Author: ariel

Today I went to the MassTLC unConference. It was an interesting structure for a conference, where the entire agenda is created by the audience on the day of the actual conference. It brought together a great mix of entrepreneurs, investors, and technologists for a day of interaction. The structure (or rather unstructure) allowed anyone to… Continue reading MassTLC UnConference

But I did say it. RIM’s 28% drop today ties perfectly into my last post. What is weird is that all the analysts were “shocked” that RIM had to spend more money on advertising to fend off the iPhone, spend more on R&D to make better phones, reduce profit margins to compete on price, and… Continue reading RIM – I'm not going to say it

I have been meaning to post this for a while, got sidetracked, then ended up holding off as my prediction seemed to be coming through. Yet given RIMM’s recent resurgence, I feel my window has reopened. Let’s look back a bit to understand the Palm parallel. Shortly after its IPO, Palm went on to have… Continue reading RIM is the next Palm

I just wrote on the The Fantasy Sports Forum. We had some good clean fun at the game and after at the bars in Wrigleyville. We also were able to compare notes about our various funding, startup, sports, and marketing experiences. Even brief informal conversations provide a great opportunity to get a feel for what… Continue reading FSTA Conference in Chicago

About a week ago there were a couple of very interesting blog posts about why startups fail, taking different view points: Why Startups Fail: David Feinlab, Mohr Davidow Ventures vs. How “Why Startups Fail” Fails: 37 Signals Both are very interesting reads, and I won’t go through point by point to comment on them. I’ll… Continue reading Why Startups Fail – Agreement among contrarian points

Does anyone else find it just absolutely inane (I can use a number of other adjectives as well) that Chrysler is offering a $2.99 Gas Guarantee? On pretty much every level you look at it, it’s just silly. As a promotion, it feels pretty empty, because you can do the math pretty simply and realize… Continue reading Chrysler's Ridiculous Promotion

Last Wednesday I went up to Hanover, NH, to give a talk to a group of Thayer students and faculty at an event called Celebrating Thayer. Thayer is the engineering school at Dartmouth College, where I graduated with a Masters in Engineering Management in 2004, after completing my undergraduate engineering degree at Dartmouth as well.… Continue reading Talk: How Thayer prepares you for entrepreneurial endeavors

I just finished one of the most painful non-purchases of my life. Thank you Best Buy. About 3 weeks ago, I walked into Best Buy with the simple goal of buying a dishwasher to replace the one that broke in my apartment. I found a nice, mid-range Frigidair, and went to purchase it. I conveyed… Continue reading How not to sell: Never buy a dishwasher from Best Buy