woot.
Complete graphics overhaul coming up. No more of this blah blah blah boring server side coding to be done. For the next three weeks we are focusing almost exclusively on making the app and the website look better. Photoshop + XHTML + CSS + jQuery (more commonly known as the Devil) all day every day. It’s interesting, the majority of the work that has to be done for this product will never be actually SEEN by the end user (tough cookies, Scott). On the same design note, we’re possibly taking on a co-founder this summer that will be focusing on design.
I keep thinking about a post by Dave Mcclure about the importance of design in consumer internet start ups. We really do need to put a lot more effort into making addicting user experiences if we want to be successful. I’m becoming more and more of a Dave fanboy as time goes on. I really like his writing style – very flow of conscious.
Final note: TechStars for a day. Holy bleeep. Nuff said.
The awesome people over at Techstars just sent us an invite to come to Techstars for a Day in March! We’ll be flying out on Thursday the 4th and staying through Sunday. Big thanks to the people at Next Big Sound for agreeing to house us for the nights that we will be there – always appreciate being able to sleep on a floor if we don’t have to pay for hotel costs. They seem like awesome guys and should be great resources for information about Boulder, Techstars, and being in a music startup.
On that note, if anyone finds it in their Giri to donate money to help offset the cost of plane tickets, we would gladly put up a huge plug for all 12 of our blog readers to see.
Also, if anyone reading this is also attending TSFAD, send me an email at scott@getsoundaround.com so that we can hook up while in Boulder for coffee. I’d love to have a packed schedule while we’re there doing as much networking as possible.
See you in March.
It’s official! Were both headed to spring break in Silicon Valley with EEP. Although I was out there in October to hang with the MyFit crew, it’ll be great to go back for another 5 days of entrepreneury goodness as we get to tour Palo Alto and Sand Hill Road (if we must…), see the Google and Apple campuses, possibly meet Randy Komisar and Guy Kawasaki and hopefully Steve Blank, the list goes on and on. Best of all, NCSU heavily subsidizes the trip such that the 5 days of airfair, food, and lodging only costs $300.
We’re still waiting on a lineup of who we are definitely going to visit. I’ll try to post an update when I get it.
Also, i’ll be doing the local tour here as part of a joint venture between NCSU and Southern Capitol Ventures (thanks to Jason Caplain for hosting the trip each semester). We’re set to hit canvas on demand, iContact, and a few more. These are always fun to do. Any time you see a founder’s eyes light up telling you their story, something powerful happens in the surfacing of emotions and harnessing of energy to add even more fuel to my business drive.
You’ve almost certainly been in our situation before. Were chomping at the bit to get as much of our company up and running before the paycheck from mom and dad and the govt stops coming. Classes are now not only a serious burden to our drinking habit, but are a serious threat to the amount of time we have to spend coding or talking to potential clients. If only the world knew what they had coming for them they surely would all chip in and help us buy our last semester grades and fast food for every meal so that we wouldn’t have to waste 3 minutes cooking hot dogs for every meal. I give you this imagery because I want for you to reminisce on these days of lore and remember how gloriously poor you(we) were(are) in terms of money, cofounders, and hours in the day.
One of the most challenging quandrys that university student entrepreneurs face is the realization that they’ve more or less transcended what the university has to offer them. The academic content isn’t necessarily dry or inapplicable to all bottom-line-driven companies, it’s just that they don’t make classes specifically geared toward YOUR startup. If they offered a degree in Sound Around I would be there all day every paying attention and taking notes. The reality, however, is that generalized classes rarely provide knowledge directly applicable to obtaining our minimum viable product.
Here is where things get sticky. You, as an administrator, have a contract to uphold where you are bound by the university to correctly facilitate the pedogogical value in entrepreneurship teaching and mentorship. We are bound by our drive to get our company to a state where it is making both money and meaning in the world. These two positions OFTEN have maligned objectives and goals.
From a student perspective here is my advice: if these types of students are enrolled in your entrepreneurship class, there is most likely nothing you can do to reign them in back to the class level. They are beyond the point of being driven by grades. As long as their behavior is not totally detrimental to the program just let them do their thing. There are other students that need the mentoring and attention. Fighting a frivolous battle with driven entrepreneurs will take away significantly from the other 90% of the entrepreneurship students still finding their legs. Additionally, working WITH students will ultimately help your university and the university system as a whole in its ability to bring talented individuals together to spawn the next google or facebook.
The university should be seen as a leverage point for entrepreneurs, not a hindrance to their overwhelming desire to start something great.
Well I haven’t written in almost a month but the last time I did it was about the trials and tribulations of an amateur trying his hand at web design. I’m proud to say that my skills have increased dramatically since the last time I wrote. The web site is almost done and, being that it’s the first web site I’ve ever done and all, I’m pretty impressed with myself. To a lot of people and EVERY person that has experience with web design, it’s going to be clear that it was done by an amateur but that’s ok. There are some clear issues in uniformity (read: fonts and use of color is a bit haphazard at times) but overall I’m happy with the job I’ve done. Most likely, we’ll take what I did and turn it over to someone with some real talent to really pull everything together. But deadlines are deadlines and we’re trying to get YC and TechStars applications out so the web site needs to be up.
We’re both at points in our lives where there will never be a time where we don’t have work that we could be doing and I don’t see this changing for the next…3 years or so. Wish us luck on our YC and TechStars apps.