SitDown. StartUp.

My square finally arrived in the mail today. Awesome device with...

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:58:00 -0500

Square dongle

Receipt

My square finally arrived in the mail today. Awesome device with a seamless integration on the itouch. I linked my checking account in a few seconds and can start receiving payments. The process is smooth and the dongle is pretty stable when plugged in.

The downside is that Square charges 3.5% on each transaction. This is pretty high, especially for a card-present transaction. Most merchants charge around 1.6%-1.8% on card-present transactions. I believe the reason Square would charge a much higher percentage is due to the potential for chargebacks and fraud. I’ve worked extensively in mobile and e-commerce payments for the past 4 years and chargebacks are mission critical. Paypal dealt with it. Merchant processors deal with. Banks deal with it. The problem is that processors require an extensive application process to mitigate the chargeback risk of a merchant. Square on the other hand is making it incredibly easy for anyone to start swiping away. This increases the chances of chargeback risk/fraud for Square. Needless to say, they probably took all that angel funding and put it in an escrow account to cushion for potential chargebacks.

On the bright side, its fun and is as simple as that hipster demonstrates in the square demo. They even send you a receipt after purchase (see above). Thanks Square. Now I just need to start my taco stand on west broadway.

John Underkoffler, the co-founder of a 25 person Los...

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:32:46 -0500

John Underkoffler, the co-founder of a 25 person Los Angeles-based startup actually imagined a gesture-based computer interface for Minority Report. The movie producers and Spielberg offered Underkoffler, who was at the time working at the MIT Media Lab, to serve as a science consultant for the movie.

This past Friday, Underkoffler has finally demoed a working prototype of that user interface at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California. Dubbed the g-speak Spatial Operating Environment, the system lets you zoom in and out, push objects aside and bring them to the foreground, rotate objects, etc.

Well I guess this means we are one step away from flying cars and brain implants ;)

This video gave me the chills. Truly fascinating technology. This explains why companies like AOL (that desire to become as innovative as Google) are sponsoring/investing in the MIT Media Lab.

Amazing video of Johnny Chung Lee from Carnegie Mellon using an...

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:00:49 -0500

Amazing video of Johnny Chung Lee from Carnegie Mellon using an infrared camera in the Wii remote and a head mounted sensor bar.

I used to be a huge gamer in elementary school and junior high, but if games start utilizing this technology, I may have reason to start again.

My close friends from college just launched a phenomenal new...

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:51:08 -0500

My close friends from college just launched a phenomenal new location-based game called Duality. Its alpha is available now for iPhone and iTouch.

You can sign up now by clicking the photo above. You can get points, prizes, and virtual currency by checking in to local restaurants and cafes and building an empire with your friends.

I’ve been playing Duality for the past few weeks on my itouch and it’s addicting on every level. Check it out…

Play Duality!

listening to "Deadmau5 - Ghosts n Stuff"

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:20:12 -0500

listening to "Deadmau5 - Ghosts n Stuff"

Remember TheFacebook (via 2004). Ahhhh…so clean and no...

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:16:55 -0500

Remember TheFacebook (via 2004). Ahhhh…so clean and no privacy issues. The good ol’ days of social networking.

listening to "Klaxons-As Above So Below (JUSTICE remix)"

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:41:44 -0500

listening to "Klaxons-As Above So Below (JUSTICE remix)":

listening to "La Roux - Bulletproof (Fred Falke Remix)"

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:42:24 -0500

listening to "La Roux - Bulletproof (Fred Falke Remix)":

work jams.

The other problem with venture capital: management fees

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:57:08 -0500

I have found Chris Dixon’s blog to be an amazing resource for anyone who wants a candid and intelligent opinion on all things start-up. Here is a great post about VC’s and why management fees versus performance based fees aren’t necessarily a good incentive for effective venture financing:

“Bill Gurley posted a really nice summary of one of the main problems with the venture capital industry, and Fred Wilson responded here. I totally agree with their analysis, but would add one more major problem with the venture industry to the list. The fact that most VCs get rich via “management fees” just by showing up every day.

For those who don’t know, most VC’s get paid by so-called 2 and 20. The 2 refers to the 2% of the fund they use to cover operating expenses and pay their salaries. The 20 refers to the (normally) 20% “carry” fee – the percent of the profits they make for their investors that they get to keep.

Now I fully support carry fees – it is very similar to equity in a startup. VC’s should get paid when they make money for their investors.

The problem is the management fees. 2% made sense back when VC funds were much smaller, but not now that they have gotten so large. As peHUB said in their email newsletter today, Benchmark had an $85M fund in 1995 but today has a $500M fund. That seems to be the typical trend for most big VCs.

Let’s do a little math. 2% of $85M is $1.7M. Assuming 8 partners, that means salaries are in the $100-$200K range. Much higher than national averages but, by the standards of finance, they aren’t getting “rich.” 2% of $500 is $10M, so each partner is probably getting $1M+ in salaries. Over the 10 year life of the fund that’s $10M. Even on Wall Street that is considered pretty rich. And they get that money even if they make only bad investments and don’t return a dime to their investors.

This is why you see VCs raising bigger and bigger funds, why you frequently hear them say things like “I need to do 2 deals this year” and, worst of all, why you often see VC’s arguing for larger round sizes even if the startup has no productive use for the additional money – and even for the same percentage ownership. In other words, in many cases VCs argue for a higher valuation just so they can “put more money to work.” Why? If you raise a $500M fund and tell your LPs you are going to invest it over, say, 4 years, then its pretty hard to go back to them after a year and say “thanks for the $10M in management fees, I decided not to make any investments this year.”

VC’s seem to be a big fan of performance-based compensation when it comes to startups. They should adopt it for themselves as well.”

listening to "Jay-Z - On To the Next One (feat. Swizz Beatz) -

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:31:04 -0500

listening to "Jay-Z - On To the Next One (feat. Swizz Beatz) -

Stalqer, available as a free iPhone app since earlier this...

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:25:09 -0500

Stalqer, available as a free iPhone app since earlier this month, has solved this problem by connecting to your Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare accounts and providing a map of your friends based on information it gathers from those services, even if they don’t use Stalqer.

If your friend uses a geo-tagged Tweet, or if they check in on Foursquare, Stalqer knows where they are. Stalqer can even pull your friends’ location from their Facebook profiles if they publicly display that information, but in most cases this is limited to the city level.

You can also view your friends’ locations in a list, or even in an augmented reality view by turning the phone on its side while in the map view, but Stalqer’s killer feature is its workaround of a pesky iPhone limitation.

ReadWriteWeb

Audi E-Tron= The first (sexy) electric I really would buy (If I...

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:37:40 -0500

Audi E-Tron= The first (sexy) electric I really would buy (If I had the funds)….

Pre-Release of UberTwitter (6) Available for Download

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:32:41 -0500

Yesterday an early build of UberTwitter Beta 6 was leaked to the public. That leaked version, which was v0.932, generated a ton of buzz on the Internet and particularly Twitter. In fact it was so big on Twitter that at one point yesterday #UberTwitter hit the popular Trending Topics list. As you can imagine UberTwitter wasn’t too happy about this and released the statement below on their website.

“We have been working very hard to provide you with a ‘knock-out’ release for Beta-6. Unfortunately, the first pre-release of this version was shared widely beyond our group of testers, and to compound this, they didn’t properly post the correct BlackBerry OS builds. We recognize that many of our users unfortunately downloaded this version, most with the wrong OS build. In order to rectify this problem, we are putting the first pre-release out there for anyone that wants to download it and give it a try. We have builds for 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, and 5.0. Please understand that this is not a finished product, the UI, colors, and some inner workings are not complete, but do work. The final release is still a few weeks away, but I hope that you agree that it will be well worth the wait!”

I’ve got the link for you right here (PS you need to do it on your BB Browser)

nnglass: This party tonight is going to rock and all, but did...

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:19:20 -0500

nnglass:

This party tonight is going to rock and all, but did NYC really need to recruit more cops just to handle us? ;)

gomobo: GoMobo Party Tonight, 9pm — Come and party with us in...

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:00:57 -0500

gomobo:

GoMobo Party Tonight, 9pm — Come and party with us in Soho. Invite your friends. RSVP here.

nnglass: Very proud to introduce the brand, spankin’ new...

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:52:27 -0500

nnglass:

Very proud to introduce the brand, spankin’ new GoMobo.com homepage. What do you think?

nnglass: GoMobo 2009 Client Roster: Very proud to work with...

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:48:37 -0500

nnglass:

GoMobo 2009 Client Roster: Very proud to work with such phenomenal restaurant clients, embracing mobile and online services to better serve their customers. Thank you to Applebee’s, Burger King, Cold Stone Creamery, Five Guys, Quiznos, and Subway for an incredible 2009!

Blogging Hiatus Ya'll... Check out my Travels!

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:00:00 -0500

Took a little blogging hiatus as I have been traveling for the past week throughout central and eastern europa. Great experience and excited to get back to everyone in NY and all those great folks at 84 Wooster.

Ava Ferenci (a.k.a ”the sister”) took her spring semester at Columbia to study in Banja Luka, Bosnia. Therefore, we decided to visit/travel/explore and Hanukkah in the following cities:

Dubrovnik (Croatia)
Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Belgrade (Serbia)
Zagreb (Croatia)

Amazing trip and definitely a drastic change from western european cities. Check out my photos.

wireframes: The best way to do user experience design! (or at...

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:55:00 -0500

wireframes:

The best way to do user experience design! (or at least to start it)

nnglass: Five Guys online ordering is LIVE! One store up now....

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:51:20 -0500

nnglass:

Five Guys online ordering is LIVE!

One store up now. More coming very soon…

Others at GoMobo.com