Tag Archives: startup
Where is Social Media on the High Rise?
On which countries is Social Media on the High Rise?
This infograph courtesy of Entrepreneur.com tells all.
Company Growth Supersedes Paychecks
“He is the best programmer who doesn’t care about our vision.”
Courtesy of Rolling Stone Magazine (2011)
The title quote is from the biographical film, Jobs (2013). It’s a statement that was made by Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) when one of his team members failed to see/share the vision that he had for the fonts on the Lisa Project and the programmer was subsequently fired.
This past week has been pretty interesting.
The business has taken the turn for the better- for the first time in I don’t know how many months– and with that, came a myriad of lessons. I learnt about what perseverance really means to skeptics, critics, investors and consumers alike.
It’s that look in the founder’s eye that says:
“Really, this project is going to happen. And it WILL be a breakthrough success. I am here, to rule the world.”
This is what my next feat is: being able to express to future investors our intentions and our ability as a team to make good on all our deliverables. Many would think that a couple of years of experience (where it matters), some great ideas and a well thought-through plan of execution is enough to woe any potential “buyer”. But I think that the above is actually secondary. What the buyer wants to see is more than mere ability but a combination of ability and passion/drive/zest. That is, how badly do YOU want to see this succeed?
When the going gets tough, it is the belief and dedication of every member of the team that determines whether you crumble under the pressure or you rise-up to the occasion. Forget, for a moment, the list of qualifications which accompany the various organs of the company. Yes, organs.
The company as a whole is like the human body with every team member being a different yet vital organ…Vital to the performance and wellbeing of the overall body. And believe me, the going really does get tough. There are times when nothing seems to be going your way and every attempt to move forward seems like a leap towards the back. It is in these times where tensions rise and with them comes a googolplex of overwhelming frustrations that sadly can not be remedied by anything but success. A programmer that believes that he deserves to get paid according to his contribution and his expertise will fail you at this point because you are unable to fulfill these needs. You’re still a startup. Which by definition is:
“…a human institution designed to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty.”- Eric Ries, The Lean Startup
So you need people that will be willing to endure these conditions because they possess a clear understanding and belief in the vision of the startup. And they are determined to do all that they can to achieve this vision because they know- that their efforts will yield success and this success will be worth all the time and money sacrificed for this team of revolutionaries.
That’s what you want: dedication throttled by belief; not mere action driven by compensation.
So, look amongst your crew members and ask yourself whether these are the right people to be the custodians of your vision of a better tomorrow.
What’s the best age to launch a startup? Founders young and old tell us
“We have this focus on disruption and speed, and we’re high-energy”- Aaron Levie (about twentysomething-year-olds)
Marine-turned-CEO says ‘strong leadership is what it takes to win the battle’
“You have to continue to focus and believe and be very clear about driving that optimism for the people around you. To move forward, fearlessness has to exist. Don’t get rattled, go with the flow, and bring as much value to the company as you can.” Bill Hustad
The History of Opportunity
Haptix: the PC mouse killer
Work or play, make life easier with Haptix.
Multitouch is fun and natural to use, but it’s only present on a few devices. Because tablets and smartphones are easy to use, they’re also easy to enjoy. But as great as multitouch screens are, it’s still hard to beat the mouse/keyboard combo when it comes to productivity. We wondered if it was possible to combine the best of both worlds — introducing Haptix.
Haptix turns ANY surface into a multitouch surface. It’s a sleek bar that you can place flat or clip on something elevated to enable multitouch on any flat surface, such as a table, window, or screen. You can then control any computer by tapping, pinching to zoom, or swiping to scroll on that surface itself. It’s as intuitive and natural as a multitouch screen, just without the actual screen
For artists and engineers alike — capture your pen/brush strokes with Haptix
But it’s more than just multitouch – it’s 3D multitouch. Even when your fingers are above the surface, you see them appear on the screen. This way, you know exactly what you’re selecting when you tap the surface. To click on a link, simply move your finger over the link and tap down; it’s so much faster than swiping on a trackpad. When you’re touching what you see, it’s just like reaching out and touching the screen itself, except your hands are well-rested right in front of you.
Haptix is a mouse-killer.
Can Haptix replace the mouse? We believe it can. Point it at your table, and bam, use your hands as your mouse and much more. You can either treat the surface like a multitouch screen or a trackpad, or define different functions for different fingers. For instance, you can use your middle finger as the cursor, your index finger to left click, and your ring finger to right click. We haven’t used the mouse in a while, and we haven’t found the need yet.
Pledge on Kickstarter to make this invention possible for all of us!
All the above Information is from Haptix
When passion turns into work and then to pleasure (and then some).
Image courtesy of acquisitietraining.org
If you’ve been following Project ZooLoo for long enough, you would have heard me mention the whole idea of chasing your passions quite often. So let’s say that you’ve done this and have managed to start your own business revolving around this passion. You then set-up a workspace at home and start realizing this vision/dream that you have. The only way that this dream can be actualized is through some hard work and determination. Yes, work.
That’s the place I found myself in not so long ago. I had found out what I was very passionate about and I had drawn up a plan- a comprehensive plan– that I was to follow in order to achieve all that I had set out to achieve. Now, I had to put that plan into action- that required Work. For those of you who are anything like myself, the concept of Work has always been one that is preceded by a long sigh of discontent. This feeling is formed through habit and experience. All our lives, we are being told to work on this and that and as we all know: doing something merely because you have no other reasonable alternative- sucks! This spawns from all those meaningless school lessons that basically equipped us with the knowledge and skills to become great employees. I never liked this about school. As a result, I associated “Work” with monotony, tediousness, fatigue and boredom. In order for me to get things done, This had to change.
I decided to then alter my work experience and tailor make this concept of “work” to suit my personality and my idiosyncrasies alike. I’m a vegetarian health and fitness fanatic, I love moving, I love feeling great and I enjoy exercise. All it took for me to modify my experience: was setting-up my Standing Desk; pumping up the volume and feeling joyful as I move energetically whilst typing away at the laptop- a task which, before this decision, grew mundane overtime and sometimes even sparked up some unwanted/unwarranted fatigue.
This “modification” has been keeping me alive throughout my work experience. Work has taken a turn from being tedious or “an effort” to just a series of effortless actions made to keep me energised and keep me on the path to my success.
Maybe you should try it too? Modify your work-experience to better suit your definition of pleasure.
Follow us on Twitter
Poor Mentality vs. Rich Mentality Of Startup Entrepreneurs
Money is not bad. It’s the greed of money that is bad. This chart simply called Poor Mentality vs. Rich Mentality by Funders and Founders lays it out in a very straightforward way. If you catch yourself having a poor mentality, try shifting your thoughts to a rich mentality.
Read the article:
http://www.bitrebels.com/business-2/poor-rich-mentality-startup-entrepreneurs/
( Source: http://fundersandfounders.com/ )
#entrepreneur #mentality #startup
Project ZooLoo 