The Raveonettes: Forget That You’re Young

(Via Fred Wilson)

Rich Kids

Cover of Slumdog Millionaire [Blu-ray]I have taken to dropping by Hacker News near daily after Fred Wilson made the point a few days ago. Today I came across this blog post.

Michael Church: Yes, rich kids already won the career game. Here’s why.: Americans like to believe that the modern workplace, like school, is a meritocracy........ Americans prefer to believe that, among those who do work, side-by-side in the same environment, it’s a fair competition. To their chagrin, they observe that their co-workers from wealthy backgrounds advance three times as fast ..... People in offices are out for themselves, not trying to preserve (or to combat) the social status quo. Rather, this is a subconscious and irresistible force, and it comes from one root cause: rich kids don’t fear the boss. ...... The middle-class kid spends the bulk of his time trying not to offend, not to behave in a way that might jeopardize the job he worked so hard to get and could not easily replace if he lost it. He doesn’t invite himself to meetings, avoids contact with high-ranking executives, and doesn’t offer suggestions when in meetings. Thanks to the fear he experiences on a daily basis, he’s seen as “socially awkward” and “mousy” by higher-ups. Nothing recommends him, and he will not advance. ...... Middle-class kids generally fuck up their first few years of the career game in one of two ways. Either they fear authority tremendously, which is crippling from a career perspective and renders them devoid of creative energy, or they show an open distaste for managerial authority, described by the wealthy as having a proletarian “chip” on one’s shoulder, and fail to advance on account of the dislike they thus inspire. ..... The rich kid, on the other hand, relates even to the highest-ranking executives as equals, because he knows that they are his social equals. He’ll answer to them, but with an understanding that his subordination is limited and offered in exchange for mentoring and protection. He views them as partners and colleagues, not judges or potential adversaries. Perhaps this is counterintuitive, but most of his bosses like this. (Most bosses aren’t assholes and don’t like to be feared, at all. In fact, they’d be happy to forget that they are bosses.) His career advances fast. ......He’s neither a cowering weakling
Image via Wikipediawho crumbles at the sight of authority, nor an obnoxious brat whose sense of entitlement and dislike for managerial authority limit his progress prematurely. He respects others and himself and has an uncanny air of effortless “coolness” (by which I mean freedom from anxiety) that enables him to actually get things done. ....... the majority of rich kids who are well-behaved and decent are valued more highly when their circumstances are discovered. ...... This advantage held by the wealthy, more prominent on the East Coast and outside of technology, is nearly impossible to compete against in most companies. ....... I would advise those who are sufficiently talented to work in technology, which tends to be more meritocratic than other industries, and to avoid old-style business. Beyond that, I know of no solution.

I found this blog post amusing. I am someone who has never had a "job." You know, where you show up eight in the morning wearing a tie? I have never done that. I did note the ode to the technology sector. In a startup, it is not about if you are rich, it is about if you are hungry. For me rich and poor is a global thing. For me it is about dollar a day people and self made billionaires.

Facebook Comments: First Impressions

Image via CrunchBaseI got excited about Facebook Comments right away, long before it got rolled out. I am very much for using real names with comments. When you leave a comment at my blog, I want the option to be able to click over to your Facebook profile if I want to. I want you to stand by what you have to say. I want to meet real people. To me that's the whole point behind the internet, that geography is irrelevant. The blogosphere's appeal is that it allows for a meeting of minds. Facebook Comments takes that to a whole new level. It is more than meeting of minds, it is also meeting real people.

Farmville's Got Competition

Image by haikugirlOz via Flickr

ReadWriteWeb: Look Out Farmville: Angry Birds is Coming to Facebook: The game - in which you fling a variety of birds at things in hopes of knocking them over - is a complete blockbuster with more than 75 million downloads. Several different gaming blogs have reported that Angry Birds' creator, Rovio, has told Wired UK that it is working on a social reinvention of the game for Facebook...... Will Angry Birds take over as the number one game on Facebook? Can it compete with the crack-like qualities of games like Farmville and Cityville?

I'd be curious to know as to how the game reinvents itself for the Facebook platform. I do think they are capable of giving Farmville some serious competition.

Identity And Collective Identities

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeOne of the highlights of Obama 08 for me was this conversation I had with Barack's sister Maya at the downtown Manhattan headquarters late in 2007. I talked to her about a very personal connection I felt with the guy. I asked her about her name. It is an Indian name, Maya, I said.

It was Maya who articulated it for me. She said, "He walks between worlds." That captured it for me. It was then I realized why I connect with the guy so very personally.

Barack Obama walks between worlds.

Chaiyya Chaiyya

Prabhu Deva: Muqabala Muqabala

SXSW: Not Going

Image via WikipediaI was on the phone with a friend earlier in the day. She is going to South By South West for the first time and she is excited. SXSW is in the air.

I have never bought a plane ticket in America. I guess she was trying to convince me to come along. I guess it is too late to sign up for panels and things. But you can go to the parties in the evenings, she said. They are free.

I get the impression South By South West is the Kumbh Mela of tech. More than 10,000 people show up. From all over the country.

Maybe next year. This year it's a pass.

Sean Parker, Billionaire, Was Really Poor Once

“You have got to be willing to be poor [as an entrepreneur]. There was a time when I was living out of a single suitcase. I had a rule that I wouldn’t stay on one person’s couch for more than two weeks because I didn’t want to become a bother.” - Sean Parker

Blogging Works Wonders: Here's An Example

Image by Newton Free Library via FlickrSo I put out this blog post yesterday. Yes-ter-day.

Very Much Would Like To Go Into Bihar

And someone left a comment a few minutes back. Here's a team that is already doing microfinance in the part of the world that is of greatest interest to me: Mithilanchal in Bihar. Mithilanchal is two words, just like Paramendra is two words. Mithila + Anchal (Zone) = Mithilanchal. Param (The Great) + Indra (King of all the 300 million gods and goddesses in the Hindu mythology) = Paramendra.

GroupOn, Zappos, And The Non Tech Components

Image by David Berkowitz via FlickrGroupOn Did Not Launch At South By South West

I dig these two companies for their emphasis on non tech components. Zappos does not sell shoes, it sells phone calls. The emphasis is on customer service. Tony has told his people, talk to the customers for as long as they will talk to you.

GroupOn has boots on the ground. That army of sales people is integral to how GroupOn rolls.

GroupOn Did Not Launch At South By South West

Image via WikipediaGroupOn has grown like crazy. But it was not launched at South By South West. And I have an observation to make.

GroupOn has this very clear offline component to it. It has hired thousands of sales people. And its customer base is your very average person, the Walmart types. They want to save money. They want to save money on haircuts.

That is why you do not hear GroupOn and South By South West in one sentence. I never have. Because GroupOn's early adopters were not the kind of people who end up at South By South West.

Overall I feel good about South By South West. But I also have a word of caution for the crowd. You don't want to end up in some kind of an echo chamber where you are only hearing each other. It is possible to collect too many business cards. What are you going to do with them? Networking is a good thing overall, but too many business cards can also mean a lack of focus.

Like the Kayak.com CEO likes to say, I don't go to events.

A Life Of Poverty

Image via WikipediaI have had my double cheese burger super sized. It was like a six month disappearance - they had Wael Ghonim disappear for 12 days in Egypt, they had me disappear for six months in America, cost me two major victory parties, I guess it is a bigger deal to put a black man into a White (WHITE) House than it is to kick an Arab out - plus the Great Recession - all my investors walked away - plus the Great Immigration Humiliation. But I have not so much as flinched.