The Silicon Strip

"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. Scientists made a great invention by..."

Sat, 05 May 2012 09:52:15 -0400

“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. Scientists made a great invention by calling their activities hypotheses and experiments. They made it permissible to fail repeatedly until in the end they got the results they wanted. In politics or government, if you made a hypothesis and it didn’t work out, you had your head cut off.”

- Polaroid inventor Edwin Land on embracing failure, among other insights on what it takes to innovate.

Also see Land on the 5,000 steps to success.
(via explore-blog)

emergentfutures: Powerhouse Solar Cell Inspired by Leaf...

Fri, 04 May 2012 19:54:32 -0400

emergentfutures:

Powerhouse Solar Cell Inspired by Leaf Biomimicry

A team of scientists headed up by Princeton University has achieved a whopping 47 percent increase in electricity generation from flexible plastic solar cells, simply by texturing the surface to mimic the wrinkles of a typical leaf.

Full Story: Cleantechnica

"We will hit the point, likely soon, when the cost of starting a business is offset by the high cost..."

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:54:58 -0400

“We will hit the point, likely soon, when the cost of starting a business is offset by the high cost of getting traction and keeping it. I am most wary of this when investing today.”

- Is it a Tech Bubble?…NO…Just too many Wantrepreneurs - Howard Lindzon

fred-wilson:

i said the same thing up at HBS last month. i think we are there now. maybe we’ve been there for several years. but it takes time to wake up and smell the roses.

Too many wannabe VCs, too.

(via stoweboyd)

fastcompany: It’s only appropriate that Eric Ries is the...

Thu, 03 May 2012 20:34:06 -0400

fastcompany:

It’s only appropriate that Eric Ries is the subject of the first video for Fast Company’s new series: The Pivot. He’s the author of a best-selling book, The Lean Startup, and the man who made the term “pivot” part of the business vernacular. During the course of his entrepreneurial adventures, he realized that some of the most iconic companies of our time—Twitter, YouTube, Groupon—had abruptly changed course before they achieved success. If they hadn’t, Twitter would have stuck with audio podcasting, YouTube would have been a video dating site, and Groupon would have continued organizing political protests (and you likely would have never heard of them). Virtually every startup he could think of had pivoted at one time or another. Ries’s observation quickly morphed into a kind of Moore’s Law for startups, which he believes are almost certain to change course before becoming successful.

Watch the video->

"We are no longer designers or writers or technologists, we’re creators."

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:21:53 -0400

“We are no longer designers or writers or technologists, we’re creators.”

- Barbara deWilde: Can you Teach Someone to Be an Entrepreneur?
Barbara’s entire post is gold. Go read it, especially the end.
(via garychou)

Patience & Persistence

Wed, 02 May 2012 22:24:16 -0400

msg:

If I didnt have commitment issues these words would be tattooed on my left and right wrists respectively. (may have to get some temporary ones made ;)

In an always on world we are trained to want our Oompa Loompas NOW

When we dont get what we want right away there is a reason for it.
Try to understand the cause of misalignment.

Stick to your goal and work with an alternative approach.
You might have to try multiple times.

Whatever you do, dont give up.

"But I am never going to optimize short-term revenue at the expense of user experience or long-term..."

Wed, 02 May 2012 10:02:05 -0400

“But I am never going to optimize short-term revenue at the expense of user experience or long-term goals. If people think we are going about this too cautiously, they can think that and I don’t care”

- Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO

love @dickc’s clarity about what’s important
(via bijan)

bijan: Hallway Chat - Episode #5 Today @nabeel and I briefly...

Tue, 01 May 2012 17:19:34 -0400

bijan:

Hallway Chat - Episode #5

Today @nabeel and I briefly discuss if we are in bubble times, some of nabeel’s thoughts about being a new VC, Pebble, the B&N/microsoft deal and the Nike FuelBand

Like all of our podcasts, this one is about 10 minutes long.

Hope you like it. Also, we are looking for suggestions for next weeks podcast.

Thanks!

thedailyfeed: Why just donate to a project when you can invest...

Tue, 01 May 2012 16:07:16 -0400

thedailyfeed:

Why just donate to a project when you can invest in one? That’s the premise behind Gambitious, a sort of Kickstarter for video games — except Gambitious investors will actually share in the project’s profits.

“Gambitious is the first equity-based, crowd-funding platform that solely concentrates on the video game industry,” Paul Hanraets, the company’s managing director, told The Daily. “Our model is the first of its kind, providing a new way for small and large investors to directly invest in a wide selection of promising game projects, thus taking home a share in any eventual profits from the venture.”

Gambitious

Continuations: Tech Tuesday: Syntax

Tue, 01 May 2012 11:10:29 -0400

Continuations: Tech Tuesday: Syntax:

continuations:

Last Tech Tuesday, I introduced programming languages by making a series of analogies to human languages. We will continue the programming cycle today by deepening that analogy with regard to syntax. Syntax is the set of rules that describe how you can put together the words of a language to…

Integrity

Tue, 01 May 2012 02:11:41 -0400

Integrity

Five key skills that disruptive innovator’s possess:

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:54:22 -0400

Five key skills that disruptive innovator’s possess::

poptech:

Questioning allows innovators to challenge the status quo and consider new possibilities;

Observing helps innovators detect small details — in the activities of customers, suppliers and other companies — that suggest new ways of doing things;

Networking permits innovators to gain radically different perspectives from individuals with diverse backgrounds;

Experimenting prompts innovators to relentlessly try out new experiences, take things apart and test new ideas;

Associational thinking — drawing connections among questions, problems or ideas from unrelated fields — is triggered by questioning, observing, networking and experimenting and is the catalyst for creative ideas.

Philipp - startups' little helper: How to pitch your startup right

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:45:19 -0400

Philipp - startups' little helper: How to pitch your startup right:

pmoehring:

Venture Village asked me to share some insights on what to look out for when pitch investors. These points apply both for Seedcamp and other opportunities to present - from elevator pitches to partner meetings.

Who are you pitching to and what are they interested in - know your audience

Very…

Test Your Assumptions

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:23:14 -0400

msg:

We make assumptions on a daily basis. It helps us navigate the world. In doing so we tend to live in the world that we created based on those assumptions.

It’s really important to recognize the decisions we make and what assumptions we are basing these decisions on.

It’s easier than ever to test these assumptions especially with access to services like Mechanical Turk & Google Survey.

Test them early and often because you can.

This is the launch cover concept we are working on for The...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:09:24 -0400

This is the launch cover concept we are working on for The Silicon Strip, comments and suggestions welcome.

"The Hobbit production shoots 6-12TB of camera data per day. And the shooting schedule (for both..."

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:04:50 -0400

“The Hobbit production shoots 6-12TB of camera data per day. And the shooting schedule (for both parts of the two-part film) involves 265 days of principal photography.”

- The Hobbit Will Fundamentally Change Your Movie-Going Experience | GeekDad | Wired.com (via infoneer-pulse)

I will work harder, better, faster, stronger

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:36:01 -0400

I will work harder, better, faster, stronger

Bourbon...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:41:49 -0400

Bourbon Derby

via http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1249128888/bourbon-derby

We are a small family owned artisan distillery, one of around 400 small craft distilleries in the country. I am sure you already visited and know personally your local distillery guys, who are cooking & distilling vodka, gin, rum, delicious fresh fruit distillates, and aging whiskey using locally grown grains and fruits. We are doing the same. We had our first distillation in April, 2011. This video below was made when we opened the distillery

"Companies die from not being eaten by their competitors, but from self-inflicted wounds. They don’t..."

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:59:04 -0400

““Companies die from not being eaten by their competitors, but from self-inflicted wounds. They don’t have discipline. Their best people get frustrated. They chase all these shiny objects that aren’t core to the business. They become complacent because of early success.””

- Drew Houston, Dropbox (via sequoiacapital)

Via soulhunting.tumblr.com

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:09:33 -0400

Via soulhunting.tumblr.com

The Silicon Strip

"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. Scientists made a great invention by..."

emergentfutures: Powerhouse Solar Cell Inspired by Leaf...

Powerhouse Solar Cell Inspired by Leaf Biomimicry

"We will hit the point, likely soon, when the cost of starting a business is offset by the high cost..."

fastcompany: It’s only appropriate that Eric Ries is the...

"We are no longer designers or writers or technologists, we’re creators."

Patience & Persistence

"But I am never going to optimize short-term revenue at the expense of user experience or long-term..."

bijan: Hallway Chat - Episode #5 Today @nabeel and I briefly...

thedailyfeed: Why just donate to a project when you can invest...

Continuations: Tech Tuesday: Syntax

Integrity

Five key skills that disruptive innovator’s possess:

Philipp - startups' little helper: How to pitch your startup right

Who are you pitching to and what are they interested in - know your audience

Test Your Assumptions

This is the launch cover concept we are working on for The...

"The Hobbit production shoots 6-12TB of camera data per day. And the shooting schedule (for both..."

I will work harder, better, faster, stronger

Bourbon...

"Companies die from not being eaten by their competitors, but from self-inflicted wounds. They don’t..."

Via soulhunting.tumblr.com