Less Posts … All Around

I read a very limited number of mostly nerdy/technical blogs. I’ve been more than a bit surprised that over the past 8 – 12 months many have slowed down appreciably in posting and some haven’t had updates since the spring. And it’s not that these blogs were erratic before, they were regularly updated. Now, even some which had fairly prolific authors seem to be posting less. And it’s not like with me, who looks at this as just an idle curiosity and as something to use to post some thoughts now and again. Instead, they were rather interesting sites.

Now, the one that truly surprised me was Marc Andreeson’s blog. It was great. And then it stopped. He’s explained the stoppage. He started a fund. Good for him! He’s down to earth and a nerd so he gets it. It’ll be good for the startups of Silicon Valley. But I miss his posts. And he seems to have cleansed his blog. I have no idea if this is so he can start fresh or that’s he’s abandoned the blog. I’m hoping he’s just resetting. His blog was always full of nuggets.

Which reminds me, I watched  this interview with Andreeson. Excellent. My favourite part is where he humbly admits the role of luck in the success of any startup, and that it’s highly underrated as an actual influence on success. He gets what part luck plays, as opposed to many who think that a good idea will trump all. And, sure, you can claim to “make your own luck” but in the end it’s much more complicated than that. You need to have a decent product, a good, technically sound, management team, good technical team, and a hungry sales team. You need to have investors with the horizon to wait for the technology to properly be digested — especially today when the ideas being pushed aren’t as obvious to buyers as was true years ago. Plus, you need to have timing and luck on your side. You need to be able to scratch that itch and match up with clients in such a way as to provide them with what they need so they’ll provide you with what you need — namely, paying customers.

That’s why I hope Andreeson continues his blog, It had so many good points for entrepreneurs and that’s something that’s seriously lacking. And today, with entrepreneurs not being as clustered within one geographic area due to the power of the internet we need to have broader access to the insights of folks like Andreeson who knows it’s not just the money you know, but the fortune that may befall the company that gets that cash.

So, here’s to hoping Andreeson, at least, starts posting again.