boston music this weekend

(cross-posted from the goby blog)

Did you know Goby is a kind of fish? Did you also know Mr. Goby was a character in an Agatha Christie novel? More importantly, did you know Goby is an instrumental guitar solo by Kaki King? Great song, unique artist. Check her out at the Natick Center for the Arts on Friday.

Somewhere in the sonic neighborhood of Jack Johnson, Amos Lee is at the Wilbur Theater on Sunday.

Gypsy Punk. How can you not be interested in the sound of that. Gogol Bordello. Even more interesting sounding. At the House of Blues, Friday.

Toad the Wet Sprocket has been making great indie/folk music on and off since the mid 80s. They’ve got new music out and are Showcase Live in Foxboro on Saturday.

Re-formed and at it again, Wire is a post-punk band that started in the mid 70s, and also has been on-again, off-again. They’re currently on, and playing Downstairs at the Middle East on Sunday. Can 50 years play punk? Go see them and find out.

Last but not least, the Mountain Goats are at the Paradise. Recommended.

You can see this list in more detail here.

As always, drink responsibly (or better yet get a driver!), drive safely, and information on all this and more can be found at boston music this weekend.

A week in a life of a startup

Mark Suster wrote a great post on whether the startup life is for you or not. His post really nailed it, particularly around the roller coaster ride that is a startup, and how you really have to embrace the rollercoaster to enjoy it. I had one of those weeks that really reflected that, so I thought I’d share.

Gonna be a great week. Meeting with an old friend in San Francisco, followed by a meeting with a very smart and well regarded entrepreneur-turned-venture-capitalist, that I’ve met with before and like very much. Hoping to meet with a couple of high profile reporters as well. Then down to LA, where I’m on a great panel at a conference, and going to meet with two potential customers to try to close some projects.

Monday. start off the week with a 6am flight out of Boston for the west coast. Up at 3:30am. Ugh. It’s President’s day, a holiday, for normal people, who are off. Oh well, this is what I do. Pick up a USA Today in the airport, our product, goby, is featured with a very positive review and picture in USA Today. WOOHOO! Hard to beat that as a way to start off the week. Reading my email in the airport, my friend’s company needs him to fly to Chicago so that meeting is off. DAMN! Manage to wedge in a replacement meeting the next day with one of my advisory board members; get some great advice and contacts. Reporter meetings appear not to be happening. I think of another strategic partner I should meet in LA and drop a note; meeting looks good.

Tuesday. Get a random mail from someone I know who wants to explore strategic partnerships; since I’m randomly in the area, we get together and have a very interesting conversation. Walk out of that meeting, the venture person I was meeting with has come up sick and can’t make the meeting. All that prep the night before wasted. DAMN! On the positive side, I’m close to the golden gate bridge, no other meeting to arrange on short notice, so I take a walk across the golden gate bridge on a beautiful day, before driving down to the airport and hopping a flight to LA.

Wednesday. Get off the plane, one of the big meetings I have, the person has come down with Bronchitis and can’t meet. DAMN! But another meeting with a potential strategic partner miraculously appears (WOOHOO!) and I squeeze in a very interesting meeting that didn’t exist before I left. My second meeting drops me a note and lets me know he’s had a basketball injury and can’t meet either. DAMN! Then on to my other meeting, which goes well enough but doesn’t result in getting the business (at least yet!). Slog to the hotel through LA rush hour traffic, grab a drink and a pizza, then off to the hotel room to prep for the panel tomorrow. In bed at midnight. Just before I go to bed, get a mail that we’ve been accepted to speak at one of the biggest and best advertising conferences (WOOHOO!).

Thursday. Up at 6. Conference is going well. Meet a lot of interesting people. Panel goes very well, so far as I can tell (WOOHOO!). Somewhat by chance I make some great connections and have some great conversations with my co-panelists that may help the business very shortly.

Friday. Get a call from one of my colleagues, a deal we’ve been chasing and was looking dicey, we now have what looks like an agreement. WOOHOO! First deal this quarter and couldn’t come at a better time. Get a mail from one of my other colleagues 30 minutes later. Google’s changed their algorithm and punched a huge hole in our search traffic. DAMN! Hop on the plane, and miraculously, the seat next to me is empty so I have some breathing room for the first time in like 10 flights (WOOHOO!).

That’s the roller coaster for the week. A lot of weeks are like that. Big highs followed 30 minutes later by big lows. If that sounds like fun to you, you belong in a startup!

Judging the MIT Venture Capital competion, and, Term Sheet Basics

I’m very excited to be a judge in the MIT Venture Capital Competition tomorrow. This competition is the inverse of the MIT $100k Entrepreneurship Competition. In that event, MIT’ers present their business plan / startup ideas, and the best potential company wins. In the Venture Capital competition, MIT’ers play the role of Venture Capitalists. The judges aren’t selecting the best company, they are selecting the best nascent VCs. As an entrepreneur, being a judge of that is a delicious irony 8).

As part of the warmup for the event, I gave a talk last week on the basics of term sheets. The subject is very well covered on the web, especially Brad Feld’s series of blog posts and on Venture Hacks, and most of material is loosely based on theirs – I include it here in case a summarized overview is useful.

music this weekend in boston

(crossposted from the goby blog)

Here’s the lineup for Boston concerts this weekend.

Self-described as “Victoriandustrial”, Emilie Autumn was Courtney Love’s violinist. Corsets, Glam Rock with strings and edges. Whether you like the music or not, it’s going to be a unique show. At the Armory in Somerville. You have been warned. (update: I think this show is sold out. bummer.)

Patty Larkin. A dependable folkie at the Homegrown Coffeehouse in Needham. If you’re in the ‘burbs, a great night out!

Cowboy Mouth is at the Middle East on Saturday night. This act is way too big for this venue; don’t miss a chance to see them in such an intimate venue!

Touring around his highly regarded new release, “So Runs the World Away”, Josh Ritter is at the House of Blues. Intriguing, unique, but accessible.

Mary Gauthier is the classic singer from the wrong side of the tracks. She didn’t start performing until later in life, and the earlier part of the life was apparently pretty rough. If you’re free Friday night, take a drive up to Marblehead, have a nice dinner and take in some gravel-voiced, honest stories.

You can see this list in more detail here.

As always, drink responsibly (or better yet get a driver!), drive safely, and information on all this and more can be found at boston music this weekend.

Books, Startups, Travel, Search, Music