June 2010
5 posts
Jun 23rd
1,760 notes
Jun 14th
Course Catalog: Masters Degree in Internet...
kylewritescode: innonate: So epic. Godspeed. jschwa: Every year I set out searching for a graduate degree suited to my career in the Internet industry.  I am looking for a combination of computer science classes in web development, design courses that focus on UI, and business courses that teach Internet entrepreneurship. Disappointed by what universities are offering, I created my own...
Jun 10th
45 notes
another gem from chris dixon - how steve jobs... →
Jun 7th
“There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or...”
– E.B. White
Jun 5th
Aol ftw?
I’ve been watching AOL closely since Tim Armstrong became the CEO just over a year ago. AOL has been in a bad way for the last few years. The company is reliant on its dial-up modem business which is shrinking between 27-33% every year, the acquisition of Bebo has been universally derided as a waste of money at $850 million and the company has gone through a series of layoffs. However, I...
Jun 1st
May 2010
5 posts
May 31st
remember the peanut butter manifesto? has anything...
remember the peanut butter manifesto? in late 2006 an svp at Yahoo called brad garlinghouse (now at AOL) sent a memo out about yahoo’s failings and what was needed to turn the corner. the company needed a “cohesive vision”. yahoo’s strategy was like peanut butter spread across a “myriad opportunities that continue to evolve in the online world. the result: a thin...
May 24th
WatchWatch
pretty cool discussion on the future of fashion and publishing given the rise of tablets (such as the ipad)
May 5th
May 2nd
March 2010
2 posts
i am a finance geek
i’ve been seriously interested in finance for a couple of years now and been actively investing for over a year. in order to ensure I am honest with myself and because of  a desire to share my thoughts on global markets, i’ve decided to keep a blog going on my investments and the world economy. there are various things I look forward to covering but an obvious place to start is why I...
Mar 15th
Mar 8th
February 2010
2 posts
Feb 22nd
Feb 22nd
October 2009
2 posts
Oct 22nd
Oct 14th
535 notes
August 2009
3 posts
Aug 23rd
my 5 fav things of 2009 so far..
out of boredom… sonar 2009 - my first time in espana - pure hedonism picking stocks - go emerald energy! making new friends - i’ve made a fair few who i expect i will be good friends in the future telling people i went to the gym - now i no longer go! visiting kenya I wonder what the rest of the year will bring…
Aug 12th
reading
i read a lot. most of it is probably junk and completely useless but I take it all in. for me the accumulation of knowledge (typically through reading) is something i almost can’t do without. unlike most people i know who read a lot, I rarely read fiction. in fact, i can probably count the number of fictional books i’ve read from start to finish on a pair of hands. fiction never quite...
Aug 12th
June 2009
1 post
Jun 8th
May 2009
4 posts
May 27th
May 18th
May 4th
May 4th
April 2009
3 posts
Apr 19th
Apr 11th
ListenBack soon!
Apr 10th
February 2009
5 posts
Feb 21st
david cameron stole my policy idea
it looks like david cameron has “stolen” my democratisation/localisation policy idea. now unfortunately i don’t have the time to fastidiously examine the 32 page policy doc (including references). however, i have taken a quick flick through and see some promise - despite some eye brow raising omissions… one thing i like - a series of referenda to establish city mayors in 12...
Feb 18th
why can't politics be more like technology?
successful technology firms are built on data. analysing customer habits, tracking user engagement and making informed decisions based on a-political results. it’s almost a given now amongst web startups (at least) that success is the result of your product - and how do you know do you know where to shift that product? simple - you listen to your users. that feedback may be whispered in the...
Feb 17th
hazel blears - epic fail
it started with this - then this - then that. TKO
Feb 11th
a better democracy
i’ve spent the last two weeks looking at past gubernatorial, mayoral and state senate elections in the US. i’ve watched documentaries, read articles and flicked through books. i’ve always been interested in US politics and think there is a lot we can learn from the US in how they go about their politics. that being said its not perfect and frankly there are parts of the US...
Feb 7th
January 2009
3 posts
vanity fair
vanity fair is the sort of magazine you would rarely pick up from the news stand. it looks like a girly fashion mag or even a high society monthly journal. but its really much more than that. the analysis the magazine offers of key issues is enviable and it is always a delight to read. there is a great piece of journalism this month in which the magazine tells an oral history of the bush...
Jan 22nd
What If Your Model Is Wrong? →
fred wilson asks “what if the model fails”? a question i worry about myself - is this rush to kenyesianism the right think to do? in the uk the labour government wants to spend, spend, spend. yet the conservatives say we need to save and are proposing a cut in the savings tax rate. hmmm. neither monetarism or kenyesianism is proven. kenyesianism did the job from 1950 to 1973 but...
Jan 13th
r.i.p sir bernard crick →
Jan 2nd
December 2008
9 posts
outliers - the story of success
so i just finished reading gladwell’s new book - “outliers - the story of success”. i highly recommend it. in short its a book that tries to explain why people are successful. not in a cheesy personal development manner but in an academic sense. but that only part explains it, because its not a “academic journal” style of writing, its a new yorker style of writing....
Dec 29th
the empathy deficit
its been a while since i’ve written anything vaguely political and that’s largely because i’ve been asleep. i’ve withdrawn myself from party politics, single-issue politics or any form of real activism; disillusioned by a few negative experiences many years ago. its too easy to become apathetic. but then i am reminded by those for whom disillusionment is not an option,...
Dec 28th
so sad →
Dec 23rd
krugman on madoff →
a bit sensationalist but there is something to think about in his words. where is th value in all this financial engineering?
Dec 21st
what the chinese think about this economic mess →
Dec 21st
n plus one mag - interviews with a hedgie →
a great series of interviews with a hedge fund manager way before things came tumbling down. I love this mag. irreverent, intelligent and unpretentious.
Dec 16th
Dec 8th
market folly →
i’ve discovered a great blog on hedge funds. the blogger discusses their public trades and market sentiment. its great stuff check it out if you are interested in hedge funds. most of the funds the blogger follows subscribe to the global macro investing strategy, a personal fav of mine so its interesting to see how diff managers deploy this strategy.
Dec 3rd
“For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required”
– Luke 12:48
Dec 1st
November 2008
11 posts
why the dollar is getting stronger →
Nov 30th
what stocks to buy
the financial markets are in a mess, which means there are great opportunities to find potentially undervalued assets. fear and irrationality has likely driven down the prices of some stocks beyond their value. So, what should you buy in this market? I haven’t had the time to check out a mass of annual reports and quaterly statements but there are some areas that warrant further...
Nov 25th
this could be good →
Nov 24th
charity
i’ve found myself locked into the daily cycle of working, sleeping and eating. surely life has to be about more than just that! indeed it is, so i am looking for a charity to volunteer for. It’s much harder than you think because I don’t just want to work for anyone. the charity must not be so large that ones efforts are missed and underappreciated. but more importantly the...
Nov 18th
Nov 16th
new interest: Private Equity
as mentioned in previous posts i go through random periods of intense interest in a certain subjects - last time it was shipping. i research the key players, the strengths and weaknesses and anything else of note. At the moment its private equity. I am about to wrap up a book by ronald cohen (apax partners) and have read a fair bit about rubenstein (above, carlye group) and schwarzmann...
Nov 12th