Personal Insights on Web 2.0, Blogging, and Business

At Real Estate Connect in San Francisco

Drew Meyers — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:20:11 +0000

Wow, I haven’t been blogging much here. But, that’s not going to change this week (unfortunately) — I’m in San Francisco at Real Estate Connect for the rest of this week. Back to blogging next week (hopefully)!

Startup Ideas

Drew Meyers — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:37:07 +0000

Trying to think of a business idea for your start up? If the answer is yes, but you’re drawing a blank on the actual idea — you’re in luck. Paul Graham from Y Combinator has put together a great list.

What I am Thinking About Right Now

Drew Meyers — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:21:07 +0000

Several things, but one of them is certainly the fact that Google makes a LOT of money — 1.25 billion in Q2 to be exact. But Microsoft still makes more

NPR Launches an API

Drew Meyers — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:43:00 +0000

The media landscape is sure changing, isn’t it? It should be interesting to see what type of adoption the NPR API gets with the web 2.0 community.

[via TechCrunch]

Is a Community Manager Necessary for a Startup?

Drew Meyers — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:09:25 +0000

Since I spend a fair amount of my time as a community manager for Zillow, I’m going to have to answer yes to the question of whether startup companies need community managers.

We Can’t Drill Our Way Out of the Energy Crisis

Drew Meyers — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:22:32 +0000

On Saturday, President Bush said this (among other things):

It’s time for members of Congress to address the pain that high gas prices are causing our citizens. Every extra dollar that American families spend because of high gas prices is one less dollar they can use to put food on the table or send a child to college. The American people deserve better.

“Addressing the pain” means removing the 27 year old ban on offshore drilling in Bush’s opinion. The fact that Bush seems to think opening up protected lands for drilling is going to help our gas prices is crazy (IMO) — I hope Congress stands firm and does something for the long-term instead of making a stupid decision that will harm our already troubled environment. Removing the ban would just be yet another bandaid that won’t solve anything in the long term.

Kevin Calabro Speaks Out on Sonics Departure from Seattle — and I’m Glad

Drew Meyers — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:43:20 +0000

It’s refreshing to see that not everyone is a talking head — some people (like Sonice announcer Kevin Calabro) actually care and are willing to be honest with the media.

Seriously, Does Anyone Still Use the Traditional Phonebook?

Drew Meyers — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:10:26 +0000

I think the traditional phone book is all but dead. Pictures say a thousand words — in this case, I think the pictures below say the answer to whether or not anyone uses phonebooks anymore is a resounding “NO“.

This is underneath the mailboxes in my building

This is outside the apartment building next door

Mashable Coming to Seattle

Drew Meyers — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:44:31 +0000

The Mashable crew is in town this weekend for a networking event — SummerMash Seattle.

When: July 12th, Saturday, 7:00 - 10:00 PM
Where: Showbox SoDo, 1700 1st Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98134
What else?:DJ El Toro, Light Appetizers, Drink Tickets, Door Prizes and more…
RSVP?: Tickets will be released through Eventbrite, 21+ Only

Normally, I would say hope to see you there — however, my sister’s wedding is the same time this weekend, so of course that takes priority.

The Girl Effect

Drew Meyers — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:34:43 +0000

I also posted this over at myKRO.org.

[via ONE.org]

There are Now Over 10 Million Millionaires (Worldwide)

Drew Meyers — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:17:50 +0000

Yup, you read that right — the number of millionaries worldwide surpassed the 10 million mark. And that’s WITHOUT home values factored into the equation.

Update 6/25: Just imagine what the number would be if it included home values. For instance, real estate assets such as Trump’s Palm Beach Mansion are a considerable piece of many people’s portfolios.

Two Related Must-Reads

Drew Meyers — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:56:13 +0000

I HIGHLY suggest you read both of the following posts (and the comments) –

A Manifesto for the Next Industrial Revolution - Umair Haque
Am I Bored With “Web 2.0”? - Fred Wilson

FriendRank

Drew Meyers — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:06:13 +0000

FriendRank is certainly an interesting concept, but I’m not sold. At least for me, seeing an ad with my friend’s face on it would NOT make me more likely to click on the ad.

Are you Good at Sales?

Drew Meyers — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:47:42 +0000

I hope Hillary is because I’m thinking this is a tough sell.

I got my $600 Economic Stimulus Check

Drew Meyers — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:42:17 +0000

I’ll be the 1st to say I think it’s a stupid idea for the government to give everyone $600. The US is over 9 trillion of dollars in debt, which comes out to roughly 30k per person in the US. And then we decide to add another $600 per person to that debt? This financial strategy doesn’t make sense to me — shouldn’t we be focusing on paying down our debt rather than expanding it? To me, it’s pretty damn clear that the stimulus checks are a band-aid and will not solve any long-term problems with the economy, so why do it?

Though I clearly disagree with the stimulus payments, what is done is done and I got my check in the mail this past week. That said, how am I using my $600? Sure, I could go buy some new clothes or a new iPhone. Or I could put it toward either my car loan or student loan. But what I actually did was put the money to good use and donate it all to people who really need the money — via Kiva.org. Helping others less fortunate than myself realize their dreams just seemed like the right thing to do with free money from the government.