I am sure I am stating the obvious that while there are probably many, the two primary reasons for the current environment include 1) The proliferation of relatively powerful, low cost  hand held communication devices (smart/feature phones,tablets), and 2) the relatively low capital outlay required for developing software to run on these devices. How low you ask?

Let’s walk through a simple scenario. Two folks decide to design and implement a mobile app, they need someplace to live/work, let’s say that’s 2k/month (bay area rents, but that doesn’t have to be), two laptops 3000 bucks , internet connection $600.00/year for a year, food 5K/year on food, other incidentals. All that adds up to south of $40k, and just to be generous, lets bump that up to 50K for a year of the time and space to enable a couple of people to develop a production quality application. That’s not a lot of money, and from where I come from in hardware development that’s easily an order of magnitude less than that what is required.

For some folks, self funding is an option, but a lot of people seem to believe the next step is to go out and get funding. That’s all well and good, but we are now hearing and seeing that doing so is not quite as cut and dry here in the valley if you are black. Some of that is for sure, due to our relatively short tenure here in the valley. That notwithstanding, let’s not diminish the importance of the fact that funding here in the valley is a network intensive process and at least for the short-termed future, that network is not populated with a lot of US.

I am not saying that ALL currently available funding opportunities are closed to us, the Kapors, and some others have shown a willingness to help out. However it seems that in the main, our own communities’ capital appears often times to be  beyond our reach, or at least, we don’t turn to our own community first before looking outside. Why is that ?

Well, it’s NOT entirely due to a lack of money. Various reports indicate the black community spends between 500 and 900 billion dollars annually. So what the hell are we doing with all that money ? Better yet, what aren’t we doing with all that loot ?

I suspect that some of the problem is due to the difficulties we manufacture when working with one another.That we lose sight of the long term objectives due to short term chatter and static. My fear is that if we don’t take on the challenge of working with one another successfully for sustained of periods time; As black folks in the states, we will continue to bring up the rear. And let’s be honest, the elephant in the room on this one is how strange we all get with one another when it comes to money and supporting each other’s ventures financially.

As I somewhat glibly described above, it is relatively cheap to get a venture going. This is an unprecedented time in the valley,it is so much so that in ten or 15 years, the valley may NOT be the only center of the universe for tech and/or non-tech entrepreneurship. If that is the case, imagine the other black communities across the country that could potentially benefit from early models of collaborative work both in starting businesses AND in our own sources of funding those very same businesses.

Let’s start to explore low individual cost crowd sourced seed and pre-seed fund development. How hard is it to really raise 50K ?, 100K ?, 200K ? For too long, what has stopped a lot of great ideas in our community is a lack of money. Maybe, instead of waiting for the torrent of pennies from heaven, the arrival of a super man (or woman),we should grow some wings and become our own angels…

I won’t pretend to know much  of Mr Jobs as a person, I had the chance to meet him once while working at NeXT, and that encounter at best serves to give credence to the lauding of both his aesthetic and attention to detail. As someone who works in the tech industry, what does amaze me is the string of game changing products he and Apple have managed to produce over the years, having participated in product development for both successful, and not so successful products. What is amazing to me is the execution. What people don’t see is how fraught with mis-steps product development can be, yet if managed well, can still yield some pretty amazing stuff

As much as people have gone on about how he and Apple have changed things. More profound to me is that there is a wife, some kids, and other family who have lost a husband and a father and relative. As I get older, I see more and more of the tech world as at best an industry which produces things which have potential to help people live. Emphasis on potential.

As for sight-seeing, the biggest thing was to see the progress on La Familia Sagrada. I was comparing progress from when I was there in 91/92, 99 while on honeymoon and now. It’s a really cool building and apparently construction has accelerated due to better techniques. Of course, as is my duty,I also managed 30 minutes of body surfing having spied some weak windswell waves working off  a sandbar I presume was formed at the end of a river flowing into the med. I have now “surfed” on the Arab/Israeli side of the Med AND the European side. Howz that for wetting both cheeks….

Along comes Saturday and my commitment to support Kat and Nat shopping. It wasn’t so bad though I got to see my wife model skirts, how bad can that be.I even helped keep our 8 year old daughter from dominating the festivities (At 8 that child knows how to shop). I have to admit I was disappointed when it came my turn to get my textile retail therapy on. Turns out, Europeans don’t make that much for 6’2″ 250 lb males. Not even stylish size 12 sandals. So…. I left with out picking anything up. Just as well, I had to replace the iPhone when I got back to the tune of 800 bucks…., oh well, a small price to pay. Kat got to see her aunt, Tia got to see the family, she had a spring in her step and we were all happy for that…. I’m out until next time. Oh yeah, Spain is my favorite European country. I need to make it to Africa and South America, I’m 50, the clock is ticking

Waking up this morning on the other hand wasn’t so bad. Hit the gym, went up to the rooftop to check the view and then down to get the family and usher them down to breakfast.

Interesting to see what I believe to be a lot of Chinese folk here in B-town. That’s a fair piece different from when Kat and I were here in 99. I guess this is proof positive of the greater mobility the Chinese middle class and above have. It was kind of cool to hit a restaurant , have a young Chinese brother be our server and rock spanish back and forth with Kat and I. The world is much smaller than it was 12 years ago..

Hopefully today walking around I’ll be able to chat people up about the economy here and how it is doing, maybe an alternative at least at the detail level from what the American and British media indicate is going on here. I know unemployment for college grads and up to about 30 is msierable. Actually ,maybe that is the case for a lot of folks here and elsewhere.

Watching Spanish news is interesting, what’s important here is so much different in comparison to what is important in the states. Can’t say I miss the horse-race coverage from back in the states.

In any event, I guess I gotta go, time to shower and get out there. We’re supposed to have dinner up in the Mercado Boqueria, I am sure it will be good for my palate and marginal for my health…

Oh yeah, Natascha traveled well. It was a long day of travel and she passed out hard. That’s all for now…

The other first is that this is the first time I will be traveling abroad with my daughter. My little demon spawn has already been out of the country once already though, and has flown more in her 8 years than I have in the same time period. Go figure.

So it’s off to one of my favorite spots even if it is only for a week, I may try to slide a quick day trip to Madrid to meet some folks but bottom line, there will be PLENTY of tapas, and specifically Jamon Serrano based ones. In the meantime, I look forward to a little nip of something on the plane once we get airborne….

L8tr

While donations are welcome, they are by no means required. Who knows, you might even learn something.

here’s a link to the film “Strange Fruit”, also this month on the 19th and the 26th the following events:

February 19th Panel Discussion/Conversation which will explore issues of straight and lgbti allies in the black community

February 26th: Free screening of the film “Still Black: A Portrait of Black Transmen”, Film maker Kortney Ziegler,will be on hand to discuss his film

I did it ! I created a ballet worthy hair bun for my daughter. This means I have taken another step on the path of fathers-raising-daughters skill set list, sort of a bucket list for dads who want to truly make it to that pantheon of skilled fathers in the arts of mani-pedi’s (receiving them from your daughter), music survival (as in not going apoplectic everytime Justin Bieber comes on), and finally, the toughest of all, patience as your daughter is getting dressed.

For you dads out there, you can get a personal consultation… for a small fee

Hmmm maybe I should make a youtube video or maybe have a booth at the next makers fair

Yup, you're damn skippy I am worried

So, I have to admit I have gotten around to paying a little more attention to the campaigning both here in California and nationwide. No doubt some of the candidates are just plain scary. But what  is even worse for me is that the level of discourse is just so pathetically low as to be almost criminal. I mean are we collectively as moronic as the folks who generate these campaign ads believe  us to be ? And I mean for BOTH the left and the right, hoebageezuz, it’s sad.

So all of you folks who plan on voting (myself included), do us all a favor, press the candidates you support to actually talk about the issues in a mature, intelligent fashion. Read your ballot initiatives and make sure you understand them, then go vote. Because if you  don’t, it will be hard not wonder if we deserve this franchise in the first place…

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Trust me, in the preview mode of wordpress it works just fine, so please enjoy this video

Peace

I went surfing for the first time in a while yesterday. It was only out for about an hour but it was glorious just the same. I need to remember to take advantage of this time off and get myself info winter Ocean Beach shape.

I’ve been reading and listening to a lot of political complaining about Obama and the Democrats lately. Those of you cut from the same cloth as me need to remind yourselves it could be worse. Much much worse. Get out there and get the hustle on to keep the Dems in office, then after the elections. Lets really hold their feet to the fire.

I find this time of year to be refreshing… I hope you do to. P.S. I’ll start including more pics going forward…

Finally, I will start writing for the online news site OaklandLocal.com If it passes editorial muster, my first piece will be on community banking.