Kiss Me Fool!

One of my friends has this ill-conceived notion that people actually read my blog. Little does he know, it's just me typing in the URL from several different computers at several different locations throughout the day to drive up the unique page views. Plus, I just love reading stuff I write over and over, and laughing to myself at how funny I am. Anyhow, I promised him I would write about the application he built for Facebook, that in just over a month, has over 1 million users!

It's called Kiss Me - and you can find it here. My sources tell me (according to him) that it is now one of the Top 20 Apps on Facebook. That's pretty darn impressive. MerchantCircle has a Facebook app that has like 5 total users - no joke - and they all sit in close proximity to me.

MerchantCircle is still the bomb though! We have over 320,000 members now, which is more than any online local business directory site out there (Citysearch, Yelp, and Yellowbook included). My buddy also sent me this link about the Top 7 reasons to work at a Start-Up and I couldn't agree more. Although I would have added a reason 8: Free Booze! And booze makes kissing me a lot easier!

Sincerely,

Kevin

The Silicon Valley Bachelor

Real World San Francisco - The Commuter's Life

I hate to always knock the cards I've been dealt, but the Man Jose singles scene without 7 alcoholic beverages in your system can be downright depressing. Fortunately, I always exceed the recommended limit of booze and I have quite a good time in my confines. There is nothing quite like enjoying two tacos, a Jumbo Jack w/cheese, and a chicken sandwich (for the bargain price of under $4) and then passing out in my own bed! Just thinking about it now brings back fond memories and a smile to my face......

Anyway, I cannot debate that San Francisco is more fun (funner if you must) than anywhere else around the Bay Area. The girls are more plentiful, have higher paying jobs, and people are just more willing to let loose when the mode of travel is taxi-cab. While I like the SF party scene much more than anyplace else in the Bay, I dread the thought of crashing on someone's disgusting couch, who lord knows what's been going on on it, or making the dreaded 40 minute commute back to Cupertino at 2 in the morning.

Recently, I spent a week house-sitting for a friend who lived in the city. I thought this would be a good benchmark to see whether I could live in the city and handle a daily 35 minute commute to Los Altos, where I work. My job is the number one reason why I continue to live in the South Bay. Well..... the build-up to this story is kind of anti-climactic. Prepare to be dissappointed.

Highlights of SF:

• 6 phone numbers (2 were actually quality! And I'm pretty sure they were all girls too!)


• Meeting up with a dizzying array of friends


• Options, options, options


• A jog on the Embarcadero along the water (cut short after 2 blocks - it was just too darn cold)


• A beautiful view of the city from my friend's living room window (spectacular at my wakeup hour of 3pm)


• Catching up with friends on the phone on my way to work

Lowlights of SF:

• Cleaning up cat poop and pee (I don't understand why cats poop and pee more than they eat and drink)


• The daily commute to Los Altos


• The daily commute back


• Added costs of gas, taxi fares and meeting up with friends for dinner, drinks


• No convenient Jack in a Box locations or a range of middle-tiered, semi-healthy, affordable (under $8) food options (like Chipotle, Baja Fresh, Fresh Choice, Wendy's)


• Feeling like I needed to make a fashion statement everytime I stepped out the front door
  

Overall: I would like to move to SF, but it'll take something big happening in my life. Like maybe a raise at my job to $9.25 an hour. With that much money, the sky's the limit!

Sincerely,
Kevin
The Silicon Valley Bachelor

I'm a Free Gift Hooch

Well, I just got back from LA, where we sat next to Keanu Reeves at Pink Taco, I won an iPhone, picked up a few free t-shirts, and a really nice thermos set from Yahoo!. I was there for the Kelsey Conference where local internet nerds meet up and talk business, but it was a real banner week for me in the freebie department!

First of all, I didn't have to plop down $9.50 to watch Keanu Reeves in his latest Oscar-Caliber performance. He was so close to us, I watched all his MTV Movie Award mannerisms discreetly from about 7 feet away. I didn't even tell my coworkers at the table it was him until halfway through dinner, because I didn't want them to all whip their heads around in excitement. Being a former celebrity myself, it's hard to enjoy evenings out with friends when everyone's staring at you. All the women want to be with you and all the men want to BE you. Damn these rugged good looks!

Well, my dinner ended prematurely, because my boss yelled at me at dinner and I ran back to my room crying. OK, I didn't, but I did leave early to get some work done for the conference until the wee morning hours. Thank goodness for minibar vodka! The company I work for, MerchantCircle, has recently had a lot of good press, first at the beginning of November for a Series B financing round of $10 million dollars, and then at the Kelsey Conference for which we announced a partnership with Citysearch, the Godfather of online directories and reviews.

Read the press below, in particular the Screenwerks one, which says we're a a potential 'takeover target.' Like Borat said, 'niiice.' Hopefully it's a hostile takeover, Richard-Gere-style! Sell the parts to the highest bidder, for which I would probably get sold for organ donations and possibly hair for barbie dolls.

• Screenwerk - Citysearch and MerchantCircle in Reciprocal Deal


• VentureBeat - Citysearch, MerchantCircle connect their local business services


• MediaPost - MerchantCircle Bulks Up, Scales Out with Citysearch


• The New York Times - Citysearch Partners with MerchantCircle


• ClickZ - Citysearch and MerchantCircle to Share Ad Opportunities and Content
  

Here's the picture below of me winning the iPhone with my pal, Renee Henry from Matchcraft. Yes we do know each other, and no she swears she did not rig the drawing (to which I would not have cared much anyway). After winning, I happily put on a black Matchcraft shirt over my blue striped dress shirt. Heck, I probably would have painted my body in Matchcraft blue and went streaking for an iPhone.

"Snoop-a-loop..... bring your green hat. We're going streaking!!!"

Sincerely,

Kevin Leu

The Silicon Valley Streaker