Meaning, if the extremist privatization politicians got their way, the gov't would own zero. But, if the gov't holds the commons in receivership over a very long term, the commons (as the gov't is ours if done well) will still hold a strong position over time.

Close, but not what I need. What I want (& maybe others?) is:

Compute on a stick that's a VM. Then, I can plug this into my laptop's HDMI or USB port to work on my project's local data/apps that's inside the VM.

Then I can take the stick when I travel, instead of taking my laptop. I can plug the stick into any laptop for full keyboard/trackpad. Or, I could plug the stick into a TV/monitor & use my phone/tablet's IO (keyboard/touch) over the same wifi. (Yes, the stick would need a minimal host OS to run a VM on a dumb monitor.)

Small local storage (working cache) with the rest in the cloud.

If such a device exists, please educate me/us.

Yes, it's hard, and not quite doable today. But, there are millions of people working on making the components of this solution better.

It's so attractive to carry around a computer in our pockets (our "phones") and it's really not much of a stretch to envision a near future where the thing in our pocket is our "local data/projects" that we can plug into any larger display or keyboard /IO on demand.

Before you know it, it's going to seem archaic to have local working data on any other device than the one in your pocket. And it's going to seem archaic that any nice large interface (screen or keyboard) is tied to only 1 device.

The issue is whether it's worth having a bicycle that can turn into a car and a car that can turn into a bicycle. Most of the time, the execution on these is terrible at both.

> Before you know it, it's going to seem archaic to have local working data on any other device than the one in your pocket.

These requirements seem to contradict each other. Do you want a thin/cloud client or offline compute?

Moka5 has an offline compute offering, http://www.moka5.com/2014/10/21/comparing-moka5-livepc-vs-vm...

Moka5 was basically running apps on packaged VMware hypervisors on Mac and Windows endpoints, but centrally-managed like Citrix Metaframe.

The better approach is simply wrap the app up in a read-only bundle, use an fs driver to redirect writes to a shadow vol and deploy it to endpoints without having N addl VMs to manage (so it can work ThinApp or client-side.). Even the OS minus config should really be a verifiable, read-only archive.

Disclaimer: I've had mtgs with Monica at Stanford. The similar word from both Citrix and Vmware is that that neither could develop sustainable professional relationships for an acquisition event to occur. Sad, but typical.

"Bad news is good news. Good news is no news. No news is bad news."

Essentially, it means:

Bad news (criticism) done right will show you where you need to focus to improve. That's why we upvote those comments.

Good news will give you little or no actionable items to improve.

No news means you are not getting any feedback, which means your progress will stall.

[1] I worked (far) under Jim Moran when he was the long-time CEO of a huge hardware tech company: http://www.appliedmaterials.com/en-in/profiles/james-c-morga...

However, many people outside of the startup scene have misconceptions, as they see survivor bias/success bias in the reporting. One item in the report feeds this misconception: "The average company got $1.9 million in funding." The median raised would be far more revealing of the actual experience that a startup faces than the average.

I just pulled some numbers quickly...

In the last 3 Techstars NYC batches (not including the most recent), there were 37 companies with median funding of just over $1.6 million. 28 are still active, 6 have been acquired and 3 have failed.

Total companies: 486

Median funding: $450,000

Average funding: $2,039,918

Total funding: $991,400,000

  var fundings = $('.batch .parent .right').map(function(){ 
    return +this.innerHTML.replace(/(\$|,| )/g, '') || 0;
  }).toArray();

  fundings = fundings.sort(function(a, b) { return a - b; });

  var totalFunding = fundings.reduce(function(a, b) { return a + b; });

  console.log('Total companies: ', fundings.length);
  console.log('Median funding: ', fundings[Math.round(fundings.length / 2)]);
  console.log('Average funding: ', Math.round(totalFunding / fundings.length));

The "Renaissance Center" (celebrating the rebirth of the city) was built in 1980. The last 34 years, I've heard stories of the "inevitable rebirth" of the city.

It's just so sad. For 34 years, a few people are hopeful while the city still declines.

Detroit has so many good things going for it: An international border. A water trade route to the Atlantic. More fresh water resources than any other state. Rail lines that are well connected to Chicago and the East Coast.

What's really sad for me, personally, is the realization that for so many other challenges, like the CA drought, Global Climate Change, etc, we need tons of capital and work. But IMO, for Detroit to get "fixed", we just need a change of MIND (which can be more difficult than getting sustainable energy, but seriously, could change in 1 day, for free, if we had MLK Jr. type people on the ground).

So, in short, it's people's minds that are killing Detroit. We desperately need to change minds there. In Silicon Valley, all races collaborate, live & work together, and we thrive. Please let's try to export that culture to Detroit soon.

TIL Detroit would be an awesome capitol city in Civ V.

But...how much do those things matter in a modern world?

I think I agree with the basics of your assertion about racism playing a role in what's wrong with Detroit. But, I think you have rose-colored glasses about Silicon Valley. There is class warfare happening in the Bay area, just like in every major city, and poor people of color are coming out with the short end of the stick.

Actually, it's just about money.

There's a world of difference between the kids brought up to choose between pre-med and pre-law, and kids brought up to stay away from the cops.

Currently live downriver from Detroit - I disagree that the attitudes are more toxic. We have yet to have protests in front of our busses (then again, we don't have very many buses, and the 'mugger mover' only goes in a circle). Unfortunately racial tensions still exist (especially when you leave the downtown area), but anecdotally I believe things are getting better.

  But...how much do those things matter in a modern world?

I'm a Detroit-area native here, living in the Bay Area for over a decade. I once had the same impression about the Bay Area - that it had figured out harmonious race relations. In fact, it was one of the things (in addition to the tech industry) that drew me out here from Michigan.

But I have come to the realization over the years that it was an illusion, and beneath the surface are actually highly economically/racially segregated zones (SV/E.PaloAlto & East SJ, Central SF/Bayview, Oakland Hills / Flats, etc). All these are juxtaposed by signifiant race and class divisions (I'm speaking in aggregate, we all know plenty of individuals who are exceptions).

I'm always surprised at how unwilling many folks in SV are to acknowledge the historical racial dimensions the of current inequality crisis in the Bay Area.

I attribute a lot of it to well intended idealism that is uninformed (as I was) about the tumultuous racial history of the Bay Area, which included many of the same factors as Detroit: white flight, inner-city disinvestment, corrupt governance, manufacturing decline, division/destruction of communities by freeways, and suburbanization.

A lot of things have hurt Detroit. Include corporate malfeasance, changing labor markets, political corruption, bad planning. But I beg you to clarify if you must insist it is minds.

Yea, care to explain?

(And I don't mean born at Sinai Hospital and then taken home to the suburbs).

Or it's people like you who grew up there and decided to abandon it.

If they have to make very careful sets of photos to avoid confusion, then the sets of photos will be small enough to build lookup libraries for bots.

Simple P&L statement & balance sheet: Provide it to all investors who ask. That's just basic common sense.

Would YOU invest in a company that wouldn't even tell you these basic financial metrics? Would this author invest without it?

And, I've seen far too many "startups" who don't even know what simple financial things are (balance sheet, P&L, cash-flow, margin), and that illiteracy is NOT going to end well.

So, the pain may be real, but the advice given is not IMO correct.

If you can't trust an accredited investor with your financial data then don't take their money.

And if that investor inappropriately divulges confidential information, then take it up with a lawyer as it seems the company in question is in the process of doing right now.

Asking up front is one thing, being obligated to provide to a minority shareholder ongoing is another entirely.

1) In the smart long-term play, family & few close friends are most important. Everything else (including your startup) is trivial.

2) Even if you value your startup at 100% value (over family/friends/health/life), you're incredibly short-sited and killing your own startup baby if you don't have some balance in your life. Startup life is NOT a sprint. It's a marathon. To give the BEST to your startup, you need to bring your BEST every day.

Phrased another way, I often ask, "Let's say you're going to be interviewed on the Colbert Report, or other big-huge-friggin' deal tomorrow, what would you do today?" Often, people say, "I'll eat well, build something, hug my family, build something, help someone, build more, chat with a friend, take a walk, build more, play a game, go to bed early" So, if that's what you do to bring your BEST tomorrow, then what would you do if you wanted to bring your BEST EVERY day?

That tends to drive home the message that work-life balance isn't just helping your life, it's truly what matters to helping your work too.

Corollary: If you're overstressed, you aren't helping your work. Often, overstressed people at startups will add much more friction in the small team, hurting efficiency as arguments & disrespect poisons the day's actions. Not to mention the zombie-brain mistakes in execution when you're not taking proper care of yourself.

To go further, if you want to do more than just handle the unexpected (which is kind of like putting out a fire) you will need to bring wisdom to the situation.

Developing wisdom requires an even greater reserve of energy _and_ some downtime to reflect.