Tag Archives: Antone Johnson

South by Social Media: Improving the Signal-to-Noise Ratio

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Antone Johnson • 0 Comments

It’s impossible to capture all of the ideas, experiences, people, products, pitches, events of such a huge, intense event in one blog post. A few thoughts and resources to cut through the chatter:… Continue Reading

Filed Under: coworking, digital media, entrepreneurship, events, Silicon Valley, social media, startups

Silicon Valley After the Dot-Com Crash: An Insider Perspective

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Antone Johnson • 2 Comments

After the last ops and engineering staff were laid off, I remember wandering through the cavernous, deserted NOC, strewn with assorted equipment that was left to be carted off to auction, looking up at the huge projection screens that forlornly flickered “No Signal.” It felt downright post-apocalyptic, with huge diesel generators out back standing ready to provide backup power to a NOC and data center that no longer needed it.… Continue Reading

Filed Under: digital media, economics, Silicon Valley, social media, startups, venture capital, Web 2.0

If You Build It, They Will Abuse It

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Antone Johnson • 4 Comments

As a completely made-up statistic, assume that 0.01% of users are sociopaths or predators who cause serious damage to the community and its other members. With 10,000 users, that’s one guy. With a million, it’s a hundred people. With 100 million registered users — the scale at MySpace when I left — it’s ten thousand. That kind of math illustrates why every major consumer Internet company has an abuse team that serves as the first line of defense against all kinds of ugliness.… Continue Reading

Filed Under: digital media, law, social media, startups

Legal Guidelines for Small Businesses Using Social Media

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Antone Johnson • 0 Comments

Social media is real-time, spontaneous and casual, making it easy for people to think that “anything goes” online, says Antone Johnson, founding principal of Bottom Line Law Group, a San Francisco-based firm. Johnson has worked as an attorney at MySpace and eHarmony. He says many laws that apply to businesses offline also apply online.… Continue Reading

Filed Under: social media, startups

Resources for Early Stage Entrepreneurs: Fifteen Items in the “Top 10″

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Antone Johnson • 10 Comments

Following is the new, improved, Top 15 List of free online resources addressing key recurring themes and questions that founders raise in our initial meetings: Assembling a founding team, choosing and forming a legal entity, deciding on how to compensate co-founders and employees, gauging market conditions for VC and angel funding, deciphering legal jargon and documents used in VC and angel financing rounds, identifying and retaining the best professional advisors, and so forth.… Continue Reading

Filed Under: angel investing, entrepreneurship, law, startups, super angels, venture capital

Working in Santa Monica, Coworking in San Francisco

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Antone Johnson • 6 Comments

As my firm picks up momentum, we’re putting down deeper roots in both Northern and Southern California. Although virtual offices in executive suites offered convenience and flexibility during our launch, they’re less than ideal in the long run for many reasons. At the same time, as I’ve written before, BLLG itself is operating as a… Continue Reading

Filed Under: coworking