I was reading an opinion piece by Arash Ferdowsi, co-founder of an online storage company, Dropbox. While the piece’s thrust is about the important and long term relevance of immigrants to this country, I couldn’t help but focus on the role his parents played in helping build his future. And he isn’t alone. Yesterday, when … Continue reading Parents
IPO
Summer’s over so let’s WeWork
I am not much for summer vacation, but occasionally I do like to take a couple of days to tune out my work life. All the travel and meetings of my trip made it difficult for me to sit down and write a coherent piece for this week’s newsletter. So rather than begin this week’s newsletter with the usual essay, I will just offer up the following observation. Continue reading “Summer’s over so let’s WeWork”
The Price is Right
I have to admit, it is great to see the initial public offerings of various technology companies come to market and create a level of excitement. Lyft, Uber, and Pinterest are hogging the headlines, but they are also helping to kickstart the financial engine that makes Silicon Valley hum. Of course, not everyone is enthusiastic. … Continue reading The Price is Right
From launch to IPO, Dropbox hasn’t changed much
This week Dropbox filed for an IPO, and it brought back a lot of memories. In 2007, I first wrote about the company and I was mostly enthusiastic. Here is what I said: While it seems that everyone wants to develop a better syncing or storage or sharing technology, the population at large doesn’t seem … Continue reading From launch to IPO, Dropbox hasn’t changed much
The Trouble with Silicon Valley’s IPO Optimism
When Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, recently went public, tech investors rejoiced. But will the startup make good on the hype? But more importantly, will this lead to the resurgence of the IPO market. Jury is still out. Here is why! Continue reading The Trouble with Silicon Valley’s IPO Optimism
To live and die in public: That’s Twitter
My affair with Twitter, the idea, began over seven years ago. It was at a party, a few blocks from where I live and work — San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. I was hanging outside, sucking on a stogie, and chatting with Twitter’s forgotten co-creator, Noah Glass. I learned about Twitter (or Twttr as … Continue reading To live and die in public: That’s Twitter
The Gilded Trap
The best companies — Airbnb, Dropbox, Evernote, Spotify, and of course Twitter — are trapped with $1 billion-plus valuations. In some cases, the valuations are for multiple billions. What yielded a bragging press release at the time is now looking like a gilded trap: They have to go public, do a down round, or sell … Continue reading The Gilded Trap
Sitting & Writing
I am sitting in my favorite SF location & thinking about the events of this past week and writing my reflections on Facebook’s initial public offering and comparing it with Netscape and Google. Much as it is about change in the Internet landscape, it is also apt reflection on how the media has changed. It … Continue reading Sitting & Writing