jaspertheghost

There's many startups attempting to do this including pipl.com, http://cazoodle.com/ among others. Here's some research about it: http://www-sal.cs.uiuc.edu/~kcchang/

If you're not actively managing your portfolio, the biggest thing you can make sure to do is asset allocation a la David F. Swensen. I'd recommend Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment.

There's smart and then there's perspective. VCs are smart, but they're looking for perspective. They're cold calling you to understand your company and your space and try to possibly invest in you. In fundamental analysis, they call this the scuttlebutt approach. From our personal experience, we've even gotten partners who haven't done their research. The would immediately want to go into the demo during the pitch. When we meet the occasional partner and associate who actually knows the space and the product, we are more than impressed. In reality, if you only vaguely know the space and you're asking retarded questions about engagement and metrics, you're not really adding value. We judge VCs by their questions.

I think most entrepreneurs tend to be entrepreneurial from a young age. So, if you're one of the ones that are thinking of starting a business and haven't pulled the trigger yet, most likely you never will.

Sad but true.

Founders/CEOs. Both are fine.

I think the higher education market is in for a reality check just like what the credit market is going through right now.

1) Because of the deluge of college students. Many college educated people get jobs at Best Buy and retail outlets. Some of my high school friends are in situations like that. They assumed they would get a good job out of college, but that's what they get by getting a liberal arts degree and partying for 4 years. A 30,000-40,000 per year tuition, all down the drain.

2) Because a lot of job performance is measured by the market (i.e. startups). Getting a prestigious college degree doesn't necessarily get you the job needed and a lot of times you'll get beaten out by someone at a "less prestigious" school.

3) Many people getting a college, medical, or law degree should realize that if they're not at the top of their class, it's not necessarily guaranteed for them to get a great job. For a less prestigious university, it's even more so the case.

4) All of this will lead college counselors and the next generation of parents to advice people to get the most value for their money: i.e. a good education for a good price (i.e. not going to Harvard for Engineering, etc).

What websites are you talking about? I haven't seen any Rapleaf ads.

I would recommend: 1) The Art of War by Niccolò Machiavelli (read by Napoleon) 2) Certain to Win by Chet Richards (talks about OODA loop by John Boyd)

I don't think it's TC own doing. It might be a result of mismanaging TC's community, but I think it's largely disgruntled entrepreneurs that don't get press coverage.

This is ridiculous. A lot of the rumors about him covering only recommended or friends of friends startups are just plain untrue. He does cover startups he invest in, but in the end, it doesn't help them that much (just look at Edgeio). I think people have an exaggeration on him being a king maker for startups.

Love this as well:

"Well I've got bad news for you. I'm not that rich and I'm not that successful. But I have been around successful people. You see I'm a journalist. If you go to a stadium and you see the crowd doing the wave, there are some people who just sit there watching. Those people are journalists. We lead boring lives while hanging around people who lead interesting lives.

And I've observed a few things about the few really great people I've had a chance to meet and cover. First, they tend to have really big heads. As someone once said, what they have doesn't look like a head. It looks like a container for a head. They also can't sit still. They need to be around people. You and I require sleep. They require people."

I hate to say it, but Apple's a company that's highly dependent on its CEO. It doesn't seem like it's a company that's very dependent on its talent, so if the "dictator with taste" steps down, I believe Apple is not going to be in for a great time.

Not if Jobs dies.

I disagree with 3). If anything, entertainment websites will increase in usage because entertainment tends to be counter cyclical.

I believe in what Peter Thiel said:

He's even more bullish on the Valley. "We have this leverage finance bubble like we had in the '20s, and there's an argument that we're headed to something comparable to the '30s," he says. "Where was the best place to be in the '30s? Probably Los Angeles. It was the hub of new media and technology, with the radio and the airplane. Silicon Valley is the L.A. of the 1930s.

And being a venture capitalist is like being a producer ?!? :-0 !

I kid because I love exclamation QuEsTiOn mArK

With regard to profiling entrepreneurs, the characterizations from Steven Berglas are more spot on:

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2008/11/21/entrepreneur-...

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2008/12/02/turner-gates-...

That sounds like a very specific incident extrapolated to all entrepreneurs :)

In theory, yes it's true that scorn may even help one's entrepreneurial flame. The difference is that starting a company is like starting a fire. Little gusts of wind can buttress and make the fire spread, but it can also knock it out.

Having the support of the community within the bay area is just one less headache to deal with in conjunction with the many headaches of doing a startup.

I started a company in Chicago and moved to the Bay Area. the differences are almost exactly what was described in the article. I jumped from a fairly large and prestigious company to start the company and people automatically were incredulous that I would quit. There is no area like the Bay Area for starting company in terms of emotional well being and having fellow entrepreneurs in the same boat.