Writing

Barbara van Schewick's book, Internet Architecture and Innovation, is out and everyone who cares about the future of the Internet should click here and buy a copy. It is not an easy read, but the architecture of the Internet and [...]  Read more

We believe that Google and Verizon's proposed policy principles to preserve an open Internet came out of a good faith effort to bring some clarity to the market for Internet applications and access. But we fear that this agreement is [...]  Read more

We have commented a number of times in a number of ways on this blog about how technology startups can no longer afford to ignore politics. When the tech startup world was focused on core infrastructure like chips and routers, [...]  Read more

This spring Apple, Facebook, and Twitter, made controversial announcements. Apple announced the terms of service for the iPhone OS 4, that restricted how applications developers could use analytics data. Facebook launched Facebook Credits, and a completely different privacy policy. And [...]  Read more

Nathan Myhrvold and I have exactly the same goal. We'd both like to promote useful innovations that have a positive social impact. But we have very different opinions about how to do it. Nathan believes the patent system is the [...]  Read more

Almost a third of our portfolio is under attack by patent trolls. Is it possible that one third of the engineering teams in our portfolio unethically misappropriated technology from someone else and then made that the basis of their web [...]  Read more

At Union Square Ventures, we seldom invest in a company before it launches publicly. The exception is when we have the opportunity to back an experienced entrepreneur with a strong team and a strong product vision. That is exactly what [...]  Read more

Many of you are familiar with dust up between Chris Anderson and Malcolm Gladwell that was touched off by Malcolm's review of Chris's new book, Free: The Future of Radical Price. [UPDATE: Free is no longer free. The link to [...]  Read more