No Snivelling

I'm in the newest JibJab Video (and you can be too)!

2008-07-15T21:23:00.000-07:00

Watch for my guest appearance at the end of this election's big JibJab extravaganza -- and, after it's over, add yourself as well!

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Make Twitter work by unsubscribing from news-spammers

2008-07-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

I've been telling folks that Twitter doesn't work for me -- I just realized that the primary reason for that was because I signed up for several early Twitterers who post extremely frequently. That makes it pretty much impossible to use, since my friends' posts constantly get buried by 40-50 posts a day from those news-spammers, as I kindly refer to them. Since they're often linking to stories or blog posts of their own (I'm sure it helps drive great traffic for them), I figure I can just catch up with those on TechMeme or in my feedreader.

So, good bye to many of my early Twitter subscriptions... hello to newfound Twitter usefulness :-)

Unitus employee sings on stage with Sting!

2008-07-14T10:30:00.001-07:00

I've posted frequently about Unitus (if you're passionate about solving a great world problem, poverty, I highly recommend that you get involved with Unitus).

This summer, The Police are promoting Unitus during their summer tour; as part of that, the whole team came up on stage during sound check, and they then invited a Unitus employee, Jessica Ketola, to come and sign with Sting -- amazing!

Summer in the San Juans

2008-06-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

Had a great weekend in the San Juans (OK, I worked on TeachStreet stuff almost all weekend... but it was quite peaceful, really!). Saw a fox, many deer, some Alpacas, and just had gorgeous weather -- got a jog in with Zach the Dog, and had two great/long sleeps -- can't get much better than that :-)

Here's a quick pic from the ferry terminal in Friday Harbor -- snapped this right before Zach the Dog and I got back on, to head back to Anacortes.

We launched TeachStreet at 1:18am today (April 21, 2008)!

2008-04-21T03:04:00.000-07:00

Wow -- what a journey -- the TeachStreet site launched today, and humbly, I think it looks great. I'm so proud of the team, and what we built.

More on the TeachStreet blog (including some photos from launch celebration!).

Also some great coverage today from John Cook at the Seattle P-I, Mike Arrington at TechCrunch, ParentMap, and more -- really really awesome.

Thanks to friends and family -- I love you!

Dave

Hard day -- Awesome day -- Team rose to the challenge!

2008-04-20T00:08:00.000-07:00

Today was really awesome -- we've got our launch bugs in front of us, and the team went at them with focused intensity -- the list has fallen steadily, with all hands on deck. We even managed to laugh a few times, eat some half decent Thai food, and spot a meth smoker across the street in their Chevy Citation. Really, an eventful day all around.

The last several weeks (months, really) have been a really hard push for myself, and the TeachStreet team. We've seriously been pushed to the extreme. But, the beginning (the launch) is near, and with that we'll move to our next stage as a company, and as a team.

These are the great days -- the hard days -- the days that we remember later on. These are the days that most people aren't willing to rise to. We did. I'm so proud of the team.

Now, we're off to sleep, to prepare for another day of battle :-)

Enjoy the music... smell the roses... and all that...

2008-03-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

Dying with Dignity

2008-03-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

A good friend's mother passed today -- her name was Claudia Glassman and she was born in 1945 -- Claudia blogged about her battle with cancer and her son posted this final entry, this morning. Reading it made me very sad... it made me cry. I recommend reading it, and then calling your Mother...

http://web.mac.com/claudiaglassman/Going_Forward/Claudia_Blog/Entries/2008/3/21_Saying_Goodbye.html

My Friends launched Hulu -- go check it out

2008-03-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard about Hulu yet, you will. Several friends, including Eugene, Jason, Christina and others have worked night and day for the better part of the last year. And, when I say night and day, I mean it -- I don't know a single person who can work longer and with more focus than Jason Kilar -- in fact, I don't think they could have hired anyone better than him to lead Hulu. I made the comment last night that he's one of those people I'd bet all my money on succeeding in life, even if not in every single venture. He'll never stop trying to improve, and agonizes over every detail.

Now, on to Eugene -- he and I were roommates during my travels to Santa Monica, while I was working with JibJab last year. He's truly insprirational -- at the time, he was taking two years off to attend film school at UCLA, but when Jason called to ask help Hulu, he couldn't miss out on the opportunity. And without knowing his individual contributions, Eugene's fingerprints are visible all over the site. His essay last night tells it all -- how much he, Christina and the rest of the team care about what they're doing and how much they love the product, and one another.

So, this is a huge shout out for what they've accomplished -- I stand in awe of their creation, which is probably a best single view into the future of online video and media.

Besides, where else can you find legal Superfly Jimmy Snuka?

Yes We Can - Barack Obama Music Video

2008-02-09T10:43:00.001-08:00

Just saw this video today for the first time -- I think it may do the best job of summing up the difference between Obama and 'The Rest of our Same Options' -- he's presenting a vision of what we can achieve. That's something I can get excited about, and involved in.

Today's Caucus day in Seattle -- I'll be attending.

I voted for Obama -- how about you?

2008-02-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

I'll be in Hawaii during the Washington primaries, so I filled out my absentee ballot last weekend -- to make it short, I voted for Obama. I think we'd actually be well-served with Hillary, McCain or Barack, but I'm most inspired by Obama. At the same time, I also think he's the biggest risk -- that he may prove unable to effect change. But, I'm ready to put my support behind a new vision, much as I believe in the power of visionary entrepreneurial leaders (Jobs, Bezos, Gates, Page, etc.) to build great lasting brands out of the ether.

If you live in Washington, you need to attend a caucus to make your vote really count. Our caucus location was at the Madrona Elementary school here.

In case finding the nearest caucus site is confusing or you haven't checked it out yet, here are the Republican and Democratic links. The caucus in Washington State is this coming Saturday at 1pm (February 9).

For Democrats, it's the caucus vote where your vote will be counted, the ballot primary election won't be counted toward electoral votes.

For Republicans, half of the electoral votes will come from caucus votes, and half from the primary ballot.

I plan on making my vote count by attending my first caucus. The web sites are listed as attachments as well as below.

Republican site:
http://www.wsrp.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=6885

Democratic site:
http://www.wa-democrats.org/index.php

Here's a video summarizing some Democratic excitement!

Top 3 laughing babies

2008-02-07T08:59:00.001-08:00

This is a great reminder to keep humor in mind -- when things get stressful, a little laugh helps :-)

Lessons from the startup road

2008-01-16T09:25:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know -- my blogging has suffered in the last few weeks.

To our TeachStreet investors, trust me when I say that that's a good thing. What it means is that we're pushing extremely hard to meet our self-set goals. And, we've made incredible progress, and are still on pace for our launch aspirations (with regard to quality, coverage and timing).

To friends and family, I'm doing my best! If you haven't heard from me, it's not because I haven't thought of you. Nor is it because I'd prefer to not be with you. Rather, it's because this creation is a lot of work. I probably told you that I expected it to be hard, but I've always been one to learn by doing, as you know.

Which leads me to a post from Seth Godin that I thought was apt -- he talks about how with new/important creations (in his post, he's referring to the iPhone... in our case, we're talking about our much more humble undertaking, TeachStreet) there are always many times where it would be much easier to just say "forget it", and everyone would breathe huge sighs of relief, and move on.

However, we don't do that -- we can't do that. We know the risks, and the odds of failure. But we also know how great it would be to make our dreams a reality. And how much hard work, stress, and yes... fun... it is, to give it a herculean effort.

So, that's why my posting's been more sporadic. See you in a few years ;-)

JibJab's Year-in-Review video, "In 2007"!

2007-12-19T13:11:00.001-08:00

Yes, I'm a JibJab fan... got a problem with that?

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

It's a JibJab Life! (Merry Christmas video Starring Me!)

2007-12-13T07:02:00.000-08:00

I just received a few new JibJab holiday movies this morning... the first one, "It's a JibJab Life!" allows you to insert yourself into everyone's favorite holiday movie by a similar name... what do you think of me as Jimmy Stewart?!?

Don't send a lame Starring You! eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Holiday Shopping in Snowy Seattle

2007-12-02T21:11:00.001-08:00

For those of you who haven't seen Karen and I in awhile, here's a quick picture that our friend took of us in her store, Urchin, locate on 1st Ave in downtown Seattle (where we did more than half of our holiday shopping, by the way!)

Happy Holidays, everyone :-)

Get help with holiday shopping with ClayValet

2007-11-23T14:17:00.000-08:00

My friend Mikhail just opened his new company, ClayValet, to the public.

ClayValet is a new service that simplifies online shopping. How it works is you tell them what you're looking for, in plain English, and then real people/shoppers will scour the Internet on your behalf. They read customer reviews, compare prices and find expert opinions to decide which products would best fit your needs. They then put their findings in a clear report and send it to you within 24 hours of your request.

Here's a request that I made:

A GPS device that I can take with me when I travel and then use in rental cars to help guide me (with voice prompts), make suggestions (avoid traffic, find cheap gas) and save me time. Ideally, I'd like to spend <$300, but if the price point is really higher than that, I'd love to see other well-rated products.

And, here you can see the ClayValet GPS Response (I'd paste it here, but it's too long, detailed and awesome!

Finally, they're looking for feedback -- so, as you try the ClayValet shopping service, please use the feedback forms (at the bottom of every page) to tell them what you think.

Save the Earth - Cancel those unwanted catalogs

2007-11-23T08:28:00.000-08:00

Tired of the hundreds of catalogs that come to your house every month? Then cancel them!

This catalog cancellation service makes it easy to manage your catalog cancellations for you and other members of your household:

RIP - Clarence Cagle (JibJab's icuclarence)

2007-11-20T16:10:00.000-08:00

I just logged in to JibJab today and found a message from Clarence's wife, telling me that he passed away on November 10, 2007. That makes me very sad. icuclarence (his JibJab username) was one of my favorite 'bad video joke tellers' (sorry Clarence... I have to call 'em as I see 'em :-) ) -- he also inspired me to some bad video joke telling of my own. You can see his official obituary here.

Let's pause for a moment of silence... then go enjoy a few of Clarence's jokes:

Holiday Shopping at Urchin!

2007-11-19T11:36:00.001-08:00

Seriously, make it easy on yourself, and do all of your holiday shopping in one fell swoop -- head to Urchin on 1st Ave in Seattle, and in under and hour, you be done (note -- this works much better for men on a mission :-) )

Address:
1922 First Ave
Seattle, WA 98101

www.urchinseattle.com

Entrepreneurs have new rental space on Capitol Hill

2007-11-10T08:41:00.000-08:00

In the early days of TeachStreet, I was working out of coffee shops, my dining room and pretty much anywhere I could find a power outlet. About that time, I met Jacob Sayles (pictured above with his co-founder (and co-janitor) Susan), who had the idea to create a coworking space in Seattle, where individuals could band/work together in a group space, with each person paying a monthly fee (or daily fees, if needs were less frequent) to have the rights to use a large office space. It's been a few months, but I'm so excited to announce that Seattle's Office Nomads has officially opened for business!

Of course, you can get all the pertinent details via the link above, but if you're considering a startup in Seattle, this is exactly the type of first step that can get you moving your dream from idea to reality -- get yourself a space where you can focus your thinking/plans, and surround yourself with other creators -- the energy's contagious!

From their site:
Open for drop-ins Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 6pm
1617 Boylston Ave, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98122-6730
Main: (206) 323-6500 Fax: (206) 323-6501

There's a short video intro to coworking on the Office Nomads site (I tried to embed here, but the link code just kept breaking)

Fight Global Warming OR Poverty?

2007-11-10T08:17:00.001-08:00

I was reading my gmail this morning, and a story teaser caught my eye -- it went something like "China says poverty problem more urgent than global warming". Gmail probably pitched that to me because of a TeachStreet blog post that I wrote yesterday about learning about microfinance; regardless, it piqued my interest.

The poverty vs. global warming article from the Associated Press essentially stated the difficult situation/tradeoff from China's perspective as:

Developing countries should be able to emit more greenhouse gases, as they work to reduce poverty for their populace
Developed countries, thus, bear more responsibility to cut emissions

While life isn't ever this binary/simple, I do agree with the basic premise. And, I'm sure that the United States in 1800 would have a vastly different opinion about the matter than we do now. In a perfect world, all countries would see this as a global responsibility, and strive toward goals that are in line with their current development stages. Fellow blogger UrbanOnramps highlights the fact that China accounts for more than half of global carbon emissions -- that is most definitely shocking, but again, I shudder to think about our own contributions during the Industrial Revolution. Best to find a common ground toward significant improvements over the next 30 years than reject negotiation altogether.

I'll leave with a small plug for a company/organization I'm a supporter of -- if you'd like to become a little bit more responsible with your greenhouse emissions and support a cleaner planet, I encourage you to learn a bit more about TerraPass -- they make it quick and easy to offset carbon emissions from your car, flights, home and more.

Seattle Home Store, Urchin, launches great new blog!

2007-10-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

Not sure how I missed Karen's new website feature, a new Urchin Store blog, but I did... error corrected, however!

Karen's using it to highlight new merchandise that she gets in the store, with images, descriptions, etc. I've been hoping she'd do this for a long time... it's a much easier way for customers to be notified when unique merchandise arrives, and it reduces the need for retailers to send email every time there's a new arrival. Then, if a monthly summary email is sent to all customers, it's easy to point them to more information on the blog and possibly entice them to sign up for more frequent (and meaningful) updates via the blog.

Kudos, Ms. Cho!

Onion News -- 'Bullshit' is the number one issue for voters in 2008

2007-10-25T16:27:00.000-07:00

courtesy of 37Signal's blog:

Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters

JibJab declares war on crappy e-cards!

2007-10-25T06:31:00.001-07:00

I was really excited today to see JibJab's latest launch, called Sendables -- they were dreamed up by JibJab's brothers and co-founders Gregg and Evan Spiridellis last year and the quality they've brought to market is really unbelievably good.

Sendables are funny videos and images built for sharing, with topics ranging from birthdays and holidays to flirts and disses... yes, they sound a bit like e-card (but, JibJab implores you... DON�T CALL THEM E-CARDS :-)