Jesse Hertzberg 4/6/17 Jesse Hertzberg 4/6/17

Five Questions for Bedtime

What was your petal?
What was your thorn?
What was your kindness?
What was your bravery?
What was your failure?

What was your petal?
What was your thorn?
What was your kindness?
What was your bravery?
What was your failure?

Jesse Hertzberg 5/11/16 Jesse Hertzberg 5/11/16

Finally, The Year of Livestreaming

Live video is finally having its moment. From Facebook Live to Periscope, the technology world is focused on live video because it brings us together around ideas, events, and the people that matter most to us.

My career reflects my own obsession with how technology and access connect people and ideas. Etsy gives creative entrepreneurs a marketplace to connect with customers who care about the stories behind the products they purchase. Squarespace provides anyone with an idea the simple tools they need to bring that idea to life.

I joined Livestream a year ago for the same reason: every day, we help organizations get their ideas in front of global audiences and enlarge their community using the most innovative live video technology in the industry. There is power and true connection in live experiences. Nothing beats the immediacy of the moment and the impact of a shared experience. Nothing comes close to the energy of a live event.

Read the rest of this post on Medium.

European Space Agency Launch, broadcast on Livestrea

Jesse Hertzberg 8/27/15 Jesse Hertzberg 8/27/15

Goodbye, BigSoccer

People sometimes refer to the USA/Mexico match in Columbus on Feb 28, 2001 as "The Woodstock of American Soccer". Unlike today, it was a spontaneous assemblage of fans from all over the US who sold out the stadium as individuals, one ticket at a time. The one common thread running through the unexpected crowds filling Columbus bars and the 18 hour pregame parking lot was your BigSoccer alias. It was like nobody had an actual name. People just introduced themselves as "(screen name)" and guys would smile and say "great to finally meet you".

Twenty years ago this month I started posting MetroStars (one of the original MLS clubs) news and tidbits to my personal website. From this modest beginning grew BigSoccer, which thru the late 90s and much of the 00s was the largest community of American soccer fans on the web. The time has finally came for me to say goodbye and move on to new endeavours.

Our little BigSoccer community has played a small but meaningful part in the success of soccer in the United States. On our site supporters organized for teams not yet franchised and stadiums not yet built. Players, coaches, and league officials connected directly (publicly and secretly) with their fans. People even got married.

The 2002 World Cup in Japan/Korea stands out as watershed moment for many American soccer fans, including myself. BigSoccer has received a lot of touching tributes this week, but none moved me as much as this story about that 2002 World Cup run and our coach, Bruce Arena:

People sometimes refer to the USA/Mexico match in Columbus on Feb 28, 2001 as "The Woodstock of American Soccer". Unlike today, with SuperCapos flying in from Seattle to lead [the American Outlaw's] version of the Hitlerjugend via a loudspeaker system while millions watch on TV, it was a spontaneous assemblage of fans from all over the US who sold out the stadium as individuals, one ticket at a time.

The one common thread running through the unexpected crowds filling Columbus bars and the 18 hour pregame parking lot was your BigSoccer alias. It was like nobody had an actual name. People just introduced themselves as "(screen name)" and guys would smile and say "great to finally meet you".

Sadly the post game threads disappeared long ago in one of the many crashes over the following 18 months as BS was repeatedly overwhelmed by a crush of users no one could have anticipated, but there were literally hundreds and hundreds of posts where people listed dozens and dozens of screen names they had met in CBus.

In a very real sense it was the dawn of a feeling of community in American soccer, the idea that the days when being a soccer fan made you the weirdo at the party were coming to a close. To borrow a phrase, it was the end of the beginning.

Strangely – or maybe not – it was Bruce Arena who provided the punctuation.

When the US team arrived at their hotel in South Korea for the World Cup a year later, there was some snafu with the reservations or something so while the USSF travel gerbils huddled with the management and SK/J officials, il Bruce sat down at one of those pre-laptop-and-wifi era lobby computers and got on the Internet.

Several observers walked by and noted that the place he logged into, after 14 hours in airports, airplanes and buses, was BigSoccer.

Thanks Jesse.

I love soccer. My grandpa and I argued about Chinaglia as Cosmos season ticket holders. My brother and I cheer for Flamengo even when they're breaking our hearts. The MetroStars/Red Bulls alienated me into the arms of NYCFC. The World Cup takes over my life every four years with blessings (and egg sandwiches) from the missus. And for some unknown reason I support Watford.

Most importantly, my kids and their kids will get to enjoy top flight domestic competition from here on out.

It's been a great 20 years to be a soccer fan in America.

PS: That quote above is courtesy of Bill Archer and you must read his regular teardowns of FIFA, which he has been publishing for nearly as many years as this corruption investigation was secretly going down.

Jesse Hertzberg 5/6/15 Jesse Hertzberg 5/6/15

I'm Hiring

I don't believe in unicorns.

What is it we actually do for a living? We don't sit around thinking about how to conjure up so-called unicorn companies. No. We sit around thinking about the founder's magic, how to capture it in a bottle, and how to build a product and organization that embodies it.

We believe in building long-lived companies that survive long after we are gone. Companies that can become even more successful in their second generation. Companies whose roots are deep and strong such that the company's strengths continually attract the best talent. Companies where the team is happy pursuing their life's work. Companies that enrich their customer's lives every single day. And yes, companies that generate cash.

My grampa, great uncle, uncle, and mom are all home builders. I followed in their footsteps, but not their industry. I specialize first in foundations, the key structural element that's hidden below ground. Unless you get that right, it's impossible to build anything special on top of it. When you do, the sky is the limit.

Today I start a new job at the greatest company in the world. Come help me build and grow it.

Jesse Hertzberg 5/4/15 Jesse Hertzberg 5/4/15

Forty-Seven and Twenty-Five and Nine

Every cliche you've ever been told about time is true.

They grow up too fast. Yesterday was my eldest daughter's ninth birthday. Nine! Halfway to college. Halfway out the door. But she still climbs into my lap every night before bedtime and snuggles while I sing her favorite songs. She even did it last night at Yankee Stadium midway through the soccer match. Each time I try to appreciate it anew. She'll become a teen soon enough and the space aliens are going to come and take my sweet little girl away. Stay present. One day you'll blink and the kids will be out the door.

Every cliche you've ever been told about time is true.

They grow up too fast. Yesterday was my eldest daughter's ninth birthday. Nine! Halfway to college. Halfway out the door. But she still climbs into my lap every night before bedtime and snuggles while I sing her favorite songs. She even did it last night at Yankee Stadium midway through the soccer match. Each time I try to appreciate it anew. She'll become a teen soon enough and the space aliens are going to come and take my sweet little girl away. Stay present. One day you'll blink and the kids will be out the door.

Time goes faster as you get older. Saturday was my twenty-fifth high school reunion. Twenty-five! What the heck happened? Over half my life has passed since that nerdy kid with an afro got his diploma. It's funny... some people look exactly the same and others require a triple take to recognize. Feelings rush in at these events. On the one hand, you can taste all your old insecurities. On the other, the past is, well, the past, and I've grown up. Stay present. Wake up every morning determined to be a better version of yourself than yesterday.

Life is short... embrace every second and laugh often. I did not know David Goldberg, but anytime someone passes before their time, a parent has to bury a child, or children have to grow up without a parent, it is cause for reflection. Forty-seven! Too damn young. As my tech-laden Twitter feed filled up with tributes to him, my heart invariably turned from his kids and family to the family members we have lost along the way, and then to my kids. There aren't enough hugs and kisses and squeezes in the world at moments like these. Stay present. Make sure your children are secure in your love every single minute of every single day. They deserve to carry that with them the rest of their lives.