a16z LPs, it’s time to go elsewhere

Brian P. Christie Brian P. Christie
Posted at 5/22/2022

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is getting a lot of attention for recently publishing a “State of Crypto” report. It’s a slick-looking, professionally produced, 56-page deck that attempts to define web3 (it really doesn’t) and offer talking points for developments in the related areas of Layer1 and Layer2 blockchains, stablecoins, DeFi, NFTs, and DAOs.   

My view? The report isn’t devoid of i...more

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Confession: I Framed Mark Zuckerberg

Brian P. Christie Brian P. Christie
Posted at 2/17/2022

Two weeks ago, #Meta lost over $200 BILLION in market capitalization after reporting the impact of Apple’s opt-out anti-tracking privacy protection on #Facebook mobile iOS users (yes, people do care about their data and privacy when given the choice). 

So what can Meta do next?  

1) Pivot even faster to an ambiguous vision of the "metaverse" and hope that shareholders will stay with them...more

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Eight takeaways from Facebook's Meta announcement

Brian P. Christie Brian P. Christie
Posted at 10/29/2021

It's impossible to ignore all the news and commentary surrounding Facebook's rebranding as "Meta" given their outsized role and influence on global business, culture, and politics. 

Many people are making comments along the lines of: "The term 'metaverse' was first used to describe a virtual world owned by corporations in Stephenson’s 1992 dystopian sci-fi novel Snow Crash." 

I watched M...more

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Will Twitter’s ability to manipulate the price of bitcoin affect Square’s stock price and land Jack in a box?

Brian P. Christie Brian P. Christie
Posted at 6/8/2021

The hype and near-religious fervor of bitcoin advocates continues to amaze me.

I imagine people are viewing bitcoin with wide eyes in the same way that people may have first viewed combustion engine cars when they emerged late in the 19th century. It was the later  introduction of Ford’s Model-T in 1908 and its incredible popularity that made construction of new roads a top US government prio...more

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Predictions for Tech in 2021: Four Sectors where Government Action will Dramatically Transform the Landscape for US-based Start-ups.

Brian P. Christie Brian P. Christie
Posted at 1/13/2021

If you were like me, you welcomed 2021 expecting the New Year to start erasing the chaos of 2020 -- and you certainly didn’t expect the first week to bring an attempted coup d'état!

But our government remains standing and as we look to the year ahead, it’s anyone’s guess on how things will unfold in the tech sector given the turbulence we’re experiencing from politi...more

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Brainsy offers consumers full data privacy on social platforms with newly released data incognito mode

Brainsy, Inc.
Posted at 12/8/2020

Latest Brainsy feature grants consumers full control and granular transparency over any algorithms affecting their personal account 

Washington, DC - (December 8, 2020) – In a win for consumer choice and privacy, Brainsy Inc. announced a newly released “Data Incognito” mode to give consumers the option to be free from algorithms, targeting, and analytics when participating in a white-labeled ...more

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Facebook Destroys Democracy

Brian P. Christie Brian P. Christie
Posted at 9/4/2020

Facebook is destroying democracy. I wish I could state this were hyperbole. But it’s happening right in front of us on so many levels. Let’s just focus on one aspect of the Facebook business model and their policy that permits advertisers - more specifically political candidates - to advertise lies.  

Facebook announced yesterday that they would limit some political ads in the fi...more

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The New York Times (and Google) Profit from Racist Conspiracy Theory about Kamala Harris

Brian P. Christie Brian P. Christie
Posted at 8/19/2020

We’re on the home stretch of the 2020 election cycle and things are heating up. Newsweek recently published a Birtherism inspired opinion piece entitled “Some Questions for Kamala Harris About Eligibility | Opinion” which questions her eligibility to be on the ticket for the highest office because her parents were immigrants with an uncertain naturalization status at the time of ...more

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