new stuff

"Yesterday the White House came out in favor of Rep Bob Goodlatte's patent bill. This is a good thing.

The Goodlatte bill doesn't have everything in it that we would like to see in a bill aimed at reducing the pain that patent trolls inflict on the innovation economy, but it is a good start and I think it can get improved in conference with the Senate.

One thing that was taken out of the Goodlatte bill that we would like to see put back in during the conference with the Senate is the broadening of the covered business method patent review process to include all business method patents.

In the five plus years that we have been working to educate government officials about the blight that patent trolls have wreaked on the startup sector, I have seen a huge shift. We have gone from elected officials being ignorant about this issue, to be aware of it, to now being as outraged as we are about the troll issue. That's a good thing and the result, I think, will be better laws and better processes to out bad patents and bad actors in the system. This is long overdue but welcome nonetheless."

Content from Fred Wilson's blog, avc.com, used under Creative Commons License. Fred Wilson is a VC and principal of Union Square Ventures. Originally posted on December 4, 2013.

The Goodlatte Patent Bill (a post by @FredWilson)

Given the endless time we all spend with our noses in our phones, it may not be too surprising to hear that the smartphone has taken over the tech world. But the smartphone’s dominance is so complete, says a16z’s Benedict Evans, that it’s useful to think of it as the sun, the object around which everything else in the (technology) planetary system revolves. 

Technology meets astronomy, plus Android’s Stagefright bug, and why three German carmakers are getting into the software business in this segment of the a16z Podcast.

a16z Podcast: A Copernican Update ... In Tech, the Smartphone is the Center

I am a VC. I have been since 1986. I help people start and build technology companies. I do it in NYC, which isn't the easiest place to build technology companies, but it's getting better.

I love my work.  I am the Managing Partner of two venture capital firms, Flatiron Partners and Union Square Ventures.

I also am a husband and a father of 3 kids. I do that in NYC too. And it isn't the easiest place to raise a family either. But it's getting better too. I love my family more than my work.

I also love music, art, yoga, biking, skiing, and golf. That's a lot of interests for a guy who works 70 hours a week and loves his family. But I manage to make it work. 

The Goodlatte Patent Bill (a post by @FredWilson)

Fred Wilson's A VC