indorphyn

A classic collection of the world’s most valuable startups

scott — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:47:25 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3xaeVXTSBg

From your friends at Silicon Alley Insider, comes a collection of the world’s most valuable new media companies. It’s a great selection of classics from the 90’s and new titles from today. Own the entire set for only 12 easy payments of: $5.199 Billion. Take a look!

THE SAI 25: THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE STARTUPS

Rank	Company	Valuation
1.	Facebook	$9 billion
2.	Wikipedia	$7 billion
3.	Craigslist	$5 billion
4.	Betfair	$5 billion
5.	Mozilla Corp	$4 billion
6.	Yandex	$3 billion
7.	Webkinz	$2 billion
8.	LinkedIn	$1.3 billion
9.	Habbo	$1.25 billion
10.	Oanda	$1.2 billion
11.	Linden Lab	$1.1 billion
12.	Kayak	$1 billion
13.	QlikTech	$850 million
14.	Ning	$560 million
15.	Slide	$550 million
16.	TheLadders	$500 million
17.	Stardoll	$450 million
18.	Ozon	$450 million
19.	Thumbplay	$400 million
20.	Glam Media	$400 million
21.	Rock You	$325 million
22.	Tudou	$300 million
23.	Efficient Frontier	$275 million
24.	Zazzle	$250 million
25.	Spot Runner	$250 million
Contenders

	Federated Media	$245 million
	Yelp	$225 million
	Meebo	$220 million
	Indeed	$200 million
	Zillow	$200 million
	LoveFilm	$200 million
	Metacafe	$200 million
	Adconion	$200 million
	4INFO	$175 million
	Photobox	$150 million
	Vibrant Media	$150 million
	Gawker Media	$150 million
	Mahalo	$150 million
	56.com	$150 million
	Youku	$125 million
	Digg	$125 million
	Etsy	$115 million
	LinkExperts	$100 million
	Powerset	$80 million
	Trialpay	$80 million
	Huffington Post	$75 million
	Associated Content	$65 million
	Live Gamer	$60 million
	Twitter	$75 million
	Mint	$50 million
	Prosper	<$50 million

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A Growth Mindset

scott — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:01:42 +0000

From, The New York Times:
Unboxed: If You’re Open to Growth, You Tend to Grow By JANET RAE-DUPREE

WHY do some people reach their creative potential in business while other equally talented peers don’t?

After three decades of painstaking research, the Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck believes that the answer to the puzzle lies in how people think about intelligence and talent. Those who believe they were born with all the smarts and gifts they’re ever going to have approach life with what she calls a “fixed mind-set.” Those who believe that their own abilities can expand over time, however, live with a “growth mind-set.”

Guess which ones prove to be most innovative over time.

“Society is obsessed with the idea of talent and genius and people who are ‘naturals’ with innate ability,” says Ms. Dweck, who is known for research that crosses the boundaries of personal, social and developmental psychology.

“People who believe in the power of talent tend not to fulfill their potential because they’re so concerned with looking smart and not making mistakes. But people who believe that talent can be developed are the ones who really push, stretch, confront their own mistakes and learn from them.”

In this case, nurture wins out over nature just about every time.

While some managers apply these principles every day, too many others instead believe that hiring the best and the brightest from top-flight schools guarantees corporate success.

The problem is that, having been identified as geniuses, the anointed become fearful of falling from grace. “It’s hard to move forward creatively and especially to foster teamwork if each person is trying to look like the biggest star in the constellation,” Ms. Dweck says.

In her 2006 book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” she shows how adopting either a fixed or growth attitude toward talent can profoundly affect all aspects of a person’s life, from parenting and romantic relationships to success at school and on the job.

She attributes the success of several high-profile chief executives to their growth mind-set, citing an ability to energize a work force. These include John F. Welch Jr. of General Electric, who valued teamwork over individual genius; Louis V. Gerstner Jr. of I.B.M., who dedicated his book about I.B.M.’s turnaround to “the thousands of I.B.M.’ers who never gave up on their company”; and Anne M. Mulcahy of Xerox, who focused on morale and development of her people even as she implemented painful cuts.

But Ms. Dweck does not suggest that recruiters ignore innate talent. Instead, she suggests looking for both talent and a growth mind-set in prospective hires — people with a passion for learning who thrive on challenge and change.

After reading her book, Scott Forstall, senior vice president of Apple in charge of iPhone software, contacted Ms. Dweck to talk about his experience putting together the iPhone development team. Mr. Forstall told her that he identified a number of superstars within various departments at Apple and asked them in for a chat.

At the beginning of each interview, he warned the recruit that he couldn’t reveal details of the project he was working on. But he promised the opportunity, Ms. Dweck says, “to make mistakes and struggle, but eventually we may do something that we’ll remember the rest of our lives.”

Only people who immediately jumped at the challenge ended up on the team. “It was his intuition that he wanted people who valued stretching themselves over being king of their particular hill,” she says.

People with a growth mind-set tend to demonstrate the kind of perseverance and resilience required to convert life’s setbacks into future successes. That ability to learn from experience was cited as the No. 1 ingredient for creative achievement in a poll of 143 creativity researchers cited in “Handbook of Creativity” in 1999.

Which leads one to ask: Is it possible to shift from a fixed mind-set to a growth mind-set?

Absolutely, according to Ms. Dweck. But, “it’s not easy to just let go of something that has felt like your self for many years,” she writes. Still, she says, “nothing is better than seeing people find their way to things they value.”

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Watching TV, while not having a TV

scott — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:40:05 +0000

From, Stuff White People Like:

“The number one reason why white people like not having a TV is so that they can tell you that they don’t have a TV…though these people often fill their time by talking with other friends who don’t watch TV about how they don’t watch TV, looking at leaves, cooking, reading books about left wing politics, and going to concerts/protests/poetry slams.”

I was at a BBQ last night listening to a friend relate how she’s just finished watching every episode of Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and is working her way through the 1st season of Heroes. But then finished up her enthusiam for Heroes (which I share) by mentioning that she doesn’t own a TV (I gave her props, “Oh that’s great…me either!”)…so how does she consume her favorite media? She watches it all on her laptop (via iTunes).

A-ha! How fantastic is it to have technology provide us with an ability to continue to claim not owning a television but still reap all the benefits of keeping up on your favorite shows?! Brilliant. Only drawback? It’s a small screen…so I rig my lappy up to a projector…that way it’s still not technically a TV and I retain my non-TV-owning bragging rights.

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Do Something

scott — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:51:43 +0000

The Greek Stoic Epictetus wrote, “Do you know that old age, disease, and death must overcome us, no matter what we are doing? What do you wish to be doing when it overtakes you? If you have anything better to be doing when you are so overtaken, begin on that now.”

In Buddhism, the term “Samvega” means, a sense of urgency or passion for spiritual or life practice coming from knowing the preciousness of life and the constant nearness of death.

With a powerful sense of Samvega, I’ve decided to join the Obama campaign. I’ve always followed politics closely, but I’ve never been inspired to get involved with a political candidate before. While I write this, there are over 700 wildfires burning in Northern California because of a (mild) drought, a war rages in Iraq while oil companies and commodities traders make record profits on $5/gallon gasoline. Granted, my life, other than the smell of smoke in the air, is relatively unaffected. I can afford the gas…but I wonder how the yard-maintenance man can. I know that it is on his back that those oil executives and futures traders just had a great 2nd quarter.

I believe that climate change is at hand. That economic and political forces have become grossly corrupt such that the poor are getting much more hopelessly poor while the rich shore up their wealth in a world on the brink of dramatic and alarming change. I know first-hand how horribly wrong our private health insurance system has become. Health insurance companies pay their employees bonuses to reject claims and I’ve personally had claims for medication, and time in the hospital rejected by Blue Cross for bogus reasons. But oddly, it was the news I heard at an upscale San Francisco restaurant that struck me: I learned that salmon fishing has been stopped for the summer because the fish have all but disappeared from the pacific coast. No one really knows why, but it’s likely overfishing, runoff from logging and pollution of the waterways and ocean.

As Americans, I see us losing touch with the values that made us great and see us cowering in fear while economic forces weaken our dollar, force home foreclosures and make us hopelessly less relevant on the world stage. Our best hope for drastic and lasting change is electing Barack Obama as President. I believe that a President Obama, with a democratically-controlled congress will help our country drastically alter course, develop a new era of world leadership and re-establish goodwill and community contribution as 21st century American values.

Yes we can.

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“Insane Office Worker,” what happened?

scott — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:09:03 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqTItdUlJPk

“Going Postal” has never been so well illustrated than in the recent “Insane Office Worker” video that’s making the rounds on YouTube. I found the official explanation for the event in a Russian newspaper and translated it using Google translator, viewable here. The video depicts an ad sales rep in a Russian yellow pages office. According to the article, he was sent over the edge when his colleague made a comment about him not receiving his sales commission and joked that he would now have to spend his vacation in the less-than-enticing Krym (Russia) instead of in Thailand. The article goes on to say that no-one attempted to stop him, despite a number of men present in the office until he was tasered several minutes later by a security guard. It did point out that plenty of the men quickly whipped out their camera phones.

I’ve heard it said recently that bringing more emotional expression to the office is a good thing. On first glance you might say that this is an example of bring a little too much emotion to the office. But it’s clear that this guy had it pent up…and I’d argue that when we don’t express how we’re feeling in the moment, it can build up in dangerous ways and eventually finds its way out…like in turning you into a real-life version of the Hulk. So, if you’re pissed off that you didn’t get your commission…tell someone right then and there, it will save you jail time…and a tasering.

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