May 2012
1 post
Startup Founders: Stop Worrying About Your Local... →
Great post from Paul Singh on staying focused on your startup.
April 2012
2 posts
Wedding weekend - time to start bundling up →
Erin Korte and I are getting married this weekend. Initially doing an outdoor wedding in late April sounded like a great plan - wouldn’t be too hot, yet still nice outside.
The current weather forecast though is calling for a low of 37, high of 48. Should make for an interesting evening.
March 2012
2 posts
I’m down at SxSWedu this week with Adam Wenchel (@apwenchel) - if you’re around, definitely drop either one of us a note.
January 2012
1 post
Going to play some tennis way too early on a Sunday
October 2011
2 posts
4 tags
Dave Morin: Goodbye Steve. →
davemorin:
Steve, you have been an inspiration my entire life. Since the moment I touched my original Macintosh Plus in 1984. The moment I started at Apple twenty years later in 2004. The moment we started building the developer ecosystem at Facebook. And, the moment that we started Path.
You led an…
September 2011
1 post
BRYCE DOT VC: For Whom Is This Service Built? →
brycedotvc:
I don’t use Facebook.
Yeah, I have an account and yes I’ve used my account to sign up for other services I do use, but I’ve not used it on a daily or weekly basis in a couple years.
So I was intrigued when a friend walked into my office last week to show off the new profiles and timelines they…
July 2011
5 posts
A college professor discusses his experience on... →
“…it’s really attractive to start a company — there’s an abundance of capital,...”
– Aydin Senkut
robgo.org: Is This VC a Good Girlfriend or a Good... →
robgo:
I’ve been using this slightly chauvinistic metaphor a fair bit recently, so please forgive me :)
It’s always interesting to me to watch how entrepreneurs evaluate VC investors. If you are in the luxurious position to be able to choose your investors, I really recommend going through the extra…
“There was a point in the late ’90s where all the graduating M.B.A.’s wanted to...”
– Marc Andreessen on the Dot-Com ‘Bubble’ - NYTimes.com
March 2011
1 post
HackEDU
So after being EverFi for just under a year now - I’m a full believer in the HackEDU mantra. The Education space is so ripe for disruption and has so much opportunity, there is really other no other industry I would rather be in right now.
When you look at the technology hotbeds across the country, Washington DC falls between 7-10 on most lists. However when it comes to edtech...
January 2011
3 posts
All of sudden, starting to see a lot more activity...
Definitely drop me a note ben(at)benhatten.com
What are the hottest startups in the Washington,...
Pay The Teachers
There was an interesting article this morning in the NYTimes about budget shortfalls in New Jersey. Many New Jersey residents are pointing their fingers at New Jersey teachers (specifically their union) as the culprit – and claiming they are overpaid. The average salary for a NJ teacher is $66,597 a year. This is New Jersey, the state with second highest income level in the country – $66k a...
October 2010
1 post
Dinner →
Made this last night for Erin - very, very good. I added a few spices, but highly recommend.
July 2010
2 posts
“You hear people in the Valley always say ‘I want my entrepreneurs to be hungry.”...”
– Video: Chris Sacca Helps Founders Cash Out Shares Early
Love that Sacca.
(via secondverse)
(via hiten)
June 2010
1 post
May 2010
1 post
April 2010
12 posts
“Innovation is almost insane by definition: most people view any truly innovative...”
– Why We Prefer Founding CEOs // ben’s blog
Two-Sided Markets: Which Side First? →
markpeterdavis:
I found myself speaking to an entrepreneur recently about how to develop a two-sided market. I thought I would relay some of our thoughts on the topic.
Note that there is a decent bit…
bijan sabet: Freemium backlash? →
It’s easy to kick someone when they are having trouble I guess. Ning announced a significant layoff and the critics pounced.
I guess I wasn’t surprised at this point. But the thing that surprised me was the negativity about freemium.
Just because some companies struggle with freemium doesn’t…
Apple is setting the stage to become one of the... →
Great analysis by Steve Cheney on why Apple is trying to kill Flash on the iphone and the ipad.
Couple keep take aways :
By telling developers to move to XCode tools, Apple is setting the stage to potentially switch architectures.
If this is indeed the case, then iPhone OS 4.0 would bring incredible speed improvements to the iPad
Apple is sowing the groundwork to...
Picking the ideal market size for a startup →
bijan sabet: Ask first before rushing to judgement →
Last night was like any other night.
After a day at the office I got into my car and drove home. I got on the the Mass Pike near Copley Square and 100 yards later a SUV from the left lane came across two lanes hit me on the left side and drove me into the wall of the underpass.
The driver of…
Interesting Read - and very impressed by Bijan’s response. That might be the best sales...
Building a platform for developers is much like... →
Venture Beat had a great article today about Twitter - and the recent noise they’ve made in a couple of their acquisitions. Any developers who were surprised by the move had to be a little naive in my opinion. Twitter raised a massive round, including from the likes of T.Rowe and they didn’t raise that round just to sit around. Twitter is going to find a way to monetize on their...
Top Heavy Start Ups →
Great little quick post on Venture Hacks on trying to stay away from titles in a start up. I completely agree with the sentiments. At the super early seed stage, who cares what your title is - its all about getting sh*t done. Don’t worry if you’re CEO/COO/CMO/CTO or whatever, with a small team of 2 or 3, you’re probably making all the decisions together anyways.
Great Quarter for Venture Investments (hopefully... →
Jason Mendelson - one of my favorite VC’s, just blogged about Q1 venture results, and things are definitely looking better. It definitely feels like the larger companies are on the look out for acquiring start ups. In my mind, its a great way for the these big companies to outsource their R&D. These start up founders have been keeping things so lean during this economic downturn, that...
March 2010
4 posts
Case Studies in Freemium: Pandora, Dropbox,... →
Fascinating read, especially since we’re moving Legal River to a freemium model.
Great read on who will buy the ipad →
If I wasn’t on the start up founder salary right now, I would 100% be buying one
The Support System Needed For a Start Up
There are a lot attributes and things in place a founder needs for getting his or her start up off the ground and running it. In my mind one of the most important things you need to have in place is a very solid support system.
My friends constantly make fun of me for how optimistic I am; I can fine the silver lining in just about anything. With that, the ups and downs I have experienced in...
What VC's and Criminal Prosecutors have in common...
This morning I was at the county courthouse as a wintess for the prosecution in a burglary case. The case was pretty boring - but what happened in court room in the 2 hours before the judge showed up was fascinating. This court was a simple criminal courthouse - and the state prosecutor was there to try about 15 cases or prelim hearings. All of the defendants who were being tried by the state...
February 2010
1 post
3 Keys to Getting Into Launch Box Digital (or any...
I just read Natty Zola’s blog post on her advice on getting into Techstars, and it inspired me to write one myself. This past summer, we took part in Launch Box Digital, its along the same lines of the other accelerators across the country such as Y-Combinator, TechStars, or DreamIt. We absolutely loved the experience and recommend any entrepreneur to apply to one/all of them. Both Zach (my...
January 2010
1 post
Amazing Company Support - Trada
I just got a late christmas present from one of the companies we worked with earlier this year, Trada (www.trada.com). Trada is doing some pretty interesting things in regards to allowing companies to outsource adword advertising, but that is not the point of this.
The trada team sent me a christmas present which included an awesome christmas stocking, homemade cookies, and a christmas card...
November 2009
1 post
Restarting the Blog
When we first started Legal River I tried to start the personal blog, but in reality it fell pretty flat, pretty quick.
As we get ready to launch the next iteration of our site, I too am going to try give it another go.
I’ll try to write honestly about things about the going ons of a start up.