StartupDigest Reading List – March 2, 2012

2/03/2012

For newcomers: StartupDigest Reading List is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the startup world.

You can become a member for free here.

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We’ve started to organize all of the past articles by topic on our startup articles page. Check out our top three article topics: big ideas, becoming a better programmer, and hiring for startups. 
- Chris

StartupDigest Reading List is curated by:
Chris McCann – Co-Founder, StartupDigest
Chris Burnor – Lead Engineer, StartupDigest

 

 

StartupDigest Reading List is supported exclusively by:
Watch the Kauffman Foundation’s first-ever Super Bowl ad for entrepreneurs. The next great entrepreneur is out there with ideas that can change the world. Will it be you? Pass it on.

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

Looks matter – good graphic design can compel viewers to process information and use software differently.

 

Wisdom: Business folks believe that conversation solves all problems. Designers believe visualization solves all problems. Engineers believe that optimization solves all problems. Communication mayhem ensues!

 

If you are going to SXSW or any big upcoming conference, this is a must read.

 

Startups can startup anywhere but here’s what you will encounter outside of the major startup hubs.

 

Traction trumps everything
By Gabriel Weinberg

What investors (and press and employees) look for is traction. Traction is real customers for your product or service.

 

Here are a few tips on getting visitors to click and engage, not just view and go away.

 

File system links are great for structuring your application for flexibility and space, but do you know that *nix systems have both hard and soft links?

 

If you’ve read Paul Graham’s essays, you know how much he loves LISP and functional programming, but if one is writing for high performance web services, Java is still one of the fastest languages out there.  How can one take the benefits of LISP and apply them to Java?

 

Mercator: A Scalable, Extensible Web Crawler
By Allan Heydonand Marc Najork

This paper outlines a system for building a scalable web crawler. Even for those who are not trying to take down Google, it is a great way of seeing a case study in designing a scalable system.

 

[Video] Peter Diamandis on Abundance

Peter Diamandis founded the XPrize Foundation and Singularity University. Here’s his talk on why we should be optimistic about the future.

 

See all of the best startup resources here.

 

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StartupDigest Reading List – February 24, 2012

24/02/2012

For newcomers: StartupDigest Reading List is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the startup world.

You can become a member for free here.

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One of my friends Craig Montuori who is helping to get the “Startup Visa” legislation passed wrote an awesome post on How can tech startups begin to exercise political muscle in Washington, D.C.
After the SOPA/PIPA debate it’s very important for us to stay on top of all the issues that affect our community and let our voices be heard.

- Chris

StartupDigest Reading List is curated by:
Chris McCann – Co-Founder, StartupDigest
Chris Burnor – Lead Engineer, StartupDigest

 

 

StartupDigest Reading List is supported exclusively by:
Watch the Kauffman Foundation’s first-ever Super Bowl ad for entrepreneurs. The next great entrepreneur is out there with ideas that can change the world. Will it be you? Pass it on.

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

Fire And Motion
By Joel Spolsky | More articles on attitudes

The key to productivity is to get started. The more you move forward every day, the better chance you will have at winning.

 

Understanding Git Conceptually
By Charles Duan | More articles on coding

Git has become the standard version control system for the startup world, and most of us use it every day, but how well do we really know how to use it?

 

Airbnb UX Wins and Losses
By Jason Shah | More articles on design

A designer’s take on Airbnb’s main landing page and what makes it work well and what doesn’t.

 

Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users
By Jakob Nielsen | More articles on early products

The best usability tests for learning come from only 5 users. After that it’s just repetitive.

 

There is a myriad of excellent frameworks and libraries for organizing and structuring browser JavaScript, but it is really useful to understand how JS can be structured without the need for any third party code.

 

A tactical guide for buying a domain name.

 

Software is People
By Kenton White | More articles on coding

Understanding that people will be using and building your software is just as important as the code itself.

 

Hackerspaces Aren’t Factories for “Idea” People
By Daniel Miessler | More articles on attitudes

If you’re someone with an idea, take the time to actually learn how to code. Don’t expect a developer to just build something for you.

 

See all of the best startup resources here.

 

StartupDigest VIP

Life is too short to work at a boring company. Tell us about you here.

 

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Why StartupDigest VIP isn’t just another recruiting service

13/02/2012

Life is too short to wake up with regrets.
Love the people who treat you right.
- Bob Marley, Let it

Since we founded StartupDigest, we’ve helped more than 200,000 people around the world get more involved in their local startup communities. Recently, we started a VIP service that helps engineers, designers, and product managers (VIP’s) join funded, growing, and meaningful startups. The most common questions we get are:

  • How do both of these products fit together? What do a media company and recruiting company have in common?
  • Isn’t StartupDigest VIP just another recruiting service?

 
 
To get to the answer, it’s useful to consider what type of person most actively uses StartupDigest newsletters. These people have been, generally, people who are new to the startup world including: people new to their city, people coming out of large companies, recent graduates, and people wanting to switch to more meaningful companies.
 
Brendan and I discussed this often and wondered what more we can do to help this group of people who wanted to become part of the startup world through joining a startup.
 
We realized that most existing groups always focused on the people wanting to start startups but no one had ever focused on the people wanting to join startups. We wondered if we could help our members by making joining a startup an accesible and fun experience for any talented person.
 
Brendan and I shared this belief which became the basis of our VIP service: in general, talented people who want to join startups should always have the opportunity to meet each other and join the best ones. Life is too short to work at a boring company. 
 
As we set out to design a VIP service to help talented people do this, we began by asking – what stops people from doing this today?
 
The most common obstacles we’ve heard are:

  • It’s hard to know which startups are good and which ones aren’t.
  • It’s difficult to get in touch with decision-makers at great startups directly. Applying to jobs@ email addresses or cold emailing is possible, but it’s much better to get a personal introduction to the people who lead the company.
  • It’s hard to find people who are thinking about joining a startup or who work at interesting startups already.

 
 
Next we asked, how could we close these gaps?
 
To address these gaps we created StartupDigest VIP to allow the best engineers, designers, and product managers who want to join startups to easily meet the decision makers at the best companies through personal introductions.

  • We leveraged the StartupDigest network to choose only the best companies
  • We personally introduce VIP’s to only the best companies that they are excited about
  • We produce events to help current and alumni VIP’s meet each other and make friends with other talented people who are already working at interesting startups.

 
 
We decided that we can create a VIP community for the best engineers, designers, and product managers to meet each other and join the best startups. As a result, we could choose the best companies (since hiring the best people is so important), companies would be excited to talk to VIP’s directly without the middle man, and every VIP would be able to meet talented people just like them.
 
Next we’ll be privately inviting select engineers, designers, and product managers who actively read StartupDigest and have already been through the experience of joining an awesome startup into the VIP community. All of us are excited to meet them.
 
- Chris
 

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StartupDigest Reading List – January 6, 2012

6/01/2012

For newcomers: StartupDigest Reading List is the members-only weekly email newsletter of the best articles in the startup world.

You can become a member for free here.

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This week we have two incredible videos, a technical vidcast, and 6 articles with one from us on how compensation at a startup isn’t much different than a large coproration.
Welcome to the new year!
- Chris

StartupDigest Reading List is curated by:
Chris McCann – Co-Founder, StartupDigest
Chris Burnor – Lead Engineer, StartupDigest

 

 

StartupDigest Reading List is supported exclusively by:
Check out these sketchbook videos on “finding the magic sauce of entrepreneurship” and “three things entrepreneurs do” and more from the Kauffman Foundation.

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

I’m sure a lot of people have “learning to code” on their new year’s resolution list, but don’t fall into the learn code in 4 hours trap. Learning to code is awesome but takes a lot of hard work.

 

 

Charles Hudson, who is both a founder of Bionic Panda Games and investing partner at SoftTech VC, details out the minimum four things you should update your investors on.

 

How to organize your app’s JavasScript without relying on third party libraries.

 

Don’t worry, have focus, and be nimble. In the post are 5 examples of startups who won the war against the Goliath.

 

Meet people in real life, have a mission people want to join, treat people well, and don’t be stingy with equity or compensation.

 

Oh My ZSH
by Ryan Bates

If you aren’t a Rails Developer or don’t regularly watch RailsCasts, this one’s worth making an exception to watch. Ryan Bates details how to get started in the supremely powerful z-shell using Oh-My-zsh.

 

We asked some of our alumni VIP’s about the difference in compensation between their big corporate job and their new startup. The differences were much smaller than we anticipated.

 

[Video] Peter Thiel on building companies with purpose

A quick talk (Q&A section is long) by Peter Thiel on how he evaluates companies as an investor & entrepreneur.

 

[Video] Bonus Steve Jobs on the early days of NeXT

An awesome old school PBS documentary on Steve Jobs after he was fired from Apple in the middle of starting NeXT. Shows real scenes of Steve conducing meetings, product brainstorming, and motivating the team.

 

See all of the previous resources and articles we’ve featured here.

 

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Thailand StartupDigest – December 12, 2011

13/12/2011

Below is an archived version of the Thailand StartupDigest Events List – a weekly curated listing of the best tech startup events in Thailand. If you would like to get next week’s digest on Monday, sign up here.

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Hey Everyone, This week brought the announcement of the SWBKK participants (view list here). They had more than 250 applicants and extended the initial participants list from 100 to 120. Congratulations and good luck to all that made the first round.If you weren’t chosen, rest assured that this does not reflect your abilities or the quality of your idea. We just didn’t have enough spots for everyone to join.

If you applied especially because of the 1st prize – an invitation to the JFDI–Innov8 2012 Bootcamp in Singapore – remember that you can still apply to the bootcamp in Singapore via the online application here.

Thank you for subscribing and we would like to hear your feedback to continually improve the digest. Please let us know if you have an event you would like us to feature or any feedback by emailing kelly@thestartupdigest.com.

Thailand StartupDigest is curated by:
Kelly Kampen - Kelly is based in Thailand and the founder of Jajoop.com the first fully gamified Daily Deal website.

 

 

What’s Going on in the Thailand Startup Community

Meetup202: Bangkok Affiliate Marketing Group
When: Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 7:00 PM
Where: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Living Room (1 Fl) Asok BTS

This is a group for internet marketers and individuals who are new to internet marketing but want to get started. We get together each month to socialize and share ideas, exchange contacts and have a great time getting to know more about this business and the people involved.

 

Bangkok Social Networking Meetup Group
When: Wednesday, December 14, 2011, 7:00 PM
Where: CAFE G, Holiday Inn Bangkok, 971 Ploenchit Road, Bangkok 10330
Tel: 02 656 1555

The buffet price is about 270 baht including tax and service, plus some tip will be 300 baht. Please make sure that you have the exact amount in hand to avoid some complicated calculation and change.

 

Bangkok OpenCoffee Meetup – Future startup opportunities in Thai web/mobile space
When: Thursday, December 15, 2011, 9:00 AM
Where: True Cafe – Digital Gateway at Siam Square Rama I Rd Pathum Wan

Let’s continue discussion we had last time, present our strengths and businesses, connect and think of what fields are interesting in Thailand as the country start to connect and use Internet and especially Mobile Internet more actively.

 

Bangkok Photographers & Bangkok NLP Practice Club – Holiday Dinner
When: Saturday, December 17, 2011, 7:00 PM
Where: Le Meridien, 40/5 Surawong Road,Bangrak ,10500, Bangkok

We have now finished the plan for the special “Holiday Dinner” in cooperation with the Bangkok Cultural Dining Meet Up group and Bangkok NLP Practice Club meet up group for Saturday night December 17 2011. Members from both groups will join us for the evening in this sleek upscale location.

 

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Stuttgart StartupDigest – December 12, 2011

13/12/2011

Below is an archived version of the Stuttgart StartupDigest Events List – a weekly curated listing of the best tech startup events in Stuttgart. If you would like to get next week’s digest on Monday, sign up here.

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Welcome to the first edition of the brand-new StartupDigest Stuttgart!As you probably know, the startup scene in Stuttgart is fresh and unique but still kind of disconnected. Therefore, our first goal is to reach everybody from the rural area up the hill all the way down to the Kessel. So, please forward this mail and invite like-minded people to join us at http://startupdigest.com. I also highly encourage you to suggest interesting events and send feedback to danielb@thestartupdigest.com. You will find this edition at least every other monday in your inbox!- Daniel

Stuttgart StartupDigest is curated by:
Daniel Bartel - Digital Consultant at Autonetzer

 

 

What’s Going on in the Stuttgart Startup Community

Gründergrillen Stuttgart (aka Startup BBQ) – Winter-Special & Lean-Startup Vorglühen
When: Tuesday, Dec 13 at 6pm
Where: Schankstelle (Superschanke), Jägerstraße 19

The place to be! Meet the world-class of founders in Stuttgart. This time at a new location and with Lean-Startup Vorglühen (Glühwein, of course) and a special guest giving some insides on how to go lean!

 

PHP User Group Stuttgart
When: Wednesday, Dec 14 at 7pm
Where: Coworking0711, Heilbronner Str. 7

Let’s code! The PHP User Group Stuttgart meets up regularly to talk about PHP and other web technologies.

 

Gründergrillen Karsruhe
When: Thursday, Dec 15 at 8pm
Where: heimspiel. Lärchenallee 3, 76131 Karlsruhe

Okay, Stuttgart got inspired by the Startup BBQ in Karlsruhe, so we want to mention this great event as well. Grab a beer and talk to other founders in this area. You are also invited to pitch your startup.

 

Top Upcoming Stuttgart Startup Events

January 13 – 1 year weXelwirken Haerten
January 20 – Socialbar Stuttgart
January 30 – Webmontag Stuttgart
February 1 – Social Media Night Stuttgart

 

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Silicon Prairie StartupDigest – December 12, 2011

13/12/2011

Below is an archived version of the Silicon Prairie StartupDigest Events List – a weekly curated listing of the best tech startup events in Silicon Prairie. If you would like to get next week’s digest on Monday, sign up here.

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I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and planning to make it a great 2012. This has been on here for a few weeks, and I don’t plan to take it off anytime soon. There is now a link on this map’s description that allows you to submit your company. Let’s get our region charted out. You can see the map here.
Silicon Prairie StartupDigest is curated by:
Willis Jackson – Founder of ShownHome

 

 

Silicon Prairie StartupDigest is supported exclusively by:
Check out these sketchbook videos on “finding the magic sauce of entrepreneurship” and “three things entrepreneurs do” and more from the Kauffman Foundation.

 

 

What’s Going on in the Silicon Prairie Startup Community

TechBrew (Des Moines)
Where: StartupCity Des Moines, 317 6th Ave., 5th floor
When: December 13, depending on where you look.

 

SITAKS Breakfast (Kansas City)
Where: Arsalon Technologies, 10605 W 84th Terrace, Overland Park, KS 66214
When: December 14, 8:30 am

Simon Kuo, who is a great connector in our community and has great insights, will be talking about the impacts of high speed connectivity. Considering his experience at Embarq and Sprint, he probably can offer some interesting insights.

 

SPN Holiday Meetup (Omaha)
Where: Saigon Surface, 324 S 14th St, Omaha, NE 68102
When: December 14

Seriously, what could be better than getting together with other startup folks to celebrate the holidays?

 

KC Roundtable (Kansas City)
Where: First Watch, 1022 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO, Kansas City, MO
When: December 15, 7:30 am

Come join other 20- and 30-something entrepreneurs and commiserate.

 

bizperc Open House (Kansas City)
Where: 1800 Baltimore, 6th Floor, Kansas City, MO 64108
When: December 15, 4:30 pm

If you don’t know, I personally occasionally work out of the bizperc offices. So yeah, I think it is worth checking out.

 

TechBrew (Iowa City)
Where: The Vine, Coralville, IA
When: December 16, 5:00 pm

 

Dwolla Anniversary Party (Des Moines)
Where: Vaudeville Mews, 212 4th Street, Des Moines, IA 50309
When: December 15, 5:30 pm

Dwolla is a great member of our regional community. Go help them celebrate if you can!

 

Co-founders Meetup (Omaha)
Where: Mojo Smokehouse & Ales, 2110 108, Omaha, NE
When: December 15, 7:00 pm

Miles, the organizer of this fine meet up, has indicated that this will be his last time organizing because he is moving. If you are interested in taking over for him, I am sure your community members will thank you.

 

KC Commons Grand Opening (Kansas City)
Where: The KC Commons, 7932 Santa Fe Dr, Overland Park, KS 66204
When: December 17, 11:00 am

A new coworking space is opening up in Overland Park. Come help them make it official!

 

DeMo (Des Moines)
Where: Startup City Des Moines, 317 6th Ave., 5th Floor, Des Moines, IA
When: December 20

DeMo is a monthly check-up for Des Moines’ designers, developers, makers, builders, hackers and planners. Whatever you do, you can show it off at DeMo.

 

 

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Shanghai StartupDigest – December 12, 2011

13/12/2011

Below is an archived version of the Shanghai StartupDigest Events List – a weekly curated listing of the best tech startup events in Shanghai. If you would like to get next week’s digest on Monday, sign up here.

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Dear Shanghai StartupDigest Readers,

It’s been freezing in Shanghai for the past couple days, but the forecast says it will get warmer next week. While many of you are packing to go home for X’mas, the startup community remains active and is ready to wrap up for year 2011. I will be in Hangzhou next week for the Startup Weekend Hangzhou Chapter and will visit some cool startups in the city. Then I will go to Beijing to attend the Mobile 2.0 Annual event on December 20th. Many well known investors including Zhou Hongyi from Qihu 360 will be there as well.

Btw, did you see the Total Lunar Eclipse on Saturday night? Surprisingly clear sky, isn’t it? If you missed it, here’s a link for you to make it up.

If you’d like to share any exciting news or events with us, please send an email to me [at] bob.zheng@thestartupdigest.com or Calvin [at] calvin@thestartupdigest.com.

Cheers,

Bob & Calvin

Shanghai StartupDigest is curated by:
Bob Zheng - Founder of People Squared
Calvin Chin

 

Top Upcoming Shanghai Startup Events

December 24 – LBS Vision Shanghai

December 25 – Node[Christmas]Party-Shanghai

January 7 – PM-China Internet Product and Investment

January 11 – The 2nd Inno-Luxury Summit 2012

 

 

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Seoul StartupDigest – December 12, 2011

13/12/2011

Below is an archived version of the Seoul StartupDigest Events List – a weekly curated listing of the best tech startup events in Seoul. If you would like to get next week’s digest on Monday, sign up here.

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This edition is the Seoul StartupDigest’s 94th newsletter. If you have any events, blogs and feedback that you want to publish in the Seoul StartupDigest, please contact Tae-Woo Kim. We hope that Seoul StartupDigest will become a channel for useful information and communication between people who are planning or have already set-up new businesses. If you want to promote your company, let us know. We will introduce it in the newsletter on a first come, first served basis.
Second Week of December – Venturesquare Stories

Seoul StartupDigest is curated by:
Tae-Woo Kim, @challengekim. Tae-Woo Kim is the CEO of Moglue, and is currently developing an interactive e-book platform.

 

 

What’s Going on in the Seoul Startup Community

KACIA 14th Open Seminar
Time: 2011/ 12/12 16:00~18:30
Venue: The Korea Economic Daily 18th floor Dasan Hall

 

Twist Seoul II Pitch Competition
Time: 2011/ 12/17 09:30~13:00
Venue: TBD

 

2011 IT New Trend Market Prospect Seminar
Time: 2011/ 12/21 10:00~15:00
Venue: EL Tower 8th floor EL house Hall, Yangjae-dong

 

2011 Information Lecture for Small and Medium Business CEO
Time: 2011/ 12/26 10:00~15:10
Venue: EL Tower 8th floor EL house Hall, Yangjae-dong

 

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Seattle StartupDigest – December 12, 2011

13/12/2011

Below is an archived version of the Seattle StartupDigest Events List – a weekly curated listing of the best tech startup events in Seattle. If you would like to get next week’s digest on Monday, sign up here.

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With the holidays fast approaching, Seattle StartupDigest will be taking a hiatus for the next three weeks — meaning that the 12/19, 12/26 and 1/2 editions will not go out. There are very few events going on during those three weeks anyway, and we will pick right back where we left off on January 9, 2012. Happy holidays! If you have any questions or comments, or events to add, feel free to email me at jaremy@thestartupdigest.com.

Seattle StartupDigest is curated by:
Jaremy Rich – Co-Founder/CEO of Rich & Murray Creative and Web & Marketing Analytics at Clear

 

 

Seattle StartupDigest is supported exclusively by:
Check out these sketchbook videos on “finding the magic sauce of entrepreneurship” and “three things entrepreneurs do” and more from the Kauffman Foundation.

 

 

What’s Going on in the Seattle Startup Community

What’s Next in Social? To 2012… And Beyond! (SMC Seattle)
When: Monday, December 12th from 6 to 9pm
Where: Microsoft Building 33, 16070 NE 36th Way, Redmond, WA

The last event of the year for Social Media Club Seattle will serve to recap some of the digital and social advances of 2011 and look forward to 2012. As with all SMC Seattle events, this is a great opportunity to network and hear from local experts in social media.

 

24-Hour Videogame Hackathon (StudentRND)
When: Tuesday, December 6th from 12:30 to 6:30
Where: F5 Networks, 401 Elliott Avenue West, Seattle

Put your heads together with dozens of entrepreneurs and students as they work to build an entire video game in 24 hours. The event includes mentors from Microsoft, F5, Stratos and more, and will serve to be both a crash course in video game design and an opportunity to pitch ideas and meet other passionate entrepreneurs.

 

Top Upcoming Events 

January 13 – The Language of Business: East Coast Meets West Coast (NWEN)
January 17 – Emerging Platforms in Video Games
January 19 – Mix & Mingle (MIT Enterprise Forum)

 

 

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