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Author Archives: Simeon Simeonov
Anatomy of an online ad
I’ve been asked to explain how online ads are delivered many times and every time I’m surprised by the complexity of covering even the most basic elements of how ads appear on Web pages. Since Wikipedia’s article on ad serving … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Swoop
Tagged adtech, Advertising, display advertising, DoubleClick, Evidon, Evidon Encompass, Google, Swoop, Yahoo
1 Comment
Startup anti-pattern: platform risk
One of the fastest ways for a startup to grow has always been to ride on the shoulders of a successful platform: from Microsoft/OSS in software to AWS in cloud computing to iOS/Android in mobile to Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest in social to … Continue reading
Posted in Anti-pattern, startups
Tagged anti-pattern, forced upgrades, lock in, platform risk, poison pill, startup anti-patterns, startups
10 Comments
Startup anti-pattern: ignorance
Listening to a startup pitch a few weeks ago I had to exercise effort not to shake my head in disbelief. The presenters were describing the products and business model of an established company I was very familiar with and … Continue reading
Posted in Anti-pattern, startups
Tagged anti-pattern, business, startup, startup anti-patterns, startups, technology
7 Comments
One more vote for functional languages
I’ve been doing a lot of work on startup anti-patterns recently so it seems fitting that I look at other things through that lens. Every few months I fall into the same debugging anti-pattern: I start using a debugger to … Continue reading
Posted in Code
Tagged code, debugger, debugging, functional programming, Ruby, Software Development, VBA
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Top startup anti-patterns
Following my post on the value of startup anti-patterns, with the help of readers of this blog and friends from the startup ecosystem, I put together a list of the more common ones that I encounter. The list used to … Continue reading
The value of startup anti-patterns
The TechStars Boston spring startups are looking very promising. At the mentors dinner tonight I had conversations with several of the companies and a common question came up: “What makes startups succeed?” My usual answer to this question is along … Continue reading
Posted in FastIgnite, startups
Tagged angel investing, business, startup anti-patterns, startups, technology, TechStars
8 Comments
The fastest way to learn a new programming language
In school, I used to pick up new programming languages for fun. I could take my time to learn & explore them in whichever way felt right, without pressure. I implemented for fun and the code rarely ended up in … Continue reading
Posted in Code, Swoop
Tagged learning programming languages, Lua, Programming, software, Swoop, TDD, technology, test-driven development
1 Comment
Startups and intellectual property: how much is a muse worth?
Startup founder agreements has been the top post on my blog for a long time. The post has become much more valuable due to the many interesting questions & situations described in the comments. Every now and then, a comment … Continue reading
Posted in startups
Tagged business, idea ownership, intellectual property, intellectual property rights, startups, technology
3 Comments
The Swoop Credo
I just updated the Swoop entry on my Linkedin profile with the following: Swoop is a native advertising platform that puts users first. Web democracy is powered by advertising-supported content. Traditional online advertising makes the Web suck. Swoop can fix … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Native Advertising, Swoop
Tagged LinkedIn, native advertising, online advertising, Swoop
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Raising money for revolutionary startup ideas
Between the work we do at Swoop and some big idea startups I’m advising, revolutionary innovation has been top of mind for me recently. That is why the following statement Richard Feynman makes in a lecture about the difficulty of … Continue reading
Posted in startups, Swoop, VC, Venture Capital
Tagged revolutionary innovation, startup financing, Swoop, Venture Capital
14 Comments