The Compost

link: Beating Google?

An always interesting post by Mark Cuban.

http://www.blogmaverick.com/2008/05/14/beating-google/

video: Famous Failures

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link: An interview with Rearden’s Steve Perlman on investing in R&D

A great interview with Steve Perlman - a fascinating an truly innovative serial entrepreneur.

http://thestandard.com/news/2008/04/30/interview-rearden-s-steve-perlman-investing-r-d?page=0%2C0

"Rearden is an incubator. We’ve been around since 2000. What we do is take a look far forward into the future. We see a need for a technology or a production technique. We set out how to solve a problem. At that early stage, we won’t know how to solve it and won’t know how big the market will be when it’s solved." - Steve Perlman

company: IdeaScale

Another startup based around the crowsdsourcing model.

http://www.ideascale.com/

"IdeaScale enables companies to build living/breathing Digg style communities. IdeaScale is based on the simple model of crowdsourcing. It begins with an idea posted to your IdeaScale community by a user. Each idea can be expanded through comments by the community. The ultimate measure of an idea is determined by a voting system. Any idea can be voted to the top or buried back down to the bottom. It combines the "wisdom of the crowds" concept with Web 2.0 models like Digg." -- IdeaScale

link: Why There Aren't More Googles

An insightful article by Paul Graham of Y Combinator - check it out.

http://www.paulgraham.com/googles.html

"I used to think of VCs as piratical: bold but unscrupulous. On closer acquaintance they turn out to be more like bureaucrats. They're more upstanding than I used to think (the good ones, at least), but less bold. Maybe the VC industry has changed. Maybe they used to be bolder. But I suspect it's the startup world that has changed, not them. The low cost of starting a startup means the average good bet is a riskier one, but most existing VC firms still operate as if they were investing in hardware startups in 1985." -- Paul Graham

link: Einstein Says: Check Your Intellect at the Door

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious,” -- Albert Einstein

http://foundread.com/2008/02/20/einstein-says-check-your-intellect-at-the-door/

company: Kluster

Even though I seriously question whether or not the "wisdom of the crowds" is capable of creating and developing truly innovative and groundbreaking ideas - Kluster is a pretty exciting attempt at just that (and more).

http://www.kluster.com/

"kluster is a place to harness the power of community collaboration to get stuff done. everyone has ideas, we provide a platform to get them out of heads and into the world…where they belong..." - kluster

link: My Case Against Venture Capital

Michael Simonsen, cofounder and CEO of Altos Research explains why he believes that taking venture capital actually reduces your odds of success.

http://foundread.com/2008/02/22/my-case-against-venture-capital/

link: 1,000 True Fans

Another insightful post by Kevin Kelly.

http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php

"But the long tail is a decidedly mixed blessing for creators. Individual artists, producers, inventors and makers are overlooked in the equation. The long tail does not raise the sales of creators much, but it does add massive competition and endless downward pressure on prices. Unless artists become a large aggregator of other artist's works, the long tail offers no path out of the quiet doldrums of minuscule sales." - Kevin Kelly

company: BigCarrot

The ability to create your own "X Prize" on a smaller scale.

http://www.bigcarrot.com/

"The site allows people with a common interest to come together and pool their contributions to create an inducement prize. Anyone can start a prize on any topic—from large social issues to smaller personal pursuits—and anyone with the ability to claim the prize can submit a solution. It’s the best way to achieve real results." -- BigCarrot