Aziz Grieser's Comments

Feld Thoughts : Would You Want It If It Were Free?

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 05:12:17 +0000

Your answers give rise to 10x more q's from me, but they are too specific and could be answered on a 1-on-1 email basis if the answers were more crucial to me. Thank you for responding. Always impressed with your blog dedication, and equal treatment that you give to comments.

Feld Thoughts : Would You Want It If It Were Free?

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 21:28:57 +0000

I'd like to hear how you, Brad, and you, Fred, answer the main question above in this post: (Certainly lots of people “would try it if it were free”, but do they actually want it?) If a business has not "launched" or reached "the market" yet, is there any more to answering this question, as professional investors, than a simple quick gut check? Is your gut instinct even sufficient to warrant investing in any company (in today's investment economy)? If there are so many customers willing to try the "new thing" for free or at some cost, how do you assess whether a company's initial success will last? Are there really that many cases you know of where a company failed after a short-lived initial success, because nobody really wanted what they decided to try? The viability of "freemium" biz models has been debated to death, although I have always sided with "free is never really free". http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff...

"I'M A GODDAMNED GENIUS" : Why doesn't Facebook/MySpace focus on job listings?

Sun, 24 May 2009 08:12:00 +0000

Yes, Tom and Carlos are both very capable and were in EIT with me, but from what I do know about PeopleAhead.com, it's not at all related to this concept, although I would welcome them into a discussion with several friends of mine. My FaceIn concept is not so much a destination website that would compete with Monster, LinkedIn, and Craigslist, but rather an enabler for employers to get their job in front of the eyes of the right applicant pool-by leveraging the places they trust and already hang out, like Facebook. Why not allow your employees a portion of the profit that you'd typically pay to a staffing firm/agent? Especially if it costs you less time and money for a higher quality set of employee referrals.

Mendelson's Musings : Lawyer Layoffs â What It Means To You

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:28:36 +0000

how about: "will have to work for a law firm/company for 3 years to pay for law school debt, but will definitely leave within 3 years". Is this something you think she could really count on?

Mendelson's Musings : Lawyer Layoffs â What It Means To You

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:05:29 +0000

Hey there Jason, nice post, though not very hopeful for the young attorney ranks. I have a friend who is very smart and contemplating law school for a career related to environmental policy. She's deeply passionate about it and has great work experience already, (only 26/27 I think). This is what she told me when I asked her why she needed a law degree: - would be happy working her own farm and taking on private clients - will have to work for a law firm/company for 3 years to pay for law school debt, but will definitely leave within 3 years - thinks a law degree is a great fall-back (parents talking here), and a prerequisite for most jobs - hates current job with environmental San Francisco government for a bunch of reasons, mainly the attitudes of her colleagues, and ineffectual reality of their work. What advice would you give her? Go to law school? Go to a particular law school? Talk to someone?

Feld Thoughts : Why The FAA Does Not Regulate Jetpacks

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:48:09 +0000

http://imagdg.com/?p=10 If you follow this link to my blog, you'll see a cool video of what I think is the best of the jet back innovators, from the Go-Fast guys. Best of all its from the test pilot's perspective who broke his leg in the process. The dude has some brass balls. The New Zealand one that you referred to is simply too much expensive equipment. My hobby is to build the first affordable human-powered-flying-bike. Sounds crazy, yes, but if you follow the link I provided, you'll see that Nasa built two iterative models, and the team's amateur cyclist pedaled it and flew across the English channel (30 miles). Actually, I'm collaborating with two or three folks around the nation on this.

AwkwardRules.net : Awkwardness at IgniteBoulder

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:50:50 +0000

Very funny Vikas. Mixing your natural awkwardness with awkward data was somehow... not awkward.

Feld Thoughts : Have You Ever Failed?

Sun, 8 Mar 2009 22:34:55 +0000

Over the years, I've read a lot of posts with "failure" in the title, and most try to spin a failure into winning if you can learn/persevere from/through the experience. While I agree with the basic premise, you know what its like to fail. You don't want to hear this sh!t. The nature of competition is to want to win. Failing to win usually means you lose, and losing sucks. You try to understand why. Rarely is there one moment you can look back at and say, "that's when I fuc$ed up". The US economic downturn is a perfect example of this. I'm young, (29), and I've seen grown men act like complete babies when they lose. Just the other weekend, I played a game of Taboo with a group of friends, one of which is a super talented corporate executive. When it was his turn to have my team guess the word he was reading, without saying the words he's not allowed to use in his description, he got nervous and totally blew the round. He then lost it, threatening physical violence on the opposing team members that were assigned to catch his violations, and it ruined the atmosphere from then on. He also never apologized the entire weekend. I've also witnessed youth act with the maturity of someone twice their age. My cousin has two twins, both 8 years old, and their older brother, age 11. I gave them each one R/C helicopter each for Christmas, and the choppers have invisible lasers that can shoot each other down. One of the twins had his chopper shot down and crashed his into a very tall tree. His brothers wouldn't stop playing with their helicopters to help him get his. After crying for a 1/2 hour and whining to his brothers to let him try flying theirs, he came and got me for help. I got several tennis balls for him, and after many attempts, he finally knocked his helicopter out of the tree and was elated when he began flying again. 5 minutes later, his older brother crashed his on the roof, and displayed the same immature tantrum. This time, however, the younger cousin who had crashed his immediately landed his, and to my surprise, thought to use a water hose to lasso and rescue his older brother's chopper. When you're failing, it sucks, and your reactions are expected to be poor. Taking responsibility for your actions, and having the conviction and courage to do what needs doing will define you to yourself and everyone around you.

"I'M A GODDAMNED GENIUS" : 100 years later... I still can't fly???

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 09:19:46 +0000

then collaborate and fly we shall.

TechStars Blog : TechStars Model Seed Funding Documents

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:55:43 +0000

Informative post. Thank you.

Feld Thoughts : Play the Point, Not the Score

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:53:44 +0000

Just catching up with negligent blogging and here's another great post to make me read more. Keep it up!

Feld Thoughts : Zynga Live Poker Launches

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:30:44 +0000

Thanks for the Zynga update. I expect to have the traction necessary for your intro, middle of spring '09. I'll keep you posted.

http://www.jeffnolan.com/blog/ : Freakonomics on the Market

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:49:16 +0000

Surprised to see you are a freakonomics fan.

TravelFli Blog : Travelfli Meetings: Intercontinental Hotel Group

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:38:19 +0000

You guys is executing. Well done.

Breast Cancer For Husbands.com : The Green Green Garage of Home

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:04:46 +0000

Have you seen the ads for the new Cadillac Escalade Hybrid? 20 city/21 hwy MPG still sucks, and no way is it electric while loaded up, no matter what speed. http://www.cadillac.com/escaladehybrid/ Then again oil prices have hit an all time low.... so people may not pay the premium.

Bill Flagg : Unfair Advantage

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:08:15 +0000

Nice post Bill. There are several metrics for BPW. We'll set the bar for the competition, and this type of thinking will keep us way ahead. FYI - I'm in Emeryville, CA now, and remember the last Oakland A's game that I saw last year... that was one awful team to carry the legacy.

TechStars Community : Fantasy Leagues / Web 2.0 Concept

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:13:44 +0000

Sent an email to these guys... Will see if anyone is listening.

Feld Thoughts : My Quandary

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:13:10 +0000

Why'd you never get into piloting? I've always wanted to fly.

Feld Thoughts : How High Tech Sales Really Works

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:09:44 +0000

Yep Dave, thanks Brad. I too was "uplifted" by the left side-bar.

Bill Flagg : Profitable Pricing

Sun, 7 Sep 2008 09:59:57 +0000

I agree with all of your pricing comments. I'd only add that your pricing model should change as your grow: low profit margins to start with attract customers, and increasing the profit margin later as your able to lower costs through economies of scale. We'll see if I can walk that talk.

Aziz Grieser's Comments

Feld Thoughts : Would You Want It If It Were Free?

Feld Thoughts : Would You Want It If It Were Free?

"I'M A GODDAMNED GENIUS" : Why doesn't Facebook/MySpace focus on job listings?

Mendelson's Musings : Lawyer Layoffs â What It Means To You

Mendelson's Musings : Lawyer Layoffs â What It Means To You

Feld Thoughts : Why The FAA Does Not Regulate Jetpacks

AwkwardRules.net : Awkwardness at IgniteBoulder

Feld Thoughts : Have You Ever Failed?

"I'M A GODDAMNED GENIUS" : 100 years later... I still can't fly???

TechStars Blog : TechStars Model Seed Funding Documents

Feld Thoughts : Play the Point, Not the Score

Feld Thoughts : Zynga Live Poker Launches

http://www.jeffnolan.com/blog/ : Freakonomics on the Market

TravelFli Blog : Travelfli Meetings: Intercontinental Hotel Group

Breast Cancer For Husbands.com : The Green Green Garage of Home

Bill Flagg : Unfair Advantage

TechStars Community : Fantasy Leagues / Web 2.0 Concept

Feld Thoughts : My Quandary

Feld Thoughts : How High Tech Sales Really Works

Bill Flagg : Profitable Pricing

Mendelson's Musings : Lawyer Layoffs â What It Means To You

Mendelson's Musings : Lawyer Layoffs â What It Means To You