Bright Eyes: One For You, One For Me

(Via Fred Wilson)

A MeetUp Pivot

Image via CrunchBase

New York Observer: Screw Meetup: Organizers Up In Arms Over Redesign: In the new redesign, ordinary users can arrange for events, leading some to declare that organizers have been downgraded to moderators..... less than 1 percent of organizers active on Meetup have complained or commented on the redesign .... a simple solution. “If they don’t like users organizing events, they can just turn it off. It's a feature organizers have full control over.” .... "As we see how people are using the new tools we will keep iterating to simplify and improve the experience."

People love the Facebook newsfeed today. It is central to the Facebook experience. But when Facebook first introduced it, there was major ruckus. It is inertia. People dislike change. They are used to doing things one way. They would like to keep doing things the same way.

Yuri Milner's Smart Y Combinator Move

Image by davidcrow via Flickr

Wall Street Journal: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham On The $150K Per Start-Up Offer: “It’s probably one of the most surprising things that has happened so far,” Graham said. ..... Milner teamed up with SV Angel–the seed fund run by prominent angel investor Ron Conway–to offer $150,000 each in convertible debt in each company. .... Of the more than 250 companies that Y Combinator has produced since 2005, more than 20 have been acquired, but mostly for small amounts. The biggest success, by acquisition price, is Heroku Inc., which Salesforce Inc. bought in December for $212 million. ..... convertible debt–which converts to equity once the company raises venture capital at a set price–with no valuation cap and no discount, an extremely rare set of terms for entrepreneurs. ..... Y Combinator companies received $11,000 plus $3,000 per founder in exchange for 2% to 10% of equity ..... the average Y Combinator company raises $700,000 after the program. .... “The biggest change and huge change for better is now none of them are desperate,” Graham said. Fund-raising “takes a lot of time away from the company. Now they’re already there. They have that foundation.”

I don't think a Google or Facebook can come out of Y Combinator. The big iconic companies tend to have this streak of independence. But I think Y Combinator is great for middling companies. I'd be very surprised if any Y Combinator company goes IPO some day. But many have been and will be bought for a decent chunk of change. Many will stay mid size and profitable.

The Chrome Browser At 10%

Image via WikipediaLast I checked, it was at 5%, but even back then it deserved to do better. Next thing you know it will have hit 20%. Chrome has nowhere to go but up.

InfoWorld: Chrome breaks 10 percent browser market share for the first time

Chrome is the browser I use. It is minimalist. It is fast. It does not feel like there is anything at the top. All you get is the web. I like that.

Google calls it a "modern" browser.

Google's dragging its feet on the Chrome OS Netbook is unforgivable. That is what will take the Chrome browser roaring into the 20s and 30s and beyond.

Mark Zuckerberg Loves Union Square Ventures

Union Square Ventures: You Love Me, You Love Me Not

Mark Zuckerberg saw Twitter and he liked it immensely. Today the news feed is central to the Facebook experience.

He saw FourSquare and he liked it immensely. The world got Facebook Places.

Now he has a crush over Disqus, it seems like.

Zynga has been a major money maker for Facebook.

All of these are Fred Wilson's portfolio companies.

Facebook Going After Disqus Now?

Facebook Going Into Blog Comments Is Huge

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeFacebook Going After Disqus Now?

I have said several times at this blog that if Google wants to "get" social, it needs to go into the blogosphere. But now looks like Facebook is about to beat Google there too. This is a really, really smart move on the part of Facebook.

Non Profit Microfinance Vs For Profit Microfinance: The Stupid Debate

Image via WikipediaThere has been a stupid debate going on for a few years now that has taken new life the past few months. There is a school of thought that says microfinance can be non profit and non profit alone.

There has been some serious abuse of microfinance. A lot of MFIs - microfinance institutions - have been messing up the last mile in serious ways. Charging ridiculously high rates is one of them. Some debt collection methods have been shady.