Building The Ecosystem

I've always seen the work that my colleauges and I do as more than venture capital investing. That is our main job and we need to do it very well. But we also need to work to make sure the macro environment for our investing activities remains attractive.

There are two primary activities that Union Square Ventures focuses on in addition to our core venture capital activities of backing and then working closely with entrepreneurs and their teams. They are policy advocacy around protecting the freedom to innovate and efforts to build the ecosystem for startups and entrepreneurship. Longtime readers of this blog understand this from the many many blog posts on these two topics.

I'd like to talk a little about building the ecosystem this morning. We view "the ecosystem" both globally and locally. We want to work to build a world where entrepreneurship is available everywhere. But we also want to do everything we can to grow and nurture the entrepreneurial community in New York City. And we believe that the things we support in NYC can and will be copied throughout the world so that our local ecosystem efforts support our global ecosystem efforts.

I've talked at length about many of our local ecosystem efforts and I don't want this post to be a laundry list of the things we are working on. Many of you are quite familiar with them. I would like to talk about a specific thing that two of my colleagues are doing that inspires me.

Last week, Gary and Christina asked me to stop by our event space late one afternoon and spend 45 minutes talking to a group of a dozen or so interaction designers. I talked to them about writing, the importance of taking the time every day to put words down "on paper" and how that forces you to think crisply and clearly. It was a great discussion.

This was part of a three hour class that Gary and Christina teach master students at the School Of Visual Arts (SVA) here in NYC. The class is a requirement for the Interaction Design program and it is called Entrepreneurial Design. Gary blogged about the class here and Christina blogged about it too.

The idea to teach this class came out of Gary's observation that almost all of our portfolio companies are suffering from a dearth of talent in interaction design and that we needed to do something to help produce more talent in this area. Gary and Christina didn't ask for permission to teach this class from anyone in our firm. They just did it. Freedom to innovate in action. I love it.

Things like this make a difference. They add up and build on each other. USV is not alone in this effort. Our colleagues in the startup and venture community in NYC and our colleagues around the world are actively doing things just like this. And the result is a thriving global startup movement that is getting stronger every day.

#VC & Technology

Comments (Archived):

  1. David Noël

    #VCvalueadd Having experienced it first hand, I can testify that Gary, Christina and everyone at USV is consistently going the extra mile to support and expanding the ecosystem. Two weeks ago felt more like a Campus Of Excellence rather than a venture capital firm. So grateful to be part of the USV family. 

    1. fredwilson

      usv.edu

      1. David Noël

        Love it, do it 🙂

      2. Douglas Crets

        You know this makes sense. In a nation where teaching doesn’t get the respect it deserves, and education doesn’t deliver on the promise of reality-based living and learning, we need more people to work out of the shadows and create a new foundation for learning. New foundations. Just as there should be multiple platforms for the collaborative and individual creative inspiration in our lives, there should be multiple forms of “school.”Time to re-skin the world and Re-School. 

        1. fredwilson

          #hackingeducation

          1. Douglas Crets

            Is it coming back?! You all did this some time ago. This is the era of the Michael K.’s and the Michael Statons, and the… do I need to go on?We’re having a meetup about this stuff end of February. 

          2. Donna Brewington White

            #hackingeverything !

        2. Richard

          Last semester i enrolled in an ai class at stanford (online),  over 23,000 students made it all the way to the end in a Stanford graduate-level class. The format was so successful that the professors left stanford and started  www.udacity.com.

          1. Douglas Crets

            Cool. I don’t see why professors don’t just leave universities altogether. Maybe something about the benefits. – posted via Engagio

          2. Richard

            Grants and Funding

      3. John Revay

        Funny side note..I often type in AVC in the Chrome address bar,I see AVC.edu returned – Antelope Valley College.I wonder how much of their initial click track comes from people trying to get to Fred’s page.

    2. Gary Chou

      Thanks, David!

  2. Rohan

    Nice. Things like this may be small and quiet.. but make a difference.’One option is to struggle to be heard whenever you’re in the room…Another is to be the sort of person who is missed when you’re not. The first involves making noise. The second involves making a difference.’ | Seth Godin”

  3. jason wright

    USV – University of S……….. V………..?U of Silicon Valley, at NYC?Problematic.

    1. Donna Brewington White

      You have a very interesting mind.

      1. jason wright

        DBW, it takes one to interest another one.

        1. Donna Brewington White

          Touche!- posted via Engagio

  4. kirklove

    This is great. Thrilled they put it up online, too. USV rocks. Literally and figuratively. 

  5. awaldstein

    Great stuff.USV just gets it done.

  6. Douglas Crets

    And not to be a blatant pitcher for my own talents, but if companies need a person to help their teams come up with narrative strategies, great writing, and producing the best stories to share socially, please talk to me. I want to help. I think that part of building a great ecosystem for entrepreneurs and great companies is to build a fertile framework for storytelling, and listening. I’ve got several amazing projects in the works right now, and I will be able to talk about them soon. They are focused on finding the integral stories of the consumers of some great startups and bringing them back into the company to create a two way street for value. Sounds buzzwordy, but it works. 

  7. Trish Burgess-Curran

    Continued commitment to learning.  Great!

  8. William Mougayar

    It’s easy to copy ideas, but not as easy to copy the people behind these ideas.What you are doing is being role models for others. All VCs should be doing these kinds of things, but not all VCs understand the importance of doing that. You must give back to the organism that feeds you, and not just take from it.The writing part is an amazing thing & it has another correlation. The VCs that write regular blogs are usually the ones doing these extraordinary things, because they have a message and a mission, beyond just “being a VC”.

    1. Matt A. Myers

      I think it takes genuine authenticity in order to undertand the importance – which can be learned, as inspiration is learned and seen through mentors / role models.I agree though that kudos are deserved to Fred for helping bring focus to the importance of more than being a VC / more than just making money – of having a human reason behind it all, not just numbers.

      1. Rohan

        Hibernation period over??PS: Nice to have you back! 😀

        1. Matt A. Myers

          *pokes head in door* Hi!Thanks Rohan. I started to miss reading the thoughts of kind people like yourself. 🙂

          1. William Mougayar

            And the rest of us are not “kind”? 🙂 Welcome back Matthew! We missed you.- posted via Engagio

          2. Matt A. Myers

            Oh William! :PPeople who are like him … and you and many others here certainly fit in that group. 🙂

      2. fredwilson

        welcome back! 

        1. Matt A. Myers

          Thanks Fred – it feels like coming to an old comfy home that I can settle back into quickly.

          1. ShanaC

            🙂 I hope all is well

          2. Matt A. Myers

            Thanks Shana – back at ya.I’m on a 40-Day Bikram Challenge – on day 15 – going strong. 🙂

      3. Donna Brewington White

        Yay, Matthew Myers in da house!

    2. David Noël

      Create more value than you extract.What a great comment, William.

    3. FOUNDUPS® Michael J Trout, CEO

      It’s easy to copy ideas because we have no framework for the entrepreneurs to help protect them. PE via the Lean Startup has done a great con job in telling people don’t protect them because ideas intrinsically have no value. This is an utter lie as the ONLY real value is the idea when you can hire a PHP developer to code them for less than $10 per hour. The good news is we are launching OS! wiki and it will allow for the 1st time entrepreneurs the ability to protect their ideas before they launch them publicly. 

    4. ShanaC

      How do you copy people, even if you clone someone, you can’t just transfer a lifetime of experiences?What you can do is give people nurturing experiences.

  9. LIAD

    What worries me most is general lack of hunger not lack of any specific skill set.Massive youth unemployment, growing malaise, playstation generation.We need to reignite the entrepreneurial wow factor. The magic of making something out of nothing, the wonderment of turning dreams into reality.Making entrepreneurship available everywhere is well and good, fundamental to that though is having people who want to go out and grab it.

    1. Douglas Crets

      Hmm. I suppose some of this is right, and in many corners of the world, we see this kind of dismay, but I don’t think there’s lack of hunger.Not by a long shot. Have you seen the multiples of hackathons sprouting up? The TV shows people are trying to build around social good, entrepreneurs, etc? The media world is clogged with people trying to raise awareness. We’re even doing a Meetup on edtech at the NYC Ed Tech Entrepreneurs Meetup on February 28. 

      1. LIAD

        We live in a bubble. Our industry and locations are exceptions to the rule. They attract ambitious people like magnets.Outside though, in the world at large, malaise is huge. Youth unemployment in some European countries is over 50%.

        1. Douglas Crets

          I come from the school of thought that introducing more of the concept to more of the people will spark innovation and improvement and dissipate malaise. The problem is not the people, it’s the structures they are trained in. 

          1. LIAD

            good ole nature vs nurture.

    2. jason wright

      Have you seen Spain’s youth unemployment numbers? 45% are unemployed 😮

      1. David Noël

        64% for people aged 16-19. One in five is unemployed for people under the age of 30. Horrific stats (from a year ago).http://www.guardian.co.uk/w

        1. jason wright

          I think the 45% was the under 24 age group of the mass disenfranchised, utterly wasted in deference to the needs of the Spanish elite. That country is in serious decline, almost a terminal downward spiral. Next comes Franco’s successor.

          1. David Noël

            Really sad. Shocking, really.

    3. fredwilson

      i feel it happening LIAD. but maybe i am benefiting from the company i’m keeping

    4. FAKE GRIMLOCK

      CURRENT GENERATION NO MORE LAZY, UNMOTIVATED THAN ONES BEFORE IT.ONLY DIFFERENCE IS NOW THERE NO FACTORY OR FARM FOR THEM TO WORK AT.

      1. Douglas Crets

        Good point. And another problem is that their education system is sending them to the factory or the farm in the first place. I’m being rather cynical, but where is the education that functions to stimulate the skills they will need in a world that will be really new by the time they graduate? I’m promoting my own event for this purpose: http://www.meetup.com/New-Y…- posted via Engagio

      2. Douglas Crets

        Good point. And another problem is that their education system is sending them to the factory or the farm in the first place. I’m being rather cynical, but where is the education that functions to stimulate the skills they will need in a world that will be really new by the time they graduate? I’m promoting my own event for this purpose: http://www.meetup.com/New-Y…- posted via Engagio

      3. Douglas Crets

        Good point. And another problem is that their education system is sending them to the factory or the farm in the first place. I’m being rather cynical, but where is the education that functions to stimulate the skills they will need in a world that will be really new by the time they graduate? I’m promoting my own event for this purpose: NY Ed Tech Entrepreneurs Meetup. – posted via Engagio

  10. RichardF

    Just as you are doing with AVC, building and expanding the ecosystem.

  11. William Mougayar

    That event space you have done is a great proof of your intentions. It’s a testament to your commitment to education and community-based enablement. I haven’t seen a similar in other VC offices some of which have overdone boardrooms instead.

    1. awaldstein

      In NYC, nothing is more precious than space. It’s urban currency is a way.Giving space to ideas or space to memories in memorials is an acknowledge in itself of importance.

      1. William Mougayar

        I’m amazed at the space creativity in redesign inside some of the NYC buildings, e.g. the General Assembly (902 Broadway) where Engagio will be taking a temporary office space for the next 3 months (it will be announced today…shhh). I will be in NYC Feb 27-29…and open to meeting any AVCers NYorkers then. – posted via Engagio

        1. fredwilson

          GA and the other co-working spaces are all gifts to our community

        2. awaldstein

          Space and design as respect and homage. That is how I feel about the reflecting pools built on the foundations of the towers. They are the exact size of the towers. A huge nod forever to the memory of this event and the people. An amazing statement of space as currency through design. 

          1. Carl Rahn Griffith

            Beautifully expressed, Arnold.

          2. awaldstein

            Thanks.The monument really connected with me. 

          3. Carl Rahn Griffith

            I can imagine – ‘Space as a Currency’ is very emotive.Rather like the time so many inspirational people give here, pro bono.Makes it all the more special.

  12. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

    Eating the fruits and remembering to plant few for the next generation to harvest. Wonder why the world has few of this breed.

  13. panterosa,

    I love the openness of USV and AVC. And that openness’s inherent generosity which implies we all win when more people win.What about supporting social sites which expand the ecosystem you mention? By this I mean not just Kickstarter and Etsy, but communities which connect to those who don’t see themselves as entrepreneurs.

    1. fredwilson

      such as?

      1. panterosa,

        I wondered if you followed any such communities, here or abroad.I know for example that Jerry is taking/receiving more workshop engagements in Europe, and in more varied places than he expected. Especially with pockets of such economic problems and unemployment, Europe seems ripe for new ecosystems created by young, educated, and unemployed web savvy people to disrupt many established and broken patterns. Besides recent grads, many smart women are unemployed or part time with their kids and yearning to build small businesses. With and Within is a new site in test period for women which is based in Florence and has many women excited to help them build a network which is beyond Facebook or LinkedIn in terms of use, and will grow in and beyond Europe. A smaller equivalent here in NYC is being worked on at JumpThru, BlueGlue, and is also in testing. WIth and Within seeks to coax the entrepreneurial spirit out of women who need to reinvent/pivot due to the economy or changing family needs. BlueGlue is nurturing those same types of women who are farther along their path, and who also want to encourage newbies to take the plunge into their passions.Disclaimer – I have been in sessions with both groups on how to build what women need.- posted via Engagio

        1. fredwilson

          thanks

  14. reece

    Fred – if I gathered one takeaway from AVC since I started reading years ago, it’s to approach entrepreneurship with the greater ecosystem, the lasting relationships and the long view in mind

    1. fredwilson

      the long view is the right view for sure!

    2. Gary Chou

      Definitely one of the most important life lessons I’ve learned thanks to the startup community here in NY. 

  15. Carl J. Mistlebauer

    This is an issue that I have immersed myself in lately; but my “ecosystem” is a town of 45,000.Since we have a state university and we are enjoying rapid growth in population I realize that what we have to do is create an environment that creates an opportunity for children (high school and college age) to realize that they can become part of this growing phenom known as technology.  The reality is the world looks totally different when you find yourself not in NYC or SV and what I want to do is establish a BRIDGE, as I have no doubt that if we can develop an interest, a desire to explore, and empower young people to move forward then we need to connect them with folks in NYC or SV (or even Nashville).So, I think the AVC community needs to think about not only developing their own ecosystem within their communities but they should also think about how they can reach out, reach outside their communities and establish links with other communities, other smaller communities.

    1. Gary Chou

      Carl, this is a great point.  I think one of the things that will help is creating open courseware.  For example, in this case, we’ve creative commons licensed our syllabus, and most of the readings are freely available on the web:https://docs.google.com/a/u…We’re hoping that people in remote places join us on our blog and follow along with us over the course of the semester.

      1. David Noël

        Whoa, amazing. Working through this document now. Heaven. Thanks for making it available.

        1. Gary Chou

          Absolutely.  We hope people share and remix this.  The latter, of which, is as easy as: “File -> Make a Copy”.

      2. Cynthia Schames

        @garychou:disqus  WOW!  Thank you so much for sharing this.  Great stuff. 

      3. Carl J. Mistlebauer

        Gary Thanks!I have added this to my two page list of blogs/websites/online info that I pass out to anyone who even remotely shows any interest.I need to revamp it into a more appealing pamphlet, but that overwhelms me as I consider myself a novice in the area of tech and the future.Right now I am working with a variety of folks on my web projects and if I could find one person locally who was even remotely interested I would hire them and let them learn on the job. Right now I work with an American in China, and folks in Brooklyn, Miami, and Austin and the time change is wrecking havoc on my sleep patterns.

      4. Donna Brewington White

        That’s really fantastic, Gary.  I wonder if @kidmercury:disqus could incorporate this somehow into fredsquare.  Or maybe he already has.#fs

    2. Donna Brewington White

      When you say “what I want to do” do you mean this is something that you are actually intending to do?  Great idea.I wonder if the onus is on people in these these more obscure places to build the bridges to the motherships of SV and NYC?  But isn’t it inspiring to think that at one point, no one would have included NYC in the startup mecca category and look where they are now!  Chicago, next?  Minneapolis? And actually, there is more in Los Angeles than one might think… 

      1. Carl J. Mistlebauer

        Yes, and actually I am about half way done, but reality is that I do not want to pass myself off as some expert on the subject of tech/web, the future, and careers.I also realize that all my exposure to tech/web is “selfish” and by that I mean I only comment on AVC and don’t venture out that often and then I am really focused on ecommerce and social media.I see nothing wrong with telling talented young people to head to SV and or NYC; if a young person has aspirations then they need to set their goals as high as possible.But, sadly, I have run into a lot of “local pride” issues; nothing seems more obvious than the pride of knowing that some local kid made it into the big leagues but then again I am an oddity.

  16. Elia Freedman

    Thanks, Fred, for saying this. It is part of the reason your blog and your perspective is so important not just to the companies you fund but to the rest of us in this technology/web/mobile ecosystem as well.I read a post yesterday that was disturbing. It was a VC talking about backing a guy who almost killed himself and the VC saying he wanted to back more people like that. I find that mentality gives VCs a bad name and it is frustrating to think that all the VC cares about is the immediate short-term return.It was deeply disturbing to me and am thankful that I have this blog (and a few other VC blogs) to remind me many people aren’t like that. This post is one of those. The long-term health of the community (and the people invested in) matters, too.

    1. fredwilson

      oh god. makes me think of the monster in your head.

      1. Carl Rahn Griffith

        I’ve encountered – and sadly had to work with – people who clearly are governed by ‘monsters in their heads’ – sociopaths/psychopaths, whatever. Never again. It took me to a very low and dark place. Life’s too short as it is.

        1. jason wright

          They say that the aristocracy of the old world has a disproportionate pooling of socio/ psycho pathic genes. Their ancestors had an inability to perceive risk, and most were slaughtered on the battlefields as a result, but some got lucky and took the spoils of victory, and the seeds of privilege were thus sown down the ages to today where the landed class have an unhealthy concentration of said gene pool. It’s self-selective breeding powered by resource control. A bit scary. 

          1. FAKE GRIMLOCK

            SAME TRUE FOR CEOS.

          2. jason wright

            Any CEO come to mind? ‘history repeating itself is the lesson of history’ is my thesis. Things may look very different from one epoch to the next, but the pattern is there to be seen if one looks through this lens. Of course one can see whatever one wants to see.I see that MZ fits the pattern very well.

    2. AVCoholic

      I read Elia’s post and highly recommend everyone else to read his thoughts on it. He nailed it with his take. I’ll repost my comment here since it relates to this post also. “Building a company is like building a family. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and all play and no work makes Jack a pauper. There needs to be a happy medium. The health of your non-work life directly affects the health of your work life and visa versa.”It’s what I personally think allows long-term sustainability. It allows you to build support systems both in and out of work so when the going gets tough in either place, you have a community to help hold you up and walk with you.

      1. Elia Freedman

        Thanks, AVCoholic. That is a very kind comment. I’m very honored. Here’s a permalink to the post for anyone looking: http://eliainsider.com/2012…

        1. AVCoholic

          My pleasure. Sorry, I forgot to link your post.

          1. Elia Freedman

            No problem. I have to admit I am always embarrassed to self-promote in a situation like this… but since you referenced it!

        2. Rohan

          Shocking.And Disqus please! 🙂 

        3. Donna Brewington White

          Great post, Elia.  Was just ready to share the link and noticed that you already had.Thanks @AVCoholic:disqus for pointing it out.

          1. Elia Freedman

            Thanks, Donna! And thanks for the tweet.

        4. JLM

          Good stuff.  Pace in life is important even if the “pace” is all speed ahead for 3 years and then slowing it down a bit.Families are only a certain age once in your lifetime.  You cannot just go backwards.

          1. Elia Freedman

            Thanks, JLM! Totally agree.

      2. Matt A. Myers

        A company, like a family, should be a co-creative space where people feel supported – with hopefully many more symmetrical relationships than asymmetrical. Symmetrical relationships take time to find and develop. Asymmetrical relationships just take money and very likely can’t hold the same passionate bond and responsibility taken in drive for success.For myself, I know the non-technical family I hope to bring on board to help grow, build and cultivate the community and company I envision – however I’ve had less opportunity to meet potential technical co-founders due to where I live, and their availability is greatly reduced for many factors to begin with. I am finding my way though.

      3. ShanaC

        There has been inbalances for years in work life.  We as a culture don’t support slow growth, nor climbing up a career ladder in odd ways.  Nor have we fully made it clear that we’re going to do the flex time things with family.It makes a huge different if these are normative behaviors.

        1. AVCoholic

          Since when do entrepreneurs try to walk the beaten path :)? That’s why it helps so much to have a VC like Fred/USV who are doing more then just Venture Capital investing. They’re encourage their entrepreneurs and their teams (and the AVC community) to innovate, disrupt and build long-lasting companies by bucking the trend.

  17. Richard

    The foundation of creative inspiration is education. Sparks come when you combine disciplines. Lets consider interactive design, what if designers continued their educations and had the ambition and tenacity to study things like artificial intelligence and marketing and technology forecasting.  The result would be another dozen Steve Jobs level innovators.  

    1. Gary Chou

      Totally. Many of the SVA students come from having deeply studied or having worked in other disciplines.  Because of that, they are challenged with inventing their own paths.

      1. Richard

        “Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That’s not the place to become discouraged.” – Thomas EdisonWhat a comprehensive syllabus you put together!  Did you say that there are audio files avialabe?Perhaps next year, you can add a module on creative theory. I’d be up for providing a lecture. 

        1. Gary Chou

          We’ll be posting some audio and video along with the recaps of each class.  They’ll be published throughout the semester on our class blog: http://entrepreneurdesigner…We’ll also be including some posts from the students, which I think will be the best part of it.

  18. Lee Blaylock

    When I talk about this topic, I focus on three things I believe most important to building a vibrant entrepreneurial tech ecosystem:     1. Talent in general, especially core engineering talent and it takes a large AAU research institution or, even better, several in the same metro area to really generate the scale of engineering talent to make a real impact     2. Enlightened Capital.  Individual and institutional capital that understands how to cultivate these new companies, while not forcing them to do counterproductive things while going after the long ball     3. Enlightened Customers.  Not as critical in the consumer space, but esp in B2B, you need companies willing to support these new companies in the development cycle and especially be the early customers.  Part of the tragedy of the telecom meltdown in 2000 was that so many were burned by hardware vendors who vanished, it made it that much harder for the next generation to sell their wares, thus be successful.There are many other factors and you could also segment each of the above, but without those 3, there isn’t a viable ecosystem for significant innovation to occur. 

    1. Douglas Crets

      Your Number 3 really captured my interest. How can I help with this? 

      1. Lee Blaylock

        It is more of a corporate cultural matter around risk aversion so not an easy problem to tackle.  Several things can peck away at the eggshell though.      1. Build truly compelling products.  Don’t focus funding on incremental change if you are a start up, you need to target a 10x improvement in cost reduction or KPI improvement.  If it is that compelling, then companies will be looser with their restrictions.     2. Joint development with a large company.  If you work closely with a large name brand company that is willing to be a first deployment and reference, then they will be a “bell cow” for others to follow.  Steve Blank and Eric Reis call them Earlyvangelists.  The more respected the company in their industry, the more valuable the impact.    3. Do what you can to have a strong balance sheet.  Show you have stayin’ power.  Large companies prefer to do business with other large companies so always remember that and act like one, even if you are a start up.    4. Look at the company’s past history, if they’ve not taken early risks and you don’t have a personal relationship with the economic buyer, you are wasting  your time.    5. Educate the executives through any effective means about the key early tech trends that could significantly impact their P&L and cash flow.  They get paid to manage that and enlightened ones will listen.

      2. fendien

        Lee, your number 3 is one of the reasons I’ve founded the NY Enterprise Technology Meetup (www.meetup.com/ny-enterpris….   I’ve launched the Meetup as a way to help the enterprise technology ecosystem in NY leverage the great foundation set by its consumer counterpart. Consumer technology has a strong community including incubators, meetups such as the NYTM, and many networking opportunities, and the NYETM aims to become a first class enterprise cohort. The group’s mission statement is to foster innovation in the NY enterprise technology ecosystem through promoting early stage technology companies, supporting entrepreneurs, educating companies on how to work with enterprises, and creating an environment where entrepreneurs, investors, and businesses can all network and learn from one another.  What better place to launch than NYC, where we are full of enterprises such as financial services, advertising, media, retail, and fashion companies.As you mention, outside of the consumer space, we need people to be more aware of the innovations occurring and then can work together through building this community to learn how to adopt them.Our next event is Wednesday February 15th and it’d be great to have anyone from the AVC community join us! It’ll be at the offices of Cooley LLP, and if you join the group and mention discovering it from this comment, I’ll comp your ticket.(edit: fixed formatting)

        1. Douglas Crets

          Interesting, because his number three is also one of the reasons I set up the NYC Ed Tech Entrepreneurs Meetuphttp://www.meetup.com/New-Y…- posted via Engagio

        2. Lee Blaylock

          Good stuff.  both Douglas and Fendien!  Keep up the good work.  It is a never ending process

  19. karen_e

    My fussy and crotchety textile design teacher, 80 years old when she taught me a decade ago, had been educated in Manchester, England — the bosom of the industrial design world. She helped me understand a few things about the role of different countries historically. The textile design houses of France and Italy will always produce special things, artistically speaking, because they surround themselves with art and take art education very seriously. England produces the best universities and so their design education is supreme. What the USA offered to the mix, at the time of the Industrial Revolution era in particular, was a massive consumer base. RISD was literally founded to serve the needs of burgeoning American industrialists because they couldn’t make money constantly knocking off French and Italian designs. Extrapolating a bit, my guess is that until we appreciate and teach art in this country, we will founder in terms of interactive design.

    1. awaldstein

      Thanks for this.I’m lucky I guess. Growing up professionally in the video game and early graphical interface markets, design language was part of my marketing culture.Working with truly great designers like Clement Mok from SF internalized the truth that meaning is iconic at its core and how you interact with it, is what it is.

      1. karen_e

        That’s why we do what we do, isn’t it, Arnold? Marketers get to work with so many great creative minds. You should expand on your experiences — tell us more sometime.

        1. awaldstein

          True…But why I really do what I do is that I truly love connecting markets to behaviors through products. In the process, we get to work with some amazing folks for certain.

    2. Luke Chamberlin

      Interaction design is more about usability and the user experience than visual design. If you look around the internet, most of the interactive standards were established in the States, from the most basic check-boxes and drop-down menus to the search conventions pioneered by Google. Apple single-handedly established the rules of touch screen interfaces (i.e. pinch to zoom) that I believe will be with us for decades.I think it’s one area where America is doing well.

      1. karen_e

        Jony Ive – quite an American. {chuckle}

        1. Luke Chamberlin

          Jonathan Ive is an industrial designer. He makes the hardware not the touch interfaces.But to your point it’s difficult to define American sometimes. Are the Google founders American? Many of the most famous Americans weren’t born in America, while many famous non-Americans were educated at American Universities. I think you have to focus on the culture and not the birth certificates (half-Canadian myself).

          1. karen_e

            My cumulative experience of being the child of an engineer, a liberal arts graduate, a trade school graduate, and a career industrialist (one could say) — all this has taught me that the US education system as well as the US industrial system both undervalue the appreciation and study of art. Until we address that, our native ability to design will suffer. That’s my point of view and if I can find the time I will homeschool my child accordingly! #hackingeducation

          2. RichardF

            you could just send him/her over to the UK Karen, I can recommend a couple of good schools 😉

          3. Luke Chamberlin

             Just curious where are you? I’m in NYC and see a healthy appreciation of art.

          4. Gary Chou

            When I reflect on the years of designing web products, surviving in startups, and now working at a venture capital firm, the most valuable course for me by far has been photography.Whenever I speak to college students, I try to get them to sign up for an art class.

          5. ShanaC

            True.  But we also undervalue science as well.I used to have a button from college that said “art & science”its not an either/or – they’re the opposing sides of the same coin.Or in other words, we need to teach humanism – we need to teach that Da Vinci is the model of what we should be like.

        2. jason wright

          Sir Jony. Doff your hat, kiss his hand, or simple bow. 

      2. ShanaC

        Sometimes I think that is a pity.  You have to break all the rules sometimes to get stuff done.And we teach too much to the rules of interactivity.  I want to know what the next wave of usability will look like…

      3. FAKE GRIMLOCK

        GREAT UX IS ART. GREAT ART IS NOT UX.

  20. Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

    That’s great. I’ve been teaching classes at my old business school, which has started a mini-Y Combinator-style program, on internet economics. We need more of this stuff.

    1. Christina Cacioppo

      are you posting course materials online by chance? i’m very curious!

      1. Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

        Thanks!I might post the slides online (wrote them in English for this purpose), but I’m not sure how much sense they make without the narration.

        1. Christina Cacioppo

          soundcloud files? <advert> the mobile app makes recording super easy .. </advert>

          1. Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

            Nice plug! Too late for that. But I’ll think about it for my next classes this summer. (Although the lectures will probably be in French.)In the meantime, I’ve emailed you the slides.

          2. David Noël

            Next time PEG

          3. ShanaC

            I keep thinking journalists would like it…

  21. Aaron Klein

    I’m reading Lashinsky’s book on Apple right now and there are a lot of things that they do that would be stupid for a startup to do. You have to reach a certain level of success before certain things make sense.But when you get to that point, building the ecosystem becomes your goal. It’s clear USV has been there for a while. Looking forward to that phase for my company.

  22. Luke Chamberlin

    I have a question for the AVC community.I’ve been reading about the SVA program on interaction design on Christina’s blog. I have looked into this program before and it looks like a fantastic program. Interaction design is something I’m very interested in and I believe that as technology becomes cheaper and flatter that design and community building are what will set startups apart from each other.My issue is the debt. I feel there is nothing more destructive to entrepreneurial tendencies than debt.Two years at SVA is $72,000 in tuition alone. Even if you work part-time throughout the program and live frugally in NYC you could easily end up with $100K in debt. And that does not include undergraduate debt.This might be a good plan if you intend to work for Google or a big ad agency after graduation, but I don’t see how you could make this work as an entrepreneur. This level of debt would trap you into taking the big salary instead of following your own path of entrepreneurship.Is a program like this worthwhile to an entrepreneur? It seems like a tease to teach entrepreneurial thinking and then say, “oh by the way you owe us $800/mo starting next month for the next 25 years so you’d better get a job soon.”

    1. JamesHRH

      I have 3 university degrees and would say no.Get a job, any job, that lets you do this work.

    2. neilw

      The program is in Interaction Design, not entrepreneurialism. This is just one class in a larger program that takes a particular approach to designing interactive products and systems. If you’re just interested in starting a company, just take that money and hire an interaction designer to do work for you. Interaction designers are made, and come from a variety of backgrounds, including design, tech, psychology, etc. If you value the approach that designers take in solving these kinds of problems, then this is one of the best programs out there to get this training. 

      1. FAKE GRIMLOCK

        BEST IDX PROS SELF TAUGHT. MAYBE LUKE THE NEXT ONE.

    3. LE

      “Two years at SVA is $72,000 in tuition alone.”And more importantly 2 years of your time and lost opportunity in an environment that is changing really quickly. “Is a program like this worthwhile to an entrepreneur?”To me, given what appears to be your particular situation it’s a non-starter. 

    4. FAKE GRIMLOCK

      BE STARTUP. TEACH SELF.

      1. Luke Chamberlin

        “That’s right mum a giant robot dinosaur on the internet told me not to go back to school. Yes I’m getting plenty of sleep why do you ask?”

  23. Jeff Slobotski

    Great post Fred!  I think you hit it on the head with this line…”…didn’t ask for permission to teach this class from anyone in our firm. They just did it. Freedom to innovate in action.”Keep pushing innovation forward, and we’ll be doing the same in our neck of the woods here in the Midwest. Also, congrats and welcome aboard to Team Dwolla today by the way! :)http://www.siliconprairiene…

    1. fredwilson

      so happy to add des moines to the map of USV portfolio companies

      1. Carl J. Mistlebauer

        I stumbled upon Dwolla back in November and have been promoting them like crazy!http://changespeakingout.bl… 

        1. fredwilson

          thank you!

    2. Donna Brewington White

      Seeing USV in Des Moines warms my native Midwestern heart. 🙂  

  24. Scott Belsky

    First off, thank you for helping build our ecosystem. Also, just chiming in on the void of talent in the area of interaction design: The talent is out there – it’s just not organized and easily accessible (yet). Given our mission to organize the creative world, Behance has been helping art and design schools around the country – including School of Visual Arts in NYC – get their students’ portfolios online and searchable/connected. SVA’s site is http://portfolios.sva.edu — And you can sort by creative field and major…Also FYI, for those in other parts of the country, we are providing the same service for all students and alumni at SCAD, RISD, AdWeek, AIGA, and many more… We hope these efforts will reduce the friction for companies finding and collaborating with top (and emerging) creative talent.

    1. Gary Chou

      Great points, Scott.  I think another thing that creates friction is that startups and designers often use different vocabulary in talking about what they do and how they think about problems.Hopefully, our class will help expand the students’ vocabulary w/r/t startups and entrepreneurship.And similarly, I’m hoping that the students’ writing will help expand ours.

    2. FAKE GRIMLOCK

      WHEN SUBJECT MOVE TOO FAST FOR SCHOOL, NOT MATURE ENOUGH HAVE SOLID BODY OF KNOWLEDGE ON INTERNET, RESULT IS GOOD LUCK FIND ANYONE.

    3. Guest

      Great Works!

      1. dtwins

        Good job!

  25. Guest

    I should add, for those in other parts of the country, we are providing the same service for all students and alumni at SCAD, RISD, AdWeek, AIGA, and many more… We hope these efforts will reduce the friction for companies finding and collaborating with top (and emerging) creative talent.

  26. falicon

    Of course Fred already knows this, but that class is just one of the awesome things that Gary and Christina do on the ‘street’ level for those of us trying to start stuff in NYC…in addition to always being around and responsive to our questions, they also often put together small, focused events for potentially complimentary startups to meet and really dig into what each is doing and how everyone can help.They probably get a few good leads out of the deal here and there, but having gone to at least one of the events, I can honestly say I don’t think that’s why they do it (or even what they are thinking about when putting it together)…I think they love to learn and they love to help…and so they go do whatever they can, and use whatever resources they can, to do just that.

    1. fredwilson

      they do it because they love doing it

      1. falicon

        I took the long winded approach, but that was my point too. 🙂

    2. Christina Cacioppo

      Ha, I promise it’s not the leads .. in fact, it’s often the opposite: as important as it can be to talk financing tactics and strategy, sometimes it’s really fantastic to talk product and design. And wholly selfishly, I learn so, so much from these events.

  27. jlamontagne

    Education initiatives that contribute to the ecosystem are essential. Schools of design, certainly. But consider how the start-up talent pool diversifies when we broaden our reach across the disciplines – when we use the tools of design to introduce all students to entrepreneurship as an approach to problem solving. Fresh perspectives = innovative businesses. Breakerproject.org is contributing to the ecosystem with surprising results.

  28. Gary Chou

    Breaker sounds great.  I’m a big believer in building multi-disciplinary backgrounds.  That is certainly how we’re approaching this course.

  29. MartinEdic

    The interesting to me is that UI design is not rocket science, it is common sense. Nielsen’s constant studies of usability always affirm this (if you don’t get Jakob’s emails, sign yourself up- worth it for even a casual observer). I’m involved in the development of a not for profit crowd sourcing platform for startups in academia (more about that when we go live but we’ve got agreements with some major schools) and the best usability test we’ve found for our site is the ‘talk through it’ test where you show someone the site and ask them to talk about how it works, or doesn’t, while they try it. Simple, yet very powerful, and it works with both experienced users and newbies. When you hear someone say “why didn’t it do that when I clicked it?” even engineers have to pay attention.

    1. Gary Chou

      Think-alouds are great!  We’re approaching design as something that’s much broader than just usability, though–it’s about thinking about the universe you want to create and what you want the laws of physics in that universe to be.

      1. MartinEdic

        I don’t want to underestimate what lies beneath, Gary. But if the end user can’t understand, access or enjoy it there’s no point. Siri for example. If the very heavy lifting had not been done by Siri and Nuance designers and developers, it would not have been useful. They simplified usability to its essence: simple queries in familiar language. But the underlying universe (to use your term) had to be incredibly complete and growing in usefulness to be sustainable.Give me an amazing new thing but don’t make me learn an alien language to experience it!

        1. Gary Chou

          I think you’re hitting on one of the biggest challenges: the most imaginative inventor is useless if they’re unable to effectively communicate–whether it’s through words or through the actual design of the product.

    2. FAKE GRIMLOCK

      HARDEST THING TO SEE OF ALL IS THE OBVIOUS.

      1. Cynthia Schames

        Yes.  And hardest thing to create is simplicity.

  30. bfeld

    Dynamite example of taking action and investing in the startup community. I just put a post up at my Startup Communities blog – http://startup-communities….Kudos to Gary and Christine for just doing it!

    1. Gary Chou

      Thanks, Brad!We’re fortunate to have someone like Liz Danzico   in NYC.  Liz created the Interaction Design program at SVA and reached out to invite us to be a part of it!http://interactiondesign.sv

    2. Christina Cacioppo

      Thanks Brad!

  31. Jess Bachman

    I wish they had courses like that when I was going to school.  I’m still trying to figure out the practical applications of my “communications” degree.

    1. Cynthia Schames

      @jessbachman:disqus  I also have a communications degree.  Like many college arts majors, it was more useful in terms of teaching me a framework than in actual practical skills. Who, what, where,when, why.I’ve utilized that framework to build one bootstrapped & highly profitable startup, and become a key contributor to three others.  So far. Your past is what you make of it.  So is your present. 

      1. awaldstein

        Don’t undermine the power of learning about people’s behavior through expression in literature and arts.I certainly wish I could have taken programming as a second language when I went to school but under no circumstances would I have forgone studying Rilke, Genet, Dostoevsky or Artaud, Sartre, Kierkegaard or yes, William Carlos Williams or Sylvia Plath.

        1. Carl Rahn Griffith

          I am still beguiled by Sylvia Plath.Not many technologies/products do that to one.I believe ‘The Arts’ is – and it will accelerate – undergoing a huge renaissance. 

          1. awaldstein

            I never at any moment regret spending those years reading and writing and reflecting on the collective imaginations of the creatively inspired.They still stick with me every day 

        2. Cynthia Schames

          @awaldstein:disqus please don’t misunderstand my comment.  I’m grateful for what I did learn in school (though communications major != great literature as required reading; I did that on my own time).  My point was that whether or not any course of study has practical application depends largely on what you do with it. You could study medicine and end up at a hedge fund. You could graduate law school and end up running a commercial construction supply business.  Anything is possible: both in an awesome way and in a less than awesome way.  The choice is up to the individual. 

          1. awaldstein

            Agree. Didn’t mean to sound so strident.I jump too hard whenever I hear the pendulum swing to far to the right against the value of creative thinking in the arts.This is the English/Philosophy major who has spent a bunch of years launching products and brands for tech and entertainment companies speaking.

          2. Cynthia Schames

            @awaldstein:disqus I totally understand where you’re coming from and agree.  What worries me is when people/companies/industries do not see the intrinsic value of creative thinking.  Unless it’s UX/UI or a tricky coding issue 😉

  32. Tony

    As a Sr. UX Architect that also does interaction design. The issue comes down to money. Someone fresh out of school will have the basics but they have not been through several companies to really understand what is needed. They wont have the ability to see far enough down the road and take those factors into account now.Also, Interaction Design is short sighted. You need to build a complete user experience and designing great user interactions are just one aspect of that.A wrong user experience can cost you. See and the $300 million dollar button. Yet, companies want to offer $110K as a salary. For Sr. guys and thats what you need. $110k wont cut it. Pay top talent what they’re worth not what the market dictates you should. Then, you’ll attract the talent your searching for.

    1. FAKE GRIMLOCK

      BRILLIANT UX WORTH $150K, $200, MORE. ALSO HARD TO FIND. EVEN IF FIND, HARD TO KNOW WAS FOUND.

  33. John Revay

    #NYStartupEcosystem1. Have you (Fred) ever thought of posting a calendar on AVC of public events that you are scheduled to talk at or attend, I recall seeing a link on Brad’s blog. http://bit.ly/bE9Ha42. Same question for USV – any chance of posting a calendar of USV events that might be open to the public – if there is such a thing, or is the best way to try and get on Christina’s and Gary’s radar screen?

    1. fredwilson

      i am not that organizedUSV might be

    2. Gary Chou

      Most of the events we do at USV are for our portfolio companies.  There’s a plethora of great public events in the community which you can find via Meetup, NYTM.org, and @ceonyc:twitter ‘s mailing list: http://www.thisisgoingtobeb…Also, there are ton of great classes on Skillshare: http://skillshare.com.

  34. Namek T. Zu'bi

    I agree Fred we are learning globally from your steps #mena region and trying to replicate + localize these efforts

  35. FOUNDUPS® Michael J Trout, CEO

    It’s great to see startup America aligning with your vision. Over a year ago I wrote him about our vision for a solution for ending the pain the vast majority of entrepreneurs repeatedly experience… failure.  Problem 1: there is no concise description of a startup. This is evident just looking at sites like Startup America Partnership. A lot of the startup pain has to do with this fundamental lack of understanding as I talk about in my videos. Until, I pointed it out there was NO designation for the idea. Problem 2: Success in startups as ALL to do with who you know. The PE network that funds 99% of startups are a VERY insular good old boy network (one merely needs to reads the comments below to see that).FOUNDUPS® (foundups.org) been working on the architecture for such an open ecosystem for 2 years. It would have been up 2 years ago except for a lack of funding. Fred, I would love to share what we are working on, It’s called the Open Startup wiki. Its a ubiquitous solution for entrepreneurs. If offers FREE crowdfunding for entrepreneurs (this will disrupt fee-based Kickstarters) and FREE virtual incubator without any equity commitment to FOUNDUPS® (this will disrupt the equity fee based Ycombinators).  Love to connect, I am as set in my vision as Jobs was and I have over 200 talks on FOUNDUPS.TV that clearly shows my obsession to disrupting PEs throttling grip around the entrepreneurs throat.

  36. leigh

    Impatience is one of the greatest barriers to the bottom up ecosystem based approach.  You have to give it time before it sees success.  In a world that measures performance by daily stock price, it’s often hard to see that bigger picture and give this approach the time and commitment required.  Union Square/Fred Wilson/AVC (and actually Freshbooks) are two of my favorite examples that i use with clients all the time where community is core to the business strategy and it actually works.  

    1. awaldstein

      Freshbooks? I’m checking this out now.

      1. leigh

        you may not see it right away — they are AMAZING — online invoicing startup here in Canada — but they focus on small (and now to medium sized businesses)  around the world — some stuff they do:– give great referral fee to users (embed marketing into the product) that gets taken off our monthly amount (send email as to how much we’ve earned) – everyone i know found out about Freshbooks through word of mouth and then got other people to use it for the referral fee– they do Freshbook meet ups in various cities inviting users to connect with each other and them– they embed user small business stories in everything they do — they have partnered with a bunch of other startups that target small businesses like 37 signals  @stuartma:twitter is their CMO and i’m sure can add some more context if he’s not busy working the phones (which he does once a month as well)

        1. awaldstein

          Thanks.Articulations of how to do it right are many.Examples are few and far between.

          1. leigh

            I’ll add one more then — The Tragically Hip — our creative technologist Dave runs their community of over 150K strong — It’s a model for how to do it (and he now runs similar communities for Sam Roberts, The Trues, Sarah Harmer and a bunch of other Canadian bands off his music story platform). If you ever end up in Toronto, or if i come down to NY any time soon, I”ll walk you through it (or get Dave to). The stuff he is doing constantly blows my mind. :)- posted via Engagio

    2. Donna Brewington White

      That line on Freshwork’s landing page — “Focus on your work, not your paperwork.” let’s me know immediately that they feel my pain.BTW, got any more shows for me? 😉

      1. leigh

        omg yes… The Hour. Just finished watching season one and LOVED it. It’s British Mad Men but involving news and intrigue. – posted via Engagio

  37. gleslie

    Speaking of macro environment and as @domainregistry:disqus mentioned with his tuition comment, the cost of higher education is our greatest threat to entrepreneurship. It’s something of a catch-22… A certain level of education is very important to be successful in entrepreneurship. Having the necessary tools to understand an opportunity when you see one is very important and could keep you from wasting a whole lot of time chasing something that is hopeless. The 4-year college degree does a decent job of providing those skills but when the only way to acquire that degree is to take on $30, $50 or $100,000 in debt, you aren’t exactly in a good position to start a business. The whole idea of living off ramen noodles for a year or working out of your parent’s garage doesn’t move the needle when you have to pay 4-500 a month in loan payments.Obama has emphasized the importance of “increasing access to college education” in countless speeches. I think it is clear that the last couple decades of focus have been on increasing the availability of loans without the providing the necessary cost controls on tuition. The goal is clear and commendable, but we are ignoring one side of the equation.The private education industry was the canary in the coal mine and congress has been made aware of their predatory recruiting practices that take advantage loans made to low income students. I think hedge fund manger Steve Eisman was the first to blow the whistle with his presentation “Subprime goes to college.” Certainly worth reading. Anyway, while private education companies were the most egregious, the same thing is happening in our “non-profit” institutions. Both public and private schools have the same incentives as for profit colleges, only they measure profits in prestige rather than dollars.Our higher education system needs to start taking the negative impact of student loan debt more seriously. We are forcing students to take jobs that will promise the immediate ability to pay off loans instead of letting them pursue what inspires them. Great startups are born from creative individuals who make the decision to sacrifice immediate compensation and security for a bigger pay day down the road and/or the satisfaction of changing the world. Student loan debt takes that decision away and ultimately hamstrings the power and flexibility of our economy.

    1. fredwilson

      i totally agree

    2. Donna Brewington White

      Thought provoking insights, @gleslie:disqus , especially in that last paragraph — at least this is what really leapt out at me.If we want to be a society that inspires entrepreneurship and innovation then these are the types of details that need to be looked at.  I can’t take something like Startup America seriously when we still have huge policies and practices that work against the startup ecosystem.Edit: In all honesty, I do not know enough about Startup America to critique it. But I’ll still let the statement stand.

      1. Carl Rahn Griffith

        Ditto, UK, Donna… 🙁

  38. Conrad Ross Schulman

    Props to Christina & Gary! #futureleaders I use hoppinornot.com all the time! #api #foursquare #awesome 

    1. Christina Cacioppo

      🙂 thanks! that means a huge amount.

  39. JLM

    Entrepreneurs — pure entrepreneurs — are very rare individuals.  You have to be a bit nuts to be a pure entrepreneur.  You are really following voices in your head but hey, it’s your head.In the next breath, I think that there are lots of outlets for entrepreneurial thinking and behavior — kind of like amateur golfers compared to professional golfers.You can take a taste and it can flavor and direct your life without it taking over your life.The local ecosystem is where the budding entrepreneur can apply that little bit of friction necessary to unearth and expose what is below — entrepreneurial zeal, character, talents.  It takes friction and engagement to find these qualities.The course that is offered by Gary and Christina is excellent.  It is like a psychological journey of discovery to enable folks to discover what they have within themselves.  It is extraordinary, well designed and provides the kind of iterative learning that is necessary to learn calculus or to fly an airplane building the next lesson on the last.Once upon a time, a VC would market itself because “we know how to do this stuff” and “we have the Rolodex”.  Now USV is saying — we can unleash the talent and the entrepreneur within but more importantly we can help you screw up your courage to make that 10,000′ leap.Well played!

    1. Carl Rahn Griffith

      The tax system – especially in the UK – needs to be more proactively supportive of the ‘self-employed’ for often this is where the spirit of entrepreneurship is fostered and becomes tangible – as a jobs/wealth-creator.However, certainly in the UK, the self-employed are not understood by government and so makes it unnecessarily hard for many to transition into creating wealth and employment, as well as providing for one’s self… 

      1. Carl J. Mistlebauer

        Carl,The United States isn’t much different…I have a partnership, a C-Corp, two LLC’s with multiple members, and one LLC where I am the only member.  To the IRS the LLC where I am the only member is “self employed” and even though I have personal and business checking accounts and totally separate books the IRS just lumps them all together.So, personal money that I loan/invest in the one LLC has now become “sales” or “income” to the IRS and “unreported sales or income” at that.I am on the verge of turning into a raving “Tea Partier” as I cannot figure out why so many very stupid people can congregate in one place – government!  🙂

    2. fredwilson

      “we know how to do this stuff” isn’t working too well these days

      1. Carl Rahn Griffith

        That’s for sure. Nothing in life/business nowadays is simply a process. It has to be about connecting with people, passions and be relevant/inspirational, true.Systems are still – poorly, generally – adapting to this.

    3. OpenStartup Team

      Love you opening sentence… “You have to be nuts…” it’s soo true because no framework exists for startups. That’s why you have to be nut. Heres is a link to a recent letter I wrote to Kauffman Foundation about how nuts you have to be to be an entrepreneur when 99% us fail and we are blamed… http://j.mp/WeEntrepreneurs

  40. Eric Leebow

    Interaction Design is very hard to get right, yet have seen improvements in your portfolio companies over time, and have seen some that have done quite well with it. Sometimes too much interaction is overwhelming to a user, and other times it could be just right.  Ideally, the most appreciated interaction design would be customizable by the user, yet then this requires more effort. One of the biggest challenges I see designers have is that they will think of a really sleek interaction design, and then a developer will have to scale it back to make it more user friendly. Sometimes an abstract interaction design will work for some users, yet will be more challenging for others to grasp.  If advanced users can customize the user interaction experience, then this is where the future is headed.  When I was 9 years old, I was theorizing and attempting to build a virtual reality headset, yet it was hard to figure out the interaction design because the technology wasn’t there yet.  I think this is where we’ve been challenged, as there is always a trade off as more interaction could create a more challenging user experience.  I’ve seen a music site or service with more interaction.One of the sites I loved the interaction design from early on was ClickThrough.com, and one of my original designs for my social networking site was similar to this, yet had to make decisions to scale back because this was a flash video site, yet hadn’t intended to use flash on my site. This kind of interaction works for some sites, yet not for others.  If you have an interaction that’s too intense, you might lose some good people.  Still, interaction for some future services will evolve over time with users. There’s always a tradeoff, and it’s easy for an interaction designer to say a design can improve, yet what’s the tradeoff?

  41. Donna Brewington White

    I can get sentimental over posts like this, Fred.I imagine that this “ecosystem” perspective encapsulates why so many of us are here, at AVC.  And why we watch USV with such acute interest.Gary and Christina are bright sparks.  A good example of what happens when motivation and creativity find an empowering environment in which to thrive.  They seem to have created a laboratory, of sorts.

  42. aminTorres

    Fred, I am sorry to read this so late.At R/GA we have amazing interaction designers. R/GA provably is the single largest company that am pretty sure hires the most interaction designers in NYC. (I can be wrong)I won’t be surprise if R/GA hires more ID people than most NYC startups combined. In any case, if either Christina or Gary is at all interested, I am happy to make some intros to great ID people, even some who are close friends who I am confident will be more than willing to help / be part of this.

    1. fredwilson

      thanks. i will let them know.

    2. Luke Chamberlin

      Hello Amin, could I ask you some questions about interaction design at R/GA?

      1. aminTorres

        sure, email me amin dot torres at rga dot com

  43. Mitchell Gold

    I am curious if your skills and talents are interested in teaching a program at homeplanet virtual university – you can do exactly what your associate did under your non direction.  our university is building its own finance ecosystem – and will be using the ISO 26000 for guidance.We believe we are on the leading edge of the visionary networks prompting social change – eithout ego, we are bringing together the Cultural Creative movement, the Shift Movement, the Indigenous Peoples Movement, and now the Occupy movement. Might you be interested in talking and taking a role in our process.Please advise 

    1. fredwilson

      i cannot commit to anything more than what i am already doing in the area of education

  44. FOUNDUPS® Michael J Trout, CEO

    I just did the 1st Open Startup presentation for Chinnovate Webinar – The Open Startup proposing a new ubiquitous solution for entrepreneurs. A gamification of the startup where innovators level-up their ideas into pre-seed startups. An open startup is one anyone can join. a foundup is an open startup using the open incubator framework that I spent the last year creating. The talk is featured on http://foundups.tv for anyone interested in building a ecosystem for innovators.