When you are designing a product for Kickstarter and you show prototypes, backers will assume you have worked all the bugs out first.
Do backers on Kickstarter really assume that all the bugs will be worked out before the prototype is shown? I'm not familiar with how the community works, but would assume that the prototypes would be used to identify more bugs and design flaws, as well as elicit feedback from early users.
Let's see a public statement by the CEO that not only says "we've been removed from a list" but also "we will never support SOPA or any other far-reaching legislation designed to undermine the Internet."
Here's one problem with screening: A colonoscopy is a $2000+ procedure, and insurance won't always pay for it unless it's medically necessary.
So, if you have a family history of colon cancer and you've entered the age range where screening typically starts, you may be out of luck. Yes, treating cancer is vastly more expensive than screening for it. So why not pay for regular screenings? I think health insurance companies (and employers) probably do a cost analysis and determine that the cost of detecting and catching stage 1 colon cancer in a screening is more expensive than the cost of waiting for it to develop into something that requires treatment, because by that time there's a very good chance that the worker will no longer be at the same company.
I'm hopeful the costs and effectiveness of non-invasive imaging technologies and auto-analysis will come down in the next 10 years to the point where "screenings" can be done for a fraction of a colonoscopy. But, of course, the manufacturers of the current generation of imaging technologies -- the Siemens and Intels of the world -- are perfectly happy with the jaw-dropping price tags that hospitals and clinics have to pay and pass onto the consumer. If some smart startup comes along with a cheaper solution, just buy 'em out or use monopoly muscle to take them out of the picture.
Also, is a follow-up to "Founders At Work" planned? It's a really inspirational book, and I am sure there is a huge new crop of potential subjects from the last three years of ups and downs in the startup space.
I hate to say it, because I haven't played the game or read the case study, but maybe Schilling would be better as an angel as opposed to a startup founder.
As for spending his personal fortune, he has a lifetime of employment as an ad pitchman in the Boston area -- at least if he wants it. He broke the Curse for the Red Sox, and people here will never forget that.
Ditto for both Boston newspapers. It can literally ruin your day reading some of the comments below even mundane articles.
The NYT has a good approach: Approve only those comments which present reasoned arguments in a semi-intelligent way. There's a lag, but the comment threads are excellent reading.
Another approach: Force everyone to use real names when leaving a comment. I am not sure how that would work, but the trolling would drop away if real identities were tied to people's words.
Unfortunately, it might also inhibit people from commenting, too. Anonymity is a great way to say what you actually think.
The list under the subheading "What Is the Chinese Economic Model?" is worth reading. He is overly harsh on some points ("there is perhaps a 30-year supply of poverty-level wage earners happy to make export goods at below global cost") but he is right on the money for others (currency manipulation, stolen IP, etc.)
Note that this came out more than a week before Google made its announcement that it was considering pulling out of China. I think other startups or established companies considering an expansion into China should read this first. There are certainly opportunities, but lots of asterisks too.
I use Google Calendar alerts and have regularly noticed late email notifications (up to an hour or two), but never failed deliveries. I use Yahoo mail.
Short version: American journalist discovers the rest of the world isn't like home.
Disappointed to see this getting a lot of upvotes. It's hardly a new issue for entrepreneurs or governments. Traffic control on the roads, in the skies, and on the rails is a known problem that transportation engineers have been working on for decades. Sarah Lacy is talking about it like she just discovered the problem.
Some people who claim to have been at the talk said that Ozzie's opinions were more nuanced than what's been reported on Gizmodo and VentureBeat. Check the comments at the bottom of Scoble's blog post:
The author is the same person who wrote the much-commented scienceblogs post about why he won't go to his high school reunion. The post and the comments are well worth reading, if you haven't seen them before:
This is the best link I've ever seen on Hacker News.
It's honest, it's filled with good advice, it has warnings that people should be at least aware of (e.g., "mentors" who provide an hour of advice and expect an equity stake in return), and it's very, very well written and is a pleasure to read. I knew the author had some serious writing experience when I read the post, and sure enough, he has background as the founder of an online literary publication.
So, it is preferable to deprive kids of attention/love/help with school (OP says he barely sees his children) as opposed to depriving kids of "things"?
Do backers on Kickstarter really assume that all the bugs will be worked out before the prototype is shown? I'm not familiar with how the community works, but would assume that the prototypes would be used to identify more bugs and design flaws, as well as elicit feedback from early users.