PPP Direct Makes it a TechCrunch Baker's Dozen

In honor of TC's lucky 13th post about PayPerPost, most with some Mike Arrington swipe at PPP or Ted Murphy, I've created the "Be Like Mike" game below. Although TechCrunch and PPP compete for the same social media advertising dollars, Ted and Mike are like the "Odd Couple" of the web and have helped each other build industry-leading companies.

Be Like Mike

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The PPP Direct transaction widget really disrupts the industry PPP created last year, enabling bloggers to cut direct sponsorship deals without the 100% markups of some PPP copycats. I was going to provide an in-depth review of the announcement, but honestly couldn't do much better than Andy Beard did in his post "PayPerPost Direct Changes the Paid Review Landscape". The Digg of Andy's post also includes some comments worth reading for anyone impressed with the quality of Andy's review. As much as I like Mike and appreciate his coverage, I'd love to see more TechCrunch reviews at Andy's depth. Maybe I should make a game called "Be Like Andy"? I just did...

Be Like Andy

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Hat tip to Amit for PicToGame.

UPDATE 05-29-07: Talk about synchronicity(?). Arrington jumped on the customized game meme less than 24 hours after my post above. PlayMyGame is another entry in that space and I expect more. I can't wait to see this functionality combined with StripGenerator to allow personalized SouthPark strips/movies or the like.

I'll call this game "Be Yourself" and you can guess whose face is under all that cake:

Be Yourself

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Entrepreneurs Give Back

I'm sure there is some research on this topic already, but successful entrepreneurs continue to impress me with their record of giving back. I'm not saying that "old money" doesn't carry a large charity load, but newly created wealth by entrepreneurs seems to fund the big checks recently and I'm not just talking about the Gates of the world.

The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute recently announced a $20.4M gift for research towards the treatment of melanoma. The donor, a cable, banking and construction entrepreneur named Donald A. Adam.

That donation comes only a few years after entrepreneur, Don Wallace, donated $5M to Moffitt's Comprehensive Cancer Program. The same thing is happening at UF, other Florida universities and on campuses across the US -- entrepreneurs are funding university buildings and research. Maybe that's one reason some of the largest and most successful university foundations in the world embrace the venture capital asset class -- you reap what you sow.

The Police

This isn't one of those inside-music VC posts that lists 3 new bands you've never heard of playing Greenwich Village this weekend. Although I love those posts, this post is about a band most VCs probably even know: The Police.

One of my portfolio companies, PayPerPost, just closed a great partnership with Universal Music Group and PPP is being used to launch the new 30th Anniversary Police CD and Tour (see Police tickets). For a VC who grew up listening to the Police and watching black-and-white "Every Breath You Take" videos on MTV, this is a cool new portfolio customer.

Go ahead, check out this track list and just try to avoid singing the tunes in your head:
Disc 1
1) Fall Out
2) Can't Stand Losing You
3) Next to You
4) Roxanne
5) Truth Hits Everybody
6) Hole in My Life
7) So Lonely
8) Message in a Bottle
9) Reggatta de Blanc
10) Bring on the Night
11) Walking on the Moon
12) The Bed's Too Big Without You
13) Don't Stand So Close to Me
14) Driven to Tears
15) Canary in a Coalmine

Disc 2
1) Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
2) Voices Inside My Head
3) Invisible Sun
4) Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
5) Spirits in the Material World
6) Demolition Man
7) Rehumanize Yourself
8) Every Breath You Take
9) Synchronicity I
10) Wrapped Around Your Finger
11) Walking in Your Footsteps
12) Synchronicity II
13) King of Pain
14) Murder by Numbers
15) Tea in the Sahara

They've put together a pretty informative and interactive site, including a store, discography, tour info and pointers to the Police MySpace and Fan Club sites. If you dug Sting before he got all solo acoustical, you might want to check out this anniversary CD. I expect it will bring back some memories or spark some old questions -- like "who was in charge of wardrobe for that early garbage dump video of theirs?"


(charity post: PPP has donated proceeds from this post to Habitat for Humanity on my behalf)

Related images: the police, the police, the police, the police, the police

American Venture Network

Tim and his team over at American Venture have been building a good brand and business, one brick at a time. The network has grown beyond American Venture Magazine -- a nice mag I've enjoyed reading for a few years -- to include VentureCapitalConference.com, BusinessPlanPosting.com, and American Venture Capital Exchange.

Although BPP and AVCE serve a theme I've seen on multiple sites, AV's unique venture conference ticket deals are kind of interesting. AV's participating conferences will grow with usage, so I've been checking for each conference I consider attending -- you might want to bookmark and do the same....

Fun LP Meeting

Inflexion had our Limited Partner (LP) Meeting tonight and it was a good one. Hearing all of our entrepreneurs share their stories reminded me how much I enjoy building companies with these visionaries and how much I appreciate the LPs who make it all possible.

Onward and upward...

Not-So-Stupid Blog Tricks

Bijan over at BijanBlog got a business presentation by blog -- pretty cool! Commenters echoed the idea that blogs can be used for many purposes -- not just your typical one-to-many blog fodder.

One of the more innovative uses I've seen firsthand was a job application. One job candidate wanted to work for PayPerPost so bad she created a blog just for that purpose entitled "When do I start?". Posts included:

* Training (because people don't really have ESP)
* Who loves ya' baby? Our clients should.
* Global Experience
* Personnel Issues
* Metrics
* No culture shock
* Work-a-holics Anonymous
* Testimonials
* I've even assisted in surgery


It was terrific, showing initiative and creativity. Needless to say, she got the job and has been spreading some serious customer love ever sense.

Whether the topics involve monetization, community or journalism, it's too easy to view blogs as one specific thing. However, they can be many things to many people. In fact, it's just a publishing engine after all, right? What's the most innovative use you've seen for a blog?

Top Ten Limited Partner (LP) Lies

Paul Kedrosky has published another great Top Ten list, following on his previous Top Ten VC Lies. This time it's the Top Ten LP Lies. I'll give you the first five, but you'll have to visit Paul to see the rest...

10: We don't invest in first or second funds, see #1
9: We have committed this years allocation
8: We don't believe in this asset category unless we can get into Sequoia
7: My committee would never let me do a deal outside of the valley
6: Our diligence is very deep (bottomless unless you are about to close and any of my close LP friends are in)

Check out Paul's blog for the top 5...

BTW: If you have questions about any of these, or the VC lies, ask away in my comments. I don't agree with all of them, but they are good conversation starters...