5 ms·

He made quite a lot of money by being an early investor in Skype, the story goes that Zennstrom and Friis were broke and he invested around $100.000 in them bef

by mixmax 18y ago

He made quite a lot of money by being an early investor in Skype, the story goes that Zennstrom and Friis were broke and he invested around $100.000 in them before they had a product. This investment put him into the big league. A few months ago he apparently lost the whole thing in an investment in a Danish newspaper, and is now broke. I never could figure this guy out - his achievements say he is smart as hell, but his blog (http://lundxy.com/ http://lundxy.com/) is full of spelling mistakes and errors, and he is totally inconsistent with no coherent message when he speaks. One thing is for sure - he is a character...

falsestprophet 18y ago
He may be an engaging public figure but, I fear doing business with him would be a complete nightmare.
kungpaochicken 18y ago
but his blog (http://lundxy.com/ http://lundxy.com/) is full of spelling mistakes and errors maybe english is not his first language?
- mixmax 18y ago
  It isn't - but considering that he is from a country where everybody speaks english, and that he is an international businessman I think you can expect a certain standard.
  - kapitti 18y ago
    Fred Wilson has had spelling mistakes or simply used the wrong word in some instances on his blog - I don't think you can really use it as an accurate measure.
  - trevelyan 18y ago
    I'm a native English speaker and make mistakes writing my own language sometimes. I speak and write other languages and make more mistakes there. Most people who are getting things done judge you by what you are getting done, not by whether you can spell the word clientele without looking it up on Google.
- pmorici 18y ago
  He admits he cant really read or write very well in his presentation.
  - teej 18y ago
    Dyslexia and entrepreneurship are closely linked, after all.
adamsmith 18y ago
This reminds me of a Warren Buffet video I was watching yesterday where he talks about "You only have to get rich once." ..."To make money they didn't have and didn't need, they risked what they did have and did need. ...just plain foolish." (He was talking about the Long Term Capital Management guys.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1LiATYSajw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1LiATYSajw&feature=relat...
- mixmax 18y ago
  I just watched it, it's excellent.
- mrtron 18y ago
  If your plan is to make a lot of money, you only need to get rich once. No disrespect to Mr. Buffet - I hold him in the highest regard in terms of character. However, his goal is to make a lot of money and have his companies achieve this as well. He does an amazing job at this. My slow/inarticulate point is that Lund seems to have separate goals so you can't hold him to this same standard. It isn't foolish for Lund to lose all his money with a risky venture. From my perspective, Lund wants to grow companies and create the next big thing. I commend him for going after that 100% regardless of the risks involved. edit: OK, watching that video showed Buffets point a little differently. He was meaning never risk more than you can afford to lose regardless of the return, which is true.
  - tyn 18y ago
    And the next big thing is a free newspaper delivered at home? It's not even original
- delano 18y ago
  Thanks Adam Smith. This is a great talk.
hs 18y ago
is there any strong correlation between spelling mistakes and achievements? imho it's as relevant as predicting an asian engineering student success based on english SAT
- skmurphy 18y ago
  There is a positive correlation between dyslexia and entrepreneurship according to at least one study that has shown dyslexia more two to three times more common among entrepreneurs than the general population. http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/media/stories/story_8_45816_44300.html http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/media/stories/story_8_45816_44300... One common symptom of dyslexia in an adult is difficulty spelling. http://www.interdys.org/ResourcesCommonSignsAdults.htm http://www.interdys.org/ResourcesCommonSignsAdults.htm In my experience working with dyslexics they are more persevering: some tasks that are easy for many require more diligence and practice. It's a habit they develop in childhood to survive. I think this habit may be one source of their entrepreneurial success. See also http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2002/05/13/322876/index.htm http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2002/...
  - hs 18y ago
    "Spelling errors — Because of difficulty learning letter-sound correspondences, individuals with dyslexia might tend to misspell words, or leave vowels out of words." -- wikipedia so i guess it's only natural more spelling errors lead to more achievements ... maybe because s/he doesn't waste time being a grammar/spelling nazi
vaksel 18y ago
I wouldn't call having equity in 80+ startups broke. He may be strapped for cash, but I wouldn't call him broke.
- alecco 18y ago
  His slide said 0 stock.
  - kristiandupont 18y ago
    That's 0 public stock.

by mixmax 18y ago

falsestprophet 18y ago

He may be an engaging public figure but, I fear doing business with him would be a complete nightmare.

kungpaochicken 18y ago

but his blog (http://lundxy.com/ http://lundxy.com/) is full of spelling mistakes and errors maybe english is not his first language?

mixmax 18y ago
It isn't - but considering that he is from a country where everybody speaks english, and that he is an international businessman I think you can expect a certain standard.
- kapitti 18y ago
  Fred Wilson has had spelling mistakes or simply used the wrong word in some instances on his blog - I don't think you can really use it as an accurate measure.
- trevelyan 18y ago
  I'm a native English speaker and make mistakes writing my own language sometimes. I speak and write other languages and make more mistakes there. Most people who are getting things done judge you by what you are getting done, not by whether you can spell the word clientele without looking it up on Google.
pmorici 18y ago
He admits he cant really read or write very well in his presentation.
- teej 18y ago
  Dyslexia and entrepreneurship are closely linked, after all.

adamsmith 18y ago

This reminds me of a Warren Buffet video I was watching yesterday where he talks about "You only have to get rich once." ..."To make money they didn't have and didn't need, they risked what they did have and did need. ...just plain foolish." (He was talking about the Long Term Capital Management guys.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1LiATYSajw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1LiATYSajw&feature=relat...

mixmax 18y ago
I just watched it, it's excellent.
mrtron 18y ago
If your plan is to make a lot of money, you only need to get rich once. No disrespect to Mr. Buffet - I hold him in the highest regard in terms of character. However, his goal is to make a lot of money and have his companies achieve this as well. He does an amazing job at this. My slow/inarticulate point is that Lund seems to have separate goals so you can't hold him to this same standard. It isn't foolish for Lund to lose all his money with a risky venture. From my perspective, Lund wants to grow companies and create the next big thing. I commend him for going after that 100% regardless of the risks involved. edit: OK, watching that video showed Buffets point a little differently. He was meaning never risk more than you can afford to lose regardless of the return, which is true.
- tyn 18y ago
  And the next big thing is a free newspaper delivered at home? It's not even original
delano 18y ago
Thanks Adam Smith. This is a great talk.

hs 18y ago

is there any strong correlation between spelling mistakes and achievements? imho it's as relevant as predicting an asian engineering student success based on english SAT

skmurphy 18y ago
There is a positive correlation between dyslexia and entrepreneurship according to at least one study that has shown dyslexia more two to three times more common among entrepreneurs than the general population. http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/media/stories/story_8_45816_44300.html http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/media/stories/story_8_45816_44300... One common symptom of dyslexia in an adult is difficulty spelling. http://www.interdys.org/ResourcesCommonSignsAdults.htm http://www.interdys.org/ResourcesCommonSignsAdults.htm In my experience working with dyslexics they are more persevering: some tasks that are easy for many require more diligence and practice. It's a habit they develop in childhood to survive. I think this habit may be one source of their entrepreneurial success. See also http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2002/05/13/322876/index.htm http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2002/...
- hs 18y ago
  "Spelling errors — Because of difficulty learning letter-sound correspondences, individuals with dyslexia might tend to misspell words, or leave vowels out of words." -- wikipedia so i guess it's only natural more spelling errors lead to more achievements ... maybe because s/he doesn't waste time being a grammar/spelling nazi

vaksel 18y ago

I wouldn't call having equity in 80+ startups broke. He may be strapped for cash, but I wouldn't call him broke.

alecco 18y ago
His slide said 0 stock.
- kristiandupont 18y ago
  That's 0 public stock.