July 2010
11 posts
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“So go ahead, break stuff. Break yourself on the once-hard edges of yourself. And...”
– Gym Jones - Knowledge - Remake Remodel
Inspiring. Read the whole thing, then go out and break yourself. Everyday. I am…
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Being a player/coach isn't easy
Being a player/coach isn’t easy, be it sports, business or life in general.
Last weekend was the annual Cape Cod Lacrosse Tournament. For the past four years, my buddies have registered a team and I just showed up to play. I did my part to lead on the field, but I didn’t feel responsibility as a coach.
This year, I stepped it up. I designed our jerseys (and picked the team socks!),...
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ok… i know this is 2 reblogged songs in a...
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my boy PTM hooked me up with this album a couple...
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The Founding Fathers Were Badass Entrepreneurs
Yesterday, I tweeted this:
Apparently, a few people patriotically agreed with me. (Thanks for the retweets!).
It’s a simple analogy and it’s probably been made before, but as I went for a run yesterday I was thinking about the decisions and actions made by our founding fathers to start this country, and I quickly began imagining the excitement and uncertainty they must have felt at...
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A 4th of July to Remember
Every year on July 4th, I am reminded of where I was on this same day in 2006. [Original post here. Click through for more/better pictures. All photos are mine.]
Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Happy 4th of July! this year it sort of snuck up on me, and i guess i “celebrated” by crossing the border from Lao into Cambodia. amazing the freedom with which i can roam...
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July?! What happened to June?!
July?! What happened to June? Oh yeah, I traveled so much that I literally didn’t stay in one bed for more than 3 days at a time!
Any VC’s reading this are already thinking “cry me a river.” Trust me, I’m not writing to complain. In fact, I loved it! Sure it messes with my work/sleep/diet/exercise routines, but I got to meet some awesome people - and as I’ve...
June 2010
7 posts
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Be the captain of your soul.
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.
This is an excerpt from ‘Invictus’ - by William Ernest Henley and it’s used in the film Invictus - the inspiring true story of the South African rugby team that won the World Cup (with Nelson Mandela’s avid support).
I got to see it on a recent...
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Be Lucky - It's an Easy Skill to Learn
I recently read God’s Debris and just like the intro suggests, I got together with some friends to discuss it over beers after we all finished it.
I won’t get into the entire thought experiment that is the premise for the story, but one of the main takeaways is around the idea of probability. It struck a chord because Joe and I have been talking about this at length lately and it...
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My Secret
joeyevoli:
If I’ve found one secret to living life, and being happy. It’s to ask yourself this everyday: ”How can I be better today, than I was yesterday?”
After that, just take it one day at a time.
It’s really that simple. I only wish I realized it earlier.
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May 2010
10 posts
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No ads here.
I’ve met some people who work “in digital” lately. I honestly don’t know what that means. None of them seem to be engineers. They’re usually sales people.
I’ll give them this though, they’re always looking to buy and sell ad inventory, so they usually light up when I say I’m at a web startup…
Until I tell them we don’t run ads on...
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Make Connections Early and Often
The other day I talked about Jeff Bussgang’s book Mastering the VC Game. I highly recommend this for anyone who thinks they may want to raise venture capital someday.
In the book, Bussgang includes the stories of some stellar entrepreneurs. In particular, I loved the story about Eric Paley who keenly built and successfully sold his startup to 3M.
There are a few reasons Eric was so...
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One Year
A little over a year ago, I started spending time with a girl I’d met just once while we were in school together at Brown. On a whim, I invited her over for “a dinner party I was planning” and when she accepted, I then had to scramble to actually invite other guests, too! [Cooking was no problem, though]. ;)
Despite the long roundtrip on the subway for her, I leveraged the big...
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Mastering the VC Game - VC's Aren't ATM's
I finished reading Jeff Bussgang’s book Mastering the VC Game last week. It’s a great, quick read that anyone starting out in tech/startups/VC should read (especially founders planning to raise money).
Lots of rookie founders subscribe to a diet of self-education through blogs/books (often about fundraising because it’s foreign as first-timers). I sometimes refer other newbies...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-5-9) →
Cloud Cult (2)
Faith No More (2)
RICK LUCY (2)
Saves the Day (1)
The Bravery (1)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
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My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-5-2) →
Jack Johnson (4)
Nada Surf (2)
Porno for Pyros (2)
Brand New (2)
Miike Snow (2)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
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April 2010
12 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-4-25) →
Red Hot Chili Peppers (5)
Death Cab for Cutie (2)
No Doubt (2)
Passion Pit (2)
Andrew Bird (2)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
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'When you've got a hammer in your hand, everything...
I recently finished a book in which one scientist references the Handy Hammer Syndrome:
‘When you’ve got a hammer in your hand, everything looks like a nail.’
He’s referencing some research by a student who claimed (against established thought) that early man evolved into runners, but the scientist knew the student was an avid runner himself (so he was using the...
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Stylman’s right about the rain, but this...
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WatchPart 2 of The Startup by NYC3.0.
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436. Hold your heroes to a higher standard.
(via rulesformyunbornson)
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“I had little monetary incentive to stay after the acquisition. Yet two years...”
– Fantastic story from @epaley. This is how we feel about HomeField and I shared that in the comments (copied here):
“Fantastic post, Eric.
We (the founders of our startup) feel very similarly. It’s about creating value for real customers.
We’ve caught flack from some investors...
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Watch“The Startup” – HomeField Documentary Part 1
For the past 5 months or so, the guys behind NYC 3.0 have been covering us for their master’s thesis at the Columbia School of Journalism.
It was a little weird to have a couple guys with cameras coming to our team meetings, interviewing us about HomeField and even following us around after-hours, but we got used to it and we’re happy to provide even...
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Don't Tolerate Incompetence
Yesterday, my friend and biz partner Joe said to me:
“You may be the closest person to [Teddy] Roosevelt I know. He just didn’t tolerate incompetent people whatsoever.”
Joe’s reading a book on Teddy right now. We sort of revere the guy because he was a total badass, and I took Joe’s remark as a compliment.
I think I learned this from my parents. Entrepreneurs...
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The Certificate by The Hilltop Hoods
Some Aussie...
March 2010
14 posts
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The challenge of creating a new category —... →
[Just found this old draft…]
Good read from Chris Dixon. He’s right on.
We deal with this a lot when we’re pitching @HomeField. Example…
“Oh, so you’re for recruiting?”
“No… well. Not yet.”
“So, you’re an editor?”
“No. Well, sort of, but…”
It’s the way of the world. Our brains are...
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“It didn’t mean anything to us. We’re not part of it. We’re creators, we’re...”
– Dan Spinosa (via joeyevoli)
Proud to work with Dan - a great engineer, cofounder and one of my closest friends.
The above quote is from the mini documentary “The Startup” about our company.
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About “The Startup” | NYC 3.0 →
For those of you wondering what all the noise is about this documentary “The Startup,” here’s the explanation from the creators…
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27
I turned 27 this past weekend. Thanks to everyone for the well wishes.
And after living in NYC for over 2 years, I finally got my parents to visit - which was my mom’s first trip to NYC… ever. Yes… really.
We lucked out on the weather and spent a lot of time outside in SoHo, the West Village, on the Highline, Central Park, etc. and hit up a couple ‘chef’s’...
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I was going to post the cover by Vampire Weekend,...
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Poor attendance...
Just an FYI: if it’s quiet over here, it’s because I’ve been working on our company blog lately: telling our story from day one, announcing some new partners, handling all the PR for HomeField and dropping posts on new features like this (with video!).
Check it out once in a while. Who knows? You may learn something.
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My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-2-14) →
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (10)
Beach House (3)
The Black Keys (3)
Vampire Weekend (2)
Silje Nes (2)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz