Fred Wilson | A Sales Guy

Don’t Confuse Like with Rights

Mark Suster and Fred Wilson wrote two powerful posts last week in defense of Gay Marriage and The Cordoba Mosque. They were eloquently written and heartfelt. At the core of both was the realization that it was just “right” to allow people to make decisions for themselves whether the rest of us like it or not.

It sadden me to read the comments. The number of people who openly opposed gay marriage and the development of the Mosque near ground zero was astonishing. The anger, venom, bitterness and desire to impose themselves on others was disheartening.

I think we are losing our grip on the definition of freedom. Freedom has nothing to do with liking. We have to stop confusing the two.

I don’t like the KKK, Skinheads, Rush Limbaugh, or the much of the crap that is put on TV today aimed at my kids. I don’t like flag burning or abortion. There are a lot of things people do, that I don’t like. With that in mind, I would fight to protect the rights of the KKK, Skinheads, Rush Limbaugh, the crap they put on TV, flag burning and aborrtion, not because I like them, but because I LOVE freedom.

You can’t expect to be free if you don’t allow others to be free. Freedom is reciprocal. Everyone gets it or no one gets it. Freedom is all encompassing. There is no such thing as partially free.

Too often we confuse liking something with providing the right to do something. But it doesn’t work that way. It actually works just the opposite. The founding fathers created rights to guarantee our freedom, to protect us from those who disliked what we did. They new that if we used LIKE to determine our freedoms we’d all be in trouble.

Take LIKE out of the freedom discussion and it makes things just a little easier. I don’t like a lot of things people do, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to do them.

Don’t confuse like with rights. It’ll cost you your freedom because somebody somewhere doesn’t like what you’re doing and that’s not reason enough to demand you stop. Our own freedom is tightly wrapped in how much freedom we give others and like should have nothing to do with it.

August 20, 2010 | Filed under: Politics | View Comments |

User Engagement vs. User Investment

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with Fred Wilson and his partners at Union Square Ventures, Brad and Albert. The conversation centered around how you know if a networking/sharing/social media type business is doing well, and is something to consider investing in. Fred’s opinion was engagement is a key measurement in determining the success of a network business or site.

Fred reiterates this in his post last week; How We Measure Success:

We believe very large networks of engaged users will ultimately create significant financial value for everyone involved.

At the time I agreed with Fred. However, since that meeting, I’ve been plagued with a gnawing feeling that engagement just wasn’t right. It hit me yesterday what I’ve been feeling.

User engagement isn’t the true measure of a productive site or network, it’s investment.

I may be splitting hairs, but I think there is a real difference here. Engagement is too soft. People can engage with little expectation of return. It can be fleeting, as the engagement isn’t necessarily rooted in anything substantial. Investment on the other hand carries a much greater commitment. When users invest they are expecting to get something in return. When people are invested they take ownership. Investment is sticky.

It’s not that I don’t think engagement isn’t a good measure of the value of a network based business, because it is. User engagement can be easily measured and quickly evaluated. All you have to do is look at to things like comments, shared content, posts etc. to see if users are engaged. The fact that engagement can be easily measured makes it a good metric.

However, for a business based on a network to last, it has to be sticky. It needs the users to stick around. Engagement doesn’t necessarily mean sticky. Users can swoop in for awhile, be engaged on a topic, or a fun project, or network site etc then be gone. Engagement is too susceptible to trends and fads. To make engagement sticky requires user investment.

Investment adds another layer to the user experience. When people become invested they see long-term value. They expect a return for their efforts. They see and embrace a specific utility. When people become invested in something they are far more committed to it. Invested users take ownership.

Investment is a little more difficult to measure. How do you tell the difference between someone who is engaged vs someone who is invested? For me personally the best example is Facebook vs. Twitter. I’m invested in Twitter. I use it to promote my blog. I use it to get information. I rely on Twitter and expect a return. If it stops providing that return, I will stop using it. With Facebook, I’m engaged. I, maybe, check it out once a day. If it were to go away, it wouldn’t kill me. It’s nice to stay in touch with my friends, but there are a lot of other ways I do that and if I never knew what 90% of my old highschool friends were doing, it wouldn’t kill me.

I’m engaged in Facebook, but invested in Twitter. Therefore, I am a much more valueable user to Twitter than I am to Facebook.

In both Twitter and Facebooks case they have done a good job in building network sites that give people a reason to invest and that’s why they’ve been successful.

People invest in networks that provide value, that have specific utility and a way to measure return. The more measurable utility or value a network has, the more users invest in it. When users invest they make it their own, they embed it into their lives, both business and personal, they share it with others, evangelizing it’s value. When networks create a reason for people to invest, they become sticky. When networks become sticky, they grow and they last.

Engagement is important. It can lead to user investment. But, after thinking about it for awhile, I disagree with Fred. Network based businesses have more than engaged users, they have to have invested users.

21 Rules of Engagement in Social Media (briansolis.com)
How Do You Know if Social Media Is Working? (unionstreetmedia.com)

June 15, 2010 | Filed under: Uncategorized | View Comments |

Union Square Ventures Proving-Online Presence IS the Asset of the Future

Twitter and Foursquare investor Union Square Ventures is hiring two associates and by doing so are proving the point that an online presence is the most valuable asset we can own. I’ve been making this point a lot over the last year. Our online presence will become the most valuable asset we own, even more valuable than our home.

To find candidates USV blogged about the openings on their website and Fred Wilson a partner in the firm posted about them on his blog. No recruiter, no Monster.com postings, no 3rd party sourcing. Just two blog posts. USV and Fred have built a huge following. They already had an audience.

I have no visibility into how many applications were submitted, but if the number of comments is any indication, it’s over 100.

What really makes this interesting is that USV asked candidates for just 3 things: a link to their LinkedIn profile, a way to be contacted and a cover letter. They asked the cover letter contain nothing more than links to the candidates online presence. That’s it. No resume required.

USV is using online presence as the key criteria to identify the ideal candidates for their next associates. I love this idea. It’s a heck of a filter. Anyone who hasn’t taken the time to build their online presence is automatically filtered out. No need to reply. Harsh, but it’s where things are going.

What I like about this approach is it focuses on what what the candidates do, not what they say. It’s hard to B.S. your way around an empty Twitter and Facebook profile. You can’t “hide” the fact that you don’t have a blog or haven’t posted in 6 months. By focusing on applicants online presence, USV will have amazing insight into how candidates, think, write, interact, engage, and collaborate. An online presence is a living resume that doesn’t lie.

I think USV is going about this the right way. You can learn a lot about someone by following, reading and engaging with their online presence. An online presence isn’t a polished document with an agenda like a resume and that is exactly the problem with resumes. They hide as much as they share. Watching and engaging with someones online presence is the closest thing to be a fly on the wall. You get to see the real person.

If you don’t have an online presence, you’re not going to a job with one of the most prestigious venture capital firms in the country and that is too bad, because you could be a wonderful fit for them. If you are one of the lucky ones who is hired, your online presence catapulted you into the exciting and lucrative world of venture capital and that is worth something.

How much is an online presence worth? In this case it’s worth 2 years at Union Square Ventures; investors in Twitter, FourSquare, Disqus and more of the Internets hottest properties. That’s worth a lot.

USV will not be the last company to hire this way. More and more companies will use an online presence in their hiring decisions.

An online presence will be the most valuable asset you will own. Start investing!

April 13, 2010 | Filed under: Asset of The Future,Hiring/Firing,Web 2.0/Social Networking | View Comments |

Venture Capital and Human Capital Investment

The other day Fred Wilson announced on his blog that Union Square Venture’s junior analyst, Andrew Parking was leaving.

Fred and his partners aren’t shy about their vision for USV;

Ever since we started Union Square Ventures almost seven years ago, we’ve envisioned it as a partner driven firm where the partners do most of the work. We don’t have a career path for young people, and we emphasize that with a two year and out analyst program.

I talked with Fred about this the other day. I asked him how they were going to replace Andrew and he said he wasn’t sure.

This got me thinking.

I suggested to Fred that they do replace him in the same way they found him, that USV should take on a newbie, someone non-traditional.

If you read Andrews post about his experience at USV and Fred’s you’ll see that the experience had a big impact on both parties. But particularly on Andrew.

I really like this concept of putting non-traditional candidates with experienced professionals. I think more companies would benefit from this practice.

I shared with Fred what I thought:

You have the ability to introduce your craft to talented people who may normally never be introduced to venture capital. Charlie, Andrew, or some unidentified person you mentor in the future, could be the person to fundamentally change the world of VC and/or find an investment others didn’t see that makes a huge impact on business or society.

I think there are two sides to this coin, the business, data driven side; the side that asks, do we NEED a junior investment professional? Then there is the other side that asks; do we want to influence the future of venture capital by mentoring and introducing talented people to it?

Fred agreed with me, but also shared his thoughts on the challenges with executing on this idea.

I thought it was an interesting perspective based on the outcome of Andrews time at USV.

I think there is tremendous opportunity for people and companies to invest in non-traditional talent.

Finding people today is very linear. We build job descriptions with very rigid qualifications and required experience. Talented people become pigeon holed into specific roles with little opportunity to change direction. This does little to help anyone.

I’d love to see large organizations, VC firms, and other professions create programs that invite non-traditional candidates into their organization.

Bringing in non-traditional talent creates fresh ideas. The people want to be there because they are making a change. They work harder and in many cases take a pay cut. Creating opportunities to find fresh, talented, exceptional people who know little or nothing about your business is the ultimate in capital investment.

If done right, it could generate huge returns, for both parties. If Fred looks to replace Andrew the same way he found him, something tells me there will be a lot of applicants, and justifiable so.

What do you think? Should companies do more to attract and recruit non-traditional talent? Is it smart or risky?

March 31, 2010 | Filed under: Asset of The Future,Career Development,What I Think! | View Comments |

Social Mentors

Fred Wilson wrote a great post the other day called, Role Models. In it he talked about the importance of role models for young entrepreneurs who are just starting out. I agree with him. No one makes it alone. Having a mentor can make all the difference.

Mentors are hard to come by. It’s not like they have a Walmart for mentors.

The mentor/mentee relation can take time to develop. Other times it’s a simple introduction. Despite how they are developed they are normally off-line, face to face, personal, relationships. One of the most difficult parts of finding a mentor is access. Successful, accomplished experts are hard to come by.

Fred’s post got me thinking. Social media is providing a new type of mentor, a “social mentor.”

Social media provides the two critical pieces of mentorship; access and information.

Mentorship is about providing guidance, experience, knowledge and support. Social media, through it’s blogs, comments, Tweets, Fan Pages and more allows an informal mentorship to take place. Blogs share experiences and information. The comments allow readers to ask questions. Overtime, the author and regular commentators build a relationship. The author becomes responsive to his or her regular readers and provides provocative, informative, answers to their questions. The same applies to other social media sites. The experts engage with the novices and share their experience and knowledge. Bang! A “social mentor” relationship is created.

I’ve seen examples of this all over the web. The best example I’ve seen is Fred’s blog. Fred writes great informative posts everyday. He receives 100′s of comments on those posts. He has a good following of regular commentators who comment often; asking questions, and engaging with Fred. I can’t prove it, but I’d be willing to bet a number of these people see Fred as an informal mentor.

Social media is changing a lot of things. How we define mentors is one of them.

Nothing will replace the power and benefits of an offline mentor/mentee relationship. But where it used to be all or nothing, social media is creating a very happy and beneficial medium.

I’m beginning to find a number of social mentors. What about you? Who are yours?

Looking for a Mentor? Entrepreneurs Roundtable Can Help (centernetworks.com)
Mentoring (darcknyt.wordpress.com)
Shopping for a Mentor (myventurepad.com)

January 27, 2010 | Filed under: Entrepreneur,Leadership,Personal Development,Web 2.0/Social Networking | View Comments |

From a Blog To a Community

The thing I love the most about blogging is the conversation in the comments. The comments in a blog turn it from a broadcast medium to a community. I think community is where it’s at. Unfortunately, turning a blog into a community is the hardest part of blogging.

One of the best blogging communities on the web today is Fred Wilson’s AVC Blog. Fred gets 100′s of comments a day. They are killer comments from some cool folks. The comments are so good, it’s not uncommon for them to produce a secondary conversation. I’ve had some great conversations with folks in his comment stream. It is truly a community.

I want to build a community like that here. I love the conversation.

With this in mind, I was curious; how long does it take? Assuming the obvious, good content, consistency of posts, links from other blogs, etc, how long does it take to go from being a blog to being a community?

I looked at Fred’s posts starting from day. Like most new bloggers, he had few comments. He averaged less then 10 a day in his first year. In some respect you could say he was doing a little better than most new bloggers, as they avg less than 2 a day. But, after a year his blog was far from a community. He was posting some great stuff. His take on search during Google’s IPO is killer, considering it was over 5 years ago. I looked at year two, a modest increase in the comments and participation, but still no community. His third year, similar results. Then around March of 2008, something changes. AVC becomes a community. It wasn’t like a switch went on, but it was that month when comments on Fred’s blog started to act like a community. It was at that point his comment averaged 20 per post, with some posts having 100′s of comments.

I say Fred’s blog became a community in March of 2008. I don’t know the reason, if there were some event, like Twitter, or something else. What I do know is it took 4 1/2 years. That’s a long time, but worth it.

Fred has a destination blog. It’s a great community, with great readers, who are smart, engaging and not afraid to say what they think.

I want that here and if it takes 4 years so be it. At least now I know.

December 14, 2009 | Filed under: Web 2.0/Social Networking,What I Think! | View Comments |

Bring Back Apprenticeship

About a month ago, I had dinner with Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures. During dinner Fred shared with me how he got into Venture Capital. He started in 1986 with Euclid Partners. He knew a lot about computers and the computer industry, they didn’t. So they brought him on. Fred worked 10 years with that firm, 10 years! He worked on a lot of good deals and made them a lot of money. What I found most interesting about his story, is Fred never became a partner with the firm. Fred didn’t benefit from any of the exists, he was strictly an employee. What Fred did get from his 10 year investment was the education of a lifetime. He got an apprenticeship. A very valuable one.

Fred is now Sr. Partner and founder of Union Square Ventures (His second Firm, as he founded Flatiron Ventures in 1996.) Union Square has an impressive portfolio that includes Twitter, FourSquare, Disqus and Outside.in. Fred has also had some impressive exists, including Geocities. If you follow Fred on Twitter you know he has over 30,000 followers. His blog has over 50,000 subscribers and he blogs often about his experiences at Euclid and how they have helped him today. Fred has been quoted or referenced in a number of mainstream media including; Time Magazine, Newsweek and the New York Times. Fred has become somewhat of a celebrity in the VC and Social Media world. Yet, all this didn’t just happen because Fred put up a V.C. shingle. It happened because of his apprenticeship.

Apprenticeship seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur. A right of passage for many skilled laborer positions, the apprenticeship was the way many became experts in their craft. They would spend years studying under Masters and come out the other side Journeymen and then become Masters themselves. I love this practice. We need more of it. I would love to see apprenticeships for Venture Capital. I think many of the finance professions would benefit including, hedge-fund management, Private Equity firms and others. I would like to see technology apprenticeship for certain verticals, like medical, bio-tech, and communications. As our world becomes more and more complex, and more and more specialized, apprenticeships can add tremendous value.

Apprenticeships do more than teach a craft. They provide real world experience to the ups and downs of an industry. They allow industry secrets and nuances to be passed on. They create life lessons for the apprentice. They establish relationships. Principles, values and experiences are kept alive, as each generation gives to the next. Apprenticeships create entree into complex worlds.

Unfortunately, few seem to have the patience for an apprenticeship. The experienced don’t have the time to mentor and teach. The up and comers are too impatient and short sighted to “pay their dues.” I can’t imagine too many young people who would be willing to work for ten years for salary only, as Fred did, without becoming a partner. It’s unfortunate. There is a lot to be gained by both parties.

Becoming great at something takes time. It takes failure. It takes experience. It takes mentors. It takes support. It takes mistakes. Apprenticeship allows all this to happen and more. An apprenticeship is an investment on both sides and if done well, it’s one with huge returns for everyone. The apprenticeship needs a second wind. It needs new life. Like investment in companies, investment in people has just as big returns, and sometimes even bigger.

Fred’s first start-up investment was Fred Wilson Inc. He invested the first 10 years of his career in that property. I would say it is one of his best investments to date.

Are there some great apprentice programs you know about? I would love to hear about them. Share in the comments and I will update this post and help spread the word.

If you’re a VC reading this and have an apprenticeship program, I know a highly skilled Sr. Executive Sales Leader willing to make a change.

CORRECTION: Fred did eventually become partner, but left before a big payday.

September 22, 2009 | Filed under: Business Performance,Career Development,Leadership,Personal Development,What I Think! | View Comments |

The Community Blog vs. The Information Blog

There are two types of blogs. There are community blogs, where readers leave lots of comments and the discussion in the comments can be as interesting and informative as the actual blog itself. Then, there are information blogs, where the destination is about the information. Community blogs have lots of comments. The discussion is often happening between those leaving comments rather than with the author. Fred Wilson and Chris Brogan are excellent examples of community blogs. Information blogs are destination blogs, where people visit for the content. They read, they leave. They rarely leave comments and there is little dialog happening on the site.

I like community blogs better. I love the interaction. I dig the dissent and conversation. Community blogs do just that, they create community. Community blogs improve the content and promote interaction through the dialogue. Community is what makes blogs better.

I was talking to a reader of this blog today, and asked him why he doesn’t leave a comment. He couldn’t tell me why. He wasn’t sure. He said he shares the information with his non blogosphere network, but he doesn’t leave comments and he didn’t know why. He committed to think about it and get back to me. I’ll update this post with his thoughts when I hear back from him. Or, maybe he’ll leave them in the comments.

What do you think? What makes a community blog a community blog? What happens, that turns an information blog into a community blog? When do you comment and when don’t you? Why? I’d love your thoughts, you can leave them in the comments.

September 1, 2009 | Filed under: Web 2.0/Social Networking,What I Think! | View Comments |

We Don’t Eat at Restaurants Because We’re Hungry!

We don’t pay to eat out because we are hungry. We have food in the fridge. (college kids, or bachelors are the exception). We don’t buy books because we want to read. We can get them at the library for free. We don’t pay for cable because we want to watch T.V. We can get the local channels for free. We don’t pay for radio to listen to music. We can listen to music on the radio for free. Prostitutes don’t flourish, because we need sex. Most people have a spouse or significant other that provides that service for free. There are things in life that are free or almost free yet we continually choose to pay for them. Why?

It’s because we almost never buy things for one reason. We rarely spend our money for a singular purpose. Buying is a complex process. If we only bought cars to get from point A to point B, then we wouldn’t have so many different types of cars. If we only bought food to eat, then there wouldn’t be so many different restaurants. If we only spent our money for the utility of things, there wouldn’t be any reason for much of anything else.

Chris Anderson’s book Free just came out. Fred Wilson just wrote an intriguing post on the idea of freemium business models and SocialCast an enterprise 2.0 company just announced their service is totally free to an unlimited number of users. The discussions around the idea of freemium services is interesting with many detractors. I think they are looking at it the wrong way. They are looking at it from the eyes of what was, not what can be. And unfortunately, that is even wrong.

A good sales person understands the buying process is complex and people rarely buy things for one, obvious, clear reason. We buy for a number of unique, individual, and varying reasons. The cable companies figured this out and now none of us could even imagine NOT paying for T.V. Restaurants figured this out and most of us have looked at a our monthly budgets and made commitments to stop eating out only to do it just as much next month. Radio was as free as a bird just a few years ago, now most of us are paying for XM/Sirus or HD radio and didn’t blink an eyelash at it.

Good sales people learn to identify the true buying motives. They pry, evaluate, assess and discover what it is that will motivate buyers and then capitalize on it. I think the freemium model could learn something from sales people. It’s not what your product does that we pay for. It’s what it does for us that excites us to pay. Give your product away all day long and while your doing it ask yourself what WILL my customers pay for? Because they will pay, you just have to figure it out.

July 6, 2009 | Filed under: Enterprise 2.0,Sales Process,Uncategorized,Web 2.0/Social Networking | View Comments |

Online Presence – Asset of the Future: Why Your Social Graph Will Be Worth as Much as Your Home

The other day prolific blogger and VC Fred Wilson was at the gym. Frustrated with his ability to read the links in his Twitter stream, Fred twittered this-

“Is there a 3rd party Twitter app that builds a link page based on my follows? If not, someone should build it. It would be my start page”

With in a few days Fred received responses from a bunch of people who had built something based on his tweet. By the end of the week Fred had the custom app he was looking for.

I’ve watched this happen with Fred a couple of times. I’m seeing it a lot lately. People with large, authentic, followings are able to leverage those followings for tremendous gain. Watching this has made me realize a persons social graph, their number of followers, their social media reach is an asset, a HUGE ASSET!

Traditionally; homes, 401k’s, and cars are the most valuable personal assets of the average person. Looking forward, I see a persons social graph added to the list and possibly topping the list with the exception of the home.

In the not to distant future, a baseline online social presence will be required for the most common of lifes exercises, like getting a job. In the future, if you don’t have some semblance of an online presence you won’t even be considered for the job. If employers, or recruiters can’t learn about you online, through your social graph, they won’t be interested. I expect online vetting of dates, baby sitters, potential employees, etc. will only increase. Having an online social presence will be the required price to play.

If I am right and an authentic online social graph will be required to play, then a large, sweeping, highly engaging, informative, online social graph will be worth it’s followers in gold.

A strong online social graph allows us to do a lot of things.

Get help – On a couple of occasions, I’ve screwed up my blog. Each time I got stuck trying to fix, folks from within my social graph helped me out. People I’ve never met, in some cases they were people I never even knew were in my social graph, but were readers of this blog or followers of followers on Twitter.

Get Information – I watched Fred request and get help with a number things including; how to plot a power curve, do you know what a power curve is? Apparently some people do. Fred got what he needed.

Promotion – If Seth Godin points to a blog post, views of that post go through the roof. I recently watched the chatter about Socialcast, a Twitter for the enterprise company, blow up after A-List Blogger Chris Brogan mentioned his company was using and liking Socialcast. A strong online social presence exponentially grows your influence.

Ideas – Not sure what to do, how to attack a problem or need a spark of creativity, corraling the masses could make the difference. With a strong social graph collaboration is only a few key strokes away.

In the future, getting a job, raising money, promoting your e-book, getitng a seat at the exclusive restaurant, becoming the exclusive restaurant will be determined by the asset of the future, your online social graph.

Today Oprah, undoubtedly has the greatest reach in the world. Built by traditional media this reach is a real asset she leverages every week. She uses it to give her guests glamorous free gifts or turns uknown authors into overnight sensations. Traditionally, only those in media had reach. That’s changing. In the very near future everyone will have some level of reach. The question will no longer be do you have reach, but how much reach do you have?

Soon, how much money you have, the neighborhoods you live in, the jobs you get, the schools you attend, the friends you have, and your overall success or failure will directly correlate to your online social graph.

A social graph will be most peoples largest asset besides their home. It will have real value. It will have liquidity It will rise and fall in value.

The asset of the future will be your social graph. Have you started investing in it? You should be. Like most assets, the returns are much higher when you get in early.

UPDATE: I’m talking this topic to the next level and writing a book with Leslie Poston. Online Presence is going to be at the core of all of our social, professional and economical worlds. The book is going to breakdown why, and the impact of social media and the internet to our everyday lives. Check out Asset of the Future in the menu above.

Stay tuned, we’ll be sharing chapters, and bringing you along for the ride. It’s going to be fun.

May 14, 2009 | Filed under: Asset of The Future,Personal Brand,Web 2.0/Social Networking,What I Think! | View Comments |