Episode 17: The Business of Startups

Welcome to the first episode of DoC, now at home on Talkshoe. We started out discussing some of the technical difficulties of Talkshoe but this is all very experimental for us.

Geoff and I discuss PodCamp DC and the video that Geoff took of Shana Glickfield. Geoff is really tackling video and trying to get really ninja-like with video. Aaron shares a video editing tip he got from Loren Feldman.

We talked a lot about the business of startups today, diving right into this 37signals post about starting a business, not a startup.

There’s also a Washington Post article that indicates that in the District, VC funding of startups is up 13.9%.

Aaron makes an analogy to BrightKite as an example of a startup calling itself as startup, not a business.

Then we rant on Stealth. Give me a fucking break. Stealth mode is the biggest cop out ever. At least give us the name of the company.

Example: Job req for a Architect for a company in stealth mode

How professional is the concept of come work with us, we expect senior level experience, etc - but we’re not going to tell you who we are…

Then we opened the phones and had a regular old party line where callers like QueenofSpain, Erin Kotecki-Vest, Jonny Goldstein and others skewered the concept even more. Great times!

Jonny promotes the fact that Geoff and I are going to be on Jonny’s Partay live tomorrow at 9pm ET. On video!

Finally, we discuss contrived transparency as it relates to the topics du jour.

Episode 17 - MP3

Episode 15: Loren Feldman, Sphere and Distributed Comments

Kicking off Episode 15 with an announcement that Aaron is one of April’s sexiest geeks.

Then we got into the show with a discussion surrounding the AOL acquisition of Sphere. Sphere provides a widget that pulls related content from around the web. Aaron doesn’t like AOL so, on principle, he removed the Sphere widget when this announcement was made.

Then, a long discussion about Loren Feldman and his puppet disparaging of Shel Israel (oops, Shel Israel) with sock puppets.

Aaron notes that Loren creates conversation in his own way and he has a whole body of work for context. Geoff frames the opposing view around the concept of “shock jock” - probably a fitting analogy. Aaron notes that shock jocks are effective. One way or another, Shel benefits in the end. Aaron also notes that Loren has done the same thing to Jason Calacanis and to this day, Calacanis and Feldman are good friends.

Caller Jim Turner calls in for Macbook Pro advice. /methinks he called the wrong show but we gave him Flip4Mac hat tip nonetheless. ;-)

Jim weighs in on Loren, as well. Agrees to the shock jock analogy, but doesn’t take offense. He groks the message Loren sends.

From chat, a users asks, “If I’m in business and reading Twitter, why should I engage Loren in business?”

Aaron admits that he wishes Loren would take a stab at him. He also wants to be on Valleywag. Sado-masochist, apparently.

Announcing, also, that we will be doing a live 45 minute recording of District of Corruption (Episode 16) at Podcamp DC. We will be on Blog Talk Radio at 3pm ET on Saturday, April 19. There will be no Tuesday show next week.

Caller Phil Bundy calls in to say hi.

Aaron rants about distributed content, a story that many people are talking about including Brian Solis. Content is increasingly distributed. Get over it!

Episode 15 - MP3