I am going back in time and chronicling my favorite eighties tunes. Thank you YouTube for helping me relive my youth via these great videos — long hair, puffy lips and synth pop notwithstanding. I am kicking off the series with one of my all time favorites — Big in Japan by German band, Alphaville. I still have their debut album Forever Young.
Jason Kilar runs Hulu and yesterday I got a chance to catch up with him and discuss everything from Hulu Plus to his relationship with his content partners. During the course of our conversation, he offered up some tidbits that are valuable for entrepreneurs. They may seem simple and obvious, but more often than not we tend to overlook them.
When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story. (via )
Watch this video of speech Bezos delivered to the Class of 2010 at Princeton University, his alma matter.
Earlier this month I met Maarten, who is the founder and CEO of Layar in Amsterdam. Actually we were both flying from San Francisco to Amsterdam in the same KLM flight, but never got talking till he stopped by at my wonderful hotel, where over a cup of coffee he explained to me his vision of the world — which means a lot of layars and rise of augmented reality. His company turned one last week… happy birthday team Layar and Maarten keep up the good work. Oh… please pass my thanks to your better half for those brownies.
Mark Suster, an entrepreneur and partner at venture capital firm of GRP PArtners, invited me to his video show, This Week in VC to discuss many different aspects of the technology industry, latest trends and what I think is happening in the valley. Mark just published the show notes on his blog, Bothsidesofthetable. You can watch the video here on ThisWeekIn.com.
Earlier this month, upon an invitation from Mobile Monday Amsterdam, I took a trip to the Dutch capital, where I spent three-and-a-half most wonderful days. What I really liked about the city was its natural beauty and how inviting it is for people like me who love to walk.
I did ten miles in two days, some of which included visits to some great shoe stores in the city. From a clothing perspective, I guess I am not thin enough and definitely tall enough.
This was the first trip I took when I left my computer behind. Instead I took my iPad and used it primarily as an eReader. I am never going to carry my laptop again — iPad is just more fun.
Earlier this week, I had the privilege to make an appearance on This Week in Google with Leo Laporte, Gina Trapani, Jeff Jarvisand The New York Times’ Brad Stone. We talked about a whole bunch of topics including Pulse and NY Times RSS, new Caffeine OS, iPhone 4 vs. Android, antitrust and what else, Google.
One of my favorite brands is J. Crew: I have been buying their chinos and casual shirts forever. Their t-shirts have been part of my wardrobe for a very long time. One of the reasons why I love the brand — they sold classically styled, high quality clothes at an affordable price.
Better than Gap and not as trendy as Banana Republic. I think of them as a young man’s Brooks’ Brothers. In a good year, I would buy at least half a dozen shirts, an equal number of t-shirts and a couple of chinos and some sundry items. It was a nice about $600-a-year relationship. No more.
My relationship with the brand changed over past few years — I still buy their T-shirts (about three to-five a year) but I don’t make it a priority to buy shirts from them anymore. Why? Because they have changed the cut of their shirts to tailored fit – slimmer cut — which are essentially not meant for guys like me who have inched into middle age and have some extra weight around their waist. Nothing looks more hideous than a shirt stretching across a belly 
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Most (but not all) of their shirts are tailored fit. What that means is that I have to buy off-the-rack shirts that are one size too large. That is a terrible idea because then your shoulders are off, sleeves too long and the shirts when untucked (aka how casual shirts are worn) look completely ill-fitting. What is worse is that it is getting harder and harder to find classic fit shirts.
This is a disease not unique to J.Crew. Most of the brands have started offering their shirts in slimmer size and moving away from fuller fit shirts. Banana Republic is going down this route and so is Brooks Brothers. Others such as Thomas Pink are not far behind. (read more)
