From the Investors
Tren Griffin of Microsoft synthesizes “A Dozen Things I’ve Learned From Heidi Roizen” with lessons on teamwork, time, and negotiation
Peter Levine of Andreessen Horowitz sits down with Coho Data CEO Ramana Jonnala and Cumulus Networks CEO JR Rivers to discuss the consumerization of the data center in “a16z Podcast: Mobile Invades the Data Center”
Gil Dibner of DFJ Esprit offers advice to fix stories that don’t stick in “There Are Only Four Reasons Startups Can’t Fundraise”
Tomasz Tunguz of Redpoint Ventures puzzles over why more startups at the Series A level don’t invest in a usability lab in “Your Startup’s Office is Missing a Room”
Jessica Livingston of Y Combinator reminds VCs that it’s a small community and inappropriate sexual behavior will not be tolerated in “A Reminder to Investors”
From the Operators
Elan Miller of Glimpse offers ten lessons from a non-technical founder in “Riding the Roller-Coaster”
Jeanette Cajide of Dialexa puts networking contacts into three buckets—acquaintances, peers, and aspirational contacts—in “Building Strong Connections Helped Me Build a Strong Tech Startup”
Jason Cohen of WP Engine finds fulfillment in creating a company with values in “In its Emptiness, There is the Function of a Startup”
Joshua Porter of HubSpot boils down critical user research to “talking to people” in “Customer Research = Secrets?”
From the Community
Felix Salmon of Fusion proposes one way to understand Andreessen Horowitz’s $50m investment in Buzzfeed in “Normally, When Some Big Deal is Announced…“
People Are Talking About: Depression, Suicide, and Robin Williams
Jeff Carter of West Loop Ventures asks those who are thinking of committing suicide to reach out for help, and considers himself lucky even on a down day, in “Robin Williams RIP – Suicide is Not a Way Out”
Brad Feld of Foundry Group, who has written openly about his battle with depression, pushes back the fog in “The Dark Side of Depression – Robin Williams, We Loved You”
Catherine Shu of TechCrunch makes a personal plea to founders to seek help in “We Need To Talk About Depression,” with a follow-up to the piece, “Founders on Depression” (from June and July, respectively)