“So I’m here to wade in on the topic of 24 Hour Laundy, the stealth startup founded by none other than Marc Andreesen himself right down the street from me over in Palo Alto. Why? Because I actually know a couple of the guys working over there. They’re nice people and I feel like they’re getting a bad rap from these morons, and Om, and Mark Fletcher, and god knows who else.”

“There’s been a small rash (ouch, you should see a doctor about that…rimshot) of press coverage about the new stealth web start-up 24 Hour Laundry. Who knows what they do, but whatever it is, they’re doing it wrong. Here’s the thing, stealth mode for a web start-up is the kiss of death.”

“Coming up with good ideas is hard enough, but convincing others to do something with them is even harder. In many fields the task of bringing an idea to someone with the power to do something with it is called a pitch: software feature ideas, implementation strategies, movie screenplays, organizational changes, and business plans, are all pitched from one person to another.”

“This is the best time to start an Internet company since the dot-com boom. Well, except it’s a lot more difficult now to get filthy rich on a moronic idea, which may take some of the wind out of your sails. But other than that, something truly remarkable is going on. The cost of starting a Web-based company is plummeting. Some in the industry estimate that it costs one-tenth or less to start an Internet company today than it did just five years ago.”

“Product management may be the one job that the organization would get along fine without (at least for a good while). Without engineers, nothing would get built. Without sales people, nothing is sold. Without designers, the product looks like crap. But in a world without PMs, everyone simply fills in the gap and goes on with their lives. It’s important to remember that — as a PM, you’re expendable. Now, in the long run great product management usually makes the difference between winning and losing, but you have to prove it.”

“In my last newsletter, I reviewed a technology framework for supporting a smart business environment. This time I look at the types of business problems such a framework helps to resolve and the tasks involved in building a smart business IT framework.”

“How can a tiny European upstart like Skype Technologies S.A. do a number on a trillion-dollar industry? By dialing up a vast, hidden resource: its own users. Skype, the newest creation from the same folks whose popular file-sharing software Kazaa freaked out record execs, also lets people share their resources — legally…”

“Whether you’re a newly minted blogger or a relative old-timer, you’ve been seeing more and more stories pop up every day about bloggers getting in trouble for what they post… To be clear, this guide isn’t a substitute for, nor does it constitute, legal advice. Only an attorney who knows the details of your particular situation can provide the kind of advice you need if you’re being threatened with a lawsuit.”

“What do you do once you realize the power of small? …It’s one thing to say, ‘Yep, of course, small is the new big.’ It’s quite another to actually do anything about it. For the last six years, I’ve had exactly one employee. Me. This has changed my worklife in ways that I hadn’t predicted. The biggest changes are…”

“Over a year ago, I was asked by BizAz Magazine (a local Phoenix magazine) to speak at one of its ‘Business Beneath The Surface’ breakfast meetings. As part of the event, participants have the option of submitting questions to the speakers, which are then answered during the breakfast. One of the questions directed towards me was, ‘What advice do you have for someone who is just starting a business?’”

“When you also want to avoid getting into an endlessly long and boring conversation with someone at work who doesn’t know when to stop talking, but you must talk to them, do the following…”

“Last week I was invited to speak to a group of 200 students at Duke University. The organizers gave me pretty much free rein in picking my topic, so I decided to talk about this: How to Make a Million Dollars. How to make a million dollars is: a) something students are interested in, and b) something I am qualified to talk about. And the talk went really well. So well, in fact, that I have received requests for copies of the presentation.”

“Big used to matter. Big meant economies of scale. (You never hear about ‚Äúeconomies of tiny‚Äù do you?) People, usually guys, often ex-Marines, wanted to be CEO of a big company. The Fortune 500 is where people went to make‚Ķ a fortune.”

Probably won’t be posting until the end of the week.

“Good criticism serves one purpose: to give the creator of the work more perspective and help them make their next set of choices. Bad criticism uses the opportunity provided by someone else‚Äôs work to make the critic feel smart, superior or better about themselves: things that have nothing to do with helping the recipient of the critique…”