The best writing of the week, January 26 | The Verge

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Getting up to speed

http://ift.tt/1cuXnsR

IT FEELS LIKE some prayer meeting. Two middle-aged men start by telling the audience how important it is to pitch in. A booming voice announces the acts, greeted by loud cheers; then some enthusiastic young people jump onto the stage and start talking about their missions.

Why Bitcoin Matters

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Editor’s note: Marc Andreessen’s venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, has invested just under $50 million in Bitcoin-related start-ups. The firm is actively searching for more Bitcoin-based investment opportunities. He does not personally own more than a de minimis amount of Bitcoin.

Why The Haters are Wrong About Growth Hacking

http://ift.tt/1iwH97Z

There’s an article making the rounds in tech circles titled “Growth Hacking is Bull” written by Muhammad Saleem. I’d like to make the case that the article is wrong. I’d strongly encourage you to read it.

How to Figure Out Your Competitors’ Revenues in About 70 Seconds

http://ift.tt/1dwTnxX

A friend of mine who heads business intelligence at a public web company taught me a little hack that does seem to work pretty well to figure out the revenues of any pre-public SaaS/web services company.

Apps to Protect Your Array of Passwords

http://ift.tt/1jwCl2V

We all know that we need to use strong passwords on Web sites. In fact, a different password for every site you frequent is wise. Good Web security hygiene creates two problems, however. First, you have to remember all those different passwords.

Greenify, the Android Battery Saver, Now Supports Unrooted Phones

http://ift.tt/KVZTlu

Android: Greenify, the awesome auto-hibernating battery saver, used to be a root-only app. As of this weekend, Greenify also works with non-rooted devices, with a few caveats.

oTranscribe is a Free, Keyboard-Friendly Transcription Tool

http://ift.tt/JQhStu

Web: Google Voice is a pretty good way to record and transcribe voice memos for yourself, but that's not an option for lengthy recordings of interviews and lectures. For that, my weapon weapon of choice would be oTranscribe, a free and open-source webapp.

Embrace the Stage Fright

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=embrace-the-stage-fright-14-01-15

Nervous before a big interview? Or a major exam or speech? Well, whatever you do, don’t calm down. Because new research finds that people who try to relax away their performance anxiety actually mess up more than folks who just give in to the excitement.

Onsite’s Software Company Metrics

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Insight’s “Periodic Table of SaaS Sales Metrics” is compiled from benchmark information gathered from our SaaS portfolio companies and publicly available sources. The Periodic Table represents the core metrics that should be managed by Sales Executives.

Google just made it really easy for strangers to email you

http://theverge.com/2014/1/9/5292310/gmail-now-lets-you-send-emails-to-other-google-users

You no longer need someone's email address to send them an email. At least, that will soon be the case if you want to email another Google+ user. A new Gmail "feature" will let you simply type in anyone's name into Gmail's "to" field and send them an email.

The Little Book of IDEO: Values

http://www.slideshare.net/timbrown/ideo-values-slideshare1?utm_source=slideshow&utm_medium=ssemail&utm_campaign=weekly_digest

We wrote this to give you a sense of IDEO’s culture—the ties that bind us together as coworkers and as people. ... We wrote this to give you a sense of IDEO’s culture—the ties that bind us together as coworkers and as people.

The Motley Fool Culture Code

http://www.slideshare.net/TheMotleyFool/the-motley-fool-slideshare-presentation-2014

Presentation Transcript We built the best company to work for in America* And you can too...

Culture Code - Asana

http://www.slideshare.net/asana/culture-code-asana-29674527

Presentation Transcript A GROUP OF PEERS ON A BOLD MISSION #culturecode ON A MISSION MISSION STATEMENT We‘ve set out to do great things. Our mission statement is clearly defined, so everyone at Asana is aligned towards the same ultimate goal.

VC 101: What Happens to the Employee Option Pool after an Acquisition?

http://www.alleywatch.com/2014/01/vc-101-what-happens-to-the-employee-option-pool-after-an-acquisition/

In short, the shares get a disappearing act. Not so fast, though! Where those shares magically disappear to is the key to all this. In most cases, the unused shares are redistributed to all shareholders proportionate to their ownership.

The Open-Office Trap

http://m.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/01/the-open-office-trap.html

In 1973, my high school, Acton-Boxborough Regional, in Acton, Massachusetts, moved to a sprawling brick building at the foot of a hill. Inspired by architectural trends of the preceding decade, the classrooms in one of its wings didn’t have doors.

Friends Don’t Let Friends Have a Lazy VC/CEO Relationship

http://bilalzuberi.com/2013/09/27/friends-dont-let-friends-have-a-lazy-vcceo-relationship/

A few days ago Vinod Khosla commented that in his opinion, the vast majority of VCs did not add value to their portfolio companies – and in fact most added negative value.

The Saddest SaaS Pricing Pages of the Year

http://blog.priceintelligently.com/blog/bid/192297/The-Saddest-SaaS-Pricing-Pages-of-the-Year

Discuss on Hacker News here. Your pricing page is the center of your universe. Everything you do, from your marketing and sales to your product development and support, works to drive people to that page, convert them, and keep them coming back.