etthoughts.org
This post is a collection of what I see as the most important questions that anyone who develops an internet initiative nowadays needs to find answer to. The regular questions can be answered by lawyers and accountants.
1. What is the optimal timing to allow investors to invest their money in your startup?
2. What is the optimal marketing plan for your website ?
3. How to forecast incomes when your financial model is fuzzy ?
Some were born in the right time, on the wrong place. I took this picture 2 years ago at Huancavelica, Peru.
There are good chances that someone has already thought of that idea, or maybe even done it … I think it can be a great success. In contrast to those shows where the participants compete on a celebrity, here there is a celebrity that truly wants to find a partner. In every episode he/ she goes on a date with someone new, that doesn’t know who he/ she is going to meet. Of course the participant is not a celebrity himself. The celeb must choose in the end of each episode if he wants to continue dating with that person. If it goes beyond date no. 2 the game is over and a new celeb series begins. All of the episodes must be taken prior to broadcasting, of course.
There are several things that each newcomer needs to know and accept. You mustn’t ignore them. Accept them.
Lame explanations why to stay away and give up what you want :
1. No car parking. At all. I’m always amused by friends of mine that come to visit me with their cars and are positive that they are gifted by luck on this issue. Well no one is gifted. If you decide that you want to live here buy yourself a parking lot. Or simply get rid of your car and buy yourself bikes. It’s cheaper and much more fun.
2. High rent. I pay 850$ a month with my roommate for 3 rooms in a good location.
3. Noise. Some people can never get used to that.
4. Air pollution. I know that the pollution is high because of the big dust balls that roll over my apartment when I don’t clean it very often. They are bigger here than anywhere else.
5. Humidity at the summer - is awful outside. Intel inside.
I think that’s about it. Please write me if I forgot something and I’ll add it.
Now for the good stuff :
1. Cool people. The spirit of this city are its residents. Each one is special in his own way, no matter how old is he.
2. Nice places to go out too. In a circle of 5 minute walking around my place there are about 10 bars and coffee shops that I can define as “fun to go to”. People actually go out to your living zone.
3. 24/7 - No matter if you’re an early starter or creature of the night, most of the essential things you need to buy are available on a 27/7 basis.
4. Gorgeous women. We can argue about it, of course. But I know I’m right. Women here are much more attractive than in the rest of Israel.
5. Public transportaion. Everything is more accessible when there are high frequency minibuses that work all the time. Even on saturday !
6. Dizengoff Center - a unique mall by design and atmosphere. The difference between the street spirit and the mall spirit is fuzzy there. I didn’t feel it in any other shopping mall I ever visited. The gym there is good too.
7. Hayarkon park - the green lung of Tel Aviv. Good place for running, pedaling and BBQ.
8. Clean streets. In Rishon LeZion, the city I grew up at, you should always watch over your steps: the sidewalk is full of dogs shit. Here the norm is to clean after your dog. I like it.
9. The sea - it’s always 5 minutes from anywhere you are.
10. Coffee shops are always packed - very strange indeed. At 11:00 am as well as at 02:00 am. As if no one sleeps or works here.
11. You’re not the only one that uses his bikes to get where you want. It’s legitimate.
And I can think of thousands more. I think it’s clear now that there are more advantages. So please. Stop providing me the same dull explanations and come and be my neighbour.
OK. You told your boss that you quit working since you start your own company. Now what ? this is a list of essential steps that help me to stay focused. I hope it will help others too.
1. Flatter yourself every day. You did the right thing for you. You followed your heart 100 fuckin’ percent. You walked it all the way. You’ll definitely have something to talk about with your grandchildren. You bastard.
2. Get into shape. First: it’s healthy. Second: it motivates you and it gives you more vitality. It’s scientific. Build yourself a training program and follow it. I bought myself a heart monitor and built myself a systematic “shape inrease” program on the internet. After each training I report the data and watch proudly my improvement in a graph.
3. Don’t stay in your pajama (or whatever you wear at night). You have a new job now, and more demanding than ever. Treat it as such. In your new workplace there’s no dress code. You can go to work wearing casual.
4. Manage your time. It’s precious now more than ever. Stay focused on your tasks. You’ll have to document them every day somewhere for that. Swallow the ugliest frog first every morning.
5. Separate your work area from your sleep area. I still think how exactly to do that, since I live with a roomate in a small apartment. But I’ll find a workout. You too.
6. Wake up as if you were working in a regular workplace. You know what ? You deserve an additional 30 minutes of sleep. After all, you don’t have to spend time for transportaion.
7. Learn how to cook simple meals. Otherwise, it will be very expenssive, and less healthy.
8. Dedicate time for leisure every day. The fact that you work from home doesn’t mean that you should work 12 hours a day and stay up at night.
9. Measure your daily abstractions from work. Whether it’s TV, digg, dating websites, cigarette break, coffee break, noon nap, nooner - it doesn’t help you much to achieve your goals ! You must (at least) be aware of how much time is consumed on this stuff.
10. Read this blog. It’s good for you. Consider writing one. It will help you to have a good perspective and will remind you why you’re here.
More to come.
Lately I wanted to buy a heart-rate monitor online, so I enterd Polar’s website. Polar has dozens of models, so I had hard times choosing the right one for me. The difference between each one of them was sometimes one feature or two. It took me a lot of time, but eventually I decided and ordered. A few days after I read about the paradox of choice, and found out that apparently I’m an exceptional customer: most people would give up in such multiple-choice condition, or decide badly (I didn’t choose badly since I’m already satisfied with the product). The reason for this behavior is the analysis paralysis effect: paralysis that is caused by overdose of information.
A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. It is used to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, and decision making (wikipedia’s definition).
I use mind mapping software for 2 main needs in software development management: when I gather requirements from the customer and for use cases descriptions. The software I use is Mindmanager, but recenly I found that there are some reasonable open-source alternatives in the market.
Most of my customers describe me their business needs or problems, and sometimes they even have a general vision of a solution. When it comes to the “bits and bytes” of their requirements, they start to “think” with me: modules, features and fields are added and cancelled in this process. New insights that we have lead to changes. In the past, I used pencil and paper for this process. Now I use mind mapping software to do it. It allows me copying, cutting and pasting. In addition, it gives me and the customer a good perspective on the system as a whole. We know at any given point what parts are still missing in the solution. I manage BPM processes, so I developed a “checklist” map template for BPM systems requirements gathering, that I fill-in with the customer.
The second usage of mind mapping tool is while defining use cases, in the functional design phase. Same here, I have developed a template map for a use case. After I fill it in, I publish it to the intranet, and let the customer comment on it.
“Churches are good for meeting marriage partners (8%), and poor for meeting short-term sex partners (1%). (This contradicts another dating advice book, which says that women in church singles clubs want sex “like bunnies”. This may apply only to certain churches. (The book didn’t specify where to find the best sects.)”
I think the quotation demonstrates the objectiveness issue. Nevertheless, some people percieve information on the web as true, regardless of many important criteria. Research has confirmed it. Microsoft apparently sees it as a serious business, so it offered a blogger money in returns for editing one of wikipedia’s articles. Microsoft’s spokesman said that Wikipedia forced the company’s hand by refusing to correct information Microsoft says is inaccurate, after Wikipedia’s editors refused to approve an article editing initiated by Microsoft’s people.
Archive for yaron.
Yaron Kaufman works as a BPM solutions project manager in an Israeli high-tech company, and as a founder of ETF.co.il website. His main interests are technology, global investments and entrepreneurship.
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