A foundation is a nonprofit organization created with the express purpose to give away money to individuals or charitable organizations.
A Foundation is…
August 2nd, 2011Josh Weinstein Offers Advice to Potential Entrepreneurs: Do it!
August 1st, 2011
Josh Weinstein is the founder of YouAre.TV. YouAre.TV allows anyone to be on TV and interactive gameshows via webcam. He previously
founded CollegeOnly, GoodCrush, and CollegeGovs. Josh likes people,
technology, and leveraging the latter for the benefit of the former. You can check out some of his early work at Photocracy.org.
Josh was nice enough to sit down with TILE for a few questions.
TILE: What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
Josh: My passion for creating things is the primary catalyst for me becoming an entrepreneur. GoodCrush was the first entrepreneurial project I worked on post-grad and was something I came up with in college. It was clearly addressing a problem and was used by a lot of my peers, so I was excited to continue to work on it.
TILE: Where do you get your best ideas?
Josh: The best ideas come from actual experiences when you are like “I really wish I had something that could do X” — that’s how I came up with the CrushFinder originally. YouAreTV came about in the same way.
TILE: Which start-up are you most proud of and why?
Josh: Tough to say between GoodCrush and YouAreTV. GoodCrush was cool because we clearly hit a need and people really liked it. YouAreTV, however, is really novel and disruptive.
Josh: Tough to say between GoodCrush and YouAreTV. GoodCrush was cool because we clearly hit a need and people really liked it. YouAreTV, however, is really novel and disruptive.
TILE: How has your experience as an entrepreneur – personally, financially and in business – compared with your expectations?
Josh: Patience is of the essence in entrepreneurship. You hear about a lot of homeruns that seems to be magic right out of the box, but it’s not like that for the majority of the cases. Even some of those instant homeruns weren’t instant — Groupon for example, was a pivot from a failing venture.
Josh: Patience is of the essence in entrepreneurship. You hear about a lot of homeruns that seems to be magic right out of the box, but it’s not like that for the majority of the cases. Even some of those instant homeruns weren’t instant — Groupon for example, was a pivot from a failing venture.
TILE: What advice would you give to any young people considering entrepreneurship?
Josh: Do it. Learn to code.
Josh: Do it. Learn to code.
TILE: Help our members learn from your mistakes…What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done in your financial life?
Josh: I worked with an outside firm to code some of our site – they were incredibly expensive but ostensibly some of the best in the world. It was a massive waste of money and they didn’t care about our stuff at all, it didn’t even work at the end. I should have used our money to focus on building a team internally instead of a) racing to get the product out b) working with people who weren’t invested in the same way.
Josh: I worked with an outside firm to code some of our site – they were incredibly expensive but ostensibly some of the best in the world. It was a massive waste of money and they didn’t care about our stuff at all, it didn’t even work at the end. I should have used our money to focus on building a team internally instead of a) racing to get the product out b) working with people who weren’t invested in the same way.
What does $1 trillion in cash look like?
August 1st, 2011
(image source: http://usdebt.kleptocracy.us/)
Ever wondered how many Benjamins can fit in a football stadium?
As the debt ceiling (quickly) approaches and the government (hopefully) nears some sort of resolution, we just thought we’d help you get a handle on what all these ginormous (fact: ginormous is actually a word) numbers look like.
You can also check out this infographic and this one if you want to learn more about where the debt came from and exactly whose debt it is.
What does $1 trillion in cash look like?
August 1st, 2011
(image source: http://usdebt.kleptocracy.us/)
Ever wondered how many Benjamins can fit in a football stadium?
As the debt ceiling (quickly) approaches and the government (hopefully) nears some sort of resolution, we just thought we’d help you get a handle on what all these ginormous (fact: ginormous is actually a word) numbers look like.
You can also check out this infographic and this one if you want to learn more about where the debt came from and exactly whose debt it is.
Lolz! SEC Says WTF to Groupon Accounting Language
July 29th, 2011
(image credit: webtreats)
You know how (old) people are always saying that “texting and Facebook are the end of the world because kids can’t write anymore and say ‘u’ instead of ‘you,’ blah blah blah?” (like, omg, it’s nbd…)
Well, the SEC is now taking issue with the way Groupon and other start-ups are reporting their finances. Groupon, which is preparing for its IPO (i.e. selling shares of itself to the general public), is using some new – and misleading, according to a lot of financial experts and regulators – terminology to talk about how much money they are worth.
Other web and social media start-ups have done this sort of thing in the past – like talking about “eyeballs” (the number of people who view a website) instead of dollars to demonstrate a company’s value. However, some are saying Groupon is going too far, and others are saying stuff like “eyeballs” should never have been put next to traditional financial metrics in the first place.
So, do you think this is just an example of old finance not really getting the new way stuff works, or are Groupon and Zynga trying to punk us?
Lolz! SEC Says WTF to Groupon Accounting Language
July 29th, 2011
(image credit: webtreats)
You know how (old) people are always saying that “texting and Facebook are the end of the world because kids can’t write anymore and say ‘u’ instead of ‘you,’ blah blah blah?” (like, omg, it’s nbd…)
Well, the SEC is now taking issue with the way Groupon and other start-ups are reporting their finances. Groupon, which is preparing for its IPO (i.e. selling shares of itself to the general public), is using some new – and misleading, according to a lot of financial experts and regulators – terminology to talk about how much money they are worth.
Other web and social media start-ups have done this sort of thing in the past – like talking about “eyeballs” (the number of people who view a website) instead of dollars to demonstrate a company’s value. However, some are saying Groupon is going too far, and others are saying stuff like “eyeballs” should never have been put next to traditional financial metrics in the first place.
So, do you think this is just an example of old finance not really getting the new way stuff works, or are Groupon and Zynga trying to punk us?
Trash Tracker: Technology and Art
July 28th, 2011
(image credit: SENSEable City Lab at MIT)
Ever wanted to see where your stuff goes after you throw it out? We’re not talking about touring landfills here – we mean literally seeing its whole path and trajectory in Technicolor.
Well, a new exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York is displaying the fruits of two MIT researchers’ trash-tracking labor. Carlo Ratti and Assaf Biderman developed these little trackers that tell you in real time where something is for a whole year. And then they did something really cool with them…
They gave the trackers to people to attach to anything they were about to throw out – from fruit to furniture – and turned all that data into cool and colorful visualizations like the one you see up there (^^). The idea is that maybe people will start to pay attention to their trash, or figure out new and better ways to deal with it.
Pretty cool. Or, rather, pretty and cool…
What do you do with your old electronic gadgets?
Trash Tracker: Technology and Art
July 28th, 2011
(image credit: SENSEable City Lab at MIT)
Ever wanted to see where your stuff goes after you throw it out? We’re not talking about touring landfills here – we mean literally seeing its whole path and trajectory in Technicolor.
Well, a new exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York is displaying the fruits of two MIT researchers’ trash-tracking labor. Carlo Ratti and Assaf Biderman developed these little trackers that tell you in real time where something is for a whole year. And then they did something really cool with them…
They gave the trackers to people to attach to anything they were about to throw out – from fruit to furniture – and turned all that data into cool and colorful visualizations like the one you see up there (^^). The idea is that maybe people will start to pay attention to their trash, or figure out new and better ways to deal with it (i.e. improve their environmental impact).
Pretty cool. Or, rather, pretty and cool…
What do you do with your old electronic gadgets?
Deep Investment in Shared Experience: Dance Company Founders Share with TILE
July 28th, 2011
Lawrence-Herchenroether Dance Company, artists-in-residence at Girard College and Mascher Space Cooperative, is a Philadelphia-based modern dance company that produces the work of choreographer Tori Lawrence. By emphasizing the creative process, the Lawrence-Herchenroether Dance Company strives to create a shared experience between the performers and audience members. Continuously exploring the dynamic relationship among movement, perception, and environment, the company works towards creating choreography that is surprising, thoughtful, and honest. Co-founders Tori Lawrence and Emily Herchenroether stopped communing with their audiences long enough to answer a few of our questions about supporting the arts…
TILE: Why is it important to support the arts?
Tori & Emily: Art opens up conversations and new ways of looking at things. It encourages dialogue between the creator and the perceiver, helping to push and challenge us as individuals and as communities. It helps us progress as beings to more deeply relate to the world and the environment around us.
TILE: What’s it like to run your own show as an independent modern dance company?
Tori & Emily: We become intimately aware of all of the details that go into a live production that aren’t related to the art. Examples are marketing, fund-raising, grant writing, rehearsal/performance space rental, etc. You have to realize that you’re providing a full experience for the audience rather than solely the work or choreography itself.
There’s also a lot of problem solving and awareness of all of the expenses that go into forming a dance company. Finding a way to balance your needs and limited funds is hard and we’re still trying to figure it out. We have come to realize that we are business owners that have branded a company as well as artists that have branded a voice.
TILE: We hear a lot about how artists of all ages are struggling financially to bring their work to life. What kind of advice would you give to young people who want to help out by supporting the arts?
Tori & Emily: Our advice: Go to shows and experience art (whether they be concerts, gallery openings, dance performances, jams, etc.). Find someone whose work moves you or strikes you in a certain way. I would recommend concentrating your funds in that one person/company and one area rather than spreading it to a group of different artists/companies.
Deep investment is better than a broad investment in art because you make more of an impact and you can experience the effects of your donation more easily. Deep investment in one artist or one company encourages longevity and sustainability.
TILE: As young performing artists, what kind of role would you like to see your own art and that of others playing in the future?
Tori & Emily: Bringing the audience to be more engaged in our art (a mind/body/soul engagement). In our site-specific dance performances, we prod, poke, and allow those deep/inner questions to surface. Hopefully the worlds that we create can inspire our audience members to become more engaged with their surroundings.
TILE: We can all learn from each other, so… what’s the biggest financial mistake you’ve ever made?
Tori & Emily: We rented a space inside an outmoded power plant for one of our shows at the Philly Fringe last year. Our performance involved a lot of water. At the end of the performance, we didn’t have the appropriate resources to clean up the water and dirt that we left behind, so we ended up being penalized for not thoroughly cleaning the space.
What we learned: Be aware of the risks that you take when you put down a deposit for a performance venue.
Be clear ahead of time what’s expected of you to get the deposit back so that you can do what’s expected and not lose money unnecessarily.
>> TILE brings you exclusive opinions, explanations, and interviews from experts in every industry. To read more, click on Ask the Experts in the TILE Library.
Have a burning question or an expert you’d like to see interviewed? Just Ask TILE!
Spotting a Dancer: Pamela Vail on Philanthropy & the Arts
July 27th, 2011
Pamela Vail is a performer, choreographer, improviser and teacher. She is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Franklin & Marshall College, and also performs with several professional dance companies and creates her own choreography. To sample some of her work, visit architectsdance.org or acanarytorsi.org.
TILE: It’s a big question, but what does money have to do with the arts?
Pam: Everything and nothing, actually. The reality is that artists need money to make and produce art, but the actual soul of art has nothing to do with money. Art is creative expression.
TILE: From your perspective, what kind of support are artists really looking for?
Pam: I think artists are looking for support on a number of levels: for people to simply come see their work; for general advocacy – that people actually care that they can and do make work; emotional support; and, of course, financial support.