Dare to Innovate

I produce and fund world-changing science and technology ventures that few would dare to even dream, let alone actually build.

  • We Build Dreams

    We Build Dreams

  • The Arch Mission Foundation is Backing Up Humanity in Space

    The Arch Mission Foundation is Backing Up Humanity in Space

Venture Studio

Venture Studio

A Los Angeles Science and Technology Venture Studio
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Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality

Stealth Mode Augmented Reality App. Coming Soon!
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Chemistry and Medicine

Chemistry and Medicine

A major breakthrough in chemistry, starting with the diagnosis of diseases.
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Internet-of-Things

Internet-of-Things

Linking physical objects to the blockchain
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My Podcast Interview on Venture Production

I had a fun chat with Nathan Latka on his podcast, about my Venture Studio process and some of the deals I’ve produced.

How Twitter Could be 10X Bigger, 100X More Profitable, and 1000X More Awesome

Read my new article about how to evolve Twitter, on VentureBeat

 

I’ve spent many years studying, writing about, building, and funding companies (such as Bottlenose, Klout, and The Daily Dot) in Twitter’s ecosystem.

Despite the media chatter, I am still bullish on Twitter – as should be any investor who understands the social network’s fundamentals and true potential.

Read More “How Twitter Could be 10X Bigger, 100X More Profitable, and 1000X More Awesome”

My Forbes Interview – People May be Brands, but Brands are Not People

I was recently interviewed by Blake Morgan at Forbes, on the subject of “Building Influence in the Digital Age” — listen to the interview here:

Peter Drucker’s grandson Nova Spivack, CEO of Bottlenose, says that Drucker would have felt today that real influencers are not spending a lot of time on social media.

Read More “My Forbes Interview – People May be Brands, but Brands are Not People”

The Rise of the Chief Analytics Officer

My new article on the growing role of the Chief Analytics Officer has gone live on GigaOm. Read it here.

Futurist Ranking Algorithm Ranks me #20

Interesting ranking of futurists by analyzing their social and Web influence. I rank in the top 20. Of course, I couldn’t have predicted that.

How to Solve Twitter’s Engagement Problem: Add Semantics

The fundamental problem that Twitter has is engagement. If engagement can be corrected, the whole Twitter ecosystem (and their stock price) will improve.

Improving Twitter engagement comes down to fixing the core consumption experience.

First of all what’s wrong with the consumption experience?… Read More “How to Solve Twitter’s Engagement Problem: Add Semantics”

Let’s Put the Wikipedia in Space: The Arch Project

UPDATE: The Arch Mission Foundation was officially launched on October 24, 2016

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In this article, I propose an achievable project to seed the solar system and eventually the universe with digital copies of humanity’s most important knowledge — stored in digital archives that I call “Archs.”… Read More “Let’s Put the Wikipedia in Space: The Arch Project”

How Bottlenose Analyzes 72 Billion Messages a Day to Find Trends

I recently gave a Webinar with my co-founder, Dominiek ter Heide, of Bottlenose on our real-time big data analytics architecture for measuring trends in stream data. You can watch it here.

Twitter’s Future is Actually Its Past – Where Twitter Went Wrong and How to Right It

With the resignation of Twitter’s CEO, Dick Costolo, there has been a sudden burst in commentary on what is wrong with Twitter, and where they should focus next.

There are suggestions that Twitter should focus on live real-time events. There are suggestions that Twitter should focus on algorithms to filter content so they are more like Facebook.… Read More “Twitter’s Future is Actually Its Past – Where Twitter Went Wrong and How to Right It”

Why Twitter’s Engagement Has Fallen

I have been thinking about Twitter for many years. One of the interesting trends that many of us who share an interest in social networks have been tracking is the decline in engagement on Twitter.

Indeed this decline is not only evident from Twitter’s own metrics and reporting, but also to anyone who has been an active user of Twitter since the early days of the service.

Venturebeat Article on the Venture Production Studio Model

Interesting article in Venturebeat about the emerging Venture Production Studio model, which I wrote about in 2011 here on this blog.

Bottlenose Ranked as #13 in Top Startups in LA Listing

I’m very pleased to see Bottlenose getting ranked at #13 in the Top 100 Startups in LA listing this year. We’re making progress!

2014: A Turning Point for the Semantic Web

Read my article in Semanticweb.com about the significance of 2014 in Semantic Web history.

 

Google is moving away from hand-made ontologies — they were never a fan of them. From the early days, Google’s philosophy has been biased towards big data over manually constructed knowledge.

Read More “2014: A Turning Point for the Semantic Web”

I Have Joined the I-COM Data Creativity Awards Board

I am pleased to announce that I have been added to the Board for the Data Creativity Awards, by I-COM, The Global Forum for Marketing Data and Measurement. Details here.

It’s Time for an Open Standard for Cards

Cards are fast becoming the hot new design paradigm for mobile apps, but their importance goes far beyond mobile. Cards are modular, bite-sized content containers designed for easy consumption and interaction on small screens, but they are also a new metaphor for user-interaction that is spreading across all manner of other apps and content.… Read More “It’s Time for an Open Standard for Cards”

The Next Step for Intelligent Virtual Assistants

When we talk about the future of artificial intelligence (AI), the discussion often focuses on the advancements and capabilities of the technology, or even the risks and opportunities inherent in the potential cultural implications. What we frequently overlook, however, is the future of AI as a business.… Read More “The Next Step for Intelligent Virtual Assistants”

Bottlenose Nerve Center 2.0 Released – Milestone for Real-Time Big Data Analytics

I’m happy to announce the release of Bottlenose Nerve Center 2.0 today. Analyzing 3 billion messages an hour (72 billion messages a day), and doing real-time predictive analytics on nearly 300 million data points an hour, it’s a big step in real-time big data analytics. … Read More “Bottlenose Nerve Center 2.0 Released – Milestone for Real-Time Big Data Analytics”

My Thoughts on the Future of Artificial Intelligence (Live Panel Discussion)

I had the honor of participating in a panel on the future of AI with a group of industry luminaries, led by Kevin Kelly of WIRED Magazine.

Watch the discussion here.

Bottlenose Announces Live Trend Intelligence for TV, Radio and Social

My venture, Bottlenose, has a big announcement today. We’re unveiling the first live trend intelligence system to provide analytics against real-time broadcast TV and radio (and social media).  You can read more in the TechCrunch article here.

How Bitcoins Could Restructure the World

Read my article in VentureBeat about how Bitcoins may restructure our civilization, and the need for advocacy to support this transition, if it is going to happen. Here’s an excerpt:

Bitcoin is a trend with all the ingredients necessary for changing the world.

Read More “How Bitcoins Could Restructure the World”

Why Cognition-as-a-Service (CaaS) is the Next Operating System Battlefield

Read my article in Gigaom on the coming cognition-as-a-service wars. The next thing after the Semantic Web.

Did Apple Buy Topsy for Contextual Awareness?

The stunning news that Apple bought social search engine, Topsy, for more than $200M has many scratching their heads. Why would Apple want social data, and why would they pay so much for it?

There has been a lot of speculation about the reasons for this acquisition — ranging from making Siri better, to making the App Store smarter, to acquiring big data expertise to develop insights on the Apple firehose.… Read More “Did Apple Buy Topsy for Contextual Awareness?”

Can Humans Fall in Love With Bots?

I was quoted in this New Yorker article about whether relationships between humans and bots are real, along with some other AI experts. Can bots experience love? Read it and find out.

Is Twitter’s Business Model Going to Work?

Twitter’s business model appears to have shifted from being a network to being a destination. The question I address here, is whether this shift in strategy is going to work, and what the implications are.

Twitter’s Declining User Engagement: Can it be Solved?

Read More “Is Twitter’s Business Model Going to Work?”

Bottlenose Announces Free Live Visualization of Global Social Trends

Bottlenose has just launched something very very cool: A free version of it’s live visualization of trends in the Twitter firehose.  Check it out at http://sonar.bottlenose.com and get your own embed for any topic. This is the future of real-time marketing.… Read More “Bottlenose Announces Free Live Visualization of Global Social Trends”

Consolidate This: Quantified Self Edition

Read my article in Gigaom on the Quantified Self market and how it is developing.

There are too many choices available for consumers when it comes to devices and apps that track your steps or daily activities. What needs to happen is consolidation across the industry and a focus on storytelling, not just activity.

The Future of Virtual Assistants

Check out my article in Forbes on the future of Virtual Assistants. What’s after SIRI and IVR?

All of the interesting stuff happens when data collides. A voice-based interface to a single data set is a thing of the past.

Read More “The Future of Virtual Assistants”

Bottlenose Series A to Bring “Trendfluence” to the Enterprise

Bottlenose Secures $3.6 Million Series A Round of Financing to Bring Trendfluence™ to the Enterprise

BusinessWire

Enterprise Offering Discovers Real-Time, Influential Trends to Drive Marketing Campaigns, Manage Brand Reputation and Spotlight Attention in Social Communities

LOS ANGELES, July 23, 2013 — Bottlenose, the first application for Trendfluence™ discovery in social streams, today announced that the company has completed a $3.6 million Series A round of venture capital financing.… Read More “Bottlenose Series A to Bring “Trendfluence” to the Enterprise”

The Post-Privacy World

Read my article in WIRED Insights about what the post-privacy world will be like. Here’s an excerpt:

Edward Snowden’s recent allegations regarding what most of us already suspected the NSA was doing, have ignited a huge controversy around privacy and the role of the State versus the individual.

Read More “The Post-Privacy World”

The Present IS the Future: Real-Time Marketing In the Era of the Stream – Part Two

In Part I of this article series, we looked at how the real-time Web has precipitated Nowism as a fundamental shift in how we understand and engage with information. Nowism is a cultural shift to a focus on the present, instead of the past or future.… Read More “The Present IS the Future: Real-Time Marketing In the Era of the Stream – Part Two”