Why ask questions thru formspring when you can use Twitter or FB? Btw, I love formspring… just asking.

I think what we are learning from the rise of social Q&A sites like Formspring is that this is a distinct category of social behavior. Just like Foursquare shows us that the "checkin" is its own vertical category. And part of what it means to be a distinct vertical is that people prefer a distinct experience or channel for this activity. I expect over time we will see other examples of social verticals. And, having missed Foursquare but gotten into Formspring, I hope to back some more of them!

Ask me anything

What it Means to be a Dogpatcher

We are sad to see the inimitable Kamal Ravikant move up and out of Dogpatch SF. But Kamal’s farewell email to his Dogpatch comrades does such a nice job of capturing the spirit we aspire to foster that I asked his permission to reprint the email here (please forgive the gratuitous praise to me and Ryan):

Thank you Dogpatch

Most of you know me – the guy with the crazy hair, sitting by the window.  I’ve been at Pier 38 pre-dogpatch (yup, there was such a time).  It was just myself, the Etherpad team, Jambool, the Mr. Tweet trio (Ming et al), and Socialmedia.  I loved working here, told people that I had the coolest office in the world.  So cool, that I moved and sold my car so I could walk to work and spend more time at the office.  Socialmedia expanded, then contracted.  The Etherpad team ran away to join Google.  Jambool expanded.  Ming became a permanent fixture at the office, here no matter how early you got in or how late you left – there was Ming, working, hunched over his laptop, eating a bowl of…..something.

Then, the office got infinitely cooler.  Ryan and Mike from Polaris started bringing in small teams of highly-talented and motivated folks.  I loved it.  This place became my personal think tank.  Have a question about online payments?  Just walk downstairs and talk to the guy who built Amazon payments.  Issues with building out your team – anyone here can empathize and will share hard earned advice.  Startups came and went and I made close friends.  Our team grew, contracted, and is growing again.

And now, with growth, it’s time to move to the next phase.  We’re leaving Dogpatch.  I’m doubling my walking commute from 4 to 7 minutes – that’ll be tough, but more than anything, I will miss this space and energy of such talented and driven people.

I’ve been in the Valley since the tail end of the first .com boom.  Been part of rather interesting things, but this is my favorite experience so far.  Ryan and Mike are some of the best Venture guys you could ever choose to work with.  Mike genuinely cares about his companies and founders.  You should hear the pride in his voice when he describes them.  And Ryan is a former entrepreneur, as solid as they come.

I want to express my gratitude to them for allowing our team to become a part of this community and highly recommend that you involve them in whatever you do, whether it’s at Dogpatch or after.  I know we will.

If I can be of help to any of you in the future, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thanks,

Kamal