Showing posts with label start up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label start up. Show all posts

Fred Wilson - How to Build a Strong Company

In the April issue of Inc. Magazine, they had a full page picture of Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures (they've invested in companies like Tumblr, Foursquare, Twilio, Etsy, Zynga, and others). The quote that appears next to Wilson jumped off the page at me.  Try and read this and not agree.  Impossible.

This quote should be required reading for every manager, at every company.

"You have to start with culture, values, and a commitment to creating a fantastic workplace. You can't fake these things. They have to come from the top. They are not bullshit. They are everything."

You read more from Fred Wilson, on his blog: avc.com
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SXSW Recap: Learn to Code

Sixth in a Series

Learn to Code and Make the Software You Want
Nate Westheimer - Co-Founder, Picturelife Inc. (personal blog)
Vinicius Vacanti - CEO, Yipit.com (personal blog)
This session was lead by Vin and Nate, two self-described "business guys" who became technical founders of their own start-ups. They want you and I to become technical founders too, that why they put this session together. 100% inspiring.
  • Have an idea you want to put into action? Don't look for a technical co-founder. Try and build it yourself.
  • The only prerequisite is having an idea that you need to build. (Need to build, not want to build)
  • According to Nate and Vin, its easier than you think.
  • They both reported having a "sweat lodge experience" - where they took a 5 day chunk of time and did nothing but learn to code. This is all they did.
  • At its core, building something involves a user on one end, a server, and your app. (Dont over-complicate it).
  • In the beginning don't worry about security, scaling issues, beautiful code, or maintainability. None of those things matter if you're just learning.
  • If you don't know something - its okay, there are plenty of resources to help you!
  • Both consider UX the only thing that matters.
  • If you have a question you cant answer, wait 24 hours before asking for help. This will force you to learn.
  • Both had some great resources for just getting started:
  • No matter how many notes I include in this post, it wont capture the essence of this session, listen to the entire session on the SXSW website - link below.
If you have ever wanted to build something and didn't know where to start - this session was for you (and it still is for you, you can listen to audio of this session on the SXSW website.) As a matter of fact, this session inspired my good friend Chris Knutson and I to take the free online class, Programming Methodology, from Stanford. 
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