Marc Andreessen wrote an interesting post about his first five weeks blogging. He was the founder of Netscape, for those of you who are new to the Internet.
Anyway, he says he doesn’t have open comments anymore cause he couldn’t keep up and keep them clean enough.
I say “outsource what you hate.” I’m definitely working to outsource my email, for instance.
There’s lots of bloggers who are trying to figure out how to make money from blogging out there and cry that they never get linked to. Imagine what would happen if you could say “I run Marc Andreessen’s comments!” I bet that PR people would start calling you. Steve Jobs might even answer your phone calls. Heck, the maître d’ at Junnoon (Silicon Valley’s best place to spot a venture capitalist — it’s right next to Facebook too so you could probably make up some good stories for Valleywag there) would probably give you the best table and would impress your significant other with “special deserts from the chef.”
Heck, I used to help run the chat room for Leo Laporte (really, I did, back when he was on KGO radio and before he helped invent Kevin Rose). That alone was good enough to get a tour around Fry’s Electronics from the co-founder of that (true story, it was the opening day of the Sunnyvale store and he gave a bunch of us “Laporteans” a tour).
So, I’ll appoint myself to be temporary keeper of Marc’s comments until he figures out there are lots of people who would LOVE to keep his comment area free of people like Nick Denton. If you want to say something to Marc without having your own blog, just say it here. For now. 🙂
Scobleizer 
Scoble you are brilliant.
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Scoble you are brilliant.
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I should have added a disclaimer: this post does not come up to Jakob Nielsen’s quality standards for blog posts. 🙂
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I should have added a disclaimer: this post does not come up to Jakob Nielsen’s quality standards for blog posts. 🙂
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How about running Marc Andreessen’s blog itself?
I have an hunch that it is ghost written by a group! Somehow things don’t add up…
-Labsji
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How about running Marc Andreessen’s blog itself?
I have an hunch that it is ghost written by a group! Somehow things don’t add up…
-Labsji
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Marc, if you are reading though:
Click to access 684.pdf
Have you ever looked at this document?
“Clone and Superset Netscape. PSD needs to get serious about cloning Netscape”
This is a documented public admission of infringement by Microsoft. Armed with this, why didn’t you take steps to to stop them back then and take your IP back?
Did you even know about these documents?
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Marc, if you are reading though:
Click to access 684.pdf
Have you ever looked at this document?
“Clone and Superset Netscape. PSD needs to get serious about cloning Netscape”
This is a documented public admission of infringement by Microsoft. Armed with this, why didn’t you take steps to to stop them back then and take your IP back?
Did you even know about these documents?
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And he could certainly pay well considering his past fortunes and all the money he’s been rasing lately.
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And he could certainly pay well considering his past fortunes and all the money he’s been rasing lately.
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I’ve always believed that the “digg” system is an effective way to combat spam and help keep forums threads relevant. Why not let the readers kill the comments they want. It is empowering when you see the results of this. I have yet to see a forum incorporate this, (Howardforums would completely benefit from this)
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I’ve always believed that the “digg” system is an effective way to combat spam and help keep forums threads relevant. Why not let the readers kill the comments they want. It is empowering when you see the results of this. I have yet to see a forum incorporate this, (Howardforums would completely benefit from this)
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I was unable to track back to his post with Haloscan. Not sure if there’s a problem with his site or theirs.
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I was unable to track back to his post with Haloscan. Not sure if there’s a problem with his site or theirs.
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From Tom Meritts Pownce profile: “Warning radio stars of impending video threat.” Could this have been a liitle insight to Veronica’s Departure
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From Tom Meritts Pownce profile: “Warning radio stars of impending video threat.” Could this have been a liitle insight to Veronica’s Departure
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Robert,
You always respond to comments but you sure as heck do not respond to email in a timely manner. I have never recieved a response from any Microsoft employee in a timely manner for that matter. I am referring ofcourse when you worked for Microsoft. It is why my blogs are now running WordPress and I am no longer helping to run a .Net user group. They dropped the ball with me and I am slowly turning from a .Net fan to a more pragmatic programmer.
I have to say it is for the better though. You get a better perspective once you get out of the Microsoft soundchamber. If my income did not depend so much on Microsoft products I would probably shift to become a Mac user. Can you believe I just said that?
I am starting to wake up from the slumber that Microsoft has put me under. Thank goodness!
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Robert,
You always respond to comments but you sure as heck do not respond to email in a timely manner. I have never recieved a response from any Microsoft employee in a timely manner for that matter. I am referring ofcourse when you worked for Microsoft. It is why my blogs are now running WordPress and I am no longer helping to run a .Net user group. They dropped the ball with me and I am slowly turning from a .Net fan to a more pragmatic programmer.
I have to say it is for the better though. You get a better perspective once you get out of the Microsoft soundchamber. If my income did not depend so much on Microsoft products I would probably shift to become a Mac user. Can you believe I just said that?
I am starting to wake up from the slumber that Microsoft has put me under. Thank goodness!
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Richard: email is a real pain to keep up with. You have absolutely no idea how tough it is. I just answered a ton. What did that cause? DOUBLE the number to come back with answers, more questions, etc. Sigh.
Anyway, I tried to get back to my email when I was at Microsoft. Sorry if yours was one that I didn’t make it back to.
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Richard: email is a real pain to keep up with. You have absolutely no idea how tough it is. I just answered a ton. What did that cause? DOUBLE the number to come back with answers, more questions, etc. Sigh.
Anyway, I tried to get back to my email when I was at Microsoft. Sorry if yours was one that I didn’t make it back to.
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Robert,
I did not mean to imply that you were the sole reason. It was a combination of people who did not give a whoot as to what my opinion was as a customer.
I agree email is a pain at times. Thank you for the times you did respond though. At least you responded which was alot more than some at Microsoft.
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Robert,
I did not mean to imply that you were the sole reason. It was a combination of people who did not give a whoot as to what my opinion was as a customer.
I agree email is a pain at times. Thank you for the times you did respond though. At least you responded which was alot more than some at Microsoft.
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Robert, this is a real business opportunity. How about Virtual Assistant 2.0? Outsource your email and social networking activities to a trusted service provider. What is the most important thing the DSP (data service provider) should care about? Data security and privacy.
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Robert, this is a real business opportunity. How about Virtual Assistant 2.0? Outsource your email and social networking activities to a trusted service provider. What is the most important thing the DSP (data service provider) should care about? Data security and privacy.
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To: Marc Andreessen c/o Robert Scoble
Re: $44 million Ning Series C Funding
Did Legg Mason require you to submit a business plan with five year financial projections for Ning?
You spoke today of your working capital needs to improve the Ning product, but did not speak of the revenues Ning may bring to your new investors’ table.
Is Google AdSense sufficient to ensure the returns Legg Mason expects for its investment in Ning? Is it prudent to rely on a non-proprietary, third-party, ad service such as ubiquitous AdSense?
What percentage of the social networks created at Ning are inactive?
I look forward to your responses.
Thank you Marc (and Robert)
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To: Marc Andreessen c/o Robert Scoble
Re: $44 million Ning Series C Funding
Did Legg Mason require you to submit a business plan with five year financial projections for Ning?
You spoke today of your working capital needs to improve the Ning product, but did not speak of the revenues Ning may bring to your new investors’ table.
Is Google AdSense sufficient to ensure the returns Legg Mason expects for its investment in Ning? Is it prudent to rely on a non-proprietary, third-party, ad service such as ubiquitous AdSense?
What percentage of the social networks created at Ning are inactive?
I look forward to your responses.
Thank you Marc (and Robert)
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Marc Andreessen is almost certainly reading these comments right now because he’s rapidly groked blogging and has picked it up very well indeed.
What’s he done right so far?
1. He’s written some extremely interesting and thoughtful posts. I’ve found the advice he’s given to entrepreneurs on VCs for instance. He’s relevant.
2. He has quickly grasped the tools that allow you to best navigate the blogosphere (Google Blog Search, Technorati, Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon, Techmeme, etc.)
3. He links and he’s thoughtful in how he does this.
4. He is very active, blogging almost daily.
Congrats on a successful launch into the blogosphere Marc. The conversation is more interesting with you involved in it.
And nice work keeping the comments Scoble. If there ever was a master to learn from about how to succeed at blogging you are it.
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Marc Andreessen is almost certainly reading these comments right now because he’s rapidly groked blogging and has picked it up very well indeed.
What’s he done right so far?
1. He’s written some extremely interesting and thoughtful posts. I’ve found the advice he’s given to entrepreneurs on VCs for instance. He’s relevant.
2. He has quickly grasped the tools that allow you to best navigate the blogosphere (Google Blog Search, Technorati, Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon, Techmeme, etc.)
3. He links and he’s thoughtful in how he does this.
4. He is very active, blogging almost daily.
Congrats on a successful launch into the blogosphere Marc. The conversation is more interesting with you involved in it.
And nice work keeping the comments Scoble. If there ever was a master to learn from about how to succeed at blogging you are it.
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Robert:
Hmmm. Is it time for Fake Marc Andreessen?
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Robert:
Hmmm. Is it time for Fake Marc Andreessen?
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Robert, Marc,
This is not a techie comment, just a plug in for my rather irreverent green blog, in case you two are interested in green stuff, and ecopsychology (how personal psychology effects how we deal with our environment). It chronicles “The Daily Sins of a Green Girl Wannabe”, http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com.
I also started a new environmental group on Facebook, for “Green Boys and Green Girl Wannabes”. Of course I would love for you and your friends to join.
Marguerite Manteau-Rao (in Palo Alto)
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Robert, Marc,
This is not a techie comment, just a plug in for my rather irreverent green blog, in case you two are interested in green stuff, and ecopsychology (how personal psychology effects how we deal with our environment). It chronicles “The Daily Sins of a Green Girl Wannabe”, http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com.
I also started a new environmental group on Facebook, for “Green Boys and Green Girl Wannabes”. Of course I would love for you and your friends to join.
Marguerite Manteau-Rao (in Palo Alto)
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Robert this is a neat idea! In my search for good blogs that have missed the A list I’m running into some folks that seem to have *quit*, or post very infrequently, because they never really felt people were reading their stuff. Getting people to moderate and add comments on popular blogs would help bring more voices into the big blog equation. That’s good for everybody.
All this said I think Marc’s kind of being a wimp for quitting the comments so soon. His posts are great and scream for participation.
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Robert this is a neat idea! In my search for good blogs that have missed the A list I’m running into some folks that seem to have *quit*, or post very infrequently, because they never really felt people were reading their stuff. Getting people to moderate and add comments on popular blogs would help bring more voices into the big blog equation. That’s good for everybody.
All this said I think Marc’s kind of being a wimp for quitting the comments so soon. His posts are great and scream for participation.
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Tango Foxtrot?!
Maybe I’ll just appoint myself keeper of Scoble’s comments, or Jobs’.
The sheer audacity. It’s creepy.
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Tango Foxtrot?!
Maybe I’ll just appoint myself keeper of Scoble’s comments, or Jobs’.
The sheer audacity. It’s creepy.
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Dear Marc (c/o Scobleizer) –
I think your blog is amazing. I enjoyed leaving comments and because I miss doing it so much, I actually did a post yesterday that referenced your post on blogging (as apparently everyone else in the universe did) http://babblesoft.wordpress.com/2007/07/10/marc-andreessens-11-lessons-learned-about-blogging/.
Please don’t take this guy Robert Scobles advice to outsource your comments…we will be able to tell it’s not you because comments can’t be effectively ‘ghost written.’ I hope you bring back comments soon because then I can continue to say to people “wow, I posted on Marc Andreessen’s blog and he responded to me several times!” unlike Scoble who has never responded (as far as I can tell) to one of my posts on his blog.
Sincerely,
Aruni (entrepreneur on her 2nd venture but bootstrapping this time so as to avoid having to take $44 million in venture financing).
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Dear Marc (c/o Scobleizer) –
I think your blog is amazing. I enjoyed leaving comments and because I miss doing it so much, I actually did a post yesterday that referenced your post on blogging (as apparently everyone else in the universe did) http://babblesoft.wordpress.com/2007/07/10/marc-andreessens-11-lessons-learned-about-blogging/.
Please don’t take this guy Robert Scobles advice to outsource your comments…we will be able to tell it’s not you because comments can’t be effectively ‘ghost written.’ I hope you bring back comments soon because then I can continue to say to people “wow, I posted on Marc Andreessen’s blog and he responded to me several times!” unlike Scoble who has never responded (as far as I can tell) to one of my posts on his blog.
Sincerely,
Aruni (entrepreneur on her 2nd venture but bootstrapping this time so as to avoid having to take $44 million in venture financing).
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A bit off topic. But you know Chris never explained last year why Marc Andreessen didn’t speak at Gnomedex. I could have sworn he was scheduled. Was really looking forward to hear him speak. Not to mention the fact that having having him and Blake Ross in the same room could have maybe led to some interesting and worthwhile discussions. One of my biggest letdowns from last year.
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A bit off topic. But you know Chris never explained last year why Marc Andreessen didn’t speak at Gnomedex. I could have sworn he was scheduled. Was really looking forward to hear him speak. Not to mention the fact that having having him and Blake Ross in the same room could have maybe led to some interesting and worthwhile discussions. One of my biggest letdowns from last year.
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