Tag: tech

Ice Buckets. Or would you rather…..?

achanmanLeave a comment

So I can’t help but notice that more and more people are starting to do this ALS ice bucket challenge.  Although I think the thoughts behind it is great, I have serious questions as to WHAT is actually going on.  From what I’ve noticed, the dialogue tends to go something like “I’ve been “CALLED OUT” by xxx to do the “als” ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE”!!! “ROAR!!!”.  

OK.  Are we forgetting what the actual point of this was?  ALS?  where’s the time and emphasis spent on talking about that and to point someone to WHERE we can actually do something (by something I don’t mean dumping ice) to help the cause?  Businesses can have a focus on fair trade or integrate some sort of social service into the operations and people have a choice of proactively participating through resources (aka $$$) or time+effort. But this seems to be losing direction….. what about “if you choose not to dump ice, which would be great as well, you can goto alsa.org to donate?”  

I wonder if the ALSA suddenly realizes they became social media marketers versus fundraisers for their cause.  Wouldn’t it be fun to know what the ratio turned out to be in terms of ice dumping hits of social media vs donations? Do we dare take an over/under gamble on donation vs ice?

The Ice bucket challenge although an interesting way to use the virality of the internet to pass a message and indicates to a good cause, forgets that it is playing an infinitely looped version of telephone where the spirit and soul of the point seems to have been lost. 

I realized, after spending some time talking to NGOs that technology may not be the best skillset that they have and that they are trying very hard to leverage the internet.  Understandable and commendable.  But at the end of the day they must not let something go out of control and become more an internet game and allow people to lose focus on what the actual point is!

Just in case, this is what ALS is.

This is not directed to anyone I know that has already DONE the challenge. Your videos were fun and keep calling people out to help.  Just make sure to let them know donating is also an option.  

Here’s an idea… why not dump AND donate?

 

What about our safety?

achanmanLeave a comment

With the new episode of Russian hackers storming the barn that is the world of Internet security months after Heartbleed tore a hole in the system, it brings me to think about our general sense of security in the modern world.
We are told to have different and stronger passwords for everything but yet it seems that there are systemic breakdowns that edge ever closer to disrupting our world as a whole. It really is “our world” nowadays also since the Internet is everywhere and increasingly in everything. Do our archaic forms of letters and numbers really hold a strong enough front to defend us? Is our information ever really safe again? Facebook and Google seem to be the “good guys”, for now, but can we imagine a world if they weren’t? Crazy mad scientists and villains rarely care about market cap and stock price.
This brings me to the “smart home”. A genius concept in a world filled with rainbows and cupcakes but in the world of monitoring and espionage, where does that take us?
Things to think about as always and hope everybody is chillin this weekend.
Change your PASSWORDS!

Teamwork

achanmanLeave a comment

As we all know, a difference in position can result in significantly different perspectives and outcomes. This is a universal theme that runs deep in daily business, life and sports. Freedom fighter or Terrorist? Creating or destroying? Enthusiastic or annoying? Really hard to say sometimes and even harder to take a step to take it all in slowly and fairly. (feels like a bad sentence)
As an ex-entrepreneur and now investor, it is quite interesting to feel the emotions from both sides. Fresh from taking of the entrepreneurial hat, I fully understand that one must protect their “baby” and not allow outside mofos to run their show all over it. It’s easy to feel protective over ideas and property and hard to accept that an OUTSIDER (how dare they?!?!) could have an interesting and perhaps refreshing perspective. It’s great to be chasing dreams and even better to find supporters, but with how big of a voice?
On the other side, as an investor, I also need to understand that conversations must be held carefully and that we (as a group other than a few) cannot go in guns blazing and lighting up the joint. This is a big turn off for founders and we need to remember that we are supporting a good person+team in pursuing their dreams that in return will hopefully give us returns. This is an interesting and everlasting dilemma and not one that will end, ever.
Pretty similar to teams at school, work, and sports. Some teams start from day 1 with everyone wanting to be the winner and leader. Some teams have members that immediately claim a supporting role for the greater cause. Some teams have leaders and coaches that want a well trained lean mean fighting machine. Which one works best? The great Bulls? The Heat? the Spurs? Germany or Argentina? Do you want the best overall team or the best player? Budding with energy+potential or seasoned+savvy veterans? Dictatorship or Democracy?
I don’t know the answer. Have been involved and seen many of the different situations above (I’m sure we all have)….. Can’t say I have a conclusion……

Fame and Fortune… and tech.

achanman4 Comments

We all know that artists & celebrities get a lot of attention.  They capture our imaginations and bring us to new, wonderful and thrilling worlds. They’re also the ones seducing us with cool clothes, good food, baller lifestyles and new brands to believe in.  What is it about them that completely mesmerises our senses into submission?  I’m not sure what it is nor will pretend like I know although I guess you call it “star power”, but that’s just defining a term with itself and doesn’t help break it down.  Whatever it is, it works and it pushes us to buy, try and look out for the next big thing.

Momentum over the past few years has quietly rolled two interesting forces together… two prominent and all consuming forces.  The first is fame and the second is technology.

Celebs have always been at the center of  the coolest and trendiest businesses… bars, restaurants, private clubs, beaches, hotels, fashion, whatever it is… and now, they are turning it on to the NEXT (current) big thing… tech!  The iPhone, which has become a celebrity in and of itself, has changed and defined a generation (and forever more), the world  and all the people in it.  So naturally, they’re in there too!  

Celebrities and Venture Capital have a growing and arguably increasingly unbreakable relationship. From Ashton Kutchor with A grade, JT with mySpace, Bieber with selfie social networks and Carmelo Anthony with M7 in the US to Chinese actors REN Quan 任泉, LI Bingbing 李冰冰 and HUANG Xiaoming 黃曉明 forming StarVC.  These celebrities (and more… Will Smith, Kanye, Gaga, Leo, Jay-Z, Shaq) have decided to grab their fame and their gadgets by the horns and run with it.

This is a really interesting trend and I’m starting to believe that there is some brilliance in the craziness.  Great teams are formed when members contribute their unique talents in unison. Perhaps VC and tech startups will be the same.  Some people have to defend, some people have to attack. What’s got more potential in making something popular in tech? Seems logical to think and relate to the famous founders, VCs or Tech Crunches of the World, but isn’t it essentially only getting 80% of those that follow tech? What’s to stop the superstars that we always admire an love?  Why go for only the young, tech fans, and geeks when there’s an opportunity to go for everyone!? 

Getting carried away here but It’s been very interesting to follow and has been giving me ideas.   What do you think?