jrodgers

I think that is a problem they create ;) The terms are insane.

My thought there was there are rankings and historical data on employment success. Sure, it could be disguised as brand success.

That's me!

This will be fun... hope I can actually make it! Reading his book now. Some interesting stuff. Keep drawing parallels to Waterloo and Toronto in my head which makes reading less fast.

Woohoo gets the karma on my post! Unfair ;)

Sensational, yes, but it is possible that being more than just a pr0n collector made Hollywood pay more attention to them as there is some strategic advantage to shut them down. They may have assisted with the investigation to speed things along for whatever reason. I would bet they were more than enough reasons to arrest mr Dotcom but the complexity and the cost might have made it a tough target vs other 'low hanging fruit' law breakers (FBI has limited resources too).

I could have sworn that 37 Signals did this 'first' in that they popularized the idea of 'lean' or iterative product design around a SaaS model in 2004ish. It is the whole philosophy around the birth of Rails as I remember it. If you go way back into their blog archives it is likely there:

http://37signals.com/svn

I will give them 'first' because they built a framework around the idea of building fast and cheap.

Because startups are hot (again) and trendy (again) people are just looking for 'the right way' to do it. The real secret is that it is really hard work and knowing that you don't know everything while holding true to your vision.

MoBeers was also mentioned in this Globe and Mail article about RIM:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/in-rims-waterl...

I think a concept video, as long as it isn't too outrageous, is a decent way to inspire people. Some people watched minority report and said "I want to build that" -- concept videos could achieve the same. At the end of the article he mentions RIM's videos. I would say those are totally different as I think most of the basic components of that world are in the device or rumoured to be coming soon. That is cool. If someone can grab their latest device and make one of those workflows happen how good will they feel and what could come next?

Yes there are bad videos and they may have an unclear purpose but I think it is all about the context of the video.

My thought on why that works for YC is that you are an educator. This thought is influenced not by your credentials but by students that I have known go into YC and what they seem to get out of it from an observers point of view. I don't think it should be about making money... it should be about education first, it would be nice if it at least covered everyone's costs (plus a little bit).

A post on higher ed and incubators is what lead me down the incubator math question... I just need to finish up the original post.

It's Canadian sarcasm... the best kind.

You can't really blame RIM for being slow on IM apps given they are suing Kik with one patent claim around IM on mobile devices (I wonder if they will sue Apple with iMessage). Most other IM apps on BB were on there before the lawsuit and you have to bet no one at RIM wants to come down on the wrong side of the legal department.

Lots of other events in Waterloo too:

http://watcamp.com/calendar

...for those unaware of how much more awesome Waterloo has become.

Some perspective on the houses... have you noticed how bad 85 is every day? That is all the RIM employees that live in Milton or further away. Most of them did not move to town.

Sure RIM laying off all employees would kill Waterloo but they have a lot of cash in the bank ($8 Billion?) and have been ramping up R&D -- they aren't going anywhere for a while.

Sean is indeed the guy that got VeloCity going and he deserves a huge amount of credit. Without him it would not have existed.

Bud Walker (head of business ops at the time) and Chris Read (head of Housing and Residences) also deserve some credit as well as Bud found the money and Chris found the space.

Students (never mind the city) at Waterloo have these same folks driving the new Student Success office. The student experience at Waterloo is going to get much better.

Now Ted is the guy that has given VeloCity elevated value and opportunity beyond what was already there from the amazing talent that has lived in the residence over the last 8 terms.

It just got really interesting.