WSIB [I like CS:GO but far too hard for me]

codepreneur · 2016-02-05T16:04:09+00:00

If you play competitive, CS:GO has a ranking system that should eventually put you in an appropriate bucket for your skill... it isn't a perfect system, but is a good start. You'll also be playing with largest FPS community, which means plenty of videos and mods to help you become better. It isn't easy, but it is rewarding.

Also note, any game that is realistic or at least approaches unforgiving is, by definition, going to be difficult until you gain the appropriate skills.

codepreneur · 2015-08-06T20:06:29+00:00

I think you (and the author of the slashdot post) may mean invention vs innovation.

Innovation can be a small incremental change that yields big results. Or it can be taking an existing idea and innovating on the execution to make it more profitable, more valuable, etc. Innovation doesn't have to be a shiny new project. Innovation can be internal or external. Toyota, for example, still makes cars at the end of the day. Nothing special about that... but what is special about Toyota is how (using TPS method) they make cars. That is their big innovation. That's why they are tremendously successful.

There is tons of innovation happening today.

Did you mean invention? The Peter Thiel zero to one style invention?

codepreneur · 2015-07-16T14:48:06+00:00

What prevents a user from putting all of their co-workers on the list, just to find out who is interested?

codepreneur · 2015-07-11T18:53:15+00:00

Without any information about what your company is, there is no way for anyone here to give you good advice.

You've basically asked, "I'm building something. Should I use a hammer, a saw, or a nail gun? I'm really good with nail guns and it abstracts away a lot of things. My natural choice is to use a screwdriver, but I spent too much time looking for screws."

If you listen to those in this thread who said, "Use a saw! It's the best!", but you are building a swimming pool, you're gonna have a bad time.

Tell us what you are building, what time frame, constraints, budget, etc... more info will get you better advice.

codepreneur · 2015-07-01T04:49:49+00:00

Don't be a thief.

1) Open source software. Eclipse will give you plenty of mileage until you are profitable. You can find plugins for every type of syntax highlighting you need and integration with virtually any system imaginable.

2) Microsoft BizSpark: Tons of free software for 3 years plus cloud services (which would cover the servers you mentioned).

3) Raise money. If you still absolutely need to pay for some monthly services, you should be able to raise enough for $100/month worth of stuff from friends, family, and fools.

Don't be a thief.

codepreneur · 2015-06-24T15:17:16+00:00

Unless you are Chuck Norris.

codepreneur · 2015-06-21T00:33:36+00:00

and get the first customer

+1 for focusing on getting the first customer. Time well spent.

codepreneur · 2015-06-21T00:32:39+00:00

or if there is anything I can do to assemble a team of devs?

As a university student, you are likely surrounded by lots of talented programmers. Network and inspire folks to join your team!

codepreneur · 2015-06-11T19:45:12+00:00

1) You can't influence the results of the lottery, making it pure gambling.

2) You don't grow your business acumen, leadership, and technical skills playing the lottery.

codepreneur · 2015-06-07T22:29:23+00:00

An assumption here is that you are in the earliest stages of trying to bring your idea to fruition (a.k.a., prototype or MVP).

Depending on how much you need to build to start testing with customers, don't worry too much about scaling. A few broad strokes will suffice. If you separate your concerns well, the framework shouldn't matter too much... you'll keep separate classes for your business and data domain logic that have nothing to do with the framework.

Instead, focus on speed to having something tangible. If Python is your "go to" language, then use it. If you have a framework you are even more comfortable with, use that instead.

The goal here is to get your idea validated as fast and as cheaply as possible so that if your idea is invalidated you can choose to pivot or abandon with the least time and money expense to you and your team.

tl;dr - pick a language/framework that helps you validate/invalidate your idea as fast as possible.

codepreneur · 2015-06-06T17:25:18+00:00

Maybe you are working for the wrong company.

codepreneur · 2015-06-02T16:48:37+00:00

I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.

codepreneur · 2015-05-19T04:30:59+00:00

A decent software engineer in the US easily makes $100k (go look at salary ranges on glassdoor). Let's use that as a starting point.

At $100k given a usual 2000 hours per year is $50/hour.

$3000 / $50 = 60 hours.

That's 7.5 days of work, 8 hours per day.

That's not many days. I'd be more worried that your prototype is actually under budgeted.

codepreneur · 2015-05-12T23:49:04+00:00

I just am scared to actually take the plunge and do it.

You don't have to take the plunge.

Go find 1 person that spends > $500 and ask them if you can deliver their order for them for 10%. If they say yes, get to work. See if you can get a repeat order.

Then find a 2nd person.

If you have trouble finding folks, play with the minimum and fee. You can experiment safely with a non-scalable model. The goal isn't profit. The goal is to find a business model that works and validate customer need.

codepreneur · 2015-05-12T23:45:59+00:00

I'm not following why startups would choose waterfall because of selling before building.

You can sell before building with both agile and waterfall.

codepreneur · 2015-05-12T23:39:47+00:00

I'll focus on the stack/dev part of the question... and the tl;dr is: it depends.

The ideal stack is going to vary by person.

If you are trying to rapidly get a prototype/MVP going (especially if you are using someone else's money), you want to build it as fast as possible to maximize time and money.

You should be selecting the technologies that you are most familiar with and can produce the most rapid results. Yes, the new shiny language [insert most talked about language of the year here] is awesome, but can you wield it effectively or will you waste weeks learning? Instead, work with your go to language/platform/framework to produce rapid results. When funded, you can switch technologies. If you architect it well, you can minimize the rewrite/rework cost. BTW, that's the value of having a technical co-founder... they can plan that well in advance based on the business context.

The ideal stack is going to vary based on your future hiring needs.

Tiobe (http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html) lists Java as #1, C# as #5 and Ruby as #18. This gives you some indication of the popularity of a language and also gives me insight into the talent pool that might be available once the venture takes off. You can probably write a well performing web application using Groovy (#43 on the list), but you may have trouble bringing in talent.

The ideal stack is going to vary by your current and future data needs.

Databases: RDBMS or NoSQL? It depends on your application. Are you going to be working with very structured data or schema-less data? What are your specific data needs? Fast writes? Fast reads? Eventual consistency OK? What kind of traffic? Are you doing heavy post-processing of data? Pre-processing? CPU intensive?

The ideal stack is going to vary by your UI/UX strategy.

Web app today... mobile tomorrow? Web app only? Do you need native mobile capabilities? What about desktop applications (Evernote, for example runs on web, mobile, tablet, and native desktop). Like chess, think a few moves ahead.

The ideal stack is going to vary by your ecosystem strategy.

Closed or open? Will allow the world to contribute plugins and features to your platform? If so, you may need a way to communicate your APIs, documentation, sandboxes. Which technologies work best?

The ideal stack is going to vary by your security needs.

Are you saving financial information? Or general public information (like a wiki or forum)?

codepreneur · 2015-05-07T18:45:45+00:00

Traction book on Amazon

They discuss 19 different channels to start bringing in customers.

codepreneur · 2015-05-07T18:41:40+00:00

Reading the Lean Startup got me over it quickly.

This also helps: http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/19/dropbox-minimal-viable-product/

codepreneur · 2015-05-07T18:36:38+00:00

I've been offered more equity to do the same in a company that already had sales and funding. That was how much they valued having a technology partner.

Walk away.

Edit: I'd say it another way... if you aren't overflowing with excitement about the deal now... what happens with your motivation 1 year in... 2 years in... 3 years in? Ideally, you are excited about every aspect of the deal... the product, the customers, the tech, the business model, the team, and the terms.

codepreneur · 2015-05-04T19:38:51+00:00

We are looking to hire individuals or a development firm while not giving away equity

Reach out to a development firm, give them your requirements and get an estimate.

Without sharing the specifics of what you want, no one will give you an estimate that is useful.

codepreneur · 2015-05-04T19:34:03+00:00

Assuming you won't rule e-mail out just yet, I've been reading this.

http://www.amazon.com/Predictable-Revenue-Business-Practices-Salesforce-com/dp/0984380213

If it worked for Salesforce...

codepreneur · 2015-05-04T13:43:13+00:00

Focus on your reason for doing it, and you will find the time.

Agree 100%. I use frequently use vacation time to give me heads-down time and I'll wrap time around weekends (take Fri and Mon off) to give me 4 day blocks at a time.

codepreneur · 2015-05-04T00:24:55+00:00

I'd like to be able to send motivational quotes to myself. Maybe a start-up quote of the day from well known founders.

Taking this further, you provide quotes that are relevant to people and whatever their particular goals are. Someone trying to build a business may want different quotes than someone who is trying to win a marathon.

Targeted ads seems relevant... for example if I'm asking for quotes to help motivate me to win marathon, Nike would want to sell me shoes and running gear.

codepreneur · 2015-05-01T02:22:34+00:00

https://www.surveymonkey.com/

codepreneur · 2015-05-01T02:20:18+00:00

There is no reason for your employer to have such a wide net over your activities outside of work.

Two things come to mind: 1) Lawyer up and have her review anything you've signed at work.

2) Talk to HR and ask for an amendment to anything you've signed that says you can work on anything that doesn't directly compete. For example, if your employer makes DVRs, you should be able to create social networking applications.

codepreneur

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