Mark's comments

Vator has nailed vertical discovery of startups across their vast social network of entrepreneurs and investors. Social networks are all about discovery and how to best leverage technology to find what you're looking for, Vator's find a friend or colleague's startup tool does exactly that and it's dead simple to use; KISS. Mark
on Voice of the Entrepreneur

1. Twitter, of course, is the biggest social media story of the year. The implications of it are beyond far and wide. 2. Augmented Reality is the second biggest story this year, maybe only in early adopter circles, but it'll be next year's biggest story for mainstream social media. 3. Maybe not a huge story, but certainly most heart breaking, Facebook buying FriendFeed; enough said.
on Top 10 biggest social media stories of 2009

That sounds great, thanks for the offer.
on You are now free to rock, online

Very cool!!! I need one of these, big time.
on You are now free to rock, online

What a great article. And I do believe getting back to folks in a timely manner is an excellent indicator of who they are both professionally and personally. And, btw, I'm amused by your comment about Google.... without fail (one exception, Kevin Marks -- although, now with Ribbit)that's been my experience.... A players who don't do email. Congrats on a wonderful article.
on Common traits of A-Players

I think this is an excellent idea... anything that will help all of us understand the VC ecosystem better is a good idea. I would love to see Fred Wilson provide feedback on this from a VC perspective as he is highly critical of the industry yet provides actionable feedback on how to make it better.
on Venture capital funds plunge 82% in Q3

Eye opening stuff. Thanks for the nod, Matt.
on Don't break your hockeystick

Thanks, Lorenzo... totally agree with you.
on How to PR your way out of the downturn

Lorenzo, excellent piece and the visuals really drive the analysis of it home.
on Down Rounds + Cramdowns = 2009 top VC exits?

Short, sweet, and to the point! Perfect and informative piece. I especially like Vinod's take on entrepreneurship; keep failing until you succeed.
on What Am I MIssy? Episode 25

John: Excellent format and interview. Interesting insights from the provision discussion. Looking forward to the next installment of fundRazor.
on The fundraising behind Xoopit

What an exciting concept, especially from the educational market perspective. That said, I'm a little concerned about how this model can scale with the costs of video production for each Vook being in the tens of thousands, possibly. Nonetheless, can't we for the September launch.
on Sneak peek at Vook - the digital book future

Building out client's personalized feed with Bancroft FeedtoFocus service.
on Connect. Create. Converge.

Thanks, Lorenzo!
on Connect. Create. Converge.

Happy to announce our newest client, HP.
on Connect. Create. Converge.

Happy to announcement our newest client, HP.
on Connect. Create. Converge.

Brilliant!
on Unconventional wisdom about social media

Great insight on being "open" and taking the good,bad,and ugly of feedback. All of it can lead to much success.
on Channel 9 - How Microsoft launched it

Very useful review of Ari's business. As Chris said, state the problem you solve up front and ultimately, bite off one vertical at a time.
on Is Filtrbox the way to filter out Web noise?

Great overview of what's happening "right now" in marketplace. And, it's not surprising to hear more entrepreneurs are out working the crowds;should continue doing that long after the recession.
on Entrepreneurs flock to conferences

The more a person has to spend time picking and choosing preferences from a list the less compelling the whole idea of personalization becomes. What I think is compelling is an editor/curator putting together micro/nano oriented niche content for people or groups... How you do this will be both through humans hands and an Amazon like learning algorithm. The following quote from your piece,I think, hits the nail on the head. "But will it be only the few who want to personalize their news and make selections? Personalization is great, but only if people care to have things personalized. People are inherently lazy. And, asking them to select categories isn't something they'll want to do, even if their tastes change over time."
on Personalized news site Meehive launches

Thanks, Lorenzo. Let me know if you have any questions you'd like me to ask the local VC community.
on Seed and early-stage funding isn't dead

Hi, Arjun: Thanks for your comment on Charlene's interview. I agree about the noise and am sorry... almost didn't post this story because of it. On the interview, yes, it '09 may still be too early for significant de-friending actions. However, I believe we'll start to see emergence of many friend filters, i.e. similar to Friendfeed but more granular.
on De-friending on social networks

Congrats on Liquid Scenarios accurately predicting that Socialmedian could be acquired for $7.5 million.
on Socialmedian sells to Xing for $7.5 million

This is very cool. In fact, a tool like this is way overdue for businesses to micro-blog their traditional PR, white papers, interviews, articles, etc.. Further along I can imagine Vator providing a friendfeed/Alltop type service for companies within its ecosystem to break news by "vertical" It'd be great if I could visit a vertical page, e.g, mobile on Vator and see all companies breaking news on a particular area of interest. Again, Vator's addition of micro-blogging is a big step in the right direction for social networking for businesses. Congrats.
on Bambi's blog: Vator launches Company updates

It's a tight rope for sure, and one that's easy to fall from... As David Saad mentions in his comment, "The right way is the way that you know how" And the way most of us "know how" is through the discovery process of what works and what doesn't work, i.e. failure and success. ---- Great list, too true.
on Entrepreneurs' paradox

Passion is a key driver to building a business and Ashton's got heaps of that... Per the out of the box thinking, not sure Blah Girls qualifies... I can almost imagine the brainstorming sessions that went into creating Blah Girls, lots of, no dude, dude, check it out... dude.. and other witty banter --- It'll be interesting to see if Blah Girls catches on, as Mitos Suson comments, "only time will tell". Mark
on Ashton Kutcher on Blah Girls

Excellent points and commentary on a topic of great interest to me. Thank you. "Doesn't the answer lie in our network of trusted people which is available via social technology?" And to your note, how do we filter information? I think FriendFeed is doing an interesting experiment now with FF Beta. <a target='_blank' href=' http://beta.friendfeed.com/ '>["http://beta.fri...</a> Mark
on Managing the mob

Great advice, especially regarding the CEO/founder as chief sales guy/gal during the early stages of a start-up. The vision, passion, and drive present in most entrepreneurs turns them into natural sales people, even if they don't think of themselves as such. A powerful point made by Paul.
on Stop overplanning and just do it

As much as any entrepreneur knows in the back of their mind not to give up, it is totally essential we keep hearing advice, ups and downs, and encouragement from those who've made it. "Feeling like you're on the brink of greatness, and the brink of failure" -Richard Rosenblatt "never ever, ever, ever give up" -William Sagan "Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture." -Norman Vincent Peale
on Never ever, ever, ever give up