the social implications of a self-driving car

Today we moved south, from Fisherman's wharf down to Menlo Park. But most of the day was spent at Google. This was certainly a day that everyone has been looking forward to for most of the trip.

My interest in Google+ was renewed by a great tech talk by Ed …

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a lesson in venture capital

"Ann is on a roll, we are going to be late." I texted to Phillip. Indeed she was. Ann Winblad was the first investor in my Company, Net Perceptions, back in 1996. She was an investor, a mentor, and a supporter of us for years. Today she was giving my …

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changing the world, jterm 2014

The following is a republication of a post I wrote for Luther College's "Ideas and Creations" Blog.

Changing the World: Understanding Entrepreneurship, January 2014

I have never been so glad to leave Minnesota as I was on January 6th. The temperature outside was -24 with a windchill that defied all …

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a golden bike ride

What a great day for a bike ride! We rented some bikes at Blazing Saddles, right next to the hotel. Then took off for the golden gate bridge. It was a beautiful day and no surprise, the bike paths were very crowded with all kinds of people enjoying the outdoors …

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the starlight coastal

A 23 hour train trip? At some point that seemed like a really charming idea. Eight hours in, I'll say that the bloom is off the rose. Its been a nice ride, and a good chance to catch up on some reading and blogging but for the most part its …

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how many trees in the state of washington?

What? There is no real way to know the answer to this question, but it is one that was posed to the group today. How do you handle uncertainty? How do well do you think on your feet? This is a typical interview question used by many high tech companies …

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jterm 2014 - day 1 at amazon

Jeff Bezos likes to talk about technology and civilization and where we are at in terms of the analogy that we are still at "Day One." He recently observed that we are so early in Day One that the alarm clock hasn't even gone off yet.

With new technologies, it …

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envisioning the future

Today was a big day. The Microsoft mother ship.

We began our visit with an hour in the Envisioning Center, this is Microsoft's take on the future, 5 years out. There was some pretty cool stuff in there. If you've ever drooled over the fancy table on Hawaii Five-O where …

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and now it can be told

Date Tags travel

Loyal readers will remember that last summer we cruised to Alaska, and some very secretive things were happening on that cruise that I could only refer to rather cryptically. Well, with the airing of last nights episode of Top Chef the story can now be told.

We were on the …

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the debary institute

Its been a great J-Term. A trip to Vail for some Skiing, and a trip to Florida to solve the worlds problems with great friends at the DeBary Institute. For those who do not know, the DeBary institute is a newly renowned think tank with roots in the Bone Lake …

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