Early in a startup, product decisions should be hunch driven. Later on, product decisions should be data driven.

When my dad was in Vietnam, we lost a parent for a year. Thank God we didn't lose a parent for good.

Certainly anything that is news or opinion needs to be free on the Web, because the Web is this very fluid medium that is very much driven by links and the flow of visitors through a discussion via links.

You simply can't be tentative in a startup. You have to go for it at every chance you get. And if the leader of the organization is anxious, his or her fear pervades the organization. Everything comes from the top in a company. So if you are starting a company or building one, face your fears and move past them. It's critically important to your company.

I also like to use a sensational headline. Many people read blogs in aggregators, which generally show only the headline. So you have to give people a reason to click through. Blogs need to be real and personal. Reading it should be like hanging out with you. I play music for my readers. I show them videos I like. I tell them what I did over the weekend. And I tell them what is happening in the technology, Internet, and VC markets.

Many artists stick to making and hire a manager to focus on their business. Artists that build websites and mobile apps can do that, too.

All markets have boom and bust cycles, and I think venture capital market has even more exaggerated boom and bust cycles.