PODCAST
Fred Wilson's A VC
by Fred Wilson's A VC
I am a VC. I have been since 1986. I help people start and build technology companies. I do it in NYC, which isn't the easiest place to build technology companies, but it's getting better.I love my work. I am the Managing Partner of two venture capital firms, Flatiron Partners and Union Square Ventures.I also am a husband and a father of 3 kids. I do that in NYC too. And it isn't the easiest place to raise a family either. But it's getting better too. I love my family more than my work.I also love music, art, yoga, biking, skiing, and golf. That's a lot of interests for a guy who works 70 hours a week and loves his family. But I manage to make it work.
Episodes
-
A Letter To Senator Manchin (a post by @FredWilson)
"Senator Joe Manchin wrote a public letter to financial regulators asking them to “take appropriate action to limit the abilities of this highly unstable currency.†The letter in its entirety is here . What follows is a letter from me to the Senator. Bitcoin is a powerful new technology...
-
A Letter To Senator Manchin (a post by @FredWilson)
"Senator Joe Manchin wrote a public letter to financial regulators asking them to “take appropriate action to limit the abilities of this highly unstable currency.†The letter in its entirety is here . What follows is a letter from me to the Senator. Bitcoin is a powerful new technology...
-
Feature Friday: Recognizing Wine Labels (a post by @FredWilson)
"My son turned me onto a wine app called Delectable Wine . I am waiting for the Android version so I can use it too. But I've used it a bit on his iPhone and its a really nice and useful application. Think of Delectable Wine as Instagram for wine. People post the wines they are drinking, their...
-
The Behavior Of Your Users Normally Doesn't Change (a post by @FredWilson)
"A few weeks ago the traffic coming to the new usv.com dropped off by 20 or 30% week over week. Brian and Nick were wondering if it was related to the new design we rolled out at the end of January. They decided to take a deep dive into our analytics to see what was going on. I told them it had…
more -
The Perception Of Conflict Is Conflict (a post by @FredWilson)
"VC is a service business like law firms and ad agencies. Our customers are the entrepreneurs we back. Our shareholders are our limited partners. When we do a good job of helping our customers create value, our shareholders benefit. But, like law firms and ad agencies, it is hard to provide truly...
-
Go Bowling With The NYC Tech Community (a post by @FredWilson)
"The annual NYC tech bowling event is around the corner. Kingpins of Silicon Alley will happen on April 7th, at 7pm.  Kingpins of Silicon Alley Bowlmor - Chelsea Piers April 7, 2014  7 PM Kingpins of Silicon Alley is New York City’s first and only startup bowling competition. It is a...
-
What's So Special About DonorsChoose.org? (a post by @FredWilson)
"So Fast Company has selected DonorsChoose.org as one of its most innovative companies and on top of that, they decided to put DonorsChoose founder Charles Best on the cover of the magazine and write a longer article about them as well. It's pretty unusual that a non-profit would be selected for...
-
If It Sounds Too Good To Be True, It Probably Is (a post by @FredWilson)
"Ben Horowitz has a great post up on his blog, called Why I Did Not Go To Jail . I would encourage everyone to go read it. But in the event you aren't going to do that, he tells a story about an options strike price plan that his CFO recommended to him. It turns out the plan was against the law…
more -
Lightweight Engagement Gestures (a post by @FredWilson)
"I was on vacation with my friend John and he asked me how I used the favorite button on Twitter. I told him it is a way to tell people that I've seen the tweet when I do not want to reply. I use it in two primary ways. To signal that I saw and liked a tweet. And to signal that I saw a tweet to…
more -
Dream It. Code It. Win It. (a post by @FredWilson)
"I attended a CS Teacher Meetup last night at USV. We talked about a lot of things but focused on the issue of getting more girls to code. It's an important issue that I think we are starting to make good progress on. Though not focused on girls per se, I heard about a neat coding challenge that…
more -
The CEO Bootcamp (a post by @FredWilson)
"My friend and former business partner Jerry Colonna has created The CEO Bootcamp . It's a four day retreat in the Colorado mountains with 19 other CEOs and a few facilitators, led by Jerry. The first CEO Bootcamp was last fall and you can see what attendees thought about it here . And here's a...
-
iOS8, Health Data, and Open Data (a post by @FredWilson)
"News is leaking out of Apple that iOS8's primary feature will be health and fitness data. Rumors are that there will be a new app called Healthbook that will track a plethora of health and fitness data that iPhones and related devices (iWatch?) will be able to collect on the person carrying the...
-
Tumblr (a post by @FredWilson)
"I read this in an analyst report published on Yahoo! yesterday: We believe Tumblr is an underappreciated asset with fast growing user base and engagement levels. We think Tumblr may actually be capable of creating as much value as Yahoo! core. It's not clear to me how much value the "Yahoo!…
more -
Bitcoin Tuesday (a post by @FredWilson)
"There are at least three Bitcoin events that I know of in NYC today. I do not think any of them are public events but the fact that there are three in a single day is interesting to me. This morning, NYC's Economic Development Corporation is hosting a Bitcoin breakfast with some of the leading...
-
Humans Of New York (a post by @FredWilson)
"I have a new favorite blog and I thought I'd share it with all of you. I found it via the Gotham Gal's blog (which in and of itself is kind of embarassing. We sleep together and I found this via her blog). It's called Humans Of New York . I follow it on Tumblr. Every day I get two to five posts....
-
This For That (a post by @FredWilson)
"My partner Brad, who is the conscience of USV, said something in one of our recent monday team meetings that has been rattling in my brain ever since. It was a throwaway line for him. He probably doesn't even remember it. But I do. We were talking about some investment opportunity and one of us...
-
Feature Friday: Google Maps Shortlinks (a post by @FredWilson)
"In the google maps android app, if you search for a place, you can click the share icon and send that location to anyone via a wide assortment of apps. I did that last night and emailed this to myself. Buvette http://goo.gl/maps/7dzMz I absolutely love this feature and use it all the time. I…
more -
When Siri Takes Over Your Phone (a post by @FredWilson)
"One morning earlier this week, I cam down early and was working in our family room/kitchen area. My oldest daughter was charging her iPhone in the kitchen and it was randomly playing music. I would get up, turn off the music, and then a few minutes later, it would start again. Eventually I…
more -
Telling Like It Is (a post by @FredWilson)
"I told a Rob Kalin story yesterday and I am going to start this post with another one. When Rob left Etsy for the second time, it fell to me to tell everyone what was happening at the company's all hands meeting. I asked Rob what he wanted me to tell the several hundred employees who would...
-
You Are Not Your Work (a post by @FredWilson)
"My friend Gary said this to me the other day in an email. He wasn't talking about me but he could have beeen. Last night I went to bed thinking about my work, dreamt about my work, and woke up thinking about my work. It's been that way for me since I started Flatiron in the mid 90s. To some…
more -
Investing In Startups In Europe (a post by @FredWilson)
"One of the big european tech conferences starts today. It's called DLD and my partner Albert is giving a talk there tomorrow. The last big european tech conference was LeWeb and I gave a talk there . You might wonder why we fly across the pond to attend and talk at these events. The answer, asÂ...
-
VC Pitches In A Year Or Two (a post by @FredWilson)
"Entrepreneur: I plan to launch a better streaming music service. It leverages the data on what you and your friends currently listen to, combines that with the schedule of new music launches and acts that are touring in your city in the coming months and creates playlists of music that you…
more -
Women Entrepreneurs Festival 2014 (a post by @FredWilson)
"The fourth annual Womens Entrepreneur Festival starts this evening and continues all day tomorrow. The Gotham Gal and her friend Nancy Hechinger , who is on the faculty at NYU's ITP program , are the founders and festival chairs. The goal of the WE Festival is "to sow the seeds for a community…
more -
Bitcoin - Getting Past Store Of Value and Currency (a post by @FredWilson)
"Lightspeed India has a post with ten predictions for Bitcoin in 2014 . It's a good read and I agree with many of them. But prediction number 7 is the one I am most interested in right now: 7. The use of Bitcoin will evolve beyond ‘store of value’ or ‘transactions’ The underlying Bitcoin...
-
Feature Friday: usv.com daily email blast (a post by @FredWilson)
"For those of you who have made a habit of visiting usv.com regularly to see what the usv community is reading and discussing, we now have a way of getting that via email. Here is how 1) go to usv.com 2) on the upper right, click "Log in with Twitter". If you don't see that option you are already...
-
Who Is Your Customer? (a post by @FredWilson)
"In a double sided marketplace, of which we have many in our portfolio, it is always tricky to figure out who your customer is. Many marketplaces punt on this question and answer with "both". I think it's hard to run a business with two different customers. It can be done but it is hard.…
more -
The Mutual Company (a post by @FredWilson)
"I remember a time when I was growing up when many of the savings banks and insurance companies were mutual companies. A mutual company is one where the customers own the company, more or less. It seems like the concept lost favor and many of these banks and insurance mutual companies were "...
-
A Web Service For Qualified and Accredited Investo (a post by @FredWilson)
"I just finished filling out a sixteen page questionnaire for an investment the Gotham Gal and I are making. I fill out this identical form about once or twice a month for various investments we make. Each time I get the form, I find a version I filled out previously in my archived email and copy...
-
Back To Work (a post by @FredWilson)
"I took the past two weeks off. I turned on my out of office notification, checked email less, stayed on top of things but reacted to less, did zero meetings, did fewer calls, and didn't go to the office at all. I slept eight hours most nights and a bit longer on a few. It was great. I'm relaxed...
-
A Couple Trips To The Future (a post by @FredWilson)
"During my year end vacation, I read a few books and saw some films. The two I want to talk about today are Dave Eggers'Â The Circle and Spike Jonze's Her . I am a fan of both artists and have consumed most of their prior work. Though they are very different works, both take us on a trip to the...
-
My First Investment (a post by @FredWilson)
"Brad Feld told the story of his first VC investment (after making 40 angel investments) on his blog yesterday. The Gotham Gal told the story of her first angel investment on her blog today. I was involved in both stories and both investments worked out well. Yoyodyne sold to Yahoo! and Curbed…
more -
New Outlets & New Voices (a post by @FredWilson)
"The greatest thing about blogging is that it has opened up so many new voices and new outlets. Just in the past few weeks, we have two new outlets, both from WSJ veterans. The All Things D team has flown the coop and has resurfaced as Recode . The formula seems to be pretty similar to All…
more -
Unresolved (a post by @FredWilson)
"My friend John asked me yesterday what my New Year's resolutions were. I thought about it for a bit and then told him that I have none this year. Of course like most everyone I want to eat healthier and exercise more (which for me means mostly yoga and cycling). I want to be a better husband,...
-
It's A Wrap (a post by @FredWilson)
"The Gotham Gal ends 2013 looking into the future and thinking about how her porfolio companies will grow next year. I am similarly minded as we wrap 2013. I am excited about 2014, and in particular the big opportunities that await many of our portfolio companies. I/we have a view about what is...
-
The Purity Of Angel Investing (a post by @FredWilson)
"Though I have made a few angel investments here and there over the years, it has never been my primary approach to investing in startups. I joined a venture capital firm when I was 25 years old and have been working at a venture capital firm ever since. I grew up in the business of investing…
more -
A New Look For 2014 (a post by @FredWilson)
"I have been unhappy with the way this blog looks for a while. I've fallen into my typical habit of putting too many widgets on it and messing things up. I have also discovered that the layout of the blog is making disqus work more poorly on mobile than it should. Many of you have run into…
more -
Founders and CEOs (a post by @FredWilson)
"I watched the Steve Jobs movie with Ashton Kutcher last night on the flight to Salt Lake City. It wasn't great to be honest but the board room scences with Jobs, Markkula, and Arthur Rock (and later on John Sculley) were pretty compelling. Having been through some of that myself over the years…
more -
Markets and Clearing Prices (a post by @FredWilson)
"Last saturday night in NYC was a bit of a moment for Uber and their surge pricing mechanic. Most people were seeing 3x-5x in manhattan for most of the night and there were reports of 10x for some people. There was a snowstorm, people were out at holiday parties, and there was more demand for…
more -
My Idiosyncratic View Of The World (a post by @FredWilson)
"Jeff Wise has a piece in this week's NY Magazine about teaching kids to code which features my partner Albert's home school and great programs like Code.org and Girls Who Code. It also talks about the work my colleagues and I are doing to bring CS education to all of NYC's public schools. Jeff...
-
Crowdfunding Brooklyn Castle: An Update (a post by @FredWilson)
"I woke up to this email: Hi Fred, This weekend our team traveled to Florida to compete in the National Grade Chess Championships. We won! Our sixth graders and our seventh graders each won the team championships after three grueling days of seven games each of which could last up to three hours....
-
Targetspot and Radionomy (a post by @FredWilson)
"Yesterday we announced a deal that I have been working on for the past three months. Our portfolio company Targetspot has merged with Radionomy, the leading streaming radio company in Europe. The combination creates the largest global audio ad network and brings Radionomy to the US. It also…
more -
Taking To Dos and Moving Up The Y Axis (a post by @FredWilson)
"Dec 17 2013 Targetspot and Radionomy Yesterday we announced a deal that I have been working on for the past three months. Our portfolio company Targetspot has merged with Radionomy, the leading streaming radio company in Europe. The combination creates the largest global audio ad network and...
-
The Smartphone As A Wallet (a post by @FredWilson)
"Last night the Gotham Gal and I went out with a bunch of friends. We met at a restaurant on the upper east side that had recently opened. It was snowing pretty heavily all day yesterday and we were worried about getting a cab on the street. So as we were getting ready to leave, I hailed a cab on...
-
Fun Friday: Year End Lists(a post by @FredWilson)
"It's been a month since we've done a fun friday around here. Getting much too serious it seems. So let's do one today. It's year end and time for year end lists. Here are some that I saw and liked: The New Yorker's Best Books of 2013, Part 1 The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2013 The New…
more -
The Limits of Capitalism (a post by @FredWilson)
"I am a capitalist. Contrary to the occasional community members who call me a socialist or a techno communist, I believe wholeheartedly in the power of markets to efficently determine what's best in most cases. But I am not an absolute capitalist. I believe that markets do break down from time…
more -
Hour Of Code (a post by @FredWilson)
"This is CS Ed Week and this year we are celebrating it with an Hour Of Code. The idea is to get every student to spend an hour this week writing code. If you want to do this with your kids (at home or in school), here are some resources to try: The Codecademy Hour of Code iPhone app - download...
-
The Government Surveillance Letter (a post by @FredWilson)
"Note: The website this post is about is now down. I am not sure if that means this thing was a hoax or something along those lines. Regardless, I believe the sentiments expressed on the website are correct and that Internet companies, large and small, should ban together to express them.…
more -
Mobile Shopping (a post by @FredWilson)
"I've been doing some holiday shopping. I like to do all my shopping online. I don't really enjoy being in stores and I like the convenience of having the items delivered to me. This holiday season, I've been trying to shop more on mobile, both phone and tablet. I am doing this partly because I...
-
Feature Friday: Personal Hangouts (a post by @FredWilson)
"I have had a personal conference calling bridge number since the mid 90s. I know the number by heart. I give it out all the time via email, text, and kik. It does not require a participant code. When I type my host code, we are all connected. I have not found a better model for voice conference...
-
Maintaining High Maintenance (a post by @FredWilson)
"The New Yorker gives high praise for this web video series called High Maintenance. The episodes are short (~5min) and there are eleven episodes in all. It is about a pot dealer who rides around NYC and meets all sorts of strange and outrageous people. This bit from the lead actor in the New...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
I am a VC. I have been since 1986. I help people start and build technology companies. I do it in NYC, which isn't the easiest place to build technology companies, but it's getting better.I love my work. I am the Managing Partner of two venture capital firms, Flatiron Partners and Union Square Ventures.I also am a husband and a father of 3 kids. I do that in NYC too. And it isn't the easiest place to raise a family either. But it's getting better too. I love my family more than my work.I also love music, art, yoga, biking, skiing, and golf. That's a lot of interests for a guy who works 70 hours a week and loves his family. But I manage to make it work.
HOSTED BY
Fred Wilson's A VC
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Fred Wilson's A VC have?
Fred Wilson's A VC currently has 81 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Fred Wilson's A VC about?
I am a VC. I have been since 1986. I help people start and build technology companies. I do it in NYC, which isn't the easiest place to build technology companies, but it's getting better.I love my work. I am the Managing Partner of two venture capital firms, Flatiron Partners and Union Square...
How often does Fred Wilson's A VC release new episodes?
Fred Wilson's A VC has 81 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Fred Wilson's A VC?
You can listen to Fred Wilson's A VC on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Fred Wilson's A VC?
Fred Wilson's A VC is created and hosted by Fred Wilson's A VC.
URL copied to clipboard!