- Startups - Brad Feld, Managing Director of the Foundry Group -TWiST #319Never miss an episode! Subscribe in iTunes: Audio (http://bit.ly/TwiStA) || Video (http://bit.ly/TwiStV)
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Jason talks with Brad about the Foundry group and his new book Startup Communities.
Read the full transcript
0:30 When Brad Feld talks, I shut up and listen, and I never shut up. This is going to be a great show.
3:40 Let's thank Igloo Software for sponsoring the program, save 10% by going to igloosoftware.com/thisweekin
5:00 What's the secret to the startup community in Boulder
8:15 Why didn't you retire at 30?
8:30 Was it just that you loved the game so much?
10:00 When did we meet?
11:30 Explain what it was like when one of your investments failed each month of 2001
13:00 Did you ever think of giving up?
14:30 What was your lowest point?
17:05 What is the Boulder Thesis?
17:25 What is a feeder?
21:10 Were you alone when you started in Boulder?
21:50 How many companies have you invested in?
22:55 Why do you prefer to invest in first time funds?
24:10 I want to thank eMinutes for sponsoring the program.
26:00 What is it that makes you instantly want to invest in something?
26:45 Why do you only want to be early stage investors?
30:45 What are you looking for in terms of skills, do they need to be developers, or designers?
32:25 So too many business people and not enough product people is a red flag?
36:30 Is part of your job as a VC being a therapist to?
41:30 Who do you think are the highest working VCs?
41:55 What makes Fred Wilson so special?
46:35 What do your LPs say when you make money from 13 years ago?
47:14 what do you think of Andreessen Horowitz raising the stakes?
50:30 What makes a great Angel Investor?
51:35 Explain culture versus competence.
52:30 How do you tell an entrepreneur an employee isn't a cultural fit?
53:15 What's the difference between culture and style?
59:20 What's the craziest bad behavior you've ever ever seen by a VC?
60:40 As a VC, how do you deal with another 'douchey' VC?
64:30 What is a one slide board meeting?
68:00 A VC would manipulate an entrepreneur to sell? Brad: Yes
69:00 Jason says Roelof Both of Sequoia Capital is the perfect VC
70:00 Brad: What do you want to do between now and when the lights go out?
71:00 Coaching for entrepreneurs is something TechStars has worked hard on
71:30: Brad tells how he fired someone for the first time
75:30: The weird space entrepreneurs live in/why they need mentors
76:30: Thanks Brad - everyone go buy the book, follow @bfeld, brad@feld.com, read his blog at feld.com
77:00 Thanks to our sponsors Igloo & eMinutes
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- Startups - Chamath Palihapitiya of The Social+Capital Partnership - TWiST #2380:00-2:00 Welcome everyone, we're here with angel investor and entrepreneur Chamath Palihapitiya.
2:00-4:00 Thank you to GoToMeeting for sponsoring the program. Everyone use the promo code "START" for a free 30-day trial.
4:00-4:45 How did you end up meeting Mark Zuckerberg and getting involved with Facebook?
4:45-6:30 How did you wind up at AOL?
6:30-10:00 Ram Shiram was the mentor to Larry and Sergei, correct?
10:00-10:45 What appealed to you about being a VC?
10:45-13:30 Is it a similar rush that you feel when you're playing a hand of poker?
13:30-14:45 Is it hard for you to say no as an angel investor? How do you do it?
14:45-17:45 What percentage of the time does someone fight you on your feedback?
17:45-19:30 What about when someone has been told they're good their whole life, and then you come in and tell them that they're not?
19:30-21:30 Did you know when you met Mark that he was destined for greatness?
21:30-22:45 Thank you to LiquidWeb for sponsoring the show! Everyone thank them @LiquidWeb!
22:45-24:45 How crucial was Sean Parker in the development of Facebook?
24:45-30:00 When you look back on the privacy errors that Facebook made, what do you think was the cause of them?
30:00-32:15 Bill Gates' legacy of philanthropy will exceed his legacy of Microsoft, won't it?
32:15-33:45 But your venture fund is not non-profit?
33:45-37:00 How big is your fund and what stage is it at?
37:00-41:30 So who did you go to to get involved in the fund?
41:30-44:30 What do you think about the market today? What do you think about the angel space?
44:30-45:30 And god forbid we have some type of terrorist attack that causes the markets to go haywire. What happens then?
45:30-48:15 So you're not jumping out of your seat to write a check for something like Pinterest?
48:15-54:30 Facebook does a good job of not interrupting the social flow.
54:30-56:30 Even if you were a die-hard capitalist, having people protesting outside of your townhouse, isn't that a good indication of the fact that something's wrong with the system?
56:30-57:45 What do your parents do?
57:45-1:01:15 How do they reconcile your tremendous success?
1:01:15-1:06:30 Chamath tells a story of a company that his fund invested in on the spot after seeing their setup.
1:06:30-1:07:15 Thank you to @GoToMeeting and @LiquidWeb for making this episode possible.
1:07:15-1:10:00 Why did you cut Jeremy Lin from the Warriors?
1:10:00-1:10:30 Chamath, thank you for joining us. We'll see you next time!
Support This Week in Startups and independent media by joining the TWiST Producer Program at TwistList.co!
Multilingual? Translate this episode of TWiST into another language and email the transcript to translate@thisweekin.com
Keep up with the latest from our sister company, LAUNCH:
LAUNCH Festival Hits $639k in Prize Money
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LAUNCH Hits $489K: A Slot at AngelPad and $100K Investment (If You Move to Vegas)
http://www.launch.is/blog/launch-hits-489k-a-slot-at-angelpad-and-100k-investment-if-y.html
The Two Most Important Startups in the World
http://www.launch.is/blog/the-two-most-important-startups-in-the-world.html
10 International Startup Scholarships
http://www.launch.is/blog/10-international-startup-scholarships.html
DOUBLE Boom! LAUNCH Hits $369k in Prizes Thanks to MailChimp's $100k!
http://www.launch.is/blog/double-boom-launch-hits-369k-in-prizes-thanks-to-mailchimps.html
- Startups - Eric Ries of Lean Startup - TWiST #199Join our new mailing list and be the first to learn about upcoming guests!
Jason interviewed Eric Ries, entrepreneur and author of The Lean Startup. Eric gave advice for all levels and phases of startups, from idea inception and shortening incubation times to managing the inevitable pivots. Later in the episode, Jason and Eric team up to deliver an 'Old Time Revival,' where audience members bring their business woes to the stage to have them healed by these two experts.
Click here to stream the audio version of this episode.
Click here to stream the video version of this episode.
0:00-2:00 Hey everyone this is ThisWeekIn Startups, my guest Eric Ries of Lean Startups is here.
1:00 What is Lean Startups?
2:45 It's all about addressing the customers needs.
4:10 Talking about the shortening gestation period for new startups.
6:19: Being lean isn't about how much money you raise.
6:55: What's the one piece of advice that makes people so drawn to it? Is it the Minimum Viable Product?
7:00-13:00 Survey Monkey
14:45 Software VS. Hardware startups.
15:33 The impact of Web 2.0 on startups.
16:30 The 'Summer of Startups' which are creating money, which are glorified ponzi schemes?
17:50 It's so much easier to make money today, with ecommerce. Will we not see a lot of these companies meander, when they make enough money to exist but not to progress?
19:09 All overnight successes had 2 years of failure under their belts. Twitter is an example.
20:00 Jason talks his Twitter past.
22:00 Eric talks network effects.
23:00 The key to getting over the fear of costumer feedback: feedback doesn't tell you about you, it tells you about them.
23:49 Haters are the best sources of great feedback, your fans won't get into details.
25:20 Feedback is the key, and entrepreneurs are afraid of feedback.
25:50 Discussion of the 'Steve Jobs Philosophy.'
29:16 Quality vs. Speed and 'Avatar Teleportation.'
31:50 Let's unpack testing.
32:00-36:00 MailChimp
40:10 Discussion of Facebook, World of Warcraft, and Viral Coefficient
41:30 You left out a couple of ways to build a business.
42:39 What do you think of Groupon?
44:49 Eric's Accounting Revolution
46:17 Greatest entrepreneurship movie of all time, Ghostbusters.
48:10: How do you know when to pivot, or when to perservere?
51:30 #1 Signal that teams need to pivot
52:35 Early launch is prematurely marketing your own demise.
53:30: Eric on the indicators of traction
54:30 Democratization of entrepreneurship
56:00 No audience questions, but audience horror stories, and Jason and Eric try and save your companies. Who is struggling in their business, let's have a revival!
57:00 The startup revival begins.
60:00 A pivot is a change in strategy, without a change in vision.
61:55 Woosh Traffic; what to do when your expenses match your revenue.
67:30 Gradebuddy.com; note-taking program for universities. How to get through a pivot, how to get through institutional sales.
1:12:55 If you can measure it, you can manage it.
1:13:30 Terry, Stumeroom (Netflix for costumes). What kind of metrics are needed to be used to see where the business will go, how to generate interest?
1:18:30 How to balance between assessment of business, without exposing yourself to being ripped off
1:20:00 Ideas mean nothing, execution is everything
1:21:10 An empty can makes the most noise. Talking about your idea before a consumer can engage is useless.
1:22:00 Quantifying viral coefficient.
1:24:00 Is there such a thing as over-iteration?
1:28:06 Jason and Eric break down Mahalo. Youtube Vs. iPad apps, which has better sustainable growth?
1:32:00 How do you build an organization on an operational basis?
1:35:00 In a startup, rip up your job description. Your job is to do whatever it takes to make the company succeed.
1:35:00 This has been a great night. Give it up for Eric, let's all go to Main Street!
- Startups - Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital - TWiST #291Chris' interview was so incredible that we couldn't contain it in just one episode, so today is only part one--you'll have to check back soon for part two!
*Disclaimer: Chris has a potty mouth and we've attempted to bleep out all of his swear words. We apologize in advance if any snuck by our censors.
1:00 Welcome everyone! Today on TWiST we have Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital.
2:30 Thank you to Hiscox for supporting the show. Everyone go to hiscoxusa.com/smallbiz to get a free quote online in less than 15 minutes.
5:00 Chris, welcome to the show.
6:15 What is it that you do on a daily basis?
9:15 Chris: There's a lot of garbage getting funded today.
10:00 What does it mean to be a founder in your book?
12:15 Is fearlessness a good trait?
14:45 Has it become too easy to become a founder?
19:15 How did you wind up being an investor in companies like Facebook, Twitter and Uber?
20:00 Chris shares the story of how he found himself in a huge financial hole.
25:30 Thank you to Stamps.com for their support of the show! Everyone go to stamps.com and use the code TWIST for your free, 4-week trial.
28:15 Chris resumes his story of how he gambled and lost big.
29:45 What happens when people come to collect on the debt?
34:30 What was Speedera's business?
35:00 How did you land at Google?
38:15 Chris: My first angel investment was in Photobucket.
40:00 Is it right that you once took over on the secondary market for most Twitter shares?
44:30 True or false: people in the Valley tend to be like "dude, I got you,"--until the money comes in.
47:45 Has VC behavior gotten better or worse in the last decade?
50:30 Tell me about Garrett Camp of Stumbleupon.
51:45 Twitter, some would say, is screwing over the developers that helped build it. What's your take on that?
1:00:00 Are you slowing down on angel investing right now?
1:01:45 Chris reveals the existence of the fund Lowercase Stampede.
1:03:30 What gives you the ability to look at a new space with fresh eyes?
1:05:30 How did you get involved in Hollywood?
1:07:00 What do you think the impact of Kickstarter is on the entertainment business?
1:10:15 This concludes part one of Jason's interview with Chris. Party two is coming soon--stay tuned!
Support This Week in Startups and independent media by joining the TWiST Producer Program at TwistList.co!
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Keep up with the latest from our sister company, LAUNCH:
Google's Fiber 'Proof of Concept' is Anything But
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Good to Great to Excellent: A Roadmap
http://www.launch.co/blog/good-to-great-to-excellent-a-roadmap.html
Building a Better Techmeme
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LAUNCH Looking for an Awesome Full Stack Engineer/Developer
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Live Blogging LAUNCH Education & Kids - Day Two
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- Startups - Sebastian Thrun of Google X and Udacity - TWiST #2710:30 Welcome everyone, I have Sebastian Thrun of Udacity here with me today.
1:45 Thank you to Scott Walker of Walker Corporate Law. If you need a lawyer, call Scott at 310-288-6667.
4:00 Sebastian, welcome to the program. Explain to the audience what Udacity is.
5:30 What happened after the class really picked up steam?
6:00 How many people took the course and how many finished?
7:00 Do you believe that the university system is worth the money people spend?
9:00 Why did it take Khan Academy and others to change education? Why wasn't it done inside of universities?
12:00 Who are the co-founder of Udacity?
13:30 Does your success make Stanford less valuable?
14:30 Will kids be going to Stanford in 20 years or will they be taking courses on Udacity?
16:15 What will the role of teachers be in the future?
19:30 Let's talk about the business model.
20:45 Is the price sustainable?
21:15 Did you give up a large amount of personal wealth to pursue this?
24:30 Thank you to Squarespace! To get 10% off, go to squarespace.com and use the code TWiST7.
27:15 I heard that you had top VC firms vying to fund Udacity. Tell me about it.
28:45 Why did you go with Charles River Ventures?
30:45 What founders do you try to model yourself after?
33:30 What is the role of the teacher?
34:30 If this fails, what will be the reason it fails?
37:30 What about gamification: badges, rewards, etc. Is it worth it?
39:00 Do you think that it's possible to turn the public education system around?
41:00 Congratulations on the early success and I look forward to having you back on. We'll see you all next time on This Week in Startups.
Support This Week in Startups and independent media by joining the TWiST Producer Program at TwistList.co!
Want to support TWiST another way? Use bit.ly/twistamazon when you shop and a portion of your purchase will go toward helping keep independent media like TWiST on air!
Keep up with the latest from our sister company, LAUNCH:
Live Blogging LAUNCH Education & Kids - Day Two
http://www.launch.co/blog/live-blogging-launch-education-kids-day-two.html
Live Blogging LAUNCH Education & Kids - Day One
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LAUNCH Education & Kids: 30 Companies (6 Stealth) Plus Scoble, Alan Louie and Nolan Bushnell
http://www.launch.co/blog/launch-education-kids-30-companies-6-stealth-plus-scoble-ala.html
Yahoo to Launch "Chrome Killer" Tonight
http://www.launch.co/blog/yahoo-to-launch-chrome-killer-tonight.html
First Eight Companies for LAUNCH Education & Kids
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SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR PREFERRED PARTNER eMINUTES
Lawyers who focus on forming and maintaining corporations and LLCs. Check them out at http://eMinutes.com and @eminutes.
- Startups - Jason Goldberg of FAB-TWiST #313Never miss an episode! Subscribe in iTunes: Audio (http://bit.ly/TwiStA) || Video (http://bit.ly/TwiStV)
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On this episode of TWiST Jason sits down with fab.com founder Jason Goldberg. They discuss what caused the pivot from social to e-commerce, the importance of design, and why Jason is kicking himself for passing on the opportunity to invest. Jason Calacanis on this show: "Listen to this episode twice, it was one of the best we've ever done!"
0:30 Jason Goldberg, the founder of fab.com is on the program today. You'll hear about why I'm kicking myself about missing this opportunity to invest.
1:30 Use the code "TWiST" on SnapTerms.com for a free NDA
5:00 So the site started as a social community for gay men right?
6:10 Why did you decide to pivot?
8:15 What do you think the problem is with iteration?
9:00 Does it take an older entrepreneur to make the decision to pivot?
13:50 So you were trying to bring design to the masses?
14:10 Let's talk about design.
14:50 What changed in the world that made design so important?
16:45 How do you become an expert on design?
18:55 How do you decide whether a product is fab worthy or not?
19:50 When you put really expensive items on the site, do you sell a lot of them?
20:15 How many products are featured per day?
23:20 Visit sourcebits.com! They are now offering a 50/50 deal on apps. You pay 50% now and 50% when you get your next round of funding
30:10 How many emails does fab send daily?
30:40 Are tablet users spending more than non-mobile?
33:00 Let's talk about the cost and funding of designers.
33:25 What do you think about the KickStarter model?
36:20 Let's talk about your funding.
39:40 How amazing would it be to walk into a brick and mortar fab store?
40:15 Why is fab doing TV commercials?
41:50 What do you think is special about Tesla's buyer experience?
43:15 When did you know when fab was going to be your big win? When did you stop thinking about the "next" project?
44:10 What things have you done particularly poorly?
45:40 What keeps you up at night?
48:30 This was one of our best episodes, Thanks to Jason Goldberg continued success with Fab.com
Follow On Twitter
Jason: @jason
Jason G: @betashop
Snapt Terms: @snapterms
Sourcebits: @sourcebits
Special thanks to the members of the TWiST Backchannel Program!
- Startups - Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote -TWiST #320Never miss an episode! Subscribe in iTunes: Audio (http://bit.ly/TwiStA) || Video (http://bit.ly/TwiStV)
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==============
It's another TWiST live from RocketSpace! Jason sits down with Phil Libin of Evernote with a live audience!
Special thanks to the members of the TWiST Backchannel Program!
- Startups - Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures - TWiST #161Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures on TWiST #161
East coast super VC, blogger and adviser Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures sat down to talk to Jason in his NYC office and had heaps of valuable advice for entrepreneurs young and old alike. Fred talked about the ups and downs in his lengthy career, explained why he wants founders to get to know him early on and explained why VCs still have something to offer, even in the golden age of angel investing.
0:00-1:00 Welcome to TWiST from NYC in the Union Square Ventures' offices.
1:00-2:00 Thank you to iStockphoto for sponsoring the show.
2:00-6:30 Demonstration of how easy it is to purchase high-quality photos within iStockphoto.
6:30-8:00 Welcome to Fred Wilson, principal at Union Square Ventures.
8:30-9:30 How much of being a VC is being a therapist to the entrepreneurs?
9:30-10:30 You've worked with Mark Pincus, what was that like?
10:30-11:45 You invested in all four of Mark's companies, yes?
11:45-14:00 When Mark came to you for the fourth time with Zynga, what did you say?
14:00-15:15 The same sort of situation happened with Twitter, didn't it?
15:15-16:30 If a VC flies out to see you--the entrepreneur--you know there's serious intent.
17:45-19:15 So speed is the big difference between web 1.0 and now?
19:15-20:15 Have you ever spoken for your companies too much on your blog?
20:45-22:30 How much of your success this time around has been because of the blog?
22:30-23:30 Did you enable too much transparency and lose some of your power?
23:30-24:30 If money's not an issue, why go to a VC?
24:30-25:00 Are there funds that are now following Union Square Ventures?
25:00-26:00 Thank you to MailChimp for sponsoring the show.
26:00-29:30 Demonstration of how you can segment your lists to target your emails using MailChimp.
30:00-32:15 How do you reconcile this, the new golden era of Internet companies, with the scars you have from past fund failures?
32:15-33:00 When do founders start thinking, "I should start a new company?"
33:00-35:15 Let's talk about entrepreneurs. What are you looking to see in the eyes of an entrepreneur?
35:15-37:00 So you're looking for a persuasiveness that is so strong, people can't help but follow that person?
37:00-38:15 Do you find that this new generation of founders has an entitlement issue, thinking that they're owed success?
38:15-39:15 Does that make that person impossible to manage?
39:15-42:15 Are you on the secondary markets? What's your take on that?
42:15-43:45 Fred: Are Mahalo shares being traded?
43:45-45:30 Are limited partners stoked about the secondary market?
45:30-46:15 Why does a venture firm put money into a single established company and not into several startups?
46:15-48:30 What does an opportunity fund mean?
49:00-50:40 What's your advice for a young entrepreneur who wants your money?
50:40-51:15 Fred, it's been great to watch you rise over the years. Thank you so much.
51:15-51:45 Thank you again to our sponsors. We appreciate all of your support!
Support This Week in Startups and independent media by joining the TWiST Producer Program at TwistList.co!
Multilingual? Translate this episode of TWiST into another language and email the transcript to translate@thisweekin.com
FOLLOW ON TWITTER
Jason: @jason
Fred: @fredwilson
Union Square Ventures: @usv
Special thanks to the members of the TWiST List Producer Program!
Executive Producers
Louis-Eric Simard, Benjamin Gifford, Jacek Artymiak, Octavian Mihai, Will Paoletto, Geoffrey Clapp, Eien Hyett, Jeff Hoffer, Kyle Lonzo, Austin Miller, Rashaun Sourles, Robb Kunz, Greg Berry, Sean Lynch, Mary Ann Halford, Jim Joyce, Morgan Howard, Margaret Johns, Kyle M. Brown, Paul Cole, Nick Duncan, Magnus Ingvarsson, Amir Ayalon, Carlos Zaidenweber, Avery Keitt, Joshua Shipsey
Producers
Eli Coler, Ted Inoue, Radek Rybicki, Hunter Owens, Christian Owens, Ben Altieri, Casey Wach, Cam Collins, Ildar Khakimov, Matti Hallanoro, Rodrigo Dauster, Rodrigo Fuentes, Anthony Ortenzi, Daniel de la Cruz, Michael Hofmann, John Meneses, Mike Sunyich
Associate Producers
Brad Pineau, Kat Ganesan, Nicholas Christian, Mau Frontier, Kyle Braatz, Serena Ehrlich, Nathan Hangen, Lauri Hahne, JD, Trudy Baidoo, Ian Gerstel, Julian Hearn, Alex Lotoczko, James Kennedy, Benoit Curdy, Asher Nevins, Mike Kaltschnee, Paul Higgins, Patrick Altman, William Doom, David Lee, Jake Kerber, Sarp Coskun, Giuseppe Taibi, Tyrone Rubin, Keno Vigil, Paul Peters, Jamal Waring
Supporters
Ryan Hoover, Michael Cranston, Josiah Thomas, Jo√£o Fernandes, Petrus Theron, Michael Wild, Adrian Grant, Dale Emmons, Kieran McGrady, Tim de Jardine, Alejandro Vasquez, C. Dain Miller, Joshua Opatz, Milan Babuskov, Chris Rowe, Nelson Melo, James Dawson, Toddy Mladenov, Daniel Torres, Chris Macke, Piotr Zuralski, Armand Konan, Brian Vogel, Paul D, Jennifer Sun, Zach Fogelson, David Kolb, George Gecewicz
- Startups - Nolan Bushnell of Brainrush - TWiST #2821:30 We have the famous founder of Atari, Chuck E. Cheese and more on the program today--Nolan Bushnell.
2:00 Thank you to our incredible sponsor Sourcebits! Everyone check out sourcebits.com and thank @sourcebits for their support!
4:30 Nolan, welcome to the program. Do you have people wanting to hug you for inventing the Atari 2600?
5:15 When did the first console come out?
7:15 What was Steve Jobs biggest gift?
9:15 What impresses you the most about Jobs' second act with Apple?
12:00 Do you think we'll have brain connections to computers in our lifetime?
14:30 Do you ever regret selling Atari so early?
17:00 Tell me about your newest venture, Brainrush.
18:30 What do you call this new learning genre?
20:30 Nolan: Our goal was: easy to learn, impossible to master.
23:30 Thank you to Squarespace for partnering with us to support the show! Everyone use the code TWiST8 to get 10% off when signing up.
26:30 Let's talk about the current state of education in the US. Why is this such a major focus for us right now?
29:45 Higher education is a huge fraud, isn't it?
31:15 What does your ideal educational world look like?
36:15 How do you respond to the criticism that it's rote learning?
38:00 What do you think of the US as a country today vs when you started out as an entrepreneur?
40:15 What's going to happen to universities like Harvard?
42:00 What happens to teachers who aren't in the top tier?
42:45 Nolan: I think universities still need to exist for the social interactions.
45:00 What are your thoughts on employment?
49:15 How did Chuck E. Cheese's end up doing?
52:15 What's it like to walk into a VC's office and a 27 year old is behind the desk?
52:45 Nolan: The VC community is run on fear and greed.
55:45 Question from the audience: Are grades necessary or do they distract from learning?
58:00 Question from the audience: What role does social interaction play in education?
59:00 Nolan, this has been so amazing having you on the program. Everyone Google "scrambles;" it's an encryption service for social media.
1:01:00 Thank you to our friends at Sourcebits and Squarespace.
1:04:30 Nolan: On the God question, I don't know. I think there are powers that be in the universe that we don't fully understand.
1:05:45 What was your favorite decade?
1:07:30 How old do you think people can live now with all of the advancements?
1:09:45 What do you think about dictators?
1:11:15 Is self-sustaining energy possible in our lifetime?
1:13:15 Thanks for watching everyone, we'll see you next time.
Support This Week in Startups and independent media by joining the TWiST Producer Program at TwistList.co!
Want to support TWiST another way? Use bit.ly/twistamazon when you shop and a portion of your purchase will go toward helping keep independent media like TWiST on air!
Keep up with the latest from our sister company, LAUNCH:
Good to Great to Excellent: A Roadmap
http://www.launch.co/blog/good-to-great-to-excellent-a-roadmap.html
Building a Better Techmeme
http://www.launch.co/blog/building-a-better-techmeme.html
LAUNCH Looking for an Awesome Full Stack Engineer/Developer
http://www.launch.co/blog/launch-looking-for-an-awesome-full-stack-engineerdeveloper.html
Live Blogging LAUNCH Education & Kids - Day Two
http://www.launch.co/blog/live-blogging-launch-education-kids-day-two.html
Naval Ravikant of AngelList - TWiST #2441:00-2:00 Hi everyone, we're excited to have Naval Ravikant, the co-founder of AngelList, with us on the program today.
2:00-3:00 How many people have raised money on AngelList?
3:00-4:45 When did the first A round get done on AngelList?
4:45-6:15 So you think moderate success is the hard part?
6:15-8:45 What's an actual, true overnight success?
8:45-11:45 What do you think when you hear a story of someone like OMGPOP?
11:45-12:15 Would AngelList have worked ten years ago? What were your prior attempts?
12:15-14:30 How do you respond to the critique that weak companies are getting funded and there are too many startups?
14:30-17:00 Thank you to LiquidWeb for supporting TWiST! Show you appreciate them backing independent media by tweeting thanks to @LiquidWeb!
17:00-19:15 So, when a lot of people follow a company but they don't close the round, how does the entrepreneur take that?
19:15-20:00 So people are raising money from folks like Dave McClure?
20:00-23:00 As an angel, what should I be doing? Should I join a VC firm?
23:00-25:00 There are people who call themselves broker and will help you make deals. Is this normal?
25:00-27:30 How do you respond to VCs who have tried to paint you in a negative light? What are the criticisms?
27:30-31:00 So Obama's jobs act passed this week. What impact do you think that will have?
31:00-34:30 I saw that Democrats were fighting this citing fears that people will get scammed. Is that a valid concern?
34:30-35:30 If you could raise a million dollars every year, you could essentially fund a Facebook-like company within a few years.
35:30-37:00 Is there a bubble in the angel space?
37:00-41:45 Thank you to Walker Corporate Law for their support! Thank them @ScottEdWalker!
41:45-43:30 So how does the stock market affect things?
43:30-43:45 Do you think you're creating more angel investors?
45:45-48:30 What do you think the impact of the Facebook IPO will be?
48:30-50:00 Do you think Kickstarter is going to start taking equity?
50:00-55:00 Aside from disrupting the space and helping entrepreneurs, what is AngelList in the business of?
55:00-56:00 If you force CEOs to take ownership of recruiting instead of outsourcing it, you get better results.
56:00-58:00 What's your advice for someone who wants to put a company on the site?
58:00-59:30 How big is your team now?
59:30-1:03:00 What's your goal in life now?
1:03:00-1:05:00 Is being a billionaire a goal for you?
1:05:00-1:06:45 Do you know what the SEC thinks of AngelList?
1:06:45-1:10:15 Have you had any bad experiences with VCs? What's the worst story you've ever heard about a VC interaction?
1:10:15-1:12:30 What do you think of the space we're in now? What does the future hold?
1:12:30-1:13:15 Naval, this conversation has been so amazing. Thank you so much for coming on the program. We'll see you all next time!
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Keep up with the latest from our sister company, LAUNCH:
LAUNCH Education & Kids, June 12 and 13
LAUNCH Festival Wrap-up: Winners, Investments and More
Where Over $1M in LAUNCH Festival Prize Money is Going
LAUNCH Festival 2012 Winners
Who Launched at the 2012 LAUNCH Festival
