From the monthly archives:

November 2006

Good Complexity, Bad Complexity

by Pete Abilla November 30, 2006

Yahoo’s Peanut Butter Manifesto reminded me of Whole Systems Thinking. In Whole Systems Thinking, there is a distinction between good complexity and bad complexity. Below are the following rules: End-to-End, systems is an organic ecosystem, with inter-dependent parts. From a business perspective, eliminate complexity that the customer is not willing to pay for (if she [...]

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Venture Capitalist Aptitude Test

by Pete Abilla November 29, 2006

I took Guy’s test today. I scored a 36. According to Guy’s scoring algorithm: Here’s how to assess your readiness to become a venture capitalist: 40 or more points: Call CalPERS and tell them you’re raising a new fund. 35 to 39 points: Call Sequoia and Kleiner, Perkins and tell them that you’re available. 25 [...]

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Learning from the Dot Com Meltdown

by Pete Abilla November 28, 2006

The Business Plan Archive is rich with history of what didn’t work during the Dot Com Bust. There, you’ll find interesting facts, business plans, and technologies that were just plain lame, very good but marketed poorly, or just too early for its time. Take, for example, the chart below which shows the shutdown velocity, by [...]

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Only in Utah

by Pete Abilla November 27, 2006

Only in Utah, or the Bible Belt, or other religiously-fanatical states…but, I have to admit, this one is pretty darn, hecka, and flippin’ funny. Unrelated, but interesting, is this nice, ajaxy, draggable presentation of all the completed acquisitions by Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft.  If you enjoy what you find on shmula, consider subscribing.  Enjoy.

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Little’s Law for Product Development

by Pete Abilla November 27, 2006
This entry is part 7 of 28 in the series queueing theory

This post is part of a series on Queueing Theory. The other articles can be found here: Queueing Theory: Part 1 Queueing Theory: Part 2 Queueing Theory: Part 3 Queueing Theory: Part 4 What is Waste? On Time-Traps and Waste Call Centers as Queueing Systems Travel Time & Waste Little’s Law for Product Development A [...]

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On Buying a 2007 Suburban

by Pete Abilla November 25, 2006

After several weeks of research and having to decide between a GMC Yukon XL or a 2007 Chevrolet Suburban, I decided to go with the 2007 Chevrolet Suburban. We recently bought a new suburban — 2007, Gray Metallic Color, 4WD, and it’s really nice and — it fits my whole family. I don’t really care [...]

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Book Review: 11/25/2006

by Pete Abilla November 25, 2006
This entry is part 5 of 7 in the series Book Review

I just finished two books on Venture Capital and Private Equity. The first one is Buyout: The Insider’s Guide to Buying Your Own Company and the second one is Venture Capital and Private Equity: A Casebook. So, Buyout: The Insider’s Guide to Buying Your Own Company This was an interesting book, written by a long-time [...]

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Christmas Season, Lights, & Death

by Pete Abilla November 24, 2006

Thanksgiving was good; the turkey wasn’t that dry; and the rolls turned out just fine, and I’m reminded of Thanksgiving everyday by the weight I’ve gained. Now, The Christmas Season is here, people are crazy shopping today (Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year), and I’m home with the new baby. Well, Merry [...]

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Bodybuilder Recalls 650,000 PS3′s

by Pete Abilla November 21, 2006

A fake article posted by a bodybuilder was dugg lastnight and made it to the front page of digg within 2 hours. The article was fake and many digg voters saw it, but it still received over 800 digg votes, which brought tens of thousands of eyeballs to the fake site and eventually made the [...]

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