The key to making money in angel investing is saying no. You meet with 100 companies and say no to 99 of them.
One of the things that I've always loved to do is brainstorm ideas with friends and get together and talk about what they're building... Essentially, my day-to-day is just going around and meeting entrepreneurs and talking to them about what they plan on launching.
I focus on consumer Internet. Sometimes it's a working prototype; sometimes it's an idea on a napkin. I don't do a ton of deals a year, and I really like working with startups - it's the only way I can invest. It fits my ADD brain.
Twitter became a major place to find out what was breaking on the Internet. Facebook became a place to share links. Social media really grew up.
Since news breaks on digg very quickly, we face the same issues as newspapers which print a retraction for a story that was misreported. The difference with digg is that equal play can be given to both sides of a story, whereas with a newspaper, a retraction or correction is usually buried.
We want to open digg up to just about anyone and everyone that wants to express their interest in any type of news story or Web content.
The democratic approach to news is a very valuable thing. We're always going to be dependent on the quality of reporting of mainstream media.
Digg will serve as a means of gathering metrics for third party websites, providing them insights into who's digging their content, who they are spreading it to.
With Digg, users submit stories for review, but rather than allow an editor to decide which stories go on the homepage, the users do.
Digg is like your newspaper, but rather than a handful of editors determining what's on the front page, the masses do.
One of the things that's been crazy for us has been the speed at which news can break on Digg, because it's powered by a mass of humans versus a machine that has to go out and crawl and find the information and then determine its relevance mathematically.
My background is in tech. I studied computer science, and was working on TechTV, so the first thing I wanted to do was see my favorite motherboard stories hit the front page; you know, like, really geeky stuff.
We have a huge tech following that do nothing but Digg tech stories, and then there's another pool of users that remove the tech section from their view of Digg, because you can go on and customize your own experience and remove sections you don't like.
A team aligned behind a vision will move mountainsCollection: Team
Ifyou believe in something, work nights and weekends, it won't feel like work.Collection: Business
Founders: there is no shame in failing, take pride in that you have the guts to try something new.Collection: Pride
Go build it. If you really believe in something, you should just build it. If you love it, it won’t feel like work. It’s okay to drop out of college if you have an awesome idea.Collection: Believe
I love well-designed products that combine form and functionality.Collection: Form
Don't spend too much time planning, release early and often, some things will work, others won't, refine and move forward and above all forget the money, just make sure you love what you're doing.Collection: Moving
A team aligned behind a vision will move mountains. Sell them on your roadmap and don't compromise - care about the details, the fit and finish.Collection: Team
Social media really grew up.Collection: Media
I don't care what it is, when it has an LCD screen, it makes it better.Collection: Care
Release early and often.Collection: Release
You don't need anyone's approval and in fact, you probably won't get it, so don't even try. Build, release and iterate. Make a list of the features you want to create over the next six months and get going! For small companies, once a week; for larger companies, maybe twice a month.Collection: Success
When you look at what makes America great, what makes America, you know, not great, our ups and our downs, Springfield represents all of it.Collection: America
Letting users control your site can be terrifying at first. From day one we were asking ourselves, "What is going to be on the front page today?" You have no idea what the system will produce. But stepping back and giving consumers control is what brought more and more people to the site. They have a sense of ownership and discovery at the same time. If you give users the tools to spread and share their interests with others, they will use them to promote what is important to them.Collection: Success
I don't do a ton of deals a year, and I really like working with startups - it's the only way I can invest. It fits my ADD brain.Collection: Years