About

Hi, my name is Jason and this is my blog.

While I’ve blogging since 2003, I retired from it two years ago to write longer-form emails. You can signup for these emails at www.jasonnation.com.

You can follow my on twitter at @jason.

In 2009 I started angel investing, with the five-year goal of becoming one of the 10 most helpful, and therefore sought after, angel investors on the planet. 15 investments and 18 months later I think I’m half way there. When I invest in a startup company I have three specific goals:

1. Use their product and give feedback.
2. Bring the first 10,000 users to the service.
3. Help the founder(s) raise their next round of capital.

Happy to report that in many of the startups I’ve been lucky enough to invest in, I’ve been able to accomplish these goals. My portfolio/partners:

Blippy
GDGT
Backupify
SignPost
Riptano
Rapportive
Gowalla
ChallengePost
Chartbeat
PostUp
Jibe
SmartyPants
StorkBrokers
Thumbtack
CauseCast
Savings

Companies I’ve founded and operate comapanies include:

Open Angel Forum
LAUNCH (conference and newsletter)
Mahalo
ThisWeekIn
HackADay

Prvious companies:

Silicon Alley Reporter (sold to Dow Jones)
Weblogs Inc: Publisher of  Engadget, Autoblog, Joystiq, HackADay, Cinematical, Gadling, TVSquad, Luxist and dozens of other blogs. (sold to Aol).

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English Bulldog

Hello, my name is Jason. Welcome to my blog on the interwebs. You can reach me on twitter @jason and by email at jason@calacanis.com. My Skype is jasoncalacanis, and my mobile phone is 310-456-4900.

I only pick up numbers I recognize, and in terms of emailing me, the best strategy is to write short, blunt and to the point requests. I can quickly respond to short messages, and many times I simply don't have the time to read five page pitches. In terms of taking meetings, I only do that after reviewing an actual product (not a business plan). So, the best time to ping me is when you have mockups or an alpha site. I don't read business plans, and I've never written one.

Other twitter accounts you can follow: Video Games, Open Angel Forum, and LAUNCH Conference & Newsletter

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