Ben Parr

"Your question basically is -- should someone start a PR firm today? The answer is: sure! It's a growing industry and is only going to keep growing. But tech journalists are more jaded than ever, so you have to be ok with dealing with that on a daily basis. I personally wouldn't start a PR firm, only because I don't want to do PR!" - Ben Parr

"I am bullish on the wearable industry! The biggest issue it faces now is battery life, which is a thing I wrote about a few months ago: https://medium.com/@benpar... Once the power issue is solved, I think wearables will really take off, because it just makes sense to have a computer on you, wherever you go. Whether it's the Apple Watch, fitness bands or something else remains to be seen." - Ben Parr

"Life is awesome and hectic! It's not -25 degrees here in NYC, lucky me!" - Ben Parr

"Thank you, Ken!" - Ben Parr

"You're welcome!" - Ben Parr

"Adrian, it's Ben Parr! You're huge into music and even manage a few artists. So Who are your favorite acts to watch live?" - Ben Parr

"I'm the former Co-Editor of Mashable and the author of a book that publishes next month. Yes, A LOT has changed in the last 16 years. Magazines have obviously been hit very hard by the changing economics of journalism and storytelling. This must be taken into account. With that said, what King is saying is that writing credits are a very good thing to have. It's a resume builder. But there are lots of ways to do it: 1) A popular personal blog with a decent amount of traffic 2) A decent-sized social media or email following (this is a huge deal to a lot of publishers now -- if you come in with a built-in audience, you're going to get a deal) 3) Credits in recognizable publications in your industry. It's obviously different if you're going for fiction vs. non-fiction, but getting published does matter. It shows your stuff has been vetted by others. In the end, you HAVE to be more than a greater writer -- you have to show that you're unique among the others applying and have the chops to..." - Ben Parr

"The guy who used to run it, Nicholas Tran, switched over to a VP position recently: https://www.linkedin.com/profile... (Yes, I know him, he's a friend)" - Ben Parr

"What everyone here seems to be forgetting is that Nas is an investor in Coinbase, and is in fact a prolific tech startup investor with a very decent track record." - Ben Parr

"What is this strange, new world I've been transported to? Just a few minutes ago, I was fighting the forces of evil, when suddenly a blue light engulfed me and took me to this place. Was it the crystal? Did it transport me to safety? It looks a lot like my world, but yet... yet I knew it was different. I didn't feel the energy of the crystal. I didn't even feel the power of the moon. And instead of pork buns, I found... cheeseburgers. America, maybe? I've heard of this place before. Where are the girls? Are they ok? I need to find somebody who can help me figure out where I am. That young lady over there near the fountain! She seems like she'd be receptive. I'll just dash over there and start talking to her. "Meow!" Damnit, that's not what I meant. Let's try it again. "Meow meow!" Shit! I can't freaking talk. Maybe I can use my powers to communicate telepathically? Wait, why isn't this working? There's supposed to be a beam of light that comes out of my head! Why isn't there a beam of..." - Ben Parr

"This is poor advice in my opinion for a few reasons: 1) You can only sell book rights piecemeal when you have leverage. You're Tina Fey or James Patterson? You can do what you want! But a first-time author with no audience? Holding back rights is very unrealistic. 2) None of the big publishers want a book that's already out. It is so so rare. It kills their sales and potential leverage in marketing and media." - Ben Parr