I heard from a friend about Fred’s post this morning on Twitter’s Inflection Point and just read it. It’s interesting because Fred is so widely read and is also an investor and board member at Twitter. He is damned the moment he writes about Twitter in any thoughtful way.
The reaction is fun to watch .
When a pitcher throws at a batter, only the pitcher really knows what the intention was. It is a pretty pure thing.
Not too many people really know what Twitter will become or even is AND those ‘experts’ that say they do know are not worth following.
I invest on instinct based on the product and people. If I did proper due diligence my life would be boring, I would be wearing a suit and I would be in cash. Maybe Yuan’s.
For me, entrepreneuring and investing is about instincts and execution. Great running backs find holes and than explode once they get open field. They don’t look back, they don’t taunt the opposing team, they just run. Forrest Gump just ran as well and look how successful he was. I am no running back or even an athlete but I know enough to run like hell with Stocktwits.
I saw Twitter and did not get it for a while.
Now I view it as an on ramp and great discovery tool. In three months I will likely have a different take on Twitter.
I think Twitter is a pretty democratic tool. It will bring American Idol to all the niches. American Idol is wicked fun. It works. It is smart. It keeps evolving like it did itself from other shows that spawned it because it. I don’t know from platforms, media, tools, services. I know when I like stuff. I know I don’t like Facebook. One day maybe Facebook will ‘connect’ with ME and I will love it.
Today, I got to chat at length on my thoughts about Twitter and Stocktwits on Bloomberg TV with Keith McCullough who is wicked smart and cool (Here is a snippet and I will post the full interview as soon as I get it). He’s new to all this social web stuff, but understands there are not many rules. There is common sense and opportunity. It won’t replace drinking with your pals, curing hunger or just living your life.
Twitter can’t kill anybody, just themselves.
No one has all the answers OR the roadmap but you do need to read the tea leaves and constantly adjust.
You stepped it up with this post. Nice.
I liked this,
“I invest on instinct based on the product and people. If I did proper due diligence my life would be boring”
It’s funny, but on a second read, with a start-up — particularly one in a nascent category — pretty much all you’ve got to on is the product and the people, right? So you are doing your due diligence.
And I liked this analogy,
“Great running backs find holes and than explode once they get open field. They don’t look back, they don’t taunt the opposing team, they just run.”
Reminds me of what Barry Sanders used to say (I think something his father taught him): “when you get into the end zone, act like you’ve been there before”. Sanders would just hand the ball to the referee after he scored. No crazy dances. BTW, I posted a video clip of a great TD run by Barry’s son (a high school star in Oklahoma) on my old blog at the end of last year. Junior runs like Barry but is built like a young Eric Dickerson.
act like you’ve been there before
such great advice
That tie in was pro Dave, thanks.
Thanks Mark. I was inspired by the post.
indeed i tried and was inspired too. thanks dave.
there’s a big difference between tea leaves and roadmap howard.
i love this post
you are a zen master
high praise buddy. thx.
i need to do more entrepreneuring posts but just cant get the blog posts out
like i used to.
twitter killed the blogging star
i feel the posts are there so maybe I post all my half written posts and let
the community fill them in.. :)
if a post isn’t half baked, you worked too hard on it
if I reblogged I would reblog that.
:)
touche
pfft. guess again boss.
oh, and i loved it so much, i reblogged not one but two of your lines on fredwilson.vc
to me it only matters if I make front page avc billing. dont diss me to back pages :)
i am sure you noticed that stocktwits was mentioned in my post yesterday
that’s front page billing!
it was not salesy enough on our behalf :)
i will go back and edit and insert “the insanely great” before stocktwits
will that be acceptable? :)
from handsome howard who says…’the niche can make you rich…bitch’
throw in a few typos as well.
love to gothammmmm
speaking of gotham, she told emily and jess that you own polaroid (i know that’s not exactly right)
now they are all over me to get some free product out of you
my girls are total photo enthusiasts and love the polaroid look
emily used a polaroid almost our entire trip in paris and got some great shots with it
i told the girls that howard lindzon and free are not compatible words :)
Three words…
‘Pickles’ for Polaroid’
Yes our fund is one of three private equity firms that purchased Polaroid
and you were like who is Polaroid….
i know. i still am.
they take these polaroids and then scan them and post them to the web
it’s the look they are after i guess
the whole thing seems nuts to me
but what do i know about analog shit?
“Analog forever, Forever analog”.
Hey my visits here have been pretty close to free. One time Howard caught me reading and charged me 5 bucks.
This is some zen philosophy coming from a guy who lives and breathes financial trading mashed with social/team fun.. Either your a natural genius (your instincts have served you well) or you’re lucky as hell. Note I’ve lost interest in separating the two ideas.
Be careful, you’ll have kooks like myself running around with Howard bibles soon enough. The most compelling feature of your blog is how you simplify unecessary complication. That’s what I strive and often fail to do when programming.
You stepped it up with this post. Nice.
I liked this,
“I invest on instinct based on the product and people. If I did proper due diligence my life would be boring”
It's funny, but on a second read, with a start-up — particularly one in a nascent category — pretty much all you've got to on is the product and the people, right? So you are doing your due diligence.
And I liked this analogy,
“Great running backs find holes and than explode once they get open field. They don’t look back, they don’t taunt the opposing team, they just run.”
Reminds me of what Barry Sanders used to say (I think something his father taught him): “when you score, act like you've been there before”. Sanders would just hand the ball to the referee after he scored. No crazy dances. BTW, I posted a video clip of a great TD run by Barry's son (a high school star in Oklahoma) on my old blog at the end of last year. Junior runs like Barry but is built like a young Eric Dickerson.
there's a big difference between tea leaves and roadmap howard.
i love this post
you are a zen master
oh, and i loved it so much, i reblogged not one but two of your lines on fredwilson.vc
act like you've been there before
such great advice
“I invest on instinct based on the product and people. If I did proper due diligence my life would be boring, I would be wearing a suit and I would be in cash.”
That part reminds me of Richard Branson who wrote in his book: “I never trusted numbers, because I felt they could be twisted to proof anything so I relied far more on gut instinct. ” :-)
Howard,
An interesting post as always.
However, as an afficionado of the link between poker and investing, including VC investing, I can’t seem to find the link to poker in the article, even though it is in the title.
Perhaps I am missing something – if so please enlighten me!
Keep up the great work with StockTwits,
John (aka The Masked Financier)
i got tired half way through. when people talk about platforms I can only think about poker…the only true open platform that only the government can stop.
poker is so global and open and thats why it just continues to grow virally and it also manages to pit 15 year olds against 80 year olds and cross so many cultures. oif you have the admission fee you can randomly end up playing anyone.
you might like my book actually :)
Thanks for completing the picture Howard.
And an interesting perspective on poker being a global platform, and one which I can add to my arsenal of promotional ideas for the Texas Holdem Investing concept.
Indeed, the widespread appeal of and knowledge about how to play poker is one of the reasons that I feel it is an excellent medium for helping non-investors to learn some of the critical concepts for successful investing.
And now I’m on my way to Amazon to get your book…
yes , poker and investing have so much in comjmon, so much so that I decided
to go all out on stocktwits tv while on a treadmill watching poker. I dont
play but was so engaged. engaged despite the fact that I could not trade
alongside or play the hand.
On stocktwits TV, I can also participate. while watching our live shows and
jogging on a treadmill, fred wilso for instance, who has his ipad tvelcro’d
to his treadmill could be watching me, and or any of our shows, see someone
execute a trade, get feedback from 30 of his trusted sources and execute the
trade right alog with the host.
thats social finance and thats what stocktwits long tail is
The Poker platform analogy sounds like the possible future of FOREX that you so excited about after your trip to Israel. Could that be the direction that FOREX takes for global acceptence?
Howard,
An interesting post as always.
However, as an afficionado of the link between poker and investing, including VC investing, I can't seem to find the link to poker in the article, even though it is in the title.
Perhaps I am missing something – if so please enlighten me!
Keep up the great work with StockTwits,
John (aka The Masked Financier)
While thinking on the subject of the connection betwen poker and VC investing, I thought I would share my own thoughts about how Fred Wilson has ably commented on this connection at AVC – http://bit.ly/UmBGr.
While thinking on the subject of the connection betwen poker and VC investing, I thought I would share my own thoughts about how Fred Wilson has ably commented on this connection at AVC – http://bit.ly/UmBGr.
This is some zen philosophy coming from a guy who lives and breathes financial trading mashed with social/team fun.. Either your a natural genius (your instincts have served you well) or you're lucky as hell. Note I've lost interest in separating the two ideas.
Be careful, you'll have kooks like myself running around with Howard bibles soon enough. The most compelling feature of your blog is how you simplify unecessary complication. That's what I strive and often fail to do when programming.
That tie in was pro Dave, thanks.
That's a great question. But you can only borrow and learn so much, the big decisions have to come from us. Genuine instincts right or wrong define us, and they can certainly mature, but not if you never use them.
high praise buddy. thx.
i need to do more entrepreneuring posts but just cant get the blog posts out
like i used to.
indeed i tried and was inspired too. thanks dave.
twitter killed the blogging star
i feel the posts are there so maybe I post all my half written posts and let
the community fill them in.. :)
if a post isn't half baked, you worked too hard on it
if I reblogged I would reblog that.
:)
touche
i am sure you noticed that stocktwits was mentioned in my post yesterday
that's front page billing!
it was not salesy enough on our behalf :)
well done pal, I so enjoyed you and Keith
keith is a star and if he avoids CNBC will be my hero.
well done pal, I so enjoyed you and Keith
yes , poker and investing have so much in comjmon, so much so that I decided
to go all out on stocktwits tv while on a treadmill watching poker. I dont
play but was so engaged. engaged despite the fact that I could not trade
alongside or play the hand.
On stocktwits TV, I can also participate. while watching our live shows and
jogging on a treadmill, fred wilso for instance, who has his ipad tvelcro'd
to his treadmill could be watching me, and or any of our shows, see someone
execute a trade, get feedback from 30 of his trusted sources and execute the
trade right alog with the host.
thats social finance and thats what stocktwits long tail is
i will go back and edit and insert “the insanely great” before stocktwits
will that be acceptable? :)
from handsome howard who says…'the niche can make you rich…bitch'
throw in a few typos as well.
love to gothammmmm
Your instincts about ideas and people work because you have the experience. When you’ve had your share of failures and successes, you are a different man. It takes a little to recognize a potential winner and how much to risk on it. You’ve learned your shortcuts by realizing that you don’t need all the information to make a decision as most of it is noise.
With that said I am not sure that following your instincts is a good idea for unexperienced people. Did you follow your instincts when you were younger?
That’s a great question. But you can only borrow and learn so much, the big decisions have to come from us. Genuine instincts right or wrong define us, and they can certainly mature, but not if you never use them.
big time. will blog about the gripp, have so before. RIGHT out of grad school, a cold call.
You mentioned that story in that video interview you did a while back (archived here on your blog).
Your instincts about ideas and people work because you have the experience. When you've had your share of failures and successes, you are a different man. It takes a little to recognize a potential winner and how much to risk on it. You've learned your shortcuts by realizing that you don't need all the information to make a decision as most of it is noise.
With that said I am not sure that following your instincts is a good idea for unexperienced people. Did you follow your instincts when you were younger?
howard is ninja cool as always!!!!
a masterful insight, indeed!!
howard is ninja cool as always!!!!
a masterful insight, indeed!!
Love the sports analogies…
Love the sports analogies…
“I invest on instinct based on the product and people. If I did proper due diligence my life would be boring, I would be wearing a suit and I would be in cash.”
That part reminds me of Richard Branson who wrote in his book: “I never trusted numbers, because I felt they could be twisted to proof anything so I relied far more on gut instinct. ” :-)
speaking of gotham, she told emily and jess that you own polaroid (i know that's not exactly right)
now they are all over me to get some free product out of you
my girls are total photo enthusiasts and love the polaroid look
emily used a polaroid almost our entire trip in paris and got some great shots with it
i told the girls that howard lindzon and free are not compatible words :)
Three words…
'Pickles' for Polaroid'
Yes our fund is one of three private equity firms that purchased Polaroid
and you were like who is Polaroid….
i know. i still am.
they take these polaroids and then scan them and post them to the web
it's the look they are after i guess
the whole thing seems nuts to me
but what do i know about analog shit?
You mentioned that story in that video interview you did a while back (archived here on your blog).
i got tired half way through. when people talk about platforms I can only think about poker…the only true open platform that only the government can stop.
poker is so global and open and thats why it just continues to grow virally and it also manages to pit 15 year olds against 80 year olds and cross so many cultures. oif you have the admission fee you can randomly end up playing anyone.
you might like my book actually :)
to me it only matters if I make front page avc billing. dont diss me to back pages :)
keith is a star and if he avoids CNBC will be my hero.
big time. will blog about the gripp, have so before. RIGHT out of grad school, a cold call.
Thanks for completing the picture Howard.
And an interesting perspective on poker being a global platform, and one which I can add to my arsenal of promotional ideas for the Texas Holdem Investing concept.
Indeed, the widespread appeal of and knowledge about how to play poker is one of the reasons that I feel it is an excellent medium for helping non-investors to learn some of the critical concepts for successful investing.
And now I'm on my way to Amazon to get your book…
i forgot to mention chris dixon's great post back from september which is why it will be hard for companies long term that just rely on twitter's API
http://cdixon.org/2009/09/14/the-inevitable-sho…
one of the reasons we built our own pltform and have our own api
i forgot to mention chris dixon’s great post back from september which is why it will be hard for companies long term that just rely on twitter’s API
http://cdixon.org/2009/09/14/the-inevitable-showdown-between-twitter-and-twitter-apps/
one of the reasons we built our own pltform and have our own api
pfft. guess again boss.
Thanks Mark. I was inspired by the post.
The Poker platform analogy sounds like the possible future of FOREX that you so excited about after your trip to Israel. Could that be the direction that FOREX takes for global acceptence?
Hey my visits here have been pretty close to free. One time Howard caught me reading and charged me 5 bucks.
“Analog forever, Forever analog”.
I’m late to the post but you are spot on, Howard. Run with stock twits- rock!
I'm late to the post but you are spot on, Howard. Run with stock twits- rock!
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