America is a startup nation. Whether it has been manufacturing, whaling or software, one of this country's defining characteristics seems to be taking unnecessary risks to create markets where none existed previously. As an entrepreneur, I'm a huge fan of startups. Both my parents started their own small businesses, so entrepreneurialism runs in my family. So it may be surprising to know that I don't always encourage people to take the same path. Here's why:

Do you ever rage? I'm not asking if you ever get angry. I'm asking if you ever rage. I'm asking if your stomach ever clenches into a ball the size of a mandarin, if your guts fill with bile and acid, if you can no longer hold onto your coffee cup because your hand is shaking so hard and the only solution that can possibly satisfy you is to throw it through a window or at someone.

I've finally found a way to quantify the relative effectiveness of TV and online display advertising. It's two decimal points. That's how much more effective TV ads are, relative to online display ads on an impression basis.

Sometimes I mourn the simple things-- the things that I miss from the old days. For example, I mourn that your kids may never enter a record store -- ever.

There's no contesting the value and insight derived from direct consumer relationships in social media. Most brands are fully committed to developing and nurturing these connections by now, even though many have stutter-stepped their way into these "relationships."

There are a number of brands that have done some great marketing this year. Volkswagen's "Young Darth Vader" spot was best in show at the February television ad festival also known as the Super Bowl. Companies like Unilever, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, Audi and H&M also did standout work this year == especially in the realm of social media. But while there were many great marketers and campaigns this year, it is Macy's -- the iconic American department store founded in 1858 -- that is my choice for top marketer of the year. Here's why:

I read an article this week about email etiquette. Although, infuriatingly, I promptly misplaced the URL, and have been unable to find it anywhere in my Web history, the gist of it was that social smoothing in business emails is a total waste of time -- in fact, it can hold you back. Kind words are not only useless, the article postulated, they very quickly get seen as insincere and discounted if used all the time. This also happens to be the week I read Malcolm Gladwell's commentary on Steve Jobs, prompted by Walter Isaacson's book: "Jobs, we learn, was …

Have you ever found a privacy policy that was as easy to understand and interact with as an e-commerce page? I haven't, and neither has Federal Trade Commission chair Jon Leibowitz. At Ad:tech in New York City this past Tuesday, I shared a panel on privacy protection entitled "Whose Data is it Anyway?" Leibowitz has been a vocal proponent for many years about the need for digital media companies and marketers to do a better job of communicating about privacy-related issues with their users.

The debate rages on regarding which is more important for online marketers, content or targeting. Well, I have the answer. Content will always win! I've come at this question from a couple different angles and the winning argument is quite simple: Content can survive, and thrive, without data targeting, but data targeting cannot live without content. Simply put, if you build good content people will find it, but if you have crappy content, no amount of data or targeting can save you -- because your audience, no matter how targeted, simply won't engage!

  In most respects California’s Silicon Valley has New York City outgunned when it comes to nurturing and growing great technology companies. All of the resources that a startup needs -- money, management and engineering talent -- are available in abundance in the Valley. But after decades of living in California’s shadow, New York is poised to seriously compete as the best place for software technology startups. Here’s why: Brands. Unlike many Valley companies that create software for users first and then worry about brands later, New York firms tend to balance the needs of users and brands. Foursquare is …