Jared Hecht's Blog

My home for the next 8 days river rafting down the Grand Canyon.

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:22:11 -0400

My home for the next 8 days river rafting down the Grand Canyon.

My wonderful wife Carrie is producing an important documentary...

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:48:20 -0400

My wonderful wife Carrie is producing an important documentary called Tough Love which sheds light on the most pressing issues of our country’s child welfare system. She and her Emmy nominated friend, Stephanie, recently started a Kickstarter campaign to help bring the film to completion. I encourage you to check it out, share the love, and support it here: TOUGH LOVE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN

toughlovefilm: Did you know that there are over 380,000...

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:08:48 -0400

toughlovefilm:

Did you know that there are over 380,000 children in the foster care system? Learn how we can lower this number by supporting TOUGH LOVE, a new documentary film about the child welfare system. http://kck.st/174Amzg

This is important - I supported Tough Love the documentary about the child welfare system on Kickstarter. You should too: http://kck.st/174Amzg

The Programmable World

Tue, 14 May 2013 19:47:50 -0400

Today Wired’s new cover story about the Internet of Things was released. I highly recommend you read it as it covers the top layer of technological advancements in the physical world that will come to fruition over the next decade. The piece widely cites SmartThings, a company I am very fond of and have invested in, as a pioneer in the world of IoT (Internet of Things). IoT is imminent. Sensors are being commoditized and makers and hackers are using them to program and automate objects from household coffeemakers to industrial and enterprise manufacturing equipment. We are entering an era where the physical world, or physical graph as SmartThings CEO Alex Hawkinson refers to it, will quickly emerge before our very eyes.

What is most interesting is the way in which the IoT will prevail. There are two very distinct approaches and competing schools of thought. On one side, we have vertically integrated services - products that come pre-packaged with their own hardware and integrated software. Nest is the perfect example. It is a smart and beautiful thermostat designed by ex-Apple employees. It operates in a silo: you use the Nest thermostat (hardware and firmware) and control it using software via the Nest application. The experience is seamless, intuitive, and makes using a thermostat fun. This is identically analogous to the Apple approach - a beautifully designed piece of hardware with intuitive software maintained and used in a siloed and controlled environment.

On the other side we have the open source systems. These are products that are inherently open, meaning any hacker or maker can write programs for and on top of them. These programs are accessible and distributed to other programmers who use and build for the platform, and they can they contribute to those projects as well. The programs become better over time, and the best ones ultimately surface to end-consumers (e.g. If moisture in the lawn falls below a certain level then activate my sprinklers). These systems have strong network effects because the more people who program and use them, the more customizable and useful they become for developers and consumers alike. However, they generally take longer to consumerize as they start by targeting the long-tale of initial makers and hackers who are passionate about building programs for themselves.

SmartThings rests in this category. Their approach, which is fundamentally opposite Nest’s, is to provide a SmartHub (think of a home wifi-router) which connects all the sensors (i.e. anything powered electrically like a coffeepot, stove, thermostat, etc.) in your house via different wireless protocols and gives you an interface on your phone to control and program them all. You can also access programs other developers have written for the system - think of these programs as applications similar to the ones you’d find in the Apple and Android app stores. The genius of SmartThings is that it is completely interoperable with a variety of different electronic equipment (see the growing list here). This enables them to focus on doing one thing exceptionally well: creating the platform to support the world’s Physical Graph. SmartThings also gives you your own sensors so you can connect anything to your SmartThings system (e.g. place them in your basement to detect flood levels or on your windows to detect if they’re open or shut). It can be as DIY and customizable as you want, or as simple as their out of the box solutions.

If Nest’s approach to vertically integrated home automation is analogous to Apple, then SmartThings approach to IoT and their “Physical Graph” is the Android of the programmable world. When it comes to the future, I ideologically support an open and connected one. We will ultimately move towards a physical world of many vertically-integrated and highly specified devices and services, or one based on openness and interconnectedness. In my mind, openness and interconnectivity will always prevail, and that is why it is very important to pay attention to SmartThings and the IoT.

Peek-a-boo

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:40:18 -0400

Peek-a-boo

Audio

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:23:37 -0400

The Letter Bill Clinton wrote Chris Webber in 1993: Dear...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:43:43 -0400

The Letter Bill Clinton wrote Chris Webber in 1993:

Dear Chris,

I have been thinking of you a lot since I sat glued to the TV during the championship game.

I know that there may be nothing I or anyone else can say to ease the pain and disappointment of what happened.

Still, for whatever it’s worth, you, and your team, were terrific. And part of playing for high stakes under great pressure is the constant risk of mental error. I know. I have lost two political races and made countless mistakes over the last twenty years. What matters is the intensity, integrity, and courage you bring to the effort. That is certainly what you have done. You can always regret what occurred but don’t let it get you down or take away the satisfaction of what you have accomplished.

You have a great future. Hang in there.

Sincerely,

Bill Clinton

Audio

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:06:11 -0400

Audio

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:24:28 -0400

GroupMe BBQ

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 22:33:01 -0500

GroupMe BBQ

And we’re back! GroupMe Grill 2013. #sxsw (at GroupMe...

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 13:08:35 -0500

And we’re back! GroupMe Grill 2013. #sxsw (at GroupMe Grill)

groupme: GroupMe 4.1 Just in time for our third straight year...

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:33:31 -0500

groupme:

GroupMe 4.1

Just in time for our third straight year at SXSW, we’re introducing an awesome new version of our iPhone and Android apps with two great new features.

First off, there’s Gallery View. Sharing photos with your groups is really fun, but when you’re looking for one that was shared a few weeks ago, scrolling back through the chat could take a while. Now, you can easily see all the photos ever shared in any of your groups. Just tap the Gallery tab in the right drawer.

We’re also introducing a very useful new feature that helps you chip in on group purchases, or quickly collect money from your group. It’s really made our lives easier, and we think you’re going to find the same. We call it Split.

You can start a Split within any of your groups, just like you can attach a photo or a location. You bought concert tickets for everyone in the group? Attach a Split and get your money back right away, instead of waiting to get cash in person. Buying a group gift? Attach a Split with the total price, and with each person who chips in, the price per person will go down. Collect your money whenever you’re ready.

It’s really easy to use. Anyone in your group can chip in with a credit card. When everyone has chipped in, just tap “collect” and enter your bank account details. You’ll have your money in just 24 hours.*

Fees are minimal (you can learn more here!), and we’ve waived all of them from now through Tuesday, March 12 (11:59PM CST) so you can try it out! GroupMe has partnered with the PCI-compliant Balanced to power the payments process for Split.

All this plus, of course, tons of performance improvements and bug fixes.

We think you’ll find that our new app makes organizing and communicating with the groups in your life easier than ever before. So give us your feedback! Tweet at us @GroupMe or email support@groupme.com. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Download GroupMe 4.1 now for your iPhone or Android device.

*The first time you collect a Split, it may take up to 3 to 5 business days to verify your bank account. The good news is that all subsequent credits will take 24 hours.

Thanks @GroupMe. Now everyone back to work. And happy birthday...

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 13:22:40 -0500

Thanks @GroupMe. Now everyone back to work. And happy birthday @smart

This works, surprisingly.

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:49:34 -0500

This works, surprisingly.

Badass throwback of my brother and me as the Men in Black

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 11:12:22 -0500

Badass throwback of my brother and me as the Men in Black

NYC (at NYC Municipal Building)

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:34:41 -0500

NYC (at NYC Municipal Building)

"If there’s one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have..."

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:24:07 -0500

“If there’s one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have the courage to start with the customer. My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our customers.”

- Andrew Mason

GroupMe @ SXSW 2013 (via kevindavidcrowe)

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:09:58 -0500

GroupMe @ SXSW 2013

(via kevindavidcrowe)

Bloomberg announcing #WeAreMadeInNY helping startups flourish in...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:38:11 -0500

Bloomberg announcing #WeAreMadeInNY helping startups flourish in NYC (at BuzzFeed)

Beck reimagines David Bowie’s “Sound and...

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:39:04 -0500

Beck reimagines David Bowie’s “Sound and Vision”