I agree. It would be good to have a biz partner, design partner, and technical partner to round out the team.

I think this is great.

One risk to hmexx, but may actually be a good thing, is that they get the 2nd or 3rd best idea from their dev partner. Then, if there is a healthy exit, the dev partner can fund their no.1 good idea. However, after a successful exit with hmexx, they may be in pole position to participate in the next deal with their dev partner while seriously reducing the biz partner's work load. This would be great for deal flow.

What about terms? Would your ownership be participating preferred? preferred? common? In other words, would all founders be diluted equally?

I refuse to commute. It's maddening and unproductive. I much prefer a medium density mixed use walkable neighborhood. I'm actually working on a documentary about America's great towns and neighborhoods.

I ran an experiment with one of my friends who lived in swamp sprawl built over the everglades where I used to fish as a kid. When I was traveling he'd stay at my house in a walkable neighborhood. It ruined him. He was more productive, had more fun, went out more often, and was much more relaxed than when he was back at the swamp. Living it versus talking about it is a real convincer.

Richard Florida talks about the Creative Class and the Great Reset (both excellent books, though I don't agree 100% with his prescriptions) which dovetails with PG's essay Cities and Ambition.

One area where I disagree is the choice of vehicle. A ten year old hatchback is less than ideal. I twenty year old Porsche, on the other hand, is perfect.

Apple also stole employees from PARC, some of which are still working at Apple. They brought their talent with them.

Indeed. The quality of design affects the quality of construction. The cost per square foot is typically shocking and the Ghery definitely places form over function. After visiting many buildings by Ghery, Hadid, Holl, and Libeskind I've found them all to be lacking. If you prefer modern design with refinement seek out Ando or Meier. There are plenty of others, as well, who have much more talent.

The Norman Foster buildings I've been in have been pretty good. Apple made the right choice.

I wonder if there will be some amazing Chinese architects in the next decades, given their pace of construction.

Foster as well as Piano have some very refined work. Foster is at his best when doing renovations and additions. He has a very delicate approach which is handsome and actually celebrates and enhances the existing structure.

I'm still waiting for some great Chinese architects to step up. They aren't given much room to flex their talents, however, due to the very brand conscious nature of the consumer. For instance there is a recently completed Ghery building here in Hong Kong with a flat on the 8th floor listed for $400 million Hong Kong Dollars, or roughly $51.5 million USD. Insane. But that's what the market is after.

The new Apple mothership and the Ghery Facebook HQ share an affection for poor planning. Neither will be able to accommodate future growth and renovating existing facilities will be difficult logistically. Being able to afford it today doesn't mean they'll be able to afford it in the future. Hopefully they'll be using recyclable materials since neither facility has been designed for permanence.

37 Signals has a great approach where they have open office space, phone booths for private calls, and meeting rooms of varying sizes.

Speaking of research, they should also find out how much it costs to maintain a Ghery building. If you think Facebook stock is bad now wait until you see how a Ghery building affects their bottom line.

Exactly. Once that is gone the ability to amortize development costs over the course of a product cycle disappears. It's the tragedy of the commons.

There was a financial relationship between Apple and Google for the use of Google maps. That shouldn't be forgotten.