Twitter has had a rough few weeks, but does that mean it’s destined to spiral downward? Hell no. 18% stock price drops are great for headlines, but they certainly don’t tell the story of a company’s long-term trajectory. So let’s get the obvious out of the way: Twitter’s getting punched in the gut at the… Continue reading On Twitter and Short-Term Stock Fluctuations
Category: Blog
When Two Apps Are Simpler Than One
If there’s one entrepreneurial mantra that Steve Jobs taught us, it’s this: Simplify! Complex products fail. The complex MySpace lost to the simple Facebook. The simplicity of Snapchat, Instagram and Dropbox transformed them into world-class products. Tumblr famously cut a feature when it added a new one, always keeping the interface clean as hell. Foursquare,… Continue reading When Two Apps Are Simpler Than One
Oculus Rift: Facebook’s $2 Billion Attempt to Seize Its Destiny From Apple and Google
Can’t say I saw this one coming. Facebook, on the heels of its $19 billion blockbuster acquisition of WhatsApp, has dropped another $2 billion (plus a potential $300 million in earn-outs) for Oculus VR, the company that makes Rift. If you haven’t tried the Rift, it’s extraordinary. The first time I played with it, I… Continue reading Oculus Rift: Facebook’s $2 Billion Attempt to Seize Its Destiny From Apple and Google
Minecraft the Movie: Suggestions for Casting
So Warner Brothers, thrilled with the performance of The Lego Movie, is turning another blocky adventure into a movie — Minecraft! Yes, the popular indie building game is coming to the big screen with the help of Vertigo Entertainment and Lego Movie producer Roy Lee. I’m not sure what kind of script you can make… Continue reading Minecraft the Movie: Suggestions for Casting
The Floodgates Have Opened
The floodgates have just burst open, not just in the world of technology, but in the entire free market. In the very way we view capitalism. I am, of course, talking about Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp for $16 billion ($19 billion when you count the restricted stock units). It is the largest acquisition of a… Continue reading The Floodgates Have Opened
Announcing “Captivology”, My Book on the Science of Attention (HarperCollins/2015)
Dear friends, family, colleagues, and supporters,
I’m thrilled to announce my first non-fiction book, working title “Captivology: The Science of Capturing People’s Attention“, due in early 2015 from HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins.
I hope you will sign up for updates on Captivology through my book’s website. You can follow @Captivology on Twitter or like Captivology on Facebook. You can also follow @BenParr for regular updates. And finally, here’s a link for sharing this announcement.
Tom Perkins on Bloomberg West [VIDEO]
Good job Emily Chang for a difficult interview. As for Tom Perkins… well, just remember that you can say crazy things on air too when your watch is worth a six pack of Rolexes.
CNN Turns a Terrible Tragedy Into an Upworthy Headline
We’re all doomed. (Seriously, CNN — you’re better than this.)
Apple Will Regret Not Acquiring Nest
I’ve had some time to digest the big news in tech this week — Google’s monster acquisition of Nest for $3.2 billion — and no matter how many times I think about it, I come to the same conclusion: Missing out on Nest will become Apple’s biggest regret of the decade. I’ve been a big… Continue reading Apple Will Regret Not Acquiring Nest
Congratulations, You Just Won the Lottery! How Not to Be An Asshole With Your New Wealth
Congratulations are in order! After some completely appropriate late afternoon drinking at the bar with the love of your life who has friendzone’d you to hell, you stumbled into a convenience store to buy a pity cigarette, but instead bought a lottery ticket that is now worth $650 million! Now that you’re wealthy beyond your… Continue reading Congratulations, You Just Won the Lottery! How Not to Be An Asshole With Your New Wealth