I had the good fortune this past week of speaking with Leigh Drogen of StockTwits to get an inside look at the mastermind lair they have setup in Manhattan. More importantly, I was able to discover some of the key aspects of StockTwits that make it irresistible to it’s fanatical user base, and hopefully pass some of this understanding on to other interested proto-founders, curious StockTwits fans, and other traders who may not have heard of this fun way to share tips. Continue reading »
written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: investment/finance, startups
I was reminded of the transient nature of existence over the last couple of days, while attending a funeral for a family member (Michelle’s Aunt Jenny). It gave me pause to question my planning, habits, and long term life strategy.
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written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: inspiration, leadership, startups
Startup founders have a dizzying array of choices that will define their strategy, and financial trajectory. A couple of general categories cover a wide range of viable paths towards creating a healthy business. Continue reading »
written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: leadership, startups, strategy
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of new micro corporations have captured public attention. A startling shift is apparent in the decentralization of information authority. Broad distribution of information flow and media usage have revealed a bounty of opportunity to small analysis teams (you and me). In the past, large business structures (Reuters) and institutions dominated the realm of information collection and business analysis. But unless all raw information flows through a filtering choke point, the challenge of identifying every dominant opportunity is beyond centralized organizations. Eureka!
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written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: investment/finance, leadership, startups
While reading on Hacker News I came across a shining example of positive karma. HN member dawson (@dawson) is making a transition from IT (he cofounded a tech startup) to pursue other interests back in school. I wish him good fortune while he shifts his focus, and formulates his next master plan. He’s worked on some high utility applications, one example a gigabyte emailer which lead to an acquisition. But it’s not his accomplishments that caught my attention this morning. Instead it was a short post he made: Continue reading »
written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: altruism, inspiration, leadership, startups
What is it that triggers us to be apathetic about some tasks, but absolutely manic about others? To each challenge, we attach an unconscious importance and interest reaction. For me, the right combination of task qualities makes or breaks my effort. These are the driving features and ideal fuel to elicit my finest work. Continue reading »
written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: inspiration, leadership, startups
The concept of ownership is going through a transformation, as it has for thousands of years. A clear example of this shift is evident in the fundamental resource, land. We instinctively defend territory from outsiders, so it is little surprise that land and ownership are integrally connected. Cultural meaning for owning land has drifted between civilizations. Nomadic people defended huge tracts of land, which were tribally owned. In contrast, modern day title searches and local databases have become a bureacratic rat’s nest. Nearly all land is taxed annually, only specific religious entities escape paying property taxes. Taxation goes hand in hand with to ownership exchange.
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written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: coding, design theory, investment/finance, open, social design, startups
Late last night I was digging around looking for a replacement to our flash interface and I came across an incredible collection of javascript visualizations. Here are some design issues with the current cloud: Continue reading »
written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: coding, design theory, javascript, JQuery, startups, web/tech
