sivers.org

JUNE 25, 2010

Derek Sivers about me blog books email list contact How to hire a programmer to make your ideas happen 2010-06-19 Do you have an idea for a website, online business, or application, but need a programmer to turn that idea into reality? But first, a quick request: If you are a programmer, please leave a reply below with YOUR best advice.

CTO Hire 84

CTO Hire Hiring Software Review Technical Review 84

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

VCs Why dont VCs start doing smaller series A rounds? You dont have to be on the board to help a startup. Im not saying VCs dont help startups. What Im saying is that the kind of help that matters, youmay not have to be a board member to give. [ The VC fundsthat dont adapt wont be violently displaced.

Startup 93

Startup Valuation Non-Compete Deal Flow 93

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 29, 2008

On the one hand, it gives you insight into what kind of employee the candidate might be. This second objective plays no small part in allowing you to hire the best. By far the most important thing you want to hire for in a startup is the ability to handle the unexpected. The six key attributes spell ABCDEF: Agility.

San Francisco 146

San Francisco Lean Agile Java 146

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 10, 2017

Seeking to save money where possible will allow you to make the most of what you have in the bank. Leasing is one route you can take to avoid the high cost of newer vehicles. Opting to lease a truck will ensure you have a lower monthly payment allowing you to allocate funds elsewhere within your business.

Cost 75

Cost Startup Technical Review Sales 75

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 22, 2009

Now, I dont pretend to be an expert on macroeconomics, international grand strategy or even enough of a policy wonk to make serious recommendations on how best to implement Issue X Reform. If you are somehow not convinced of this point, Ill let Fareed Zakaria explain ) We know who the next generation of entrepreneurs are going to be.

Programming 143

Programming San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 143

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

Ive tried hard not to live up (or down?) But I dont think most startups really have a need for someone to do that on a full time basis. I mean, have you seen other people? Should you take them? These sounded to me like technical problems, but when you do any kind of root cause analysis they turn out to be people problems.

CTO 168

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 168

readwrite.com

JANUARY 23, 2013

Big Data may be the poster child for NoSQL databases and date warehouses, but one industry veteran isn't giving up on SQL databases for Big Data just yet. Dont Write Off Relational Databases For Big Data Just Yet. Would you please tell us a little about the history of NoSQL and Big Data? Share… on Facebook.

Database 69

Database SQL Open Source Cloud 69

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

A typical startup goes throughseveral rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take justenough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the nextgear. I dont mean to suggest that our investors were nothing but a dragon us. You already know them. There never has to be atime when you have no revenues.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

For software, we have many - you can enjoy a nice long list on Wikipedia. And when they dont come, well, we just try, try, again. You can learn about customer development, and quite a bit more, in Steves book The Four Steps to the Epiphany. Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, November 8, 2008 What is customer development?

Customer Development 168

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 168

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 1, 2009

So how do you reconcile his success with the lean startup, which seems to suggest the opposite?" So how do you reconcile his success with the lean startup, which seems to suggest the opposite?" I rarely give a satisfactory answer to this question, because I dont know Steve, nor have I worked at Apple or Pixar.

San Francisco 166

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 166

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

After reading it, you might not even realize that there are cars involved in Toyotas business. Lets say you notice that your website is down. Obviously, your first priority is to get it back up. The next step is this: you have to commit to make a proportional investment in corrective action at every level of the analysis.

Software Review 167

Software Review Technical Review San Francisco Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

I am convinced one of Joel Spolskys lasting contributions to the field of managing software teams will turn out to be the Joel Test , a checklist of 12 essential practices that you could use to rate the effectiveness of a software product development team. Lets start with the original list: Do you use source control ? Youd better.

Software Review 144

Software Review Technical Review San Francisco Continuous Deployment 144

www.ericsink.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

People seemed to really enjoy reading about my screw-ups. Eric, is it possible that you have simply never made a mistake in a hiring decision?". The first step in hiring is to make sure that you actually need to be hiring. In other contexts, it often makes sense to "staff up" in anticipation of growth. Version 7.0

Hiring 40

Hiring Software Review Coder Illinois 40

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 19, 2009

I want to talk specifics, and when you come right down to it, most technology startups dont have a very interesting cost structure. We should begin by clearing up one common misconception: that hiring more people means you can create more value faster. As a mentor of mine always says, "Startups dont starve, they drown."

Lean 140

Lean Hiring San Francisco Continuous Deployment 140

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 3, 2009

The suggestion is that you implement one single company-wide rule. I asked, "how do you know what your job description is?" It was, simply, that every person in the company has this job description: in any situation it is your responsibility, using your best judgement, to do what you think is in the best interests of the company.

Employee 146

Employee San Francisco Lean Software Review 146

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 15, 2008 The one line split-test, or how to A/B all the time Split-testing is a core lean startup discipline, and its one of those rare topics that comes up just as often in a technical context as in a business-oriented one when Im talking to startups. First of all, why split-test?

San Francisco 166

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Continuous Deployment 166

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 20, 2008

Unfortunately, the weekends are already taken, because features that used to ship on a friday now routinely cause collateral damage somewhere else on the platform, and so the team is having to work nights and weekends cleaning up after each launch. By shipping software early, you give them continuous feedback about how it well its working.

Software Review 164

Software Review Engineer Management Technical Review 164

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 12, 2009

Ironically, as PHP has grown up, its designers have been busy "fixing" these shortcomings. In that system, the first time you loaded a script to handle a page, the whole script (as well as associated data) were kept resident in memory. But by the time I was building my first websites for commercial use , PHP had taken over.

PHP 166

PHP Software Review Ruby San Francisco 166

online.wsj.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

. --> The Venture Capital Secret: 3 Out of 4 Start-Ups Fail. But now there is evidence that venture-backed start-ups fail at far higher numbers than the rate the industry usually cites. But now there is evidence that venture-backed start-ups fail at far higher numbers than the rate the industry usually cites. Stock Quotes.

Venture Capital 107

Venture Capital Software Review Rhode Island North Dakota 107

mashable.com

MARCH 20, 2014

Because there is often a lot at stake for a new company, its wise to ask where you will fit in among founders and first hires — and how you can make a direct impact on the companys success. Whatever answer they give, deduct two to four months in case theyve underestimated their expenses — it happens. Seth Talbott , Preferling.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Software Review Exit Strategy San Francisco 103

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 11, 2009

Yes, you may be more familiar with the term open source, but lets give credit where credit is due , at least for today). Its one of the easiest ways to get leverage in your development process, amplifying the power of your team by letting you take advantage of code written by thousands of others.

Software Review 68

Software Review Software Hiring San Francisco 68

www.humbledmba.com

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

Stop doing your start-up. I remember calling up my best friend to tell her I was starting a company but refused to tell her how the product would work. You see Apple is very secretive and thats why theyre so successful. If youre one of those guys, this post if for you. At least give yourself a fighting chance to succeed.

Stealth 90

Stealth NDA Startup IP 90

swombat.com

JULY 15, 2012

On swombat.com , I summarise and comment on the best articles for founders each day, as well as post my own thoughts and advice, so you can read the most useful articles while focusing on building your own startup. It gives you the buzz of learning stuff, absorbing new information, adding to your growing skill set.

Technical Cofounder 56

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Founder Restful 56

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

If you watch the video/audio below, youll get to see some of the questions I was asked after my presentation. Every summer, they bring approximately 10 companies to Boulder for an intense "accelerator" experience (dont call it an incubator, or youll get dirty looks). On my brief visit, the results were impressively on display.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Continuous Deployment 113

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

Definitionally not a short post (sorry for letting you down, Ari ;-). So if you’re casually reading and don’t really care about angel financing – abort now! If you really want to know about the topic I hope this will be worth your time. Team: You need a team. I’ll make my next posting shorter.

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

news.ycombinator.com

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

There are some other serious reasons why we dont want to go public right now. I like this slogan as much as the next guy, but its implications may not be what you think they are. What if execution is (mostly) a function of money you have? >> You desperately need real feedback. We dont want that at this point.

Stealth 41

Stealth Technical Review Startup Software Review 41

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Start-up | Mondays. Should You Share Equity with Consultants? To grow his cash-strapped start-up, Parker ended up sharing equity -- not only with employees, but also with consultants and vendors. Sometimes consultants are a tougher sell because they frequently like cash up front," Parker says. Welcome | Logout.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

ConversionXL

MAY 24, 2013

A strong A/B testing plan will allow you to increase your revenue. You will also learn valuable insights about your customers, because you will be “knowing” instead of “thinking about” their preferences. When done correctly, you can achieve good, measurable results in a short timeframe.

Analytics 131

Analytics Mobile Framework Conversion 131

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 20, 2009

Every time an engineer checks in code, they are batching up a certain amount of work. Normally I focus on the techniques you need to reduce batch size, like continuous integration. The sooner you pass your work on to a later stage, the sooner you can find out how they will receive it. I dont think so.

San Francisco 161

San Francisco Software Review Continuous Deployment Development Team Review 161

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

For those of you who don’t know, business plan competitions are held by universities who get their students to enter and compete to see who has the best business idea. Just Google the term and you’ll be amazed. If you are outside of Silicon Valley, you ought to jump into them with both feet.

Business Plan 140

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 140

www.launch.co

JULY 25, 2012

Sign up for our Newsletter. Wouldnt the world be better if you could press a button and A happened?" You made something great in a world that wants excellent," I keep reminding myself. The question that inevitably comes up after reading the piece: "How do you make something excellent?" Search. -->. Big Smarts.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Jordan Audio Los Angeles 54

99u.com

DECEMBER 22, 2012

Every business needs a dream team, but you cant hire for every expertise youll need. Sure, you may need developers and designers, but how about experts on your industry or people with relationships with certain prospects that you cant afford to hire? State expectations up front. If you dont ask, you dont get.

Turkey 40

Turkey Dilution Portfolio Exit Strategy 40

blog.launchbit.com

MARCH 8, 2012

Why you can(t) recruit a technical cofounder. There are a lot of aspects to this ranging from finding your first paying customer and validating your idea to putting together a minimum viable product that lets you learn about your business as quickly as possible. « Back to blog. Viewed times. Favorited 4 times. Fans of this post.

Technical Cofounder 47

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Equity Differentiation 47

www.thisisgoingtobebig.com

OCTOBER 25, 2010

The truth of the matter is that, actually, it starts with you. Dont forget that this person is adding you as a partner just as much as youre adding them, so look in the mirror and think about what you bring to the table. So, what makes you worth 50%? (Or Or 60,70, or 80% if you plan on giving out less.)

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Software Review Startup Due Diligence 40

dashes.com

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

Its a bum deal, so I dont do it. I can explain why, but if you saw what Brad Feld or Alexander Muse or Fred Wilson or Joel Spolsky or (my favorite take) Andrew Warner write about why they dont sign NDA s, you can skip the rest of this post. But signing an NDA ? Not always, but too often.

NDA 52

NDA Technical Review Non-Compete San Francisco 52

www.frozennorth.org

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

If youve read my Cult of the NDA article (which, by the way, remains one of the most-read articles on this blog), then you know that I think good luck and good execution are far more important to success in a startup than a Really Big Idea. Let me give you a real-world example. Gourmet Customer Service. buy it on Amazon. (in)Frequently

Stealth 40

Stealth IP NDA Startup 40

www.huffingtonpost.com

MAY 10, 2011

One night, meeting Yishan in Mountain View to hammer out the details of the project, Yishans Sunfire co-founder Niniane Wang showed up and grilled me with lots of very good questions. HuffPosts QuickRead. HuffPosts QuickRead. This time, I decided to handle the process myself. The first thing I did was to find an advisor who I could trust.

CTO 43

CTO CTO Hire PHP Cofounder 43