I like Jason Calacanis. He's done a wonderful job with TWIST, the This Week In network, the Open Angel Forum and the Launch conference. I find him to be very funny and entertaining, passionate about entrepreneurship, tough-minded and determined to succeed, forthright and honest about his opinions, and someone who isn't afraid to make hard decisions. I do wonder about the future of Mahalo, though. Unlike some of Jason's other ventures, it seems as if Mahalo - now version 4.0 - has struggled to obtain a unique and strong identity, let alone sufficient market traction, so far. If it can be the best how-to video site on the Internet, great, but given Google's recent stance on how-to content sites (i.e. the 'farmer' algorithmic change), not to mention all the other companies vying to be the best how-to video site on the Internet, the company certainly has its work cut out for it. On the other hand, these are precisely the circumstances that sort out the real entrepreneurs from the wannabes and from Jason's comments above... I wouldn't count him or the Mahalo team out.
I agree... but for a totally different reason. I thought it was an incredibly bad joke considering that Brisbane, Australia has just been hit by the worst floods since 1974. The CBD and many suburbs are literally awash in water. It's a national disaster: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/gallery-fn7... So... I was relieved to see the piece had absolutely nothing to do with the plight of Brisbane, Australia!
Why Are There So Many Articles on Why There Are So Few Women in Tech?
Okay, I'm being facetious. But as a female entrepreneur and founder of a growing tech startup, I would much rather read about the women who ARE building tech companies than endless articles on the women who aren't (i.e. articles about why so many women don't work in tech or start tech companies, etc).
That's not to say such articles don't make some relevant points. But are they really helping or hindering the situation? Which kind of article would inspire more women to get into tech... another article lamenting the lack of women... or an inspiring article profiling some of the women who have, or are, building wonderful tech companies?
I know which kind fires me up (and of course I get inspired by ALL entrepreneurs - men and women).
My husband and I quit full time jobs to build our second startup, whilst also having two kids to raise (8 and 6 years old). I don't feel like it's hard at all. I'm pretty disciplined, so I guess that helps. Perhaps I also see the world differently. But overall we're happier, we spend more time with our kids than when we were in jobs, and life is great.
I would also point out that the 'family business' is nothing new. Sure it may be somewhat different when you're building a business to scale, but there are plenty of examples of family businesses where the parents work huge hours and are also raising kids. Heaps of examples come to mind where the parents are literally managing the store 6 or 7 days a week, and somehow looking after children as well.
If you see 'having a family' as a barrier then it will be a barrier. Personally, raising kids and building a startup has never been an 'either/or' choice. In fact, since I love my kids and also love building a company... nothing could be better than having a life where I get to do both.
Well said. I wanted to write the same concept, but you are more eloquent. There is an interesting effect when you have a company, the kids seem to pick up the business skills by osmosis. My children constantly surprise me with how much they know about my company.
Very inspiring - thank you. Yes, it strikes me that Ed was not squandering his time at all. He was making the absolute best possible use of his time as he amassed more and more insights and understandings that he was able to channel into his ultimate calling.
"This is why Asia is winning, by the way." Winning at what, exactly? What a loaded statement... with absolutely no substance. Also, I'm not all that familiar with the U.S. college system, but if you were highly interested in math and science wouldn't you go to a different kind of university than a liberal arts college (i.e.one with a bigger focus on math, science, engineering)? So what is the relevance of comparing U.S. liberal colleges with 'Asia'?
I can't speak for England or Europe but here in Australia it's typical for judges to 'award costs' to the winning party. In other words, the judge determines whether or not it's appropriate for the losing party to pay the legal costs of the winning party. It is not mandatory for judges to award costs but it is so common as to be expected.
In principle, awarding costs is 'fair': if Party A has caused Party B to incur legal costs in enforcing their legal rights then it's only fair for Party A to compensate Party B for their legal costs. A positive consequence of 'loser pays' is that there is far less litigation - and certainly less spurious litigation - in Australia than there might otherwise be.
On the other hand, while the practice seems fair in principle it can be very unfair - and financially crippling - in practice. You can imagine a situation where Party A is actually in the right, tries to appeal the judge's decision, but can't do so because they are financially in the hole because of having costs awarded against them!
So, while I still favour the idea of awarding costs, other mechanisms are needed to account for situations where parties are appealing decisions and the like.
It's not a perfect system, but it's amazing to test things like USAToday.com vs. The New Yorker written for high school vs. college level readers . . .
