Fred Wilson

Innovation in the Government Industry, Vol. 2: Bitcoin

Michael B. Fishbein | Posted 05.17.2012

Read More: Government, Politics, Currency, Innovation, Fred Wilson, Robert Tercek, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Bitcoin, Union Square Ventures, Technology News

There are many risks and potential flaws associated with buying or using Bitcoin, but the idea of competing with government and creating a new currency outside of the control of a third party is very interesting to me.

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The Billion-Dollar Question: When Will the Fashion Tech Bubble Burst?

Vivian Weng | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Ideeli, Dennis Crowley, Fred Wilson, Venture Capital, Fashion, Start-Up, Kevin Ryan, Gilt Groupe, Raise Cache, Clothing Sales, Fashion Discount Websites, Fashion Discount Sites, Amazon, High Fashion, Style News

I would argue that what we're seeing isn't a bubble per se, but rather a natural and very necessary trial-and-error process, where everyone -- entrepreneurs, fashion industry executives, investors -- is learning what works and what doesn't.

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The Patent Condundrum -- For Startups

Steve Rosenbaum | Posted 04.27.2012

Read More: Google, Fred Wilson, Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, Facebook, Patent, Steven Rosenbaum, Patent Law, Software Patents, Patent Reform, Technology News

Within the startup world, patents are seen as anti-competitive force that stifles innovation. We're in a place where we need to walk a tightrope between the world of predatory patent prosecution and the need to promote one's invention with current patent law.

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What "Liberty/Liberté" Tells Us About Slavery, Black History, and Raw Nerves

Louise Mirrer | Posted 04.09.2012

Read More: American Revolution, Sojourner Truth, George Washington, Modern Art, Slavery, Venice Biennale, Founding Fathers, Fred Wilson, Toussaint L?Ouverture, Napoleon Bonaparte, Black Voices News

Why has a work by the African-American artist Fred Wilson -- an installation piece that riffs on the topic by assembling authentic slave shackles, slave chains and Revolutionary-era icons -- been such a sore point with critics? We must have struck a raw nerve.

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Artists Who Don't Make Art Still Make Millions

Posted 02.04.2012

There was a time when the artist at work meant hours of solitude, piles of tossed-out failed works, and clothes covered in smudges of charcoal and pai...

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Memo to Mayor Bloomberg: Let Them Make Games!

Idit Harel Caperton | Posted 03.14.2012

Children learn best when they are the designers, builders, navigators, engineering and key operators of their own learning.

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Entrepreneurs: If Your Idea Is Mocked and Misunderstood by Most Everyone, Maybe It's Just a Bad Idea

Steven Strauss | Posted 03.03.2012

Read More: Google, Startups, Fred Wilson, Venture Capital, Twitter, Daniel Kahneman, Start-Up Comanies, Start-Up Businesses, Successful Start-Up Companies, Successful-Entrepreneurial-Tips, Entrepreneurship, Business News

Any start-up mocked and misunderstood by nearly everyone, yet ultimately successful, was likely the exception -- not the rule.

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Groupon: The Price of Hubris

Marian Gibbon | Posted 12.25.2011

Read More: Ipo, Groupon IPO, Fred Wilson, N. R. Narayana Murthy, Andrew Mason, Groupon, Infosys, Groupon Ipo Value, Groupon Valuation, Business News

Although the IPO is moving forward, Groupon has paid a price for the shenanigans it pulled on the way to the start line of its roadshow. The company is likely to raise $250 million less than it had originally hoped.

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Of Pigs, Pythons and Web Startups

Mahendra Ramsinghani | Posted 12.17.2011

Read More: Mergers and Acquisitions, Airbnb, Investing, Small Business, Tech Startups, Ipo, Technology Bubble, Startups, Twitter, Fred Wilson, Secondary Markets, Venture Capital, Venture Funds, Small Business News

One of my portfolio companies has venture capitalists and angels stampeding over each other to invest. All of this when a recent WSJ report bemoaned the fact that Web startups have hit a cash crunch. So which is it: a stampede or cash crunch?

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Steve Jobs: Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

Brad Feld | Posted 12.06.2011

Read More: Steve Jobs Stanford, Fred Wilson, Entrepreneurs, Stanford, Entrepreneurship, Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech, Small Business News

While I don't have a personal relationship with Steve Jobs, he's been a hero of mine since I was a teenager when I bought an Apple II computer with 16K of RAM in 1978 with my Bar Mitzvah money.

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Twitter Loses Two Of Its Earliest Supporters

Posted 11.16.2011

Read More: Twitter, Fred Wilson Twitter, Bijan Sabet, Fred Wilson, Twitter Board of Directors, Twitter Board, Bijan Sabet Twitter, Twitter Bijan Sabet, Twitter Fred Wilson, Technology News

By Alexei Oreskovic (Reuters) - Two of Twitter's earliest investors have left the company's board of directors, the latest change to the fast-gro...

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Think Users First, Brands Second

Fred Wilson | Posted 10.25.2011

Read More: Foursquare, Fred Wilson, Small Business America, Small Business, Groupon, Users, Internet Users, Startups, Entrepreneurs, Huffpost Small Business News and Trends, Facebook, Union Square Ventures, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Brands, Small Business News

When you are building your product and thinking about your go to market strategy, you can focus on getting everyday internet users first. Or you can focus on getting brands first and working with them to get users.

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Startup Financing 101: Don't Waste Your Money on Equipment. Go See A Lender Instead.

Fred Wilson | Posted 10.08.2011

Read More: Fred Wilson, Small Business America, Investing, Small Business, Startups, Venture Capital, Capital Equipment Loans, Investors, Business News

Don't use your precious funds raised in dilutive equity rounds to buy servers and other capital equipment. Go see a bank, finance company, or manufacturer about a financing arrangement.

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Startup Financing 101: What Is Venture Debt?

Fred Wilson | Posted 09.24.2011

Read More: Fred Wilson, Investing, Small Business America, Small Business, Union-Square-Ventures, Startups, Venture Capital, Venture Debt, Investors, Business News

There is a large, growing, and vibrant market for something called Venture Debt. It is indeed debt, largely provided by a number of banks and finance companies who specialize in this market.

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Startup Financing 101: How To Sell Preferred Stock

Fred Wilson | Posted 09.17.2011

Read More: Investing, Small Business America, Fred Wilson, Startup Financing, Small Business, Preferred-Stock, Startups, Entrepreneurs, Venture Capital, Union Square Ventures, Entrepreneurship, Investors, Business News

So if you are an entrepreneur, it makes sense to understand preferred stock and what it means for you and your company.

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Startup Financing 101: What Is Convertible Debt?

Fred Wilson | Posted 09.10.2011

Read More: Small Business America, Investing, Small Business, Startup Funds, Convertible Notes, Startups, Convertible Debt, Fred Wilson, Entrepreneurs, Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship, Investors, Business News

Startups typically think about raising capital via convertible debt early on in the life of a startup. They want to move fast, keep transaction costs low, and it is often easier to get the round done with a convertible note than a seed or series A round.

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Fred Wilson: Ranking The Best Venture Capital Firms

Fred Wilson | Posted 07.26.2011

Read More: Investing, Small Business America, Small Business, Venture-Investing, Startups, Fred Wilson, Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship, Business News

InvestorRank offers an insightful way to look at the early stage venture capital business.

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PHOTOS: Brooklyn Museum's Artists Ball

ARTINFO | Posted 07.04.2011

Read More: Art, Artinfo, Brooklyn Museum, Bravo TV, Liv Tyler, New York, Sarah Jessica Parker, Fred Tomaselli, Brooklyn Artists Ball, Work of Art, Brooklyn Museum Artists Ball, Museums, Fred Wilson, Lorna Simpson, Slidepollajax, Arts News

NEW YORK-- Last week the Brooklyn Museum held its annual Brooklyn Artists Ball, hosted this time around by Sarah Jessica Parker and Liv Tyler, two meg...

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Fred Wilson: First Time Vs. Serial Entrepreneurs

Fred Wilson | Posted 07.02.2011

Read More: Fred Wilson, Small Business America, Tech Startups, Small Business, Union-Square-Ventures, Serial Entrepreneurs, Startups, Entrepreneurs, Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship, Business News

I've been thinking a lot about the differences between first time and serial entrepreneurs. We invest in both and do not have a preference between the two. But there are significant differences.

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Top VC: It's 'Absurd' To Expect Users To Pay For Facebook

The Huffington Post | Bianca Bosker | Posted 06.29.2011

Read More: Fred Wilson, Twitter, Facebook, Fred Wilson Facebook, Fred Wilson Twitter, Activate, Technology News

Venture capitalist Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, known for its investments in startups such as Twitter, Foursquare, and Kickstarter, among ot...

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Venice Biennale 2011: A Comprehensive Guide

ARTINFO | Posted 08.02.2011

Read More: Art, Art Fairs, Artinfo, Europe, International, Venice Biennale, Liam Gillick, Ed Ruscha, Sculpture, Bahrain, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Painting, Fred Wilson, Venice, Haiti, Biennale Di Venezia, Arts News

VENICE-- The 2011 iteration of the Venice Biennale, that art-world exhibition that combines the Olympic thrill of awards -- the Golden Lion for best i...

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The Top Tech Investors Of 2011

Forbes | Posted 06.07.2011

Read More: Peter Barris, Fred Wilson, Douglas Leone, David Sze, Jim Breyer, John Doerr, Ron Conway, Aneel Bhursi, Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel, Tech Investors, Top Tech Investors, Technology News

Much has changed in two years, when Forbes last published its list of top venture capitalists. Secondary markets surfaced. Founders dragged their feet...

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Fred Wilson, Uri Milner: Is Curation VC's Big New Thing?

Steve Rosenbaum | Posted 05.28.2011

Read More: Curation Nation, Curate, Curation, Paul Kedrosky, Fred Wilson, Yuri Milner, Steven Rosenbaum, magnify.net, Technology News

A number of the web's most trusted voices have started to embrace a concept that could have massive ramifications -- to manage, and make useful, the massive growth of content on the web, sites must embrace curation.

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Fred Wilson: 'Marketing Is For Startups With Sucky Products'

Fred Wilson | Posted 05.25.2011

I believe that marketing is what you do when your product or service sucks or when you make so much profit on every marginal customer that it would be crazy to not spend a bit of that profit acquiring more of them (coke, zynga, bud, viagra).

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Another Internet Startup Bubble? Depends Where You're Standing

Roger Ehrenberg | Posted 05.25.2011

Depending upon where you're standing, the tone of the market looks very different. Froth or famine? Both can be observed in nature.

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