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On This Week in Startups, we brought back–by popular demand–the All Ask Jason episode! Four fans of the show called in to get Jason and Tyler’s advice on their most pressing career and business problems–from how to monetize, to which project to pursue.

0:00-2:15 Welcome everyone, today we have an All Ask Jason episode!
2:15-3:00 Don’t forget that the LAUNCH Festival is March 7 and 8 in San Francisco! For more information, go to conference.launch.is.
3:00-7:30 Thank you to GoToMeeting for their support. Everyone thank @GoToMeeting.
7:30-9:00 We talk to our first caller, Flaviu Simihaian, who has a question about finding a co-founder for his project Eval.me.
9:00-9:30 Jason: You have to decide if this is a proof-of-concept business or if you want to go up against the leaders.
9:30-11:30 Tyler: What was your core motivation for founding this product?
11:30-15:00 Jason: You need to leave North Carolina. I would also make a list of the things in your life that you’re most passionate about.
15:00-15:30 Jason: Go on a long hike and make yourself a list.
15:30-18:00 Flaviu: Is joining another team a better way to go if I can find something I’m passionate about?
18:00-19:00 Tyler tells about an experience in which someone told him he couldn’t run a clothing company solo and he was motivated to prove them wrong.
19:00-20:45 The next question is from Marcus Shappi of Ninja Blocks who has a concern about making all of his software open source.
20:45-25:00 Jason: If these investors don’t understand the value of open source, that’s a bit of a tell that they’re probably dumb.
25:00-27:45 Thank you to Sourcebits for their sponsorship! Everyone thank @Sourcebits.
27:45-32:00 The next question comes from Rodrigo Fuentes, who is having a problem deciding which revenue model to pursue for his startup CallTrackingFox.com.
32:00-35:30 Tyler: When you show a visual, that has a big impact, so make sure it’s good.
35:30-37:00 Our next caller is Javaughn Langlois, who is trying to decide between learning from his mentor and starting up on his own (SeedMyDream.com).
37:00-38:30 Insight from Tyler: It’s like digging a ditch in Mexico.
38:30-43:30 Your passion project has to be the one that you work on most of the time.
43:30-45:00 People who didn’t grow up with money tend to undervalue their services.
45:00-47:30 Jason: When I was growing up, we didn’t spend $25k on every vacation we took, combined, for 18 years.
47:30-48:45 Javaughn: I’m having trouble getting people who already know me to buy in to my company. What should I do?
48:45-51:45 People move to major cities because there’s more opportunity.
51:45-54:15 Thank you to Sourcebits and GoToMeeting for making this episode possible.
54:15-56:00 Jason tells a story about going to see The Artist in San Francisco and seeing lots of openly gay couples.
56:00-58:15 Jason: I’m haunted by the things in life that I’m able to do that others are not or have to live in fear of doing.
58:15-59:00 Jason: Let’s all remember that we’re incredibly lucky to be able to participate in this program. If anyone listening has any inclination to do something positive, go out and do it. We’ll see you all next time.

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On This Week in Startups, Liz Gannes of AllThingsD and Web entrepreneur Peter C. Horan joined us for analysis on blogger/angel ethics, the future as seen through Google glasses, Pinterest mania and Flickr’s failings.

0:00-3:30 Welcome everyone, we’re here for a News Roundtable Panel with Liz Gannes of AllThingsD and Web entrepreneur Peter Horan.
3:30-4:30 Thank you to Sourcebits for sponsoring the program and supporting independent media!
4:30-11:00 First story: Liz broke the story this week that Rapportive was acquired by LinkedIn. Liz, who tipped you off?
11:00-14:15 People who are angel investors have a major agenda with journalists like yourself, Liz, and would want to curry favor with you, right?
14:15-16:45 Liz, do you ever get angels who, in the middle of an acquisition, try to up the stakes by having you leak the story?
16:45-21:45 Next story: Dan Lyons, formally of Fake Steve Jobs fame, has been writing a series of columns criticizing journalists–who are also VCs–and who cover their own investments. Where does everyone come down on this debate? Is it ethical?
21:45-26:30 Did their attack on Nick feel dirty to you too, Liz?
26:30-27:00 Liz: It’s just taking TechCrunch a long time to die.
27:00-28:45 Thank you to MailChimp for sponsoring the program! Everyone thank @MailChimp!
28:45-30:15 Liz, is TechCrunch as a brand worthless today?
30:15-34:30 Peter: This is like inviting Charles Manson over for Thanksgiving dinner, asking him to carve the turkey and then being surprised when there’s blood on the walls.
34:30-37:45 Next story: Google is working on “smart glasses” that will stream information to wearers in real time, using a screen that will look like a see-through computer monitor. Is this the future, Liz?
37:45-40:30 Lon: What about the safety issue of wearing the glasses?
40:30-41:00 Peter: The best people want to go slay dragons.
41:00-47:00 Next story: Several states attorneys general have expressed concerns about Google’s new privacy practices, saying that this could effect large corporations and government divisions who cannot afford to switch to another system. Is this a legitimate concern that the government should get involved in?
47:00-50:30 What about the story of a woman getting stalked by a Google engineer? What do we think is an appropriate amount of search data to be stored about a person?
50:30-53:15 Tyler: Did you see the Microsoft video of the guy using Google docs?
53:15-56:30 Next story: Flickr is getting a design makeover to compete with other sites like Pinterest. Will this change consumer perception of the aging brand?
56:30-58:00 How studio is Yahoo that they don’t have two developers to put to adding filters to the Flickr app?!
58:00-59:00 Is the new CEO of Yahoo, Scott Thompson, in any way qualified to do anything positive at the company?
59:00-1:00:00 The gang takes bets on how long the current CEO will be in place. Liz says under 18 months, Lon says over, Peter says under. The wager: a sushi lunch.
1:00:00-1:02:30 Speaking of Pinterest, they are now giving image owners the ability to block sharing. Liz, what do you think?
1:02:30-1:03:30 Does anyone want to guess how much each user is worth to Pinterest, given their current valuation?
1:03:30-1:04:00 Peter, who do you think will buy Pinterest?
1:04:00-1:06:00 Next story: Comcast has announced a subscription streaming service to rival Netflix that will be available only to subscribers. Will this stem the tide of cord-cutters?
1:06:00-1:08:15 Jason tells a story about a discussion over The Ides of March he had at a poker game.
1:08:15-1:10:30 Last story: Gnip will become the official vendor for historical Twitter data feeds. How useful will this be to the average consumer?
1:10:30-1:11:15 Insight from Tyler: It feels like passing a law on New Years Eve.
1:11:15-1:12:45 Thank you for watching. We hope to see everyone at the LAUNCH Festival March 7 and 8!
1:12:45-1:14:00 Everyone follow Liz @lizgannes and Peter @peterchoran. And check out Ranker!

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On This Week in Startups, an old friend of Jason’s from the Silicon Alley Reporter days joined us in the studio–Kevin O’Connor, the founder of DoubleClick. Kevin’s new venture is FindTheBest, a recommendation engine powered by a combination of algorithm and human curation. Kevin is passionate about search and web 2.0 learning, so check out an interview with someone who knows exactly what he’s up against (Google), and how to win.

0:00-3:00 Welcome everyone, we’re here today with Kevin O’Connor of FindTheBest.
3:00-6:00 Thank you to LiquidWeb for supporting independent media! Everyone thank them @LiquidWeb!
6:00-8:15 Where was DoubleClick founded? What was the original name?
8:15-9:00 What was it like going to advertisers in those days?
9:00-11:00 And you grew very rapidly, yes?
11:00-13:30 You had a pretty meteoric rise, and then raised a huge IPO, yes?
13:30-15:00 And you handed over the reins to Kevin Ryan at some point? What did you do during that time?
15:00-16:00 Why do great entrepreneurs never make great venture capitalists?
16:00-16:45 Insight from Tyler: “It’s like being the lifeguard at the pool.”
16:45-18:30 How many hours a week do you think those VC work?
18:30-20:00 Do you remember Boo.com?
20:00-20:45 Jason explains the poker game guts.
20:45-22:00 What do you think that’s out right now that’s really impressive?
22:00-24:30 Jason and Kevin look at FindTheBest.com.
24:30-26:30 Is Google a content company at this point, in your mind?
26:30-29:15 Thank you to GoToMeeting for sponsoring the program! Everyone thank @GoToMeeting and thank them for their support!
29:15-31:00 How do you get the results? Is it human and algorithm powered?
31:00-33:30 How do you then take those results and organize them?
33:30-34:45 How do you make money? Are you taking a commission?
34:45-37:00 How do you build a brand like this when Google is infringing on your space?
37:00-40:45 Is it Google’s right to put their rankings above everyone else’s?
40:45-44:15 Do you think Google is doing human search and they don’t want to let on how many people they have doing it?
44:15-46:00 How is the company funded? How many people do you have?
46:00-47:30 Mobile: what’s your focus there?
47:30-51:00 What is the score based on in any given category?
51:00-53:45 Megan Dickey of LAUNCH joins us to play Guess the Fake Startup game.
53:45- Kevin, as a consumer and investor, which of these would you use and which would you put money into?
59:30-1:00:15 The real company is Spread!
1:00:15-1:00:30 Thank you so much for joining us, Kevin. Everyone check out FindTheBest.com and follow Kevin @kjpoconnor.

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