No Snivelling

Had a great weekend in the San Juans (OK, I worked on TeachStreet stuff almost all weekend... but it was quite peaceful, really!). Saw a fox, many deer, some Alpacas, and just had gorgeous weather -- got a jog in with Zach the Dog, and had two great/long sleeps -- can't get much better than that :-)

Here's a quick pic from the ferry terminal in Friday Harbor -- snapped this right before Zach the Dog and I got back on, to head back to Anacortes.

Labels: friday harbor, san juan islands, seattle

Wow -- what a journey -- the TeachStreet site launched today, and humbly, I think it looks great. I'm so proud of the team, and what we built.

More on the TeachStreet blog (including some photos from launch celebration!).

Also some great coverage today from John Cook at the Seattle P-I, Mike Arrington at TechCrunch, ParentMap, and more -- really really awesome.

Thanks to friends and family -- I love you!

Dave

Labels: teachstreet

Today was really awesome -- we've got our launch bugs in front of us, and the team went at them with focused intensity -- the list has fallen steadily, with all hands on deck. We even managed to laugh a few times, eat some half decent Thai food, and spot a meth smoker across the street in their Chevy Citation. Really, an eventful day all around.

The last several weeks (months, really) have been a really hard push for myself, and the TeachStreet team. We've seriously been pushed to the extreme. But, the beginning (the launch) is near, and with that we'll move to our next stage as a company, and as a team.

These are the great days -- the hard days -- the days that we remember later on. These are the days that most people aren't willing to rise to. We did. I'm so proud of the team.

Now, we're off to sleep, to prepare for another day of battle :-)

Labels: bugs, launch, startups, teachstreet

A good friend's mother passed today -- her name was Claudia Glassman and she was born in 1945 -- Claudia blogged about her battle with cancer and her son posted this final entry, this morning. Reading it made me very sad... it made me cry. I recommend reading it, and then calling your Mother...

http://web.mac.com/claudiaglassman/Going_Forward/Claudia_Blog/Entries/2008/3/21_Saying_Goodbye.html

Labels: claudia glassman

If you haven't heard about Hulu yet, you will. Several friends, including Eugene, Jason, Christina and others have worked night and day for the better part of the last year. And, when I say night and day, I mean it -- I don't know a single person who can work longer and with more focus than Jason Kilar -- in fact, I don't think they could have hired anyone better than him to lead Hulu. I made the comment last night that he's one of those people I'd bet all my money on succeeding in life, even if not in every single venture. He'll never stop trying to improve, and agonizes over every detail.

Now, on to Eugene -- he and I were roommates during my travels to Santa Monica, while I was working with JibJab last year. He's truly insprirational -- at the time, he was taking two years off to attend film school at UCLA, but when Jason called to ask help Hulu, he couldn't miss out on the opportunity. And without knowing his individual contributions, Eugene's fingerprints are visible all over the site. His essay last night tells it all -- how much he, Christina and the rest of the team care about what they're doing and how much they love the product, and one another.

So, this is a huge shout out for what they've accomplished -- I stand in awe of their creation, which is probably a best single view into the future of online video and media.

Besides, where else can you find legal Superfly Jimmy Snuka?

Labels: eugene wei, hulu, jason kilar

I'll be in Hawaii during the Washington primaries, so I filled out my absentee ballot last weekend -- to make it short, I voted for Obama. I think we'd actually be well-served with Hillary, McCain or Barack, but I'm most inspired by Obama. At the same time, I also think he's the biggest risk -- that he may prove unable to effect change. But, I'm ready to put my support behind a new vision, much as I believe in the power of visionary entrepreneurial leaders (Jobs, Bezos, Gates, Page, etc.) to build great lasting brands out of the ether.

If you live in Washington, you need to attend a caucus to make your vote really count. Our caucus location was at the Madrona Elementary school here.

In case finding the nearest caucus site is confusing or you haven't checked it out yet, here are the Republican and Democratic links. The caucus in Washington State is this coming Saturday at 1pm (February 9).

For Democrats, it's the caucus vote where your vote will be counted, the ballot primary election won't be counted toward electoral votes.

For Republicans, half of the electoral votes will come from caucus votes, and half from the primary ballot.

I plan on making my vote count by attending my first caucus. The web sites are listed as attachments as well as below.

Republican site:
http://www.wsrp.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=6885

Democratic site:
http://www.wa-democrats.org/index.php

Here's a video summarizing some Democratic excitement!

Labels: barack obama, caucus, hillary clinton, vote, washington

Yes, I know -- my blogging has suffered in the last few weeks.

To our TeachStreet investors, trust me when I say that that's a good thing. What it means is that we're pushing extremely hard to meet our self-set goals. And, we've made incredible progress, and are still on pace for our launch aspirations (with regard to quality, coverage and timing).

To friends and family, I'm doing my best! If you haven't heard from me, it's not because I haven't thought of you. Nor is it because I'd prefer to not be with you. Rather, it's because this creation is a lot of work. I probably told you that I expected it to be hard, but I've always been one to learn by doing, as you know.

Which leads me to a post from Seth Godin that I thought was apt -- he talks about how with new/important creations (in his post, he's referring to the iPhone... in our case, we're talking about our much more humble undertaking, TeachStreet) there are always many times where it would be much easier to just say "forget it", and everyone would breathe huge sighs of relief, and move on.

However, we don't do that -- we can't do that. We know the risks, and the odds of failure. But we also know how great it would be to make our dreams a reality. And how much hard work, stress, and yes... fun... it is, to give it a herculean effort.

So, that's why my posting's been more sporadic. See you in a few years ;-)

Labels: forget it, seth godin, teachstreet