Sunday, July 28, 2013

7 Links on Sunday - The Dating Game, AngelList's Syndicate,

Welcome back for Sunday's version of the links. Take a minute to check out Saturday's 6 Links if you missed them.

1. Google Reveals Chromecast - Google has produced a super cheap "dongle" that plugs into your dumb TV and allows you to stream Internet videos and Netflix to your tube. It's priced to move at $35 and will cause problems for Apple TV. For the longest time, Apple TV has been the main way people on-board Internet entertainment to their TV. And for their effort, Apple has tens of millions of us buying movies and music on our TV through iTunes. The stakes are really high in the smart TV market and now Google has a credible play. (note: I own Google and Apple stock.)

2. The Dating Game - My friend Annie reporting on a curious dating custom in Shanghai.

3. Bot Wars: The Arms Race to Make Restaurant Reservations - First it was high frequency trading in the stock market, now it's high frequency trading of restaurant reservations.

4. Difficult Women - Terrific essay on Sex in the City's role in the development of great television.

5. Software Just Ate VC - AngelList just came out with software that let's angel investors syndicate investments in start-ups between each other. And the angel investor that sources the deal, and runs the syndicate, gets 20% of the profits that his/her syndicate makes, just like VC funds do today. This service creates a ton of perverse incentives (over promise as the lead Angel, and under deliver capital the startup desperately needs), but I think it's really smart and another big step on the road to democratizing investment in startups.

6. Shipping Beats Perfection - Great advice to "share your work." I'm proudly telling everyone I know about our new Orbit App for Audience Approval Ratings. Maybe you can help us out a little and spread the word. :)

7. I'll leave you with the Trailer for Gravity. This movie looks pretty intense...and awesome.