http://www.curiousoffice.com A Seattle-based seed stage investment and technology development organization. Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:07:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I'm really excited about our newest project that we are incubating internally codenamed "Presslayer". The concept was developed completely in-house by us and, like Imagekind, I will initially lead the development of the concept and the recruiting of the initial team. Adrian Hanauer and Imagekind CFO Tom Riley ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/07/21/presslayer-there-is-a-new-curious-office-project-in-town/ It was in July 2006 when we launched Imagekind to the world for the first time. Here we are two years later and we are pleased to announce that the leading print-on-demand company has purchased the company. CafePress is a Sequoia backed company that needs no introduction. ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/07/08/imagekind-sold-to-cafepress/ Now this is one heck of a nice find. Get some ideas, then go do something interesting. http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/06/18/get-inspired-by-business-cards-over-on-flickr/ You really have to wonder how a resignation letter like this winds up on the internet. But, it is great material for the folks over at Valleywag isn't it! For a brief time I worked with Stewart as we tried to sort out the flickr/imagekind partnership. I ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/06/18/stewart-butterfield-resigns-from-flickryahoo/ You just have to love www.asmallworld.net This is certainly the social network of the over achievers. I was going through their auto classifieds today because sometimes there are some interesting cars. But, I just couldn't help but smile as I was noticing the listings today. Let's see. ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/06/10/you-wont-find-these-auto-classifieds-on-myspace/ I hate the type engine in Photoshop. The font sizes in your mock-ups do not reflect the font sizes you'll actually use when trying to replicate your design. What's a person to do? Well, in my case I keep Typetester nearby and I'll occasionally remind myself of ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/06/06/getting-your-onscreen-type-just-right/ My good friend Steve Lacey has settled in to the bliss that is being part of the Google development organization but he kindly sent me a link to some fantastic user interface design widgets that he knew I'd love. He was right. http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/06/02/the-yahoo-stencil-kit/ Whenever I see a good discussion on SEO I tend to think its a good idea to share. In this case, we saw a very good dialog about SEO resources links on the "SeattleTech" email list which was initially kicked off by a post by Bill Bryant titled The ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/05/29/a-summary-of-seattle-seo-links/ I found myself saying this today and I realized it is the shortest way to state the truth. You must do twice as much. Twice as good. With half as much resources. In half as much time. No. I'm not kidding. This really does summarize my experience. You can go ahead and read between ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/05/27/how-to-build-a-start-up/ Man this was a smart idea. When wireframing I tend to remake this stuff over and over. Just go download your scrollbars and mouse hover states from here. Pretty smart idea. http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/05/27/common-graphics-for-comping-any-web-app/ Curious Office participated in the seed funding for CoolSpotters and were are thrilled with their launch and fantastic press coverage. Good job everyone! http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/05/16/coolspotters-connects-celebrities-and-brands/ It's been awhile since my last blog post and in fact this week I'm in Hawaii. But, I wanted to congratulate Max and Alexis over at Wishpot on the closing of their round. As a side note, I got a chance to meet with another firm involved in this ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/04/29/look-who-closed-a-series-a/ http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/04/07/well-orchestrated-energy-policy/ I've been in Palo Alto for the last few days meeting with a bunch of investors to help out Imagekind. One thing I noticed is that people saw me pull my Mac out onto the conference table and they all kept asking me if I needed an adaptor for ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/04/03/an-interesting-data-point-about-entreprenuers-using-macs/ Traveling down in the Valley today! Oh, you can feel the energy in the air... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/04/02/famous-sand-hill-roard/ The math can get kind of tricky. http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/04/02/guess-how-long-ago-1998-was/ Ok, I didn't originate this list. I'm just sharing it. This list fell out of a great post by Rand Fishkin over at SEOmoz titled "I'm Getting Pretty Tired of Startup Advice that Doesn't Include Any Mention of SEO". I posted some comments as I thought the right conclusion ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/04/01/great-seo-links-going-around-the-seattle-tech-community/ It is only coincidence that I am writing about Apple twice in one day. But, this news which was released today from BrandChannel.com shows that in many respects, Apple may be the most influential brand on the planet. The results of their recent survey show some interesting questions and a ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/03/31/more-on-apple-the-most-influential-brand-on-the-planet/ I've been traveling a lot lately. I spend a lot of time in airports waiting for flights and in coffee shops meeting various people. One thing I always pay attention to is what kind of computer that people around me are working on. A bit geeky I suppose. ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/03/31/apple-how-i-love-thee/ My friend Mika Salmi reminded me of this post the other day because we were talking about the VC firm that backed him at AtomFilms back in the late 90's. Sequoia Capital is a heavy hitter in the VC industry and I think this list of what makes a ... http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/03/27/elements-of-sustainable-companies/