Video Of The Week: Real Biz at Disrupt

While I was at Disrupt last monday, I did two TV appearances. I posted this first one, CNBC, on Tuesday. Here’s the second one, on ABC’s Real Biz.

There are two other clips from that interview on YouTube:

On learning to code

On Bitcoin and Wearables

#VC & Technology

Comments (Archived):

  1. William Mougayar

    “You have to make a commitment where you have times in your day/life where you won’t let technology interfere.”Good reminder…!

    1. awaldstein

      Starting to think that we need some perspective my friend.To those of us with the time and resources to let technology become a mania, remember to most this is not true.People on the clock are not allowed to use or even have their phones turned on during the work day.People like this employee who without technology would be a burden on society and is now a leader.http://arnoldwaldstein.shar…It we want to build products and impact change to bankers, understand and think like them.To solve vertical problems for this or that vertical, be them and disrupt.If you want to change the world, understand the mass market. I find it fascinating that the power to fuel this change is in the hands of those that may indeed understand it the least.

  2. lonnylot

    Do you want to keep our health records private or anonymous?

    1. fredwilson

      we should have the ability to control who can see them.

      1. Matt A. Myers

        We also need to highly incentivize whistleblowing, otherwise there can’t really be a solid sense of security/trust. We need people to call us out when we’re doing harmful things – whether towards an individual or society as a whole.

    2. Brandon G. Donnelly

      i would contribute my health data anonymously if it meant that it would help to improve overall healthcare (and it for sure would if everyone did it).

  3. Twain Twain

    Completely agree with “LEARN HOW TO CODE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.”Journalists like Rebecca Jarvis should become aware of the machines progressively encroaching on their space who can write articles and analyst reports:* http://www.businessinsider….Learn to code because, if in the future, the IoT widget in your home / office / car wigs out on you…….You can troubleshoot and fix it without needing to call a PhD.

    1. scottythebody

      This is a great example. Learning to code is a bit like learning to work on your motor was before they all became sealed. If your home, phone, wearables, 3d printer, appliances, health services, car, transit providers, retailers, grocers, and all the other “things” in your life have APIs (which they will), then you can “scratch your itch” and make things work for you and your life in any way you want them to.Here’s a perfect 90s example. My brother in law is a working electrical engineer for the power company in Louisiana. He learned to code in University, but doesn’t do so professionally. But when he wanted to whip up a fantasy sports application on his website (before these were everywhere), he was able to do so.

  4. Justin Fyles

    She was a fantastic interviewer and asked well-thought-out questions. I really enjoyed this

  5. Peter Gasca

    Thank for this … just had the conversation with a good friend about why entrepreneurs shouldn’t get so hung up on the idea that their idea already exists in the market. If anything, it provides validation for the idea, and a great team will find a way to make the idea better or identify a niche that isn’t being served.

  6. btrautsc

    Ironically have talked to a few VCs in LA in the past 2 weeks and by default did reference checks with a few of their portfolio companies. The scene there sounds like it is getting both very dense & mature to the point of being a real player. I’m planning on making a trip soon.One thing that’s interesting (and a major positive IMO re the VCs there vs SF/BA) was the sense that LA VCs find “not being in the valley” as a pro versus a con. My theory is they see the outrageous cost of operating a startup in SF and find it silly/ borderline reckless like the rest of us.

  7. vinit_jain.90

    Mr Wilson has truly envisaged the potential of wearables and health apps as they are going to be the next revolution for humanity. Is everyone on board with me ??

  8. Kirsten Lambertsen

    I too thought this was a great interview. She had really done her homework. It made me wonder:How do you decide who to say Yes and No to when it comes to interviews with the press like this?Meanwhile, I agree with the ‘start ’em in elementary school’ sentiment, but we still should address people coming out of high school *now*. With the right training, by December they could be hireable developers! I’d love to hear you include that in your responses to that question because it’s too late for an 18 year old to start in elementary school right now. Yet, it’s not too late for them to start at all!

    1. LE

      How do you decide who to say Yes and No to when it comes to interviews with the press like this?I can’t think of any reason at all why someone who has a stated that one of his job duties is “marketing” would turn down any interview.He isn’t trying to craft an image of exclusivity like Barbra Streisand. Is there any parade that a politician wouldn’t march in other than one being held by an undesirable group or cause?

      1. Kirsten Lambertsen

        Not about crafting an image. I don’t equate Fred to a politician. Quite the opposite. I also don’t think marketing = shotgunning (saying yes to everything).”other than one being held by an undesirable group or cause?” This is what I’m getting at, though. There may be some journalists or outlets that are considered undesirable.

        1. LE

          I would position someone in Fred’s position, and with his objectives, [1] as “say yes to anything unless there is a compelling reason not to do so”.[1] Not to mention that he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

          1. Kirsten Lambertsen

            I said I thought it was a great interview. I agree that he seemed to be really enjoying it.If he ever weighs in, I guess we’ll learn the answer to whether or not he’s selective about with whom he interviews.

          2. Joe Cardillo

            Won’t speak for Fred of course, but reminded me of something my friend who is a respected journo said a few weeks ago (roughly): “There are two kinds of interviews: the first is w/media who understand how I think about things and are willing to be honest about their own worldview, the second is with people who are promoting an org or themselves. The latter takes a lot more energy and makes me dumber.” …I’m sure there’s some overlap but it stuck with me.

    2. Bill Dwight

      Amen – Even college isn’t too late to learn to code. The playing field levels very quickly if you get the coding bug and truly enjoy it. In fact, even prisoners who have been forgotten by society can learn to code – check out this inspiring TWIST podcast that just came out about The Last Mile program founded by Chris Redlitz – it’s truly awesome: http://thisweekinstartups.c

  9. LE

    Goddammit. Next time you mention a company that competes with google in search I hope you have a really really really good reason for not saying “Duck Duck Go”. There is a difference between using a 3 1/2 minute clip to plug 10 companies that you have invested in vs. casually mentioning one or two in response to a question.

  10. LE

    Separately you know how I’ve been hocking you on the Apple Watch I went to the Apple store this am and the buying experience was a total fail. [1]To many choices, a drawer full of watches to decide from, Apple guy didn’t know his shit (couldn’t answer a few simple questions that I had) and most importantly I think I was the only person at a pretty busy store even looking at them.”Me” still loves the concept “long time”, but an area of concern is that Apple will lose the advantages of early somewhat viral mass adoption that will allow the ecosystem to grow and get on board and create further demand. Why? The fact that I couldn’t impulsively walk away with one, the lack of seeing others showing interest right before my eyes [2], 4 or 5 week delivery time, putting it on and taking it off seemed to be a pain. [3][1] I would have bought one off the website but didn’t because a) to many things to think about (the website is a mess) with to many choices b) Long delivery with others getting the product sooner which killed the specialness[2] Social proof and confirmation, the reason a long line at Shake Shack turns into a longer line at Shake Shack.[3] This was actually a big issue that came out of the blue that I didn’t expect. Seemed way harder than the last watch that I wore in college.

  11. LE

    Agree on the learning to code and in fact you hit the nail on the head with debugging and things not working as being valuble. This is especially important for kids in this day and age. Writing and debugging is like solving a puzzle but solving a puzzle with an outcome that actually matters and provides both a learning experience and entertainment. My stepdaughter was working this morning when I left on some project that involved using a robot (lego thing) to solve a rubiks cube. Apparently the idea is to see if you can get the robot to solve the cube faster than a human.

    1. Joe Cardillo

      Totally agree. That problem solving is really where kids learn the most, and get to be creative.

  12. scottythebody

    Great! Very interesting and well done. Liked the health care opportunities… as a security guy, this is really interesting for me. Integrity for health information is one of the most interesting and potentially one of the largest security issues I’ve seen in a while.I was at a small but highly worthy security conference recently, and one of the main CISOs for a government which is going “all in” with digital health data said that, for them, it’s important to prevent that somebody could see your blood pressure data, but it’s sure as hell a much bigger deal if they can CHANGE it. I see almost nobody doing anything other than access control to prevent alteration these days, so I think we’re poised for fail if services don’t start addressing this very soon.

    1. Matt A. Myers

      Scary thought.

    2. Joe Cardillo

      Good point – and while we haven’t seen much litigation over it yet, duty of care in regards to digitized health records is a huge liability. Tort law has the potential to hand out hundreds of millions in penalties for something like the Target and Home Depot breaches, but for health data.It’d be nice to see more startups that actively work on products to help consumers control their own health records / data.

  13. LE

    Her: You need to buy me that cameraI’ve actually adapted quite well to be able to anticipate several steps ahead whereby disclosure of the wrong information to certain people will lead to them making a request or demand that I would not be in favor of having happen.

    1. Mario Cantin

      Wasn’t a big risk in the first place though 🙂

      1. LE

        Yeah but practice constantly even when it’s not important or a big risk keeps one in shape for when it does matter.

        1. Mario Cantin

          I do that already, but I’ll keep it in mind, thanks.

  14. aminTorres

    You should consider doing a once or twice a month video entry. Feels fresh around here.

  15. Guy Lepage

    Just a quick kudos for not mentioning a current portfolio company in your interview. VC’s take note. 🙂

    1. William Mougayar

      Fred mentioned Duolingo & codecademy.

      1. Guy Lepage

        Oops, my bad.I only saw a short 03:50 min clip of the interview and thought it was the full appearance.And of course he can. But, I feel, it’s a great way for VC’s to garner top tier talent by appearing less self-serving more often than not. I’ve used tactics like this when doing traditional ad and corporate sales in the past. It seemed to work quite well.I do have to say that, from what I’ve seen and read online, Fred has a great sales style. A very genuine and humble public portrayal. Which is different from some of the others I’ve met over the years.

    2. Mario Cantin

      Why can’t he mention them? He’s already talked about that a few months back. His portfolio is super-close to his heart.If you want disingenuousness bark up at Google’s tree IMO, no disrespect intended to you.

    3. scottythebody

      Also referenced Duck Duck Go

  16. Dasher

    Extra points for mentioning 3D models and VR. If it is quite obvious that people won’t like wearing the headsets, then why is VR seen as the next big thing? IMHO, I think people will be open to wearing it while sitting at a Desk – for meetings or doing work etc.

  17. lydiasugarman

    I get excited when investors talk about their “health apps” and all the data they’re generating. It’s really exciting to learn that your doctor is asking to see that data. The problem is that for many of us, we’re already using multiple health apps so the data is in multiple silos. And, that’s what I’m working to solve w/ PersonalHealthCloud.com

  18. kirklove

    Pimping your own blog. META!!! #Pimp

  19. Impakter

    Your first min of this video is interesting as it shows a VC that is happy to take big challenges (new google search company). Not sure there, FB, Twitter, and that kind can be replaced, but G. is like msft, or cisco, sap, oracle, without them, planes don’t really fly.Anyway, in the rest of the interview you compare LA and NY. In my little opinion, you guys have no idea how good you get it. However you sound as if it is a big difference. I need to check it our one day. Said all that, Europe is far more of mess. Startup here, have no idea if the EU VC they are handing over their docs, will use them to do politics or to copy and paste their idea. Those VC all love one company. The biggest ipo we had is exactly that: Rocket Internet. Here in Rome we have Chuppamobiles. The rocket internet of apps. You can buy a copy of twitter for $500. Soulless company and their founder are no better then your financial hustlers.You must come out of your US comfort zone and pop your head here. Help out a little. You have serious people who need your help.Do the “Grand tour of Europe” you will see, maybe avoid Berlin, it is full of lazy startups but London, Paris are worth your time for sure. If you come to Rome, I know a place that makes incredible espresso with coffee iced cream topping (crema di caffè) which you use instead of sugar. Sold?