Bryan is an entrepreneur in San Francisco. He founded Bleacher Report, and currently advises several startups. Previously, he was a failed investment banker. You can follow him on Twitter.
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Do men read?
What! How dare I ask such a question? You are a man, perhaps, and you like to read — why, you have visited six different websites today alone. PandoDaily is just one of many fine periodicals that round out your day. Right? But I’m still going to ask the question, and I am also going to broaden it into an action-oriented... -
You are not as good as you think you are
You just sold your company for hundreds of millions of dollars, and months later, you are still getting congratulatory emails from people you barely remember. You worked your ass off to build that company, and you genuinely deserve credit for what you achieved — sure, there was some luck involved. More than you even want to think about. Still, nobody... -
How much was GoodReads worth? My calculation says $3 billion
Earlier today, BusinessWeek speculated that Good Reads — the terrific social network founded by Otis Chandler and Elizabeth Khuri Chandler — was acquired for about $1 billion. Like most people who read this headline, I immediately clicked the article, drove a unique visitor to BusinessWeek, viewed an advertisement, and contributed a tenth of a penny to Michael Bloomberg’s net... -
Because of asset seizures, I am starting my new company outside California
Today was a bad day. After meeting with my tax accountant, I am now cutting a very large check to the State of California, all of which resulted from Proposition 30 and the “retroactive tax” that was levied on my 2012 income. This despite the fact that I already paid my 2012 taxes back in September. While the law stipulates that... -
You don’t want experts. You want jacks-of-all-trades
There used to be an old saying, “A jack-of-all-trades is a master of none.” That was a great concept at one point in time, but now we must discard that outdated notion and admit that we live in an era when “experts” are on their way out. Ron Johnson is an expert in retail — how is he doing at JC... -
An article about gender, written by a man
I’ve promised myself many times that I would not write about gender. And now I’m breaking that promise. It was probably inevitable, but it has been catalyzed by the hype surrounding Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, and the litany of response editorials that are proving unavoidable for those of us who read a lot. And, not surprisingly, almost all of these articles are... -
There’s discomfort, and then there’s starting a company
You sell your company, make millions of dollars, and now you get to choose how you want to live the rest of your life. It probably makes sense to splurge a little bit. A fancy watch, new car, and bigger home are some of the obvious ones that jump to mind. These are the creature comforts that people want and deserve... -
Things worth learning
When I was in the third grade, I learned how to write in cursive. At the time, it was this really big deal. Huge. My classmates and I — who had already learned how to read really good the previous two years (…like…super good) — were about to learn cursive. And that seemed pretty neat. After all, how could one claim to... -
Gawker admits defeat, tries to replicate Bleacher Report and Huffington Post
I don’t cover news for PandoDaily, but I figured that I would give it a shot today. Gawker has thrown in the towel on their old model. Today, their popular Deadspin blog has announced that they are creating a “contributor network” that will allow “everyone — yes everyone [to have] the same tools at your disposal that we [the writers]... -
How much is a piece of content worth?
The publishing industry has changed immeasurably in the last decade, and its massive transformation can be summed up in one question… “How much is a piece of content worth?” This complex question was brought into the national dialogue very recently when noted journalist Nate Thayer wrote a scathing condemnation of an editor for The Atlantic who dared ask him to...
