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Comment by keiferski | Hacker News Reader

I just wanted to comment on the excellent picture choice. Didn't realize it was a cup of coffee until I read through the article.

I then imagined myself as the entrepreneur, staring down into his coffee on the table, pondering the deal. I don't think I would've had the same visual response with a stock photo of a coffee cup. Not sure if that was your intent, but good job either way.

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Thanks for your kind words. My background is in design and I have a lot of fun working on those little graphics. All the best - Paul.

When I was younger all the grownups would offer advice like "Don't choose an immature name like Goat Butt to use online. No one will ever take you seriously." Remember that?

I'm glad you're dedicating yourself to proving them wrong.

I know this is superficial and I am no one to comment, but I still do not like his nick selection (for professional purposes.)

Counterpoint: I love it. It's memorable.

I never did figure out that it was a coffee cup, but for some reason I really enjoyed staring at it. I'm still not sure why.

Looking through the rest of your blog, the visual design is really well done, in an understated way. If you felt like expounding on this sort of thing, I'm sure you'd find an enthusiastic audience.

I spent about 5 seconds puzzling over why the graphic was there. I'm not sure what I think about that. On the minus, side that''s 5 seconds I will never get back. On the plus side, it built tension that I was probably able to use to read the article. My words apply only to people who are new to your site because of course after a reader has seen a few of these designs, he or she will not have the puzzlement reaction I had.

I realised what it was almost immediately, and then read the article because I thought it was clever.

While reading this my mind pictured a scenario at a booth at Buck's restaurant of Woodside, CA. I've had my fair share of investor meetings/coffees there and it immediately came to mind.

(Scoble talks about why Buck's is a landmark of SV: http://scobleizer.com/2010/10/04/silicon-valley-places-that-... )

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