Monthly Archives: March 2015

ssg daily yo! saturday, march 14, 2015

stuff

ssgdaily-2015-03-14.pdf

 

ssg daily yo! saturday, march 14, 2015 http://bit.ly/ssg-daily archives

join our growing grassroots community of founders, investors, and advisors to www.startupstudygroup.com/slack

 

notes:

  1. Great intros on SSG slack.
  2. Need to note some of the interesting topics here.
  3. Exclusive member-only notices will not be published on SSG daily here but by Slack and/or email.

 

thanks

  1. member blogs March 12, 2015 was 5.
  2. contributions to editing — n/a; (members always invited to edit)

 

achievements

  1. ???

 

stats

  1. 183 members; 136 on Slack
  2. Blogs today my members? 3 today so far!!!
  3. other metrics?

 

team goals

  1. Goal: 1000 members by June 2015; be the best startup community, period. 8 blogs/day means 1 blog to read every hour at work.
  2. metrics
    1. see #metrics channel on Slack.
  3. rally around Ingrid’s STEM project (twitter @ingridium)
  4. Finkip – a new way to read blogs. Please review.

 

ideas to consider

  1. Promoting, rallying around members’ launches.
  2. Gamificaton: value of blogging; fantasy founders game for blogging founders vs. nah. – started 3/12/15. Terrence YC vs Charles (draft founders who blog: picks Adam, Darryl, Jonas)

 

member blogs today- highlight blogs from ssg members; please read, engage, tweet…

  1. Highlights Are a Big Deal by Sergio Romo @sromo16
  2. Tumblr Blog by Terrence Yang

  3. How to prevent your co-founder from stealing your company by Josh Maher

  4. Friday rant by Charles Jo – technically a half free-style tweetstrorm

yesterday’s member blogs –

 

  1. Misnomers about Angel Investing by Josh Maher
  2. Think before Disrupting by Alan Daniel
  3. Some Thoughts on Meerkats by Tom Maxwell
  4. 10 Things Startups and Local Bands Should Avoid Screwing Up On – by Adam Marx
  5. Bootstrapping by Charles Jo

interesting notes from SSG Slack & elsewhere

  1. ???

member tweetstorms, rebuttstorms (hi @pmarca), upcoming speaking engagements, events (pix or it didn’t happen!), quora Q&A

  • ?

 

icymi (best of Mattermark, @sama, etc.)

  1. ?

 

misc

  • ???

 

past ideas

  1. ssg labs – started 3/4/15
    1. explore ideas within group
  2. edition times – 9:30pm PST (initially 3/4/15)
  3. create easier invite and onboarding than www.startupstudygroup.com/slack (initially 3/4/15)
    ← WeAreLATech is using a TypeForm page to onboard to their slack channel. See: wearelatech.com/vip

    1. 10 minutes to process…
  4. better format for website, more content/context
  5. save also as pdf editions – done
  6. theme song to newsletter by one of Adam Marx’s @adammarx13 awesome bands; maybe cycle thru his bands?
  7. invite more tech/startup bloggers
  8. automate this newsletter (by @costrike)
  9. virtual pitches in future. Google Hangouts -> Yahoo stream.  40 minutes Total next time.
  10. Bloggers – focus on finding tech startup bloggers to join SSG.
  11. RFB: Request for blogs.  Crowdsource ideas for member blogs.
  12. Create a mobile app for SSG users (not slack ) ?
  13. Create a SSG social network site on top of present website – http://startupstudygroup.com    ?
  14. Create visual analytics about subject matters and topics reheated to start ups
  15. BTC

 

Housekeeping

  1. ???

ssg daily yo! friday, march 13, 2015

stuff

 

ssg daily yo! friday, march 13, 2015 http://bit.ly/ssg-daily archives

join our growing grassroots community of founders, investors, and advisors to www.startupstudygroup.com/slack

 

notes: skipping march 12, 2015 since the daily goes out late evenings Cupertino time, next date will be used instead.

 

thanks

  1. member blogs March 11, 2015 was 8. Tied record!
  2. contributions to editing — n/a; (members always invited to edit)
  3. Terrence Yang and JD Carluccio for great discussions on public Twitter around focus on product first  (then occasional blogging).
  4. Darryl McAdams for constructive feedback on tweets that could have been easily misinterpreted.

achievements

  1. Wed march 11th, Tied record of 8 blogs/day. (Same as above).

 

stats

  1. 181 members; 130 on Slack
  2. Goal: 1000 members by June 2015; be the best startup community, period. 8 blogs/day means 1 blog to read every hour at work.
  3. Blogs today my members?

 

team goals

  1. metrics
    1. see #metrics channel on Slack.
  2. rally around Ingrid’s STEM project (twitter @ingridium)
  3. Finkip – a new way to read blogs. Please review.

 

ideas to consider

  1. Promoting, rallying around members launches.

 

member blogs – highlight blogs from ssg members; please read, engage, tweet…

  1. Misnomers about Angel Investing by Josh Maher
  2. Think before Disrupting by Alan Daniel
  3. Some Thoughts on Meerkats by Tom Maxwell
  4. 10 Things Startups and Local Bands Should Avoid Screwing Up On – by Adam Marx
  5. Bootstrapping by Charles Jo

interesting notes from SSG Slack & elsewhere

  1. Fred Wilson, the famous VC, mentioned on TWIST interview that he reads some cold emails. Very unusual and awesome.  Everyone should follow him on Twitter.

member tweetstorms, rebuttstorms (hi @pmarca), upcoming speaking engagements, events (pix or it didn’t happen!), quora Q&A

  • ?

 

icymi (best of Mattermark, @sama, etc.)

  1. ?

 

misc

  • ???

 

past ideas

  1. ssg labs – started 3/4/15
    1. explore ideas within group
  2. edition times – 9:30pm PST (initially 3/4/15)
  3. create easier invite and onboarding than www.startupstudygroup.com/slack (initially 3/4/15)
    ← WeAreLATech is using a TypeForm page to onboard to their slack channel. See: wearelatech.com/vip

    1. 10 minutes to process…
  4. better format for website, more content/context
  5. save also as pdf editions – done
  6. theme song to newsletter by one of Adam Marx’s @adammarx13 awesome bands; maybe cycle thru his bands?
  7. invite more tech/startup bloggers
  8. automate this newsletter (by @costrike)
  9. virtual pitches in future. Google Hangouts -> Yahoo stream.  40 minutes Total next time.
  10. Bloggers – focus on finding tech startup bloggers to join SSG.
  11. RFB: Request for blogs.  Crowdsource ideas for member blogs.
  12. Create a mobile app for SSG users (not slack ) ?
  13. Create a SSG social network site on top of present website – http://startupstudygroup.com    ?
  14. Create visual analytics about subject matters and topics reheated to start ups
  15. BTC

 

Housekeeping

  1. ???

Bootstrapping

stuff

One of the most interesting things about Peter Thiel is his challenge to people to not feel trapped in a straight jacket.  Yet, most founders I meet still are focused on the status quo model of product traction -> angel/seed -> VC -> IPO/M&A.  For an industry that prides itself on disruption, it seems that this is the road to travel.

Whenever I mention the bootstrapped model of Craigslist, people are surprised.  We all know what it is but its business model is not discussed.  Possibly because it didn’t make investors super rich.

I am curious what the founders and investors in the community think about the bootstrap model.  Are there other great examples of companies going independent outside the standard template?

I would love to hear feedback on Twitter @charlesjo. Or better, join us on SSG Slack: Invites http://bit.ly/joinssg + info http://bit.ly/coolssg

ssg daily yo! march 11, 2015 http://bit.ly/ssg-daily

stuff

ssg daily yo! march 11, 2015 http://bit.ly/ssg-daily

startup members edited daily | archives at www.startupstudygroup.com | join our growing grassroots community

& invite other founders, angel investors, VCs, and advisors to www.startupstudygroup.com/slack

ssgdaily-2015-03-11.pdf

 

ssg daily yo! march 11, 2015 http://bit.ly/ssg-daily

startup members edited daily | archives at www.startupstudygroup.com | join our growing grassroots community

& invite other founders, angel investors, VCs, and advisors to www.startupstudygroup.com/slack

 

thanks

  1. member blogs yesterday — 4
  2. contributions to editing — n/a

 

achievements

  1. Tied record for blogs at 8 today.

 

stats

  1. 172 members; 122 on Slack
  2. Goal: 1000 members by June 2015; be the best startup community, period. 8 blogs/day means 1 blog to read every hour at work.
  3. Blogs today my members? 8

 

team goals

  1. metrics
    1. see #metrics channel on Slack.

 

ideas to consider

  1. metrics

 

member blogs – highlight blogs from ssg members; please read, engage, tweet…

  1. A blog about not blogging by Terrence Yang
  2. A blog about blogging by Charles Jo (re-run)
  3. Lose the Sweet Tooth by Rive Health
  4. Virtual Reality & My First Week On Meerkat by Brandon Lipman
  5. Twitter – Discovering The Beauty of Online Communities by Brandon Lipman
  6. Knowing, the Art of Being Uncoachable by Shane Johnson
  7. Payment Plan Investing by Sergio Romo – placeholder –
  8. New Axe for Old Tribe by Charles Jo

 

interesting notes from SSG Slack & elsewhere

  1. BTC

 

member tweetstorms, rebuttstorms (hi @pmarca), upcoming speaking engagements, events (pix or it didn’t happen!), quora Q&A

  • ?

 

icymi (best of Mattermark, @sama, etc.)

  1. http://firstround.com/review/what-the-seed-funding-boom-means-for-raising-a-series-a/
  2. https://twitter.com/charlesjo/status/575722190051606528
  3. http://www.theappguy.co/the-app-guy-podcast/2015/3/6/tagp250-sol-weinreich-an-entrepreneurial-journey-from-a-family-print-business-to-apps-delivering-the-news-you-want-instantaneously

 

misc

  • ???

 

past ideas

  1. ssg labs – started 3/4/15
    1. explore ideas within group
  2. edition times – 9:30pm PST (initially 3/4/15)
  3. create easier invite and onboarding than www.startupstudygroup.com/slack (initially 3/4/15)
    ← WeAreLATech is using a TypeForm page to onboard to their slack channel. See: wearelatech.com/vip

    1. 10 minutes to process…
  4. better format for website, more content/context
  5. save also as pdf editions – done
  6. theme song to newsletter by one of Adam Marx’s @adammarx13 awesome bands; maybe cycle thru his bands?
  7. invite more tech/startup bloggers
  8. automate this newsletter (by @costrike)
  9. virtual pitches in future. Google Hangouts -> Yahoo stream.  40 minutes Total next time.
  10. Bloggers – focus on finding tech startup bloggers to join SSG.
  11. RFB: Request for blogs.  Crowdsource ideas for member blogs.
  12. Create a mobile app for SSG users (not slack ) ?
  13. Create a SSG social network site on top of present website – http://startupstudygroup.com    ?
  14. Create visual analytics about subject matters and topics reheated to start ups

 

Housekeeping

  1. ???

New Axe for Old Tribe

stuff

Growing up in Korea, we heard the Gold Axe, Silver Axe story which I later found out was descended from the Honest Woodsman from Aesop’s fable. For telling the truth, the honest woodsman is gifted the gold axe, silver axe, and his original axe. A greedy logger who sees the honest one get these, tries but ends up losing even his original rusted axe.  Maybe karma.

The second time I heard a story about an axe was in a Cultural Anthropology class in the US.  It was about an scientist who found a culture which had not invented the axe.  What an opportunity!  The scientist was excited to present this axe to the society to record how the people would jump to developing new tools using the axe  .  The scientist brought the axe to the people and surprise!

The people who used to spend maybe 8 hours to do the work around their village were able to get it done in about 2 hours with this new axe tool.  Guess what they did with the remaining hours?  Instead of working at using the axe technology to carve out a more sophisticated society, the men and women used the rest of the time for leisure.  Now they had all this time to relax, enjoy life.

Very simple lessons for me .  First, what axe type tools are available to us now that we are not maximizing to carve out the best future for us.  William Gibson said that the future is already here; it’s just not very evenly distributed.  Secondly, when we use the axe correctly to create meaningful robots and AI, we will be able to enjoy most of our waking hours instead of doing mind-numbing monotonous chores which we were not made to do.

Engage with me on Twitter (@charlesjo) and if you are a building the future with your axe, join my growing community of founders and investors at www.startupstudygroup.com/slack.

ssg daily yo! march 10, 2015 http://bit.ly/ssg-daily

stuff

ssg daily yo! march 10, 2015 http://bit.ly/ssg-daily

startup members edited daily | archives at www.startupstudygroup.com | join our growing grassroots community and invite other founders, angel investors, VCs, and advisors to www.startupstudygroup.com/slack

thanks

  1. member blogs yesterday — 6.
  2. contributions to editing — n/a

 

achievements

  1. 1st Bitcoin transaction on SSG Slack!!!
  2. Special invite by Eric W. !!! details on Slack and Email for SSG members.

 

stats

  • 167 members; 120 on Slack
  • Goal: 1000 members by June 2015; be the best startup community, period. 8 blogs/day means 1 blog to read every hour at work.
  • Blogs today my members? 1

 

ideas to consider

  1. Use bitcoin as mode of awarding SSG members between members

 

member blogs – highlight blogs from ssg members; please read, engage, tweet…

  1. JD https://medium.com/@JDcarlu/the-expression-of-technology-320fb184cd48 [to edit]
  2. Increase online sales by optimizing the right keywords by Eric Dunstan http://ericdunstan.com
  3. Focus & Feedback by Charles Jo
  4. https://medium.com/@Startup_Dreams/needles-in-haystacks-4e08865d320d?source=tw-b8bd8d2affcf-1426038820611

 

interesting notes from SSG Slack & elsewhere

  1. Build

 

member tweetstorms, rebuttstorms (hi @pmarca), upcoming speaking engagements, events (pix or it didn’t happen!), quora Q&A

  • ?

 

icymi (best of Mattermark, @sama, etc.)

 

misc

  • ???

 

past ideas

  1. ssg labs – started 3/4/15
    1. explore ideas within group
  2. edition times – 9:30pm PST (initially 3/4/15)
  3. create easier invite and onboarding than www.startupstudygroup.com/slack (initially 3/4/15)
    ← WeAreLATech is using a TypeForm page to onboard to their slack channel. See: wearelatech.com/vip

    1. 10 minutes to process…
  4. better format for website, more content/context
  5. save also as pdf editions – done
  6. theme song to newsletter by one of Adam Marx’s @adammarx13 awesome bands; maybe cycle thru his bands?
  7. invite more tech/startup bloggers
  8. automate this newsletter (by @costrike)
  9. virtual pitches in future. Google Hangouts -> Yahoo stream.  40 minutes Total next time.
  10. Bloggers – focus on finding tech startup bloggers to join SSG.
  11. RFB: Request for blogs.  Crowdsource ideas for member blogs.
  12. Create a mobile app for SSG users (not slack ) ?
  13. Create a SSG social network site on top of present website – http://startupstudygroup.com    ?
  14. Create visual analytics about subject matters and topics reheated to start ups

 

Housekeeping

  1. ???

Focus & Feedback

stuff

There is nothing more annoying and simultaneously exciting than those who challenge your ideas and assumptions while you are trying to focus on building something awesome.  Or as I’ve heard some designers say insanely great.

For those of us with kids, it may be easier to understand.  Once you see the eyes of your first born open to see the their universe for the first time, you realize that the entire world has changed forever for you.  The world no longer is about your craving an In-N-Out cheeseburger but about what would make her have the most wonderful childhood.  Every day.  Every hour.

A question came up from my community at www.startupstudygroup.com about the value of blogging.  Rather than point them to my post about the topic, I argued that I see founders as people and that some need to write.  It’s been a great way for me to organize my ideas and communicate to those in my network.  I am selling without selling.  I share my thoughts on some topics and it may hit a nerve to those readers who then see me as a person rather than a pretentious “personal branding” hack trying to hashtag their way to nicer zip codes.  Ultimately, people want to connect with people.

Having said that, my encouragement for people in the startup community to blog is  to help them become more organized and efficient. Think long term networking for business and career.  But this should not take the bulk of your time when you are coding and shipping.  Focus.  Take care of your new born.  She needs to be held.  She needs to be fed.  You can schedule times for the In-N-Out burgers.

Engage with me on Twitter. I’m @charlesjo.

ssg daily yo! march 9, 2015 http://bit.ly/ssg-daily

stuff

ssg daily yo! march 9, 2015 http://bit.ly/ssg-daily

startup members edited daily | archives at www.startupstudygroup.com | join our growing grassroots community and invite other founders, angel investors, VCs, and advisors to www.startupstudygroup.com/slack

 

http://startupstudygroup.com/fail-fast-no/

 

thanks

  1. member bloggers yesterday — 1.
  2. contributions to editing — n/a

 

achievements

  1. ?

 

stats

  • 167 members; 116 on Slack
  • Goal: 1000 members by June 2015; be the best startup community, period. 8 blogs/day means 1 blog to read every hour at work.
  • Blogs today my members? 5 woot

 

ideas to consider

  1. virtual pitches in future. Google Hangouts -> Yahoo stream.  40 minutes Total next time.
  2. Bloggers – focus on finding tech startup bloggers to join SSG.
  3. RFB: Request for blogs.  Crowdsource ideas for member blogs.

member blogs – highlight blogs from ssg members; please read, engage, tweet…

  1. Top 6 Takeways from Meerkat AMA by Terrence Yang
  2. I Am Wrong by Shane Johnson
  3. Finding Innovators by Josh Maher
  4. How to Approach VCs by JD Carluccio
  5. Hackathons by Alan Daniel
  6. It Has to Exist by Charles Jo

 

interesting notes from SSG Slack & elsewhere

  1. Canada startup visa program

 

member tweetstorms, rebuttstorms (hi @pmarca), upcoming speaking engagements, events (pix or it didn’t happen!), quora Q&A

  • ?

 

icymi (best of Mattermark, @sama, etc.)

  • GigaOm fails.

 

misc

  • ???

 

past ideas

  1. ssg labs – started 3/4/15
    1. explore ideas within group
  2. edition times – 9:30pm PST (initially 3/4/15)
  3. create easier invite and onboarding than www.startupstudygroup.com/slack (initially 3/4/15)
    ← WeAreLATech is using a TypeForm page to onboard to their slack channel. See: wearelatech.com/vip

    1. 10 minutes to process…
  4. better format for website, more content/context
  5. save also as pdf editions – done
  6. theme song to newsletter by one of Adam Marx’s @adammarx13 awesome bands; maybe cycle thru his bands?
  7. invite more tech/startup bloggers
  8. automate this newsletter (by @costrike)

 

Housekeeping

  1. ???

It Has to Exist

stuff

People continue to poopoo ideas while championing execution. I think there are great, aggressive, competitive men and women out there who can execute superbly but they are working with half-baked ideas – and that may be giving them too much credit.

People have said it before. Product ideas that are so compelling that it moves the person to act. You think about sipping coffee, in the shower, driving to work, during breaks, when falling asleep. Mind keeps iterating the idea. What if I tweak this? What if I tweak that? How would this new tech stack work with the idea? You just can’t stop.

I think we all need to wake up and really think about what we want to see in the world that would make us work on the idea day in and day out. Even if it never earned any money. There would be so much need for such a product that people would ask themselves why didn’t someone think of this before?

Are you working on products that the world needs? Does it have to exist?

Engage with me on Twitter. I am @charlesjo.