

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:39:54 -0400

Progress Report: The Sharing Economy is coming of age:

by Craig Shapiro
Founder/CEO at Collaborative Fund

In San Francisco, you can find the “Airbnb-of-everything.” Just as Airbnb capitalized on the fact that many of us have a spare bed, bedroom, or even apartment from which we’d gladly make some money, many other industries have…

Tesla Is a Little Bit Apple, a Little Bit Google

Wed, 15 May 2013 03:47:34 -0400

Tesla Is a Little Bit Apple, a Little Bit Google:

parislemon:

Farhad Manjoo:

None of this means that Tesla should abandon its goal of building the world’s best electric cars. By competing on service, style, and the dependability of its vehicles, it can sell a lot of cars while also letting rivals use its core technology. But to be a great tech company, it’s no longer enough to just make great products. You’ve also got to let others build stuff on top of your technology—you’ve got to build a platform. Elon Musk gets this, and that’s why his company isn’t emulating just one tech behemoth. Tesla is Apple on the outside, but it’s Google at its core.

I love the concept of using your would-be rivals to build infrastructure for you.

brianwitlin: I deeply subscribe and seek to embody the...

Sat, 11 May 2013 02:56:42 -0400

brianwitlin:

I deeply subscribe and seek to embody the attributes of the Creative Leader. This leadership philosophy has proven to be the better long-term way to drive:

innovation

risk-taking

strong team moral and loyalty

trust in leadership

strong communication

open-ness

less egos

“we” versus “me” mentality

“build to learn” culture

a team that works well with uncertainty and ambiguity

forward thinking

success

strong product based on real world needs

"To recap some of the qualities of the PayPal mafia: high-quality people, a common bond, an ethos of..."

Sun, 05 May 2013 21:36:49 -0400

“To recap some of the qualities of the PayPal mafia: high-quality people, a common bond, an ethos of sharing and cooperation, concentrated in a region and industry. These make it rich in opportunity flow, and the same factors make any network and association worth your while.”

- Connect to Human Networks To Find Breakout Opportunities | LinkedIn

» sounds like the Anthemis ecosystem… +1
(via hackingfinance)

"The most ambitious component is a pair of opt-in energy-saving programs that kick in when demand for..."

Sun, 05 May 2013 21:35:56 -0400

“The most ambitious component is a pair of opt-in energy-saving programs that kick in when demand for energy is at its highest. When these periods roll around, Nest owners can rack up extra savings by letting the thermostat intelligently decrease their household’s energy needs. And it’s not just the homeowner who benefits: Nest’s new features are also intended to serve another class of customers entirely: the utility companies.”

- Next For Nest: Building Out The Smart Grid, One Home At A Time | Co.Design: business innovation design

This is very clever.
(via hackingfinance)

Amazing stop-motion animation using a few dozen carbon atoms under an electron microscope

Wed, 01 May 2013 10:30:16 -0400

Amazing stop-motion animation using a few dozen carbon atoms under an electron microscope

How To Be Gracious

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:54:35 -0400

How To Be Gracious:

Tom Chiarella writing for Esquire:

Remember that the only representation of you, no matter what your station, is you — your presentation, your demeanor. You simply must attend. Stand when someone enters the room, especially if you are lowly and he is the boss, and even if the reverse is true. Look them in the eye. Ask yourself: Does anybody need an introduction? If so, before you say one word about business, introduce them to others with pleasure in your voice. If you can’t muster enthusiasm for the people you happen upon in life, then you cannot be gracious. Remember, true graciousness demands that you have time for others.

The Happiest People Pursue the Most Difficult Problems - Rosabeth Moss Kanter - Harvard Business Review

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:52:23 -0400

The Happiest People Pursue the Most Difficult Problems - Rosabeth Moss Kanter - Harvard Business Review

The Two Most Important Words - Harvard Business Review

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 03:52:54 -0400

The Two Most Important Words - Harvard Business Review:

Gratitude is a practice. Make it a priority.

- Thank you.

Photo

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:37:26 -0400

"Great companies are vibrant, they can hardly contain themselves. It’s because they’re made by..."

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:18:08 -0400

“Great companies are vibrant, they can hardly contain themselves. It’s because they’re made by believers who want to find other believers and convert the rest.”

- An email from Scott Kraft. (via zachklein) - YES.

Le AngelList Blog: Invest Online now available to all startups with a good lead

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:08:40 -0400

Le AngelList Blog: Invest Online now available to all startups with a good lead:

Finally. The future is here…

angellist:

Invest Online is now available to any startup that has a top-tier lead investor.

Prior to today, startups would apply to use Invest Online and we would select which ones got in. Now it’s a self-service feature for any startup with a good lead.

And, of course, startups can still use…

Soundboy: Could VC 'value add' be quantified?

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:06:13 -0400

Soundboy: Could VC 'value add' be quantified?:

soundboy:

Every VC talks about ‘value add’. The unique ways in which they believe they can help you build your business, be a great partner, and increase the chance of your start-up being a success. These include their network, recruitment, strategic advice, operational experience etc.

I have observed…

"So many folks in the venture capital business are sheep that just want to follow the herd. They are..."

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:42:26 -0400

“So many folks in the venture capital business are sheep that just want to follow the herd. They are momentum investors purchasing highly illiquid investments. That is a recipe for disaster. Momentum investing works in highly liquid markets (sometimes). From what I can tell, it almost never works in private markets.”

- “Return and Ridicule” by Fred Wilson (via michaeldempsey)

Many of the sentiments of this post by Fred remind me of my Mad Ones post from last year. You cannot succeed long-term as an investor if you are taking the safe route. As Paul Graham said in one of his essays,

If we ever got to the point where 100% of the startups we funded were able to raise money after Demo Day, it would almost certainly mean we were being too conservative.

(via marksbirch)

laughingsquid: WalkaboutNYC Tech Edition, A Citywide Open House...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:41:15 -0400

laughingsquid:

WalkaboutNYC Tech Edition, A Citywide Open House for New York City-Based Tech Companies

The Internet of Things: Coming to a network near you - Network World

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:52:33 -0400

The Internet of Things: Coming to a network near you - Network World:

smarterplanet:

inShare7

Network When people talk about the Internet of Things (IoT), the most common examples are smart cars, IP-addressable washing machines and Internet-connected nanny cams.

But IoT is coming to the enterprise as well, and IT execs should already be thinking about the ways that IoT will shake up the corporate network.

[DEFINED: What is the Internet of Things?]

SLIDESHOW: 25 of the weirdest things in the ‘Internet of Things’]

“Products and services which were previously outside their domain will increasingly be under their jurisdiction,” says Daniel Castro, senior analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington-based research and educational institute.

So, what are these devices?

Castro says that companies increasingly will be operating in “smart buildings” with advanced HVAC systems that are connected to the rest of the corporate network.

Many utility companies will be deploying Web-connected smart meters at customers’ facilities to allow for remote monitoring.

Companies are tying their physical security to their network security, so that data from security cameras and authentication readers are coming under the purview of enterprise IT.

Retailers such as WalMart, Target and Best Buy already use RFID and other tracking technologies to manage supply chain logistics, says IDC’s Michael Fauscette. IoT is a natural next step.

Then there’s “operational technology,” where enterprise assets such as manufacturing equipment, fleet trucks, rail cars, even patient monitoring equipment in hospitals, become networked devices, says Hung LeHong, research vice president at Gartner.

joshbyard: Self-Powering Electronics: New Fabric Metamaterial...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 01:39:27 -0400

joshbyard:

Self-Powering Electronics: New Fabric Metamaterial Generates Electricity From Heat, Movement

Thermoelectrics are not exactly new, but usually made of materials that are brittle, heavy, and expensive. Carroll’s fabric, on the other hand, is lightweight, feels like wool felt, and can be wrapped around surfaces or even sewn into clothing.

While energy can’t be “created” this fabric can essentially pull electricity out if thin air, from heat and movement. The fabric Carroll’s group has can turn heat — from your body, the sun, anywhere — into usable electricity. And unlike anything ever before, it can simultaneously collect power from vibrations or movement — letting your smartphone case bounce on a carseat during a long drive could charge your phone. So could a shirt flapping in the wind.

(via David Carroll On Thermoelectric Fabrics - Business Insider)

http://don.na/invite/1zL

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:07:31 -0400

http://don.na/invite/1zL

miketrap.com: "How To Write"

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:02:55 -0400

miketrap.com: "How To Write":

miketrap:

David Ogilvy was arguably the best business writer of all time. In 1982 he sent a memo to every member of his worldwide agency empire, a memo with the same title as this blog post.

Here’s what it said:

The better you write, the higher you go in Ogilvy & Mather. People who think well, write…

futurescope: IBM creates liquid-based transistors that can...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 02:21:08 -0400

futurescope:

IBM creates liquid-based transistors that can process data like the human brain

From VentureBeat:

For decades, the transistor has been the building block of electronic devices, from computers to smartphones. It has seen little change, but a team of researchers at IBM has given the transistor a major makeover, and it may enable the company to build computers that function more like the way the human brain works. If it pans out, IBM could use the technology to build chips that are highly efficient and use much less electrical power. That could lead to a revolution in mobile devices, which today are bound by short battery lives and electrical inefficiency. The whole process is not unlike the charged electrical fluids sloshing around in our brains. If the brain can do it, an artificially crafted material might be able to do it too.

[read more]