“Investors are like high school girls:

* They always say what they really care about is the team [you]. Actually what they care most about is your traffic [stock], then what other investors think, then you.

* They are afraid of looking bad.

* They can’t make up their minds.

* They like it when you don’t need them.

* Being turned down by them doesn’t mean much.

* They are emotional. Investment negotiations can easily turn personal. If you offend investors, they’ll leave in a huff. Even after a term sheet, it may be several months to a deal. It’s not uncommon for them to get buyer’s remorse. If they do, they’ll usually seize on some technicality or claim you misled them, rather than admitting they changed their minds.

* They look for founders like the current stars.

* They collude. They are constantly trading little favors. Though a professional investor may have a closer relationship with a founder he invests in than with other investors, his relationship with the founder is only going to last a couple years, whereas his relationship with other firms will last his whole career.

“I’ve been surprised how willing investors are to split deals. You might think that if they found a good deal they’d want it all to themselves, but they seem positively eager to syndicate. There is one rational reason to want multiple VCs in a deal: Any investor who co-invests with you is one less investor who could fund a competitor. Splitting deals thus has similar advantages to confusing paternity.

“Since valuations are made up, founders shouldn’t care too much about them. And since a startup is like a pass/fail course for the founders, what you want to optimize is your chance of a good outcome, not the percentage of the company you keep.

“VCs don’t try to look at something and predict whether it will take off. They win by noticing that something is taking off a little sooner than everyone else.

“80% of all the fantasy novels you’ve read seem, linguistically, to be taking place in Southern California in the 80’s.

“Guys who are getting bumped down in the list: I certainly empathize with your situation and understand why you are frustrated. I’m sure this will cost us a few customers, which we wish wasn’t the case. Unfortunately, we had to make a change because the problem was getting worse daily. If we could please everyone we would, but that’s rarely an option. We feel this process is open and in the hands of customers..

“..while Stone occasionally directed episodes in the early years of South Park, he’s found his niche as the person who coordinates the episodes, making sure they arrive on time and under budget.

“The wisdom of crowds comes not from the consensus decision of the group, but from the aggregation of the ideas/thoughts/decisions of each individual in the group.

“..teaching is the “killer app” for a newer, more ethical approach to marketing. Those who teach stand the best chance of getting people to become passionate. And those with the most passionate users don’t need an ad campaign when they’ve got user evangelists doing what evangelists do… talking about their passion.

“A good easter egg is a playful, hidden or disguised feature that, when discovered, can offer surprise, delight, entertainment, humor, novelty, or an “I Rule” experience.