Brad Burnham at Union Square Ventures put up a very important post last night titled We need an independent invention defense to minimize the damage of aggressive patent trolls.  His partner Fred Wilson echoed Brad’s thoughts on his blog with a post titled Why We Need An Independent Invention Defense.

Brad’s post starts out with the following:

“Almost a third of our portfolio is under attack by patent trolls. Is it possible that one third of the engineering teams in our portfolio unethically misappropriated technology from someone else and then made that the basis of their web services? No! That’s not what is happening. Our companies are driven by imaginative and innovative engineering teams that are focused on creating social value by bringing innovative new services to market.”

It’s a fantastic description of the fundamental problem with software patents.  For example:

“The problem is that the patent system has fallen way behind the pace of innovation, especially in information technology. Originally designed to protect the brilliant independent inventor of a better mousetrap, the patent system has been stretched to be applied to software. Software is a language and like any language, it can be very abstract. Everyone applying for a patent pays a lawyer to take their invention and render it into the broadest, most abstract language they can slip through the patent office. A mouse trap is a mouse trap, but a method of allowing one piece of software to talk to another (the generalized language often used to describe a software system) can be almost anything, and can, if approved, impact markets the original inventor could never even have imagined.”

Brad goes on to discuss the specific problem of patent trolls and proposes a solution to address this – that of an independent inventor defense.  If you’ve gotten this far, go read Brad’s full essay on the independent investor defense.

I’m extremely excited to see Brad and Fred come out so strongly against software patents.  I’ve been talking against this for a long time and I expect my rants against software patents are well known to any readers of this blog (if you aren’t familiar with them, feel free to indulge yourself if you are so inclined.)  But this is the first time that I’m aware that any of my peers – other than my partners at Foundry Group – have come out so strongly in public against software patents. 

I purposely limit my “special initiative” work and try to focus on a few things that I think will make a substantial difference in the world of software / Internet entrepreneurship (the domain that I’ve chosen to dedicate my professional life to.)  Right now I’m deep in the effort to get a Startup Visa created but have continued to pay attention to the software patent issue while looking for the right time to scale up an effort.

That time is now.  I just emailed with Brad and he’s game to lead a charge with me.  I saw tweets from several friends last night including Chris Sacca who knows this issue firsthand.  As with the Startup Visa there are plenty of other credible smart people who are putting real intellectual energy into this issue, such as the End Software Patents initiative and Wendy Seltzer, a well known researcher who is currently spending a year at Silicon Flatirons researching software patents and innovation (disclosure: I’m providing some of the funding for this initiative at Silicon Flatirons.) 

It’s now time to get the practitioners (entrepreneurs and investors in software innovation) to get organized around this.  If you are interested in helping out substantively, leave a comment on this blog with your email address as I start to get organized.

Today is the last day to apply for the TechStars Boston 2010 program.  If you want a flavor for where the program is held, Bill Warner (one of the founders of TechStars Boston) has a fun post up titled Lifestyles of The Future Rich and Future Famous: A Look Inside the TechStars Boston (Actually Cambridge) Penthouse.

I lived in Boston from 1983 to 1995 (actually Cambridge from 1983 – 1987 but I consider Boston and Cambridge to be inexorably linked.)  During the time I was in Boston there was a thriving entrepreneurial community around software and – in the early to mid-1990’s – Internet.  While there was plenty of activity around Route 128 and 495, I always felt like the heart of it was in Cambridge in Kendall Square (near MIT) and Central Square (between MIT and Harvard).  At least that’s where I hung out – Main Street, Mass Ave, Rogers Street, Binney Street, First, and Third Street.  So – when we started TechStars Boston, it was inevitable that it would be in the heart of Cambridge.

Recently, a number of the Boston-area VC firms started migrating to Cambridge.  When I was in Boston, most were located in downtown Boston, near Rt. 128, or in Cambridge.  Over the years many of these firms decamped to Mount Money in Waltham which was very disconnected from where all the “young people lived.”  While downtown Boston wasn’t the heart of Cambridge, at least it was only a 15 minute ride by T.  Waltham – well – that could have been Mars as far as a recent MIT grad starting a new company concerned.

Apparently a bunch of Boston-area VC firms agree.  Bessemer Venture Partners is now hunting for space in Cambridge (relocating from Wellesley), Greylock recently announced they were moving to Harvard Square and will be near General Catalyst who moved there a while ago, and Polaris’ Dogpatch Labs opened in Cambridge last year just down the street from Venrock and Avalon.  And there continue to be plenty of VC firms a short T ride away in Boston, such as Spark Capital and Flybridge.

There is an entrepreneurial renaissance happening in Boston (and Cambridge).  If you are starting a software or Internet company, spend 15 minutes applying to the TechStars Boston program.  In addition to being in the heart of Cambridge, you’ll be surrounded by some incredible mentors as you work to get your business off the ground.

I’m at CES all day wandering the floor looking for additional devices to wear on my body to monitor all aspects of my life.  In the mean time, there’s a bunch of great stuff in my world that has happened so far this week.  Here are links with a little commentary. 

Rally Software Raised $16m in a Round Led by Greylock: My friends at Rally Software are creating an important long term company in the Boulder ecosystem.  2009 was a great year for Rally – they grew a ton and dominated their market segment.  They didn’t need any additional financing but were approached by several firms in Q409.  Greylock put forth an attractive offer and their involvement, including the addition of our new board member Tom Bogan (Chairman of Citrix among other things), is a huge addition. 

Jive Software Acquires Social Media Monitoring Startup Filtrbox: I’m extremely proud of Ari Newman, Tom Chikoore, and the rest of the team at Filtrbox.  They were part of the TechStars Boulder 2007 class and are now the fourth company from that class to have a positive exit (the others are SocialThing, Intense Debate, and Brightkite).  The team will become the Jive Boulder office and I expect they’ll grow nicely over the next year.

Kidrobot Moves to Boulder:  While I’m not an investor in Kidrobot, I’m a huge fan.  Paul Budnitz is moving with about half of the 45 person company from New York and plans to hire another 20 people in Boulder in pretty short order.  Look for life sized Kidrobot thingies on the Pearl Street Mall this summer.

TechStars Seattle won the Seattle Flashies “Tech Triumph of the Year”: Huge props for Andy Sack and Greg Gottesman for driving the creation of TechStars Seattle which will launch its first class in the fall of 2010.

There’s a lot more coming, but for now I’m going to go touch as many screens and tablets as I can in the middle of the debauchery that is Las Vegas.

In my effort to keep you on your toes, take a look at the “roll cloud” below.  It’s totally worth a click through to the APOD site and a moment of contemplation on a large monitor.

I’ve seen small rolls clouds in the past although I didn’t know they were called roll clouds, nor did I have a clue how roll clouds were formed.  While 720p videoconferencing with Skype on my Internet connected TV is pretty cool, nature continues to amaze me.  Time for a run.

While Fred Wilson has his review of his Google Phone up already, I’m more intrigued with all the pre-CES announcements.  I’ll be walking the floor on Thursday soaking it all in and I’m pretty excited this year based on all the chatter.  One thing that has me particularly stoked is what I’m going to call “universal videoconferencing.”

I saw my first “videophone” around 30 years ago.  It sucked but the idea was magical (and still is).  Like my personal jetpack, I’ve been waiting patiently for it.  Very patiently.  For 30 years.

I think 2010 is the year it finally happens.  Engadget has a review of Skype HD (720p) and videocalling from PCs or Internet connected LG & Panasonic HDTVs (damnit – I knew I shouldn’t have bought that new Samsung.)  720p is plenty for me on my 30” computer monitor or my 50” TV.  With Skype (I’m bradfeld btw) the video / audio layer is free and broadly compatible (no more fighting with specialized hardware). 

I’ve been doing low-res Skype videoconferencing for a while and now chat with my dad a few times a week.  I finally got Amy using it and while she’s in Keystone and I’m in Boulder it’s almost like we are together (without the smell-a-vision).  But the video quality is mediocre and it still feels limited to being in front of a computer to use.

Now, put it on a TV in your living room.  In HD.  On a 50” screen.  The picture in the NY Times article A Venture Integrating Skype Into the Family Room is perfect. 

The only thing wrong here is the remote control.  There is no good reason why the 50” screen with the video camera built in can’t do simple gesture recognition to “answer”, “volume up”, “volume down”, and “hang up.”  That’s next.

One of my goals in 2010 is to get HD videoconferencing set up across all of the places I live and work.  My 30” screens are a good start.  And – with some of the announcements coming (and stuff I expect to see at CES) I’m optimistic that I might be able to get this working with standard equipment and Skype this year.

Ok – so in addition to the Boulder events, I also go to Bay Area events.  I’ve got a Return Path board meeting on 1/21 in the Bay Area and that evening Matt Blumberg – Return Path’s CEO – is going to be presenting at the great Startup2Startup series that Dave McClure puts on with the help of his glorious sponsors.

I’ll be there along with a bunch of other great folks (I even paid my $90 for my ticket).  Matt’s got a fascinating story and Return Path is another company in my world that had an awesome 2009 and is poised for a phenomenal 2010 (how’s that for adverbs adjectives.)  Matt will be talking about the history of Return Path (dating back to 1999), lessons he’s learned, and best practices in email deliverability.

If you don’t know Matt, he’s got a great blog titled “OnlyOnce” (since you can only be a “first time CEO once and this is Matt’s journey.”)  Some special secrets about Matt – he was on the FeedBurner board so he can tell you funny stories about Twitter’s COO and he’s run two marathons with me so he can tell you funny stories about things I say after 4+ hours running.

January 21st, 6pm – 9:30pm at the Garden Court Hotel on 520 Cowper Street in Palo Alto.  Sign up now.  Be there or be forever destined to have email deliverability issues.

Enough with the calendar stuff.  I promise my next post will be a long essay about some obscure topic that will generate a lot of controversy.  Or maybe I’ll just list out the marathons I’m going to run in 2010.

Well, the world is back at work (as evidenced by the 327 new emails I got today).  And my friends at Silicon Flatirons at CU Boulder are cranking up the head with Crash Courses, Entrepreneurs Unplugged, and Workshops.

1/13/10: 6-8pm @ Wolf: Crash Course: How to Build a Company by Jason Mendelson followed with a “Start-up Internships” networking event for local startups looking for CU students interested in internship opportunities. 

1/25/10: 6:15-7:15pm @ Wolf: Entrepreneurs Unplugged With Ryan Martens (Founder/CTO) and Tim Miller (CEO) of Rally Software.  I’ll be interviewing Ryan and Tim about their experiences with Avitek (their first company together), BEA (which acquired Avitek in 1999), and Rally Software – their second company together which had a spectacular 2009 and is poised for an even better 2010.  Don’t forget to ask them about the really cool thing that they announced between the time I wrote this blog post and 1/25/10.

1/27/10: 6-7pm @ ATLAS: Workshop: Your Market: Connecting with your Customers by Tom Keller.  Tom was most recently the CEO of Intense Debate (a TechStars 2007 company that was acquired by Automattic, the makers of WordPress).  In addition to talking about marketing, Tom might drop a hint or two about his next gig which he’s getting started with the new year.

There is plenty more coming, but don’t miss these – I think they’ll all be great ones.

Here’s an easy one: 1+2-(3-4-5)*6*7*8-9

How about 1*(2+(3-4*(5/6-7))*8)*9

Or maybe 1+2345*6/7+8-9

Or (1-(23+4)*5)*(6/(7-8)-9

Maybe .1+23*(45+6*7)+8+.9

Even 1-(.2+(3+.4)*(5+67))*(.8-9)

If you love numbers and are excited about 2010, you’ll get a kick out of the cool 2010 page by Nadav Samet (surprise – he works for Google.)  (Thanks SMoody!)

If you are thinking about applying to the TechStars Boston 2010 program, take 15 minutes and do it now.  Tomorrow (Tuesday 1/5) is TechStars for a Day in Cambridge, MA.  You’ll only get an invitation if you have applied by today.  You’ll get to spend the day learning about TechStars and hanging out with TechStars mentors like Shawn Broderick, David Cohen, Bill Warner, Bijan Sabet along with some of founders from TechStars Boston 2009 companies, such as AccelGolf, AmpIdea, Localytics, and TempMine.

If you are thinking about starting a company and wonder why you’d bother with TechStars, take a look at the great post that Tom Monaghan, the co-founder of TempMine, wrote today titled Mentorship-driven or Why I applied to TechStars.

And, as a special bonus late breaking news item, Graphic.ly (formerly named Take Comics, one of the TechStars Boulder 2009 companies) announced that it has raised a $1.2m financing led by DFJ Mercury with participation from Starz Media and some well known angels.  My good friend Micah Baldwin has joined as CEO.  Psyched for them.

Come out and play.  Entrepreneurship is fun.