David Lidsky's Blog, page 3380
December 11, 2013
Can Innovation Be Taught? A New Mentorship Program Aims To Do Just That
"Genius may be born, but innovation can be learned," says Bing Gordon, chief product officer at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers already runs fellows programs to train new grads in engineering, design, and product management, but the venture capital firm announced Wednesday it is launching a new program to mentor entrepreneurs. KPCB ProductWorks will be headed by general partner Bing Gordon, newly named the firm's chief product officer.















No, Reuters, Women Have Not Broken The Glass Ceiling
Reuters runs a misleading visualization of the glass ceiling. Then someone fixed it.
Numbers don't lie, but when rendered into graphs and charts, they can be incredibly misleading. Case in point, this Reuters visualization of the glass ceiling in Fortune 500 companies.










Proof That Cheaper Satellites Still Can Take Incredibly Detailed Photos Of Earth
Military communications satellites can cost billions. Skybox Imaging's satellites cost less than $50 million and are still producing great images. Here's the proof.
In the world of satellites, cheap is relative. While $50 million is a hefty price tag for most startups to stomach, it's almost chump change compared with military communications satellites, which can cost upwards of a billion dollars each.















Beastie Boys Vs. GoldieBlox: The Battle Continues
The rap group has filed a countersuit against the toy startup demanding a payout from its hit commercial, which featured a Beastie Boys song without their permission.
The ongoing scuffle between the Beastie Boys and startup GoldieBlox doesn't look like it will end anytime soon. The hip-hop group filed a countersuit Tuesday in New York that claims the toy company's use of its 1987 song "Girls" in a recent hit commercial did not constitute fair use. In addition to an injunction preventing GoldieBlox from using "Girls," the Beastie Boys are also requesting GoldieBlox fork over any profits generated from the commercial that featured the song without the group's permission, damages, and lawyers' fees, among other things. (You can read the legalese here.)















Watch These Designers Recreate A Classic Mac With Legos
Then it becomes an iPad dock worthy of a true Apple nerd.
A brand has to inspire a certain level of loyalty to deserve scale Lego models of its products. But we all know Apple fans can be a little obsessive.










Squarehub Reinvents The Family Calendar As A Private Social Network
Instead of coordinating family chores and activities on a cluttered piece of paper on the fridge, why not do it online?
The age of the one-size-fits-all social network seems to be steadily waning. There's Avocado, the social network for just two people in love. But what about when those lovebirds answer the call of their DNA and start a family? For that, there's Squarehub. When I first saw it, I rolled my eyes at the idea--just what families need, more excuses to be shackled to their little glass screens. But CEO Dave Cotter might be onto something.















How A Culture Of Fear Can Damage Your Organization
A recent example of how leadership goes out the window when intimidation rules.
Between September 9 and 13 of this year, some lanes were closed leading to the George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York City, causing crippling traffic backups in the town of Fort Lee, NJ. The Port Authority official who ordered the lane closings, David Wildstein, has just resigned. He was an old high school pal of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.















Can Thinking About Time Make You A Better Person?
A new study finds that thinking about money makes people more likely to cheat, but thinking about time keeps them honest.
Imagine: Briefcases full of cash. Scrooge McDuck diving into his swimming pool vault of gold coins. Winning $100 at a blackjack table. Feeling a little dishonest yet?










16 Gift Ideas For People Who Travel Too Much
Including a self-assembled bike, a portable humidifier, a backpack that could last a lifetime, and more.
Whether it's a jet-setting businessman uncle, a kid about to "study" abroad in Europe, or a pair of long-distance lovers, we all know people who can't seem to stay in one place. Here's our guide to the best-designed gifts for globetrotters.










How Much Of Facebook's Footprint Is Thanks To Parse?
Today the social network released a heat map of all the Facebook developers around the globe.
Today at the Le Web developer conference in Paris, Facebook released a heat map of developers working on Facebook apps all over Earth. While the map shows the social network's significant adoption among developers in much of the world, it only hints at the ways the company is planning to expand its development community.















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