7 Stories to read this weekend

It has been almost a month since I penned one of these. I was away visiting my family and as such decided to leave the computer behind. I am back to regular programming. So here are some of the awesome stories I have read in recent days for your pleasure.

• It is startup season in Silicon Valley. Fundings are going through the roof. New companies are getting started every day and well, people are packing their bags and moving to Silicon Valley. Even guys at CNN are talking about startups. Scary! However, there are two pieces that everyone (including buddy entrepreneurs) should read — Andrew Chen’s How sheep-like behavior breeds innovation in Silicon Valley and Chris Dixon’s The problem with investing based on pattern recognition. The lesson of these two pieces: try and be original. It works!
• I have been a big fan of Nicolas Felton and well, let’s just say, I have been unlucky for not having had a chance to meet Facebook’s lead designer in person. Here is an interview with him by Dan Hill that is a must and gives you great understanding of Facebook Timeline.
• It is SxSW and thank god I am home, enjoying the finest dining establishments in San Francisco as everyone has migrated to Austin. At SxSW they are all going to be talking Discovery and Curation – two trends I started talking about, about 4 years ago. Never mind that, and read this piece by Macaia Wright on 13 startups that are changing lifestyle through discovery and curation. Much more fun than reading about another startup that helps you find people you really don’t need to meet.
• Procrastination is essential to innovation, writes Whitney Johnson. Damn, I am using that line with my editor as an excuse for why I can’t file stories on time.
• Ben Bloch whose startup, Whim didn’t work out like he planned wrote an honest to god, extremely valuable piece about the lessons he learned from his experience. I think if you are a budding entrepreneur, please find time to read this.
• There is a lot of love for Pinterest but there is one person who doesn’t much care for what it represents – Schmutzie and writes a passionate post on why she is thinking differently about the curation-darling of the moment.
• Hanif Kureshi, the famous and fabulous writer/novelist wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times, the Art of Distraction.

And I will be back next week.

PS: Here are two of my posts that were written during my visit to India — Eagle’s Cry (my reflection on changing Delhi) and the Joy of iPad.