Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 30, 2013

Though the notion of a “lean startup” that uses both Agile and Customer Development approaches is ostensibly strongly customer focused, the purpose of these methodologies is for the company to find an maximize its market, not specifically to optimize the user experience. Continuous integration, continuous learning.

Technology 168

Technology Coder Semantic Social Media 168

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 6, 2016

To address this, Heather Terenzio, founder and CEO of Boulder’s Techtonic Group, developed Techtonic Academy , an innovative solution in the form of Colorado’s first federally recognized by the Department of Labor technology apprenticeship. After about six months, graduating apprentices are qualified junior developers, ready to work.

Coder 70

Coder Salary Software Engineering Software 70

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 15, 2014

In the last five years, I’ve managed to find the time to write, publish and promote multiple books, including two award-winning bestsellers , develop a web application, maintain a blog, and present at conferences. I developed a simple mantra: “The only person I have to cheat is myself.” The Only Person I Have to Cheat is Myself.

Technical Review 195

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Software Review Cofounder 195

Feld Thoughts

MAY 14, 2011

They directly address the problem Fred describes which every software developer knows is a pain in the ass, uninteresting, hard to do well, but needs to be done right. Like SendGrid, they are growing like crazy, are in use by over 10,000 customers and have sent over 3 billion push notifications.

SMS 138

SMS Social Media Channel Email 138

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

Since SayAhh is in the pre-launch development stage, the company doesn’t have any revenue yet. A company at this stage could also face product development costs from consultants if they decided to outsource product development. Once these were up Dick launched several AdWords campaigns to test customer interest.

Balance Sheet 125

Balance Sheet Fractional CTO Burn Rate Salary 125

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

Today they are launching Pantheon for Agencies , which enables professional web designers and developers to standardize all DevOps for all of their clients and nail every launch every time. every web design, development, and digital marketing company on the planet.) Pantheon fixes this broken and frustrating dynamic.

Technical Review 70

Technical Review Portfolio Web Design 70

Feld Thoughts

JULY 12, 2018

As a result of growing their customer base quickly, they were invited to participate in an analyst evaluation. Rather than be pissed off about it, our feedback was to use this as a learning moment in the development of the company, figure out why this happened, and determine what could be done differently in the future.

Technical Review 73

Technical Review Warrant PR Portfolio 73

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 2, 2013

We’ve especially been interested in companies that make software developers and DevOps lives better. That means fewer late-night calls, an easier to manage environment, and more reliability for your customers. Two of the themes we love to invest in are Protocol and Glue.

Bandwidth 127

Bandwidth Security Cloud Cofounder 127

Feld Thoughts

MAY 5, 2011

This approach worked much better, but by this point one of the co-founders was frustrated with the customer dynamics (all business facing) and decided to leave to start a new consumer-facing business (he left on good terms, we are still good friends, and he’s much happier today). The last three months have been pleasantly insane.

CTO Hire 131

CTO Hire Cofounder Architecture Product Development 131

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 3, 2010

And, if you are a software developer using Lean or Agile methodologies, take a look at Rally and AgileZen. As a software developer, Nate had experience using other project management tools, but none of them seemed to work well for the small teams that he worked on. Why did you start AgileZen ?

Founder 122

Founder Acquisition Software Developers Software Development 122

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 11, 2010

I’ve become a big advocate of true Agile development (partly because of my experience with Rally Software – the leader in Agile software development environments) and – more recently – the notion of trying to get to continuous deployment which has been popularized by Eric Ries. Some release weekly, or even daily.

Software Review 138

Software Review Wiki Continuous Deployment Agile 138

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 24, 2020

Misty Robotics’ goal is to create a robot platform (hardware and software) that any developer can use to build useful and immediately applicable robot applications. A number of early customers have started building solutions. Misty is in beta with this and already has several paid beta customers.

SMS 124

SMS Web Software Email 124

Feld Thoughts

MAY 15, 2020

Energize Colorado , working with Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), has just released business templates that offer best practices, direction, and information on how businesses can restart operations safely and effectively.

Colorado 116

Colorado Programming Operations Employee 116

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 23, 2014

Well before the web existed, I was physically tearing articles out of industry magazines and sending them to customers, prospects, other entrepreneurs, and my partner Dave, who probably got tired of the stack of paper with notes scribbled on them that landed on his desk each day.

Technical Review 154

Technical Review Angel Investor Partner Database 154

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

I woke up in a customer service booth. ” While the deep topics are predictable, Constable addresses them freshly, with great character development, and an evolving AGI who is deliciously anthropomorphized. Constable’s near term sci-fi book Becoming Monday. If you’re born in hell, does that make you a bad person? .

Artificial Inteligence 134

Artificial Inteligence Security Developer Customer 134

Feld Thoughts

MAY 22, 2017

This morning’s launch of Maps for Unity brings the full stack of location tools to the world’s most popular game development platform and shows that location and maps are the new building blocks for AR and VR games. Bringing location and maps to game developers is a big deal. We think the maps look amazing and are insanely fast.

API 152

API China Green Matching 152

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 29, 2015

I’m not talking about a sales situation – separate that out – but rather a long-term business partnership, joint development, or technology partnership. Entrepreneurship big companies business development' In these cases, the large company puts up no money, but people engage to work with the small company.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital Reputation Affiliate Conversion 70

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 11, 2021

Through Cleantech Open, startups can build their entrepreneurship skills and professional networks, access expert mentorship, and connect with potential investors, partners, and customers. This is an effort in collaboration with NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Alabama 128

Alabama Equity Affiliate Incubator 128

Feld Thoughts

JULY 25, 2013

“Duh, websites are developed, launched, and run in the cloud” will be common knowledge soon enough. With Multidev we set a bar for the software industry on what is possible when custom software is built, launched, and run in the cloud. What we are doing will look obvious in retrospect.

Vermont 165

Vermont Startup Campaign Virginia 165

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 29, 2019

We also run Startup Weekends and Startup Weeks in over 150 cities globally, have a venture capital fund that invests in companies after they go through the accelerator program, and have a set of corporate innovation and ecosystem development programs that help bridge the gap between large enterprises, cities, and startups.

Early Stage 123

Early Stage Austin Sales Venture Capital 123

Feld Thoughts

MAY 4, 2020

Their environments are different than a software or professional services firm, as their employees and customers physically interact continuously throughout the day. You don’t have to be in an office environment to develop software products, practice law, trade stocks, or make investments.

Colorado 112

Colorado Stock Distribution Software 112

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 6, 2011

Given that the company has had no funding to date, the founders have been scrappy and have cobbled together a really impressive prototype that they’ve been using to get early customer feedback. In their case, the customer is a business customer rather than a mass market consumer web product.

Product 138

Product Agile Lean Developer 138

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

The demo is iconic and amazing, but it takes too long and is too abstract for their corporate customers buying Oblong’s Mezzanine product. The customer list is incredible, their classical enterprise land and expand strategy is working great, and new high-value use cases are being defined with each customer.

Mezzanine 147

Mezzanine Sales Video Leadership 147

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 27, 2011

Several of the companies I’m an investor in are significantly building out their iOS and Android development teams. If you are a partner in a small iOS or Android development shop, are tired of doing custom projects, and want to join a fast growing VC-backed startup, drop me an email.

Partner 126

Partner Email Developer Customer 126

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 20, 2012

500+ people obsessed about mobile app development, cloud computing, and big data are going to be there this year. If you are an early-sage startup (pre-funding or seed funding) in mobile app development, cloud computing or big data, this is a great way to get some face time with us. Did I say FREE?

Early Stage 127

Early Stage Cloud Mobile Internet 127

Feld Thoughts

MAY 6, 2015

If they approach things correctly, IT admins can cultivate an extremely effective development / IT organization and increase the pace of business across their entire organization. They push the pace of their product development by more closely aligning with customers. They decentralized decision making.

Framework 70

Framework Product Development Employee Naming 70

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 8, 2014

I was driving up to my place in Keystone and Raj was explaining some of the customer feedback they were receiving on their initial product. And this was exactly the thesis around the need for a new directory approach that Raj and team had developed from their customer conversations.

Cloud 134

Cloud Conversion Operations Email 134

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 30, 2014

Through a structured approach of group discussions, mentor sessions, and weekly pre-work deliverables, startups walk away with the skills needed to validate your business idea, a clear understanding of your customer development strategy, a completed market and competitive analysis, a MVP and, an investor ready pitch deck.

Global 143

Global Startup Networking Programming 143

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 16, 2017

The code library was developed by German chipmaker Infineon and has been generating weak keys since 2012 at the latest. I expect every security vendor is hard at work this morning figuring out what to patch, how to do it, what to tell their customers, and how to get all the patches out in the world as fast as possible.

Security 83

Security Database Government Software 83

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 12, 2011

Tie each round of funding to a set of key milestones in the development of your product/business. It is easy to get caught up in all the administrivia of of forming a company, building a business plan, and developing financial forecasts that you fail to spend time building your product. How do you know what matters most when?

Balance Sheet 136

Balance Sheet Forecast Cap Table Early Stage 136

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 7, 2011

Since last checking in with the SayAhh team, they have spent a few months consumed with building an early version of the product and speaking to potential customers, all the while watching their cash balance steadily diminish. What has been your experience/advice in developing revenue projections? What other problems do you see?

Revenue 130

Revenue Forecast Cofounder Business Model 130

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 30, 2014

Through a structured approach of group discussions, mentor sessions, and weekly pre-work deliverables, startups walk away with the skills needed to validate your business idea, a clear understanding of your customer development strategy, a completed market and competitive analysis, a MVP and, an investor ready pitch deck.

Global 119

Global Startup Networking Programming 119

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 4, 2012

They can use Steve Blank’s Lean LaunchPad approach to get out of the building and actually incorporate customer development early into the definition of their business. Rather than write long exhaustive documents, entrepreneurs can rapidly prototype their product and get immediate user and market feedback.

Business Plan 193

Business Plan Lean Cofounder Venture Capital 193

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 9, 2012

If you want a preview of what I’ll be talking about, Steve Blank , the successful entrepreneur and brilliant brain behind the Customer Development idea, has an outstanding and thorough (like everything Steve does) review of Startup Communities up on his site.

Community 132

Community Chicago Startup America 132

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 17, 2012

years of product development and varying business approaches, Gnip found their magic moment about a year and half ago. This monumental partnership will give Gnip’s customers full coverage of an amazing source of social data that has never been available. Today Gnip announced an exclusive partnership with Tumblr.

China 137

China Portfolio Product Development Engineer 137

Feld Thoughts

JULY 14, 2010

If you are a Rally customer, this is a no-brainer app for you; if you aren’t a Rally customer but are an Agile development shop that also has a bunch of iPhone users, take a look at Rally’s products.

Agile 109

Agile Software Product Acquisition 109

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 14, 2010

So they built a powerful and flexible API that allows site owners and developers to create a meta game that will compliment and promote the site experience, not just be a tacky add on. That may sound absurd to game developers, but the concept behind that simplicity is right on.

API 121

API Portfolio Video Community 121