As you probably know by now, the pattern of 1s and 0s on the cover of the 2009 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report contains a hidden message. I decided to give it a whirl and eventually figured it out. No doubt plenty of people managed to beat me to it, as evidenced by the fact…
Read More Covering the Verizon Breach ReportThe Washington Technology Industry Association has released a very cool map of the Puget Sound Tech Universe. Here’s an excerpt:
Read More Seattle Tech UniverseIn “The product manager’s lament,” Eric Ries writes about his view of product managers: Let’s start with what the product manager does. He’s supposed to be the person who specifies what the product will do. He writes detailed specs which lay out exactly what features the team should build in its next iteration. These specs…
Read More CTOs, Product Management and Program ManagementPaul Graham has an interesting essay “Why There Aren’t More Googles.” In it, he talks about how VC are shying away from doing lots of little deals, and how the bold ideas are the ones that are hardest to fund: And yet it’s the bold ideas that generate the biggest returns. Any really good new…
Read More Why Aren’t there More Paul Grahams?Have you ever wondered how banks make so much money in the mortgage business? If you stop to think about it, mortgages are the ultimate commodity product these days. The bank collects information from you, gives you a loan, outsources the customer service to a loan servicing company, and securitizes your loan. So how do…
Read More SmartHippo LaunchesZero-Knowledge Systems was one of the hottest startups of the internet bubble. Unlike internet companies selling pet food or delivering snacks to stoners, Zero-Knowledge was focused on bringing privacy to all internet users. We had some fantastic technology which was years ahead of its time. And people often ask me “whatever happened to them?” The…
Read More "Whatever happened to Zero-Knowledge Systems?"“It’s too late, baby” Yeah, I’m dating myself, but Tapestry was huge, and she and Goffin had some serious songwriting chops. Anyway, the “it” about which it’s too late is, yes, a relationship. An important relationship. A relationship which, while admittedly not exclusive, is “open” in a hopefully honest, fulfilling, respectful way. That relationship is…
Read More Carole King said it bestMy friend Austin Hill has a new blog, Billions With Zero Knowledge. He’s got a really good post up “Crowdsourcing or Community Production – An Interview with Hugh McGuire from Librivox.” What’s most interesting to me is how new companies are trying to tap into customer enthusiasm to build not only value for their customers,…
Read More How to Treat CustomersEven though Chris got the news before me, I wanted to add my congratulations. I was involved in Counterpane very early, and made the choice to go to Zero-Knowledge Systems. I stayed involved on the technical advisory board, and was consistently impressed by the quality of the many Counterpane employees and executives who I met.…
Read More Congratulations to Counterpane and Bruce SchneierThere’s a fascinating article in the New York Times last week, “Expunged Criminal Records Live to Tell Tales” about how companies like Choicepoint which collect and sell public records don’t pick up orders to expunge those records. I didn’t have much to add, and figured the Times doesn’t need me to pimp their articles (they…
Read More Long Term Impact of Youthful Decisions