Here we are now going to the west side
Weapons in hand as we go for a ride
Some may come and some may stay
Watching out for a sunny day where there’s

Love and darkness and my sidearm
Hey, elan

– “South Side” from the Play album by Moby (1999)

Gotham Gal made some observations today about yesterday’s massacre in the U.S.

Note that we now write “yesterday’s massacre” and not “the massacre” because we now have so many massacres in the U.S., we have to be specific about which one we are referring to.

In reply to a comment I made, GG asked, “How do we think about shifting this tide?”

This was my response:

How can a disorganized majority counter a highly organized minority with a big profile and deep pockets? By organizing, fundraising, and being specific. The NRA knows exactly what it wants. We must know exactly what we want and raise the money to pressure the electeds to make it happen.

Everyone knows exactly who to point to when it comes to gun owner advocacy. Who do we point to when it comes to gun control advocacy? We need to know that, too.

There are basically two organizations, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. As a product person, I see a need for one marquee organization. And it needs a name that sounds permanent. “Stop” and “Prevent” are things that we don’t have to do once they’re accomplished. The NRA never stops. We need a Seth Godin to help us come up with something more inspiring, more bonding, more permanent.

We need to understand how to market to our ‘customer’ the way that the NRA understands how to market to theirs.

We also cannot ignore the mental health care aspect. Lack of access to mental health care and easy access to guns are a ‘perfect storm’, and I don’t think addressing one of these aspects alone will get us where we need to go.

Activist movements have worked complex issues like this before, so I guess we need to take a look at what succeeded for them.

It isn’t just high profile massacres that are the problem, either. The number of human beings who are shot to death every day in the U.S. is SHAMEFUL. We must seem to be a barbaric society to the rest of the world.

This movement needs a leader, I think. It needs a full-time evangelist. It needs a brand. Who will take the lead? How do we find that person and empower her to become the voice of our movement we need so badly?

Re/code published a post yesterday about Getty’s new “Lean In” collection of stock images.

While the news of the new collection is cool and interesting, one single phrase stood out to me and caught my attention:

“The idea is to get away from the women laughing alone with salad and provide alternatives,” says Jessica Bennett, a journalist and contributing editor at Lean In…

Follow the “women laughing along with salad” link and you’ll be treated to a Tumblr of images that are just exactly that.

Most women I know will recognize this subtextual meme that’s run through our lives since we can remember. And they’ll get how freakin’ funny, sad, ironic, meaningful it is.

Have you ever laughed alone with salad? I’ve tried laughing alone with salad countless times over the course of my life, and it never made me happy, perfect or healthy. Dammit.

Though nothing will keep us together
We could steal time,
just for one day
We can be Heroes, for ever and ever
What d’you say?

– “Heroes” by David Bowie

My belief: you don’t need a co-founder. Period. But! If you have a great one, then wonderful. It’s just two different ways to do the startup thing. One is not superior to the other. It’s like insisting David Bowie become The Beatles.

These things can’t be forced, and I think the co-founder obsession has done some damage.

If you’re unconvinced (or need a little reinforcement, like me), give Jason Calacanis, Jerry Colonna and Mark Suster 17 minutes of your time:

I thought you died a long, a long long time ago
Oh no, not me
I never lost control
You’re face to face
With The Man Who Sold The World

– “The Man Who Sold The World” by David Bowie

Andy Warhol looks a scream
Hang him on my wall
Andy Warhol, Silver Screen
Can’t tell them apart at all

– David Bowie, “Andy Warhol”

Fred Wilson shared on his blog today a video of Lou Reed being interviewed by Charlie Rose. In the segment that Wilson shared, Reed is talking about Andy Warhol’s influence on him. In the comments, I stated that Warhol changed my life.

The first and second seasons of “Sesame Street” made me who I am (more on that in a future post). But Andy Warhol changed my life.

It was 1982 or 83, or so, and I was a stir-crazy kid growing up in The Middle Of Freaking Nowhere, Wyoming. My lifeline to the outside world was “Vogue” magazine. One afternoon while spending quality time with the latest issue, I came upon a feature article about a new biography by George Plimpton titled, “Edie.” “Edie” was all about some glamorous skinny socialite girl who hung out with that soup can guy, Andy Warhol.

Like so many young women my age that year, I read that article 15 times. Then I bought my own copy  of  “Edie” and carried it around the way a missionary carries around “The Book of Mormon.” I read it over, and over, and over. “Edie” struck some kind of chord with a generation of youngsters. They became captivated, mesmerized, obsessed with Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol. And I was the most obsessed of them all.

I took my obsession with Warhol to new extremes when I got to college. Instead of hanging out with friends and partying, I went to the library and absorbed every book on Warhol they had, photocopying all the pictures. I covered the walls in my dorm room with tin foil in an attempt to recreate Warhol’s “Factory.” I checked out every Warhol documentary video from the library and used the footage to teach myself to dance like Edie.

I stole the library’s copy of “A, A Novel by Andy Warhol” by throwing it out a window and retrieving it from the bushes below. I still have it and the hours of audio recordings and transcripts that I made of my friends that were inspired by it.

Being a Warhol freak was literally my identity at college.

I decided to move to New York City because of Andy Warhol. The instant I graduated from college I got in a “drive away” car (who remembers those?) with a friend and headed for the Big Apple. And the rest of my life since then has been a result of that move.

Warhol taught me that it was wonderful to be different and that hard work was the most important part of great art. His weird view of the world resonated so strongly with me that I felt empowered. And all these years later, he still inspires me.

Is it a coincidence that he and I share the same birthday? I think not.

When I see  young people in New York City today, I think, someone like Warhol inspired them to leave where they were and come to the magic city to make their dreams come true. And I remember that article in “Vogue,” and thank my lucky stars that I read it.

Who or what inspired you at an early age?

I’m sticking with you
Cause I’m made out of glue
Anything that you might do
I’m gonna do, too

– The Velvet Underground, “I’m Sticking With You”

Oh mother dear we’re not the fortunate ones
And girls they want to have fun
Oh girls just want to have fun

– Cyndi Lauper, “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”

Sara Chipps has spent a lot of time working in and thinking about tech culture. She is cofounder of Girl Develop It, a system of low-cost software development classes geared toward women (but guys are welcome too). GDI classes are judgement-free, for total beginners who want to take their first few steps into the world of software development.
Sara recently left her role as CTO of Levo League to focus on getting Girl Develop It’s board and 501(c)(3) status together. Levo League is a professional community for Generation Y women.

In this podcast with some of the most thoughtful people in tech, including Joel Spolsky, Sara shares what she’s learned about tech culture and women, and how companies that are interested in reaping the benefits of a diverse tech team can shape their culture to both attract and retain women members.

This is important stuff, culture. Women are not going to stick around a company with a culture that feels unwelcoming. What makes a culture friendly or unfriendly isn’t necessarily a matter of just frowning upon misogyny or required training on preventing sexual assault. (Duh.) It’s pretty hard to see your own company culture from the inside out and understand how it could better support and encourage gender diversity. People like Sara can help.

Here’s a fascinating stat share by Chipps during this podcast:  In 1984, 37% of CS degrees went to women. In 1998, it was 34%. In 2010-11, it was 12%. That’s not progress.

I’m just a girl,
Take a good look at me
Just your typical prototype
Oh…I’ve had it up to here!
Oh…am I making myself clear?

– No Doubt, “Just A Girl”

I’m in the struggle and have been for some time now. While a lot of good luck has come Kuratur’s way, a lot of crap has rained down on it and still does. And everything that happens to Kuratur happens to me and my husband. We have exactly zero distance from the business.

Disappointment pees on us from many sources. Nothing seems to get done on time. Co-founders crap out and even necessitate law suits, which we can’t afford to file. Money runs out. Family members stop asking how the business is going. We lose teeth (yes, my husband and I have each lost at least one tooth) and don’t visit the dentist. We tolerate regular toothaches and manage the situation with hydrogen peroxide and Ambisol. It goes on and on.

We used to have lots of money. Enough money was coming in each month that we didn’t have to look at the price of things we bought. Then we sold our first company. That should have been a happy ending, but wasn’t, and is a subject for another post.

So what do you do when you’re a flaming failure on paper, everyone around you thinks you’re being a damned fool, and no one can see the romance in your situation any more?

Do it with style, baby.