Gogogagarin

"...The cool thing about that vision is it is drop dead simple to understand but took decades to execute. That's a long vision that your team can buy into and stick with for the long haul. That's what you need.

So if you want to build a business that lasts, you need a big and long vision and you need to be a leader who can inspire the team to believe in the vision and to believe in you. You need to hire folks who will stick around for the long haul and you need to be open to the doubts and doubters. But if they keep doubting, you need to part company with them. Don't hire mercanaries. They won't work no matter how hard you try..."

More people should write « the jsomers.net blog

2012-10-13T22:48:58Z

http://jsomers.net/blog/more-people-should-write

Stack Exchange Co-Fo on Work

2012-10-10T21:48:56Z

I'm Jeff Atwood, Cofounder of Stack Exchange, and This Is How I Work
http://m.lifehacker.com/5950386/im-jeff-atwood-founder-of-stack-exchange-and-this-is-how-i-work

Follow up on Poor Documentation

2012-10-09T21:44:59Z

"Telling somebody to "look it up in the Wiki" is tantamount to telling them to go f*** themselves. If someone had taught these coders to write well, we'd waste less valuable time. "

Real Reason Silicon Valley Coders Write Bad Software - Atlantic Mobile
http://m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/the-real-reason-silicon-valley-coders-write-bad-software/263377/

Poor documentation

2012-10-09T21:43:47Z

Amen.

The Real Reason Silicon Valley Coders Write Bad Software - Atlantic Mobile
http://m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/the-real-reason-silicon-valley-coders-write-bad-software/263377/

Doc Smartphone

2012-10-08T15:44:45Z

LA Times - Calling Dr. Smartphone
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-72721905/

On Big Data and Prediction

2012-10-08T13:04:15Z

Why Data Will Never Replace Thinking - Justin Fox - Harvard Business Review
http://blogs.hbr.org/fox/2012/10/why-data-will-never-replace-thinking.html?cm_mmc=SocialHub-_-3271-_--_-7214359940150094404&utm_source=socialhub&utm_medium=3271&utm_content=7214359940150094404&utm_campaign=

A complete UX design case

2012-10-04T23:41:13Z

Crafting a Mobile App: a UX Design Case Study for Startups | The Art of Ass-Kicking
http://www.jasonshen.com/2012/the-well-crafted-mobile-app-an-ux-design-case-study-for-startups/

I'm 100% with Alexis on this one

2012-10-03T19:31:48Z

http://alexisohanian.com/founders-dont-fall-in-love-with-your-ideas-wh

"You’re trying to discover a product that will work for some market, while also being a hugely motivating space for you and your cofounders to work in for (potentially) ten years. What is that thing? It could be anything. You have to try a bunch of different ideas, until something sticks. No idea is sacred."

Sir Branson on Productivity

2012-10-01T12:34:30Z

Richard Branson’s Six Secrets to Productivity | Biz 3.0
http://biz30.timedoctor.com/richard-bransons-six-secrets-to-productivity/

"Live it as you will"

2012-09-28T02:18:42Z

F$%& ‘em | Deliberatism
http://www.deliberatism.com/editorial/fuck-em/

" Do whatever you want. I’m not here to prescribe life decisions. At the same time, I feel it’s worth reminding you that within 100 years you, and everyone you love, will be gone. All the shit you’re stressing out about will be long forgotten."

Pumped to develop the next stage of this

2012-09-27T20:38:02Z

After reading it for 2 years, finally get to be in it - excited for our first feature on TechCrunch:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/26/mozilla-and-the-national-science-foundation-challenge-developers-to-build-apps-from-the-future/

Long-Term Monitoring and Crisis Management System
Amr Ali, Biomedical Engineer and Dmitri Boulanov, Software Engineer, Boston University 2010
Ubiquitous sensors plus high-speed networks can revolutionize healthcare.
This app would allow you and your doctor to aggregate and analyze your health data in realtime, detecting and preventing potential crises before they occur.

Repost: Alternatives to college ed and MBAs

2012-09-26T19:50:49Z

A repost from another blog about the value of the time you spend in college and the alternatives you could take.
Especially wish to highlight the point that trying to start your own venture into your own interests is one of the greatest things you could do for your self-development (as opposed to college or an MBA):

http://tynan.com/hustle

Highlights:

"...9. Start a business after two years. With a full two years of self-education under your belt, you should have something useful to contribute to society. School makes you go from sheltered learning mode straight into real-world career mode. I think a better way is to have a transition, and to couple productivity with learning. Having that habit will ensure that you continue to perfect your craft as you get older. Your business can be anything-- a tech startup, publishing books you've written, giving speeches, making clothing and selling it online, whatever you're into. Read some business books before starting it and try to make money. One of the most common complaints I hear from graduates of traditonal school is that nothing they learned was actually applicable to real ife. Everything you learn from starting a business IS..."

"...Will this work for you? There's no guarantee, but I see people work pretty hard at school, and if that same effort were put towards the Hustler's MBA, I thnk the chance of being self-sufficient and prepared for "real life" is about 90%. I'd estimate that non-laywer/doctor college is somewhere around 50-70%. So, like anything, this plan is not totally foolproof, but I think it's a lot better and cheaper than the alternative..."

AVC Repost: On the value of College Ed

2012-09-24T14:59:56Z

A VC: Student Loans and the Education Bubble
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2012/09/student-loans-and-the-education-bubble.html

Fred Wilson on what he does best - reflecting on important aspects of life and making solid arguments...this time about student loans and the value of a college education.

"I have made a tremendous return on my two degrees. Those student loans were an investment in me and they paid off big time. For the right student and the right institutions, there is no better investment that society can make than to pay for a high quality college and graduate education. Not only have I paid back the loans, but the Gotham Gal and I have made and continue to make generous gifts to a host of educational institutions. We will pay back the investments made in us many times over."

Some Rules for Entrepreneurs - IT

2012-09-19T17:26:25Z

The garage where Bill Hewlett and David Packard founded HP had its own core set of rules. They apply equally to programming.

The garage in Palo Alto where HP was born was the workplace of only two employees, the founders. Yet, to keep their core beliefs front and center as they tinkered and toiled, they posted a sign that articulated the guiding principles they shared:

Believe you can change the world.
Work quickly, keep the tools unlocked, work whenever.
Know when to work alone and when to work together.
Share tools, ideas. Trust your colleagues.
No Politics. No bureaucracy. (These are ridiculous in a garage.)
The customer defines a job well done.
Radical ideas are not bad ideas.
Invent different ways of working.
Make a contribution every day. If it doesn't contribute, it doesn't leave the garage.
Believe that together we can do anything.
Invent.

Succinct and to the point, the overarching core beliefs were to work together, invent useful things, and let the customer be the final arbiter. These principles are just as applicable today for start-ups as they are for established companies.

They also bear more than a passing resemblance to the foundational tenets of the Agile movement, although I think HP's principles are far more positively and clearly stated than the Agile manifesto. But even putting Agile aside, I would expect to see the HP rules in any enlightened software development organization or on any programming project — even if it consists of just two people.

http://www.drdobbs.com/architecture-and-design/the-programming-rules-from-hps-garage/240007549?cid=DDJ_nl_mdev_2012-09-19_h&elq=7567bd99667046aca3852d4dbb560d5b