“…if you’re an entrepreneur you shouldn’t trust your instincts on something so important as your company’s name. The right name could cost you thousands of dollars, but it’ll be worth it. Just think: naming companies brought you such classics as Zobmondo, Activant, Jazelle, and Omniva…”

“It is now clear that successful Web 2.0 companies will be the ones managing to reach ‘escape velocity’, which basically means attracting millions of users, with a big zero cost of acquisition, at a rate of tens of thousands new users signing on per day. These “must join” networks (MySpace, Skype, potentially the Facebook) have risen to levels of usage and popularity that created strongholds very difficult to duplicate. Interestingly, technology had nothing to do with the differentiation at all, and sort of proves Ross Mayfield’s statement that Wed 2.0 is made of people (or the network thereof) — at least as a valuation metric.”

“The first Summer Founders Program has just finished. We were surprised how well it went. Overall only about 10% of startups succeed, but if I had to guess now, I’d predict three or four of the eight startups we funded will make it.”