I’m a big fan of MMOs and just saw that Richard Garriott, a.k.a. Lord British will is running a Kickstarter to create a new MMO.  Garriott is famous for creating Ultima Online, one of the first Massively Multiplayer Online games out there.

Shroud of the Avatar looks promising and promises to be a nostalgic trip back to the “good old days” of MMO’s before they became too popular and simplified for the masses.  Although Kickstarter doesn’t have the greatest track record when it comes to seeing projects through to completion this is one I will be keeping my eye on.

Source: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/portalarium/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-0

Here’s a very interesting piece from a founder of a failing startup.  It hit me because I’ve been in a similar situation, although my feelings about failure are different than the author.  He also talks of depression and loneliness which suggests to me he wasn’t quite cut out for running a company and taking investment just yet.  For me, this is yet another example of the problems in Silicon Valley, specifically the blind faith put into young kids straight out of college.  Most of them are not ready.  That’s ok, there’s a lot of living and learning to do before most people are ready, if ever.

Here’s the piece: http://pastebin.com/BgxFCTEC

It’s also sparked a great conversation on hacker news:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5255209

I’ve been really getting into Quora recently.  I’m impressed by the quality of answers they have on there and particularly the quality of people they are getting to write those answers.  

I receive their weekly digest of the “best” of Quora as well which I think sets a good example of exactly how to do a regular email newsletter.  

I was surprised to hear one of the co-founders left in what some are calling suspicious circumstances.  I think they have a real shot at becomming a big part of the future of social media and hearing one of the founders has left really surprised me.

You can read more about it here:

http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/The-Sudden-Mysterious-Exit-Of-A-Quora-Cofounder-3912160.php

This post stood out to me recently, mainly because during my regular market research I found out that one of my competitors had copied several features from one of my web products.  Right the way  down to using the same copy to describe the features and in one instance even the same JQuery plugin!
I was upset to say the least.  Still, it’s kind of flattering in a way, and has taught me a few lessons.  Mainly regarding creating your landing page too soon and giving away too much detail before it’s completely ready.  A post for another time maybe.

But for now, here’s the article:

http://pandodaily.com/2012/07/05/what-to-do-when-someone-copies-your-startup/

We just moved to San Francisco and really could have done with some of this advice before we came here:

http://jasonevanish.com/2012/05/20/sf-startup-survival-guide-how-to-find-an-apartment-in-san-francisco/

Still, we ended up in a nice place but wow, this place is tough and pricy to live!