en-us http://www.intensedebate.com/users/1667 Comments by Don Dodge http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/10/how-early-product-failures-led-to-huge-successes.html#IDComment212085907 Yes, I remember StickyBits. Cool functionality, but really just a feature, not an economically viable product. I didn't know the team transformed into Turntable.FM. Great move. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:17:46 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/10/how-early-product-failures-led-to-huge-successes.html#IDComment212085907 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/10/how-early-product-failures-led-to-huge-successes.html#IDComment211998081 Greg, That is a great example. I didn't know that about Flickr. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:21:06 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/10/how-early-product-failures-led-to-huge-successes.html#IDComment211998081 http://blog.paulcarr.com/2011/09/23/whats-next/#IDComment197648540 Great news Paul. Congratulations! You have great investors and advisors in Tony Hsieh and Mike Arrington. I'm sure you will do well. I like the idea of a startup diary. I mentioned to Erick that TC should do a startup diary from one entrepreneur, and a VC "day in the life" column. Good stuff. I will be reading your stuff and cheering you on. Very excited for you. Don Dodge Fri, 23 Sep 2011 21:12:48 +0000 http://blog.paulcarr.com/2011/09/23/whats-next/#IDComment197648540 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/09/tc-disrupt-sf-2011-easy-to-start-company-hard-to-build-business.html#IDComment195962297 Ram, Great work! At a conference like DEMO where they publish the attendee list it is smart to target the people you want to meet. Several companies at Techcrunch Disrupt sent emails to me before the show requesting meetings. Smart move. Conferences can be a huge value to startups if they work it. Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:40:43 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/09/tc-disrupt-sf-2011-easy-to-start-company-hard-to-build-business.html#IDComment195962297 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/09/acquisition-success-depends-on-founders.html#IDComment190379278 Goyal, Good point. I will add a reference to Slide and DodgeBall. Tue, 6 Sep 2011 16:51:27 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/09/acquisition-success-depends-on-founders.html#IDComment190379278 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/07/ironically-facebook-and-twitter-accelerating-google-growth.html#IDComment172734968 The team is working on it, but I can't say anything about a date. Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:39:27 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/07/ironically-facebook-and-twitter-accelerating-google-growth.html#IDComment172734968 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/06/twitter-litter-do-followers-really-follow-you.html#IDComment158689921 Rich, not sure what we disagree on here. As I said in the post, the thing that is nice about Twitter is that everyone can configure their follower list to meet their needs. For me that means keeping it to under 100 that I read everyday. For Robert it means following 32,000. I don't see the point in following that many...but that is just me. My main point is that people who "follow" hundreds or thousands of people aren't really reading most of them. And people who think they have thousands of followers...really don't. It is all an illusion. Fri, 3 Jun 2011 00:47:07 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/06/twitter-litter-do-followers-really-follow-you.html#IDComment158689921 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/06/twitter-litter-do-followers-really-follow-you.html#IDComment158688698 Robert, You are the one who got me started blogging, and got me on Twitter. I have watched you manage your Twitter streams and I admit you are amazing. You manage lists better than anyone I know. But, following 32,000? You must have trimmed down considerably :-) That 80,000 number was from March of 2009. Even for you 32,000 is a lot. What is the point of following so many people when you can't possibly read all of them? Fri, 3 Jun 2011 00:40:42 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/06/twitter-litter-do-followers-really-follow-you.html#IDComment158688698 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/06/twitter-litter-do-followers-really-follow-you.html#IDComment158390683 Andrew, you are probably right. Pretty sad. I never thought of that. Thu, 2 Jun 2011 02:28:17 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/06/twitter-litter-do-followers-really-follow-you.html#IDComment158390683 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/06/twitter-litter-do-followers-really-follow-you.html#IDComment158278643 Orlando, that $500M was from a post more than 2 years ago. The valuation is probably 10X that now. I disagree that they will never come up with a profitable business model. I believe they will. But, this post is not about Twitter's valuation or business model....it is about the follower model. Wed, 1 Jun 2011 19:01:31 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/06/twitter-litter-do-followers-really-follow-you.html#IDComment158278643 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/06/twitter-litter-do-followers-really-follow-you.html#IDComment158253734 Alfred, I try to read your blog when I can, and I see your Tweets now and then too. For me Twitter is like a curated news list. There are some really smart people I don't follow because they Tweet too much. I just can't keep up with it, and the signal to noise ratio gets out of whack. That is the nice thing about Twitter, you can tailor it to suit your needs. Wed, 1 Jun 2011 17:12:55 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/06/twitter-litter-do-followers-really-follow-you.html#IDComment158253734 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/05/nfc-digital-payments-whats-in-it-for-consumers.html#IDComment157669015 Michael, I believe there can be significant benefits to consumers beyond the convenience. Getting money saving coupons at the point of sale is a significant benefit. Groupon style offers at the POS can also be a big savings for consumers. I disagree that coupons or offers rely on "breakage" to be successful. How do you have breakage with coupons?. The producers of coupons WANT consumers to redeem them. That is the whole point...to drive consumer demand, and encourage new customers to try the product. I agree that retailers will not have more than one scanner/reader. I don't know if NFC uses a common protocol or not. It seems like doing so would significantly reduce the cost of the hardware. Don Tue, 31 May 2011 00:00:23 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/05/nfc-digital-payments-whats-in-it-for-consumers.html#IDComment157669015 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/tech-bubbles-tides-and-earthquakes-what-you-should-know.html#IDComment145646973 Noel, I argue the opposite. We are in a tech bubble, but we don't know if it is a tiny bubble that has years left to grow, or if it is a big bubble about to burst. Markets swing up and down all the time. Bubbles form slowly and burst at unpredictable times. There are some indications. When unproven founders can raise millions at valuations over $5M...we are definitely in the later stages of a bubble. Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:26:09 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/tech-bubbles-tides-and-earthquakes-what-you-should-know.html#IDComment145646973 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/saying-no-to-great-ideas-and-customers.html#IDComment144923065 Nilofer, Good point about big companies. "Getting along" is more valued than tough tradeoffs. So, they don't kill anything and they don't make tradeoffs. Sort of like the federal government. It is much easier to say NO when you can't afford it, or don't have any people available to do it. On the other hand, some big companies have big barriers to trying anything new. Only incremental improvements to existing products. Both approaches are bad. Startups need to focus because they are on the brink of total collapse every month. Big companies don't feel the immediate pain, but eventually will. Thu, 21 Apr 2011 21:47:57 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/saying-no-to-great-ideas-and-customers.html#IDComment144923065 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/do-windows-or-mac-operating-systems-matter.html#IDComment142836245 tbrander, Tablets are specifically mentioned in the 3rd paragraph. "With hundreds of millions of Smartphones and Tablets flooding the market, and hundreds of thousands of apps, does anyone think about operating systems?" Both Smartphones and Tablets will result in fewer sales of PCs and Macs. In both cases the OS is largely irrelevant. People are using the browser or apps.., not OS specific applications. Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:36:56 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/do-windows-or-mac-operating-systems-matter.html#IDComment142836245 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/do-tax-rates-effect-startups-and-job-growth.html#IDComment142643049 Rich, I understand your logic, but the reality is that investors do not factor taxes into their decisions. VCs and Angels are looking for 100% to 500% returns on their investments. Lowering taxes from 35% to 30% has no impact whatsoever. A 5% tax difference on returns of 100% to 500% just doesn't matter. I do believe that investors would invest LOTS more if they could offset their capital losses against regular income. Today investors can only offset their capital losses against capital gains, plus $3K. If investors don't have any gains...they are going to be nervous about investing further. Thu, 14 Apr 2011 01:32:00 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/do-tax-rates-effect-startups-and-job-growth.html#IDComment142643049 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/startup-founders-can-have-their-cake-and-eat-it-too.html#IDComment140841561 Jain, I agree it would be great if Google Ventures did more seed stage investing. Maybe in the future. Getting access to partners at any VC firm is generally best done through referrals. GV is no different in this case. The Google Ventures partners do show up at Techcrunch, Ycombinator, Techstars, and other startup events. I know Rich Miner from Google Ventures was at Techstars in New York just yesterday. Send me an email any time you have a company that is looking for funding that you think would be a good fit for Google Ventures. Thu, 7 Apr 2011 22:22:19 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/startup-founders-can-have-their-cake-and-eat-it-too.html#IDComment140841561 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/startup-founders-can-have-their-cake-and-eat-it-too.html#IDComment140840832 Allen, You make good points. These programs do target very specific stage companies. But, the alternative would be random selections that don't attract the right people/investors/press. Thu, 7 Apr 2011 22:18:27 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/startup-founders-can-have-their-cake-and-eat-it-too.html#IDComment140840832 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/startup-founders-can-have-their-cake-and-eat-it-too.html#IDComment140794214 John, we can argue percentages, but the trend is very clear. Founders are keeping more of the equity. BTW, for 20% range to be true, that would mean a VC investing $2M on an $8M pre-money valuation. I never saw that 10 years ago. Never. More like $2M on a $2M to $3M pre-money valuation. Of course there are counter examples, but this was more the range I was seeing. I'm not sure the funding and valuation trends of the past few years are an anomaly either. It looks like permanent structural change to me. Time will tell. Thu, 7 Apr 2011 18:20:55 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/04/startup-founders-can-have-their-cake-and-eat-it-too.html#IDComment140794214 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/03/women-rule-the-internet-and-tech-press.html#IDComment136629138 Arianna Huffington is in the top office. Heather Harde is CEO of Techcrunch. Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer are doing very well. Carol Bartz is CEO of Yahoo. Padmasree Warrior is CTO of Cisco. I could go on and on. How much evidence do you need? Tue, 22 Mar 2011 02:33:26 +0000 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2011/03/women-rule-the-internet-and-tech-press.html#IDComment136629138