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Dan Shapiro

danshapiro.com

Dan Shapiro blog

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Visit danshapiro.com → RSS feedOn Hacker News Jun 2010 – Sep 2013

Tech Industry & Business 8Startups 6Career & Management 3Society, Policy & Culture 2Life, Learning & Writing 1

1

Tacocopter Basics

The Tacocopters are coming. Sure, the original pitch was a clever troll aimed at credulous and impatient fast-food junkies. But the numbers don’t lie – a typical taco weighs less than a pound, and aircraft that can autonomously fly a few dozen ounces of payload to your doorstep are already available for around a…

2

Why I Sold My Startup to Google

Shortly after the sale closed, John Cook interviewed me about the experience. He did a great job of transcribing all of my verbal gems, like “Maybe that is an economic way of looking at it, or something that I am unfamiliar with.” I’m not even sure what that means. It was the best I could muster in the middle of a…

3

Why I’m not backing you on Kickstarter

I want to buy some clothes. From From Holden (not a typo). And I can’t. Because they’re full of Kickstoppers. More and more, I’m seeing exciting, fun projects on Kickstarter that make me think they’re being run by the cast of Community. Clever, well meaning, adorable, and more clueless than a general with a gmail…

5

VC Insanity, Explained

…or, why VCs do what they do (Note: this post also appeared as a guest post on Techflash) VC behavior sometimes looks insane, but generally it’s just sound economics. It’s crazy but true: if you know how a VC gets paid, you can pretty much read their mind. Here’s a few examples: VCs don’t actually seem to want to take…

6

Robot Turtles Kickstarter midmortem at $250k

Robot Turtles has been an amazing ride. From a goofy idea in the shower, to some clipart, to a print on demand game for my family… to a $250,000 wild ride that doesn’t seem to be done yet! As of this writing I’ve just crossed the halfway point (12 days down, 11 to go) and wanted to catch my breath and write up some…