Since Benchmark’s investment in Ebay 15 years ago, we have been fascinated by online marketplaces. Entrepreneurs accurately recognize that the connective tissue of the Internet provides an opportunity to link the players in a particular market, reducing friction in both the buying and selling experience. You must also organically aggregate demand. MORE >>

I was talking to a friend who has been displaced because of Sandy. They are struggling to get back to their daily routine and it is hard living out of a suitcase without access to the things they rely on from day to day. was talking to the CEO of a company whose business was negatively impacted by Sandy. One is a personal thing. MORE >>

Pretty pictures help, but if you want to make the most of Pinterest, you need a more thoughtful strategy. You have a Pinterest account for your business. That's a good first step, but are you using it to full advantage? How can you make sure you're getting the most benefit from your Pinterest boards? Hayden recommends these steps: 1. Get personal. MORE >>

This is part of an ongoing startup advice series where I answer (anonymized!) questions from readers, like a written version of Smart Bear Live. To get your question answered , email me at asmartbear -at- shortmail -dot- com. just quit my day job to work on it full-time, and I have a few thousand more dollars I can put into it. But what? Mailbag MORE >>

Think you're a great leader? Make sure you aren't guilty of one of these three reality-distorting traits. Every great leader possesses a degree of what Walter Isaacson (in his biography of Steve Jobs) describes as "an ability to distort reality." But that reality distortion effect works both ways. The time needed to do things. There's no in-between. MORE >>