A few weeks ago in Beverly Hills, Maker Studios CEO Ynon Kreiz gave a talk on the viability of YouTube businesses and multichannel networks. It’s a fascinating space right now, with no shortage of strong opinions from people like Jason Calacanis, Mark Suster and Jason Calacanis. Maker’s network is on track to pass 5 billion monthly video views by the endContinue reading “Audience engagement”
Author Archives: Brian Alvey
Mary-Kate Olsen and Uncle Jesse
A few weeks ago, I saw Willie Nelson at the Capital Theater in Port Chester, NY. It’s a great place to see a show and I’m a huge Willie Nelson fan. It was a great show. I sat right across the aisle from Mary-Kate Olsen and her boyfriend Olivier Sarkozy. It’s pretty wild because my kids watched a FullContinue reading “Mary-Kate Olsen and Uncle Jesse”
If Nick Bradbury can work from home, so can I.
I’m in SF for the LAUNCH Mobile conference and my hotel is just a block away from the Automattic office, the headquarters of WordPress. I visited the old WordPress HQ at The Embarcadero on the waterfront the day after I pitched Crowd Fusion at TechCrunch 50 back in 2009, but they had to give that space up. I’dContinue reading “If Nick Bradbury can work from home, so can I.”
It’s a Beautiful Day
My wife’s cousin Alexis gave me Michael Bublé’s first CD about a decade ago. Mixed in with traditional standards it had songs like Moondance and Crazy Little Thing Called Love done big band style. I loved it! But his original songs are even better. Haven’t Met You Yet and Hollywood were two of the highlights from Z100’sContinue reading “It’s a Beautiful Day”
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
Two weeks ago, my wife made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. She suggested I watch The Godfather. For most of you that wouldn’t be worthy of a blog post. But I’m 43 years old and I had never seen The Godfather. And it’s not just that movie. Most of the biggest movies ever have eluded me.Continue reading “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”
Momentum
When a big freight train is standing still, even a small block of wood in front of it’s wheel will keep it from moving forward. Once it gets some speed though, that same train can be very hard to stop. I’ve always struggled with this. It is way easier to make incremental changes — evenContinue reading “Momentum”
If you build something for everyone, it works for no one.
It’s crazy. I’ve told people this for years: If you build something for everyone, it works for no one. Fully aware of my own good advice, I still dreamed up something that was too broad. Crowd Fusion was an unproductized platform that could do anything the web could do, while Ceros is a laser-focused SaaS designContinue reading “If you build something for everyone, it works for no one.”
Because you can’t, you won’t and you don’t stop.
I had lunch with a friend a few weeks ago. He’s running his third startup. The first I’ve never heard of, the second one had potential but didn’t make it and his third is on the cusp of sustainability. He told me that this one has to work, because the hours are a strain on his marriage.Continue reading “Because you can’t, you won’t and you don’t stop.”
Life’s a game made for everyone and love is the prize.
As I walked up to Simon on Monday before our lunch meeting it was clear that I was mumbling to myself. He asked what I was saying and I explained that I’ve had an old ’70s song stuck in my head since last Wednesday. The song that I couldn’t stop listening to? Gerry Rafferty’s Right DownContinue reading “Life’s a game made for everyone and love is the prize.”
September is Bustin’ Out All Over
My favorite songs from Carousel are If I Loved You, which we used to sing a lot when I was a kid, and Soliloquy, where Billy Bigelow realizes that his child might be a girl and freaks out because he doesn’t know how to be a father to a girl. June is Bustin’ Out All Over is a good song,Continue reading “September is Bustin’ Out All Over”
Brian Alvey 