FinTech: Details Matter

Long delay in writing a post here.  Been a busy month and lots of posting over at Wallaby (Android app, survey contest, etc.!) So, I was reading Jason Fried’s blog post about ignoring the details, which I guess is part of his book. This is a continued part of

Thoughts on Titles in a Startup

We’ve spent quite a bit of time lately around the office talking about the value or titles in a startup.  Do you give people big titles because they are effectively in charge of things? Or do you give people smaller titles so you can promote them (and not sound

Tax Credits for Homeowners with Limited Repair Skills

Home repair is expensive! But it drives a lot of economic value. People have to buy materials.  Then, when we homeowners mess up our repairs we have to hire professionals to come fix it. This leads to usually buying more materials as well as paying for the time of the

Wallaby's First Open House

This past Friday night we had our first open house for Wallaby Financial at our new office in Old Town Pasadena.  I think it was a great success with more than 50 attendees: investors, advisors, friends, potential future employees and business partners showing up to support us. We moved in

So.... Hot...

I grew up in the mountains of Northern New Mexico.  Born and raised at about 7,200 feet above sea level, the heat never rose above about 96 or 97 degrees.  Every night it cooled off really nicely, too.  So even if it was hot, at night you just opened

The Olympics Fuss

There have been dozens of articles around the web, twitter, etc., complaining about NBC’s coverage of the Olympics. There’s a general feeling that if the technology exists to watch something live then there’s an obligation to do so.  So everyone is pissed off that NBC is tape

If only it were really like this. Seriously.

If only it were really like this.  Seriously.

Information wants to be free.

Information wants to be free. Information also wants to be expensive. Information wants to be free because it has become so cheap to distribute, copy, and recombine - too cheap to meter. It wants to be expensive because it can be immeasurably valuable to the recipient. That tension will not go

An Awesome Municipal Service: Go 511!

I drive a decently new car–a 2006. It has the “technology package” of the time with bluetooth phone and voice dialing commands.  But it doesn’t have traffic or anything fancy like that. I live in Los Angeles. I ALWAYS want to know the traffic. I’ve tried using

Playing it old or playing it young?

Going all of the way back to high school I’ve acted old for my age.  Call me an “old soul” or whatever, but there was a joke that I was 15 going on 45.  I’m not sure what specifically created that perception, but I felt it was very

There’s been a whole bunch of internet commentary about this speech.

I would summarize it as follows: “MEAN English Teacher...

Starbucks Rewards is Brilliant

Within the last several years Starbucks rolled out a loyalty program.  It is a brilliant program. I’m not sure how much others are reading the details, but Starbucks loyalty program stands out for its general lack of transparency on earnings. It’s important to note at this point that

Is It Like Shark Tank?

Since I started my company back in January, people have been asking me about what it’s like to raise capital.  The questions are very different depending on whom is doing the asking.  My higher tech friends have some really specific questions: “Did you meet with Sequoia?” “How is Sand

Managing Up and Managing Down

I just had a great lunch with some of the folks I used to manage.  It’s always really enjoyable to catch-up with people you like once you’ve left the social structure of being their manager–you have a new capability to talk to them more casually, be

Fundraising May Be Hazardous to Your Health

It has been my intention not to talk about fundraising for my new company, Wallaby Financial. It seems like poor form to get into the details publicly.  But an incident today seemed to beg for a write-up. I have been going around asking people for money speaking to qualified,

Why is Popular Bad?

Look at how popular those hats are! Awesome. With the recent purchase of Instagram and its expansion to Android, it seems that it is now suddenly less cool.  I think that's because it's popular.  I mean there was even the Phil Schiller controversy about shark jumping.

The Wallaby Card

This is what I've been working on 24x7 for the last few months.  Sign-up for the beta list today.  We'll help you have a thinner wallet and maximize all of your credit card rewards. www.walla.by.

I Used To Write A Newspaper Column

Not that I am old or anything, but I used to write a monthly column in the newspaper. Ah yes, the illustrious Los Alamos Monitor.  It's kind of hard to imagine. I mean it was the late 1990s, so the web did exist, but especially in a small

Obligatory Why I Left My Job to Start a Blog Post

OK. So, I didn't quit my job just to start a blog. I quit to start a company.  To pursue an idea. To pursue my recurring dream to be an entrepreneur.  I think a lot of people thought (think) I was (am) crazy to have done it. This

Websites and Vanity

I started making websites in 1995.  There was a debate about Mosaic vs. Netscape and we knew how to use gopher.  A lot has changed since then and I am not the website deisgner/engineer I once was.  I mean, I think I'm a lot better now, but

You're Good at Plumbing, Not Marketing

I know there's starting to be a theme of negativity here about our Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs).  Don't get me wrong, small businesses are great.  They are more fun in general to work in, make a meaningful difference in people's lives and are