Alan’s Blog

1. The ideaLet’s be clear about this. Ideas are VERY important in technology industry. An idea can change the world. Here are some evidence:
   • Google: Google started at a time when everybody thought: The world does not need yet another search engine. But Google came up with page ranking!
   • Linux: (I made this one up) Linux came at the time when people thought: Why do we need an operating system that support as half the devices as Windows 95 is supporting? And It didn’t have those fancy UI and Icons. But Linux came up with Open Source movement!
   • IE: (I may get lots of fire on this one) Internet Explore came at the time when Netscape Navigator already dominated the market of browsers. But IE came up with bundle with Windows and you can not uninstall it!

   Nowadays many people would debate that having a kick-ass idea is less important than having a team to execute an idea well. Some say ideas are like cockroaches. When you see one Web 2.0 company implement one idea, probably you will see hundreds more doing the same thing. This may sounds true during the Internet bubbles in 2001, 2002. I would rather say, doing the right things is more important than doing the things right.
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VC is a really hot topic here in China, its called 风险资本 or 风险投资 in Chinese. Unfortunately few people really understands what VCs do and how VCs earn their money, and it is confirmed by a Venture Capitalist another day I saw on TV.

So if you are interested in A VC is a blog you definitely wanna read. I read it quite often (almost daily if I have time). The author is a partner in a VC firm called Union Square Ventures. I realized they only have a few employees in the firm(by checking out their firm, or do the due diligence as people in finance would say), look how amazingly they provided funds to so many later successful companies.

Another VC guy who writes in Chinese is called Isaac Mao, however he does not write as often as Fred. Mao said people could contact him via Skype, I tried to introduce myself, did not get a respond, anyone can connect me to him?

Last but not least is Bo Shao. He also uses Wordpress for his blog:). He went to Harvard MBA for Christ sakes.