The Germans Called Me Robin Hood

This was in early 2006. I was deep into the Nepal democracy movement work. We were a few months away from grand success, but we could not have known it at the time. And I got an email from a German reporter. She wanted to talk. So we talked over email and the phone, and she wrote up an article for some German newspaper. I used Google Translate to translate it into English to publish at my Nepal blog.

Me @ BBC

Her story had a fancy title: Robin Hood On The Internet. That story got picked up by the German radio people. They emailed me asking me to come to their studio in Manhattan so they could record an interview. They said they had requests from many local radio stations in Germany. And so we talked.

And although I have been rooting for Brazil and Argentina, they are both out. Now it is obvious to me that Germany is going to win this cup. And I am happy for them.

I am gladly rooting for Germany now.

Argentina Was Not A Team
Brazil: The Overconfidence Of A Soccer Superpower
Soccer And Latin America
Brazil
Walking On The Moon
Lionel Messi (2)
Lionel Messi
Young Folks
Walk In The Park
Freehand Exercise: 1,000 Push-Ups, 1,000 Squats, 1,000 Crunches
Brazil And Argentina: My Choices And Those Of My Favorite Actor
The Eyes Of Truth
Hey Now, Hey Now
Tomorrow
Samuel Eto'o

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Happy July 4 Fred Wilson, Brad Feld

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Hello VCs.

I am about 15 months away from a green card, and about that far away from launching my startup, which right now I think will be something to do with the last mile of the ISP business. I think the best use of my time from now till then would be to pour myself fully into the democracy movement in Iran. I have done this before, I can do this again. I did this for Nepal in 2006. This is what I have had to say about that:

There is a concrete mathematical theory called the butterfly effect. A butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon forest could be the reason a cyclone hit Bangladesh. What happened in Nepal in April 2006 was a political cyclone. I was the butterfly flapping my wings in New York City. In April 2006, over a period of 19 days, about eight million people out of the country's 27 million came out into the streets to shut the country down completely to force a dictator out.

This work will help me keep polishing my two strengths that I would bring to my startup: vision and group dynamics. Internet access is the voting right for this century, the Internet Century, and to do well in that business you have to be able to deeply care about masses of people like those that have been thronging into the streets of Iran.

Iran is a low hanging fruit. The hardest part of a democracy movement is getting people to come out into the streets. Well, that has been happening in Iran. This world is connected enough by now that one Digital Ninja/Commando based out of New York City could make that fundamental difference. Everyone I need to meet in person for this work is right here in New York City, primarily members of the Iranian diaspora. All I would need is a laptop, a smartphone and a monthly metro pass. And me.

I need you guys to sponsor this work out of your own pocket. Put in 5K each, and find me 18 other VCs who will put in 5K each. I ask for 100K and 15 months. That would be enough time. If I succeed, you get to put in another 2.5K each for a 50K bonus to me. This 5K you might put into this is the equivalent of 5 million you might put into Kiva. Democracy is the ultimate fishing net you can give to a people. Once they have a modern democracy, they can help themselves.

Looking forward to it. Happy July 4.

Paramendra.

Me @ BBC
An Immigrant Story For Brad Feld

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