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  SOME LESSONS LEARNED

Note: Google was kind enough to invite me to give a short talk at their Zeitgeist conference earlier this week. It was a really interesting conference and I got a chance to meet a lot of people I admire. For my talk, I decided to use material from some of my blog posts over the years that I thought might appeal to a broader audience. Unfortunately, I was still recovering from a nastly cold/flu so I didn’t deliver the talk as well as I’d like.  Below is the text.Today, I wanted...

   Investor,Startup,Lesson,Experience,Investment     2011-10-12 11:47:02

  7 ways to start learning how to code right now for free

Learning to code is one of the most powerful and satisfying things you can ever do. If you’re a designer, learning to code can help you understand what you’re creating for, and if you’re looking to build a startup from scratch, being a technical founder can make things exponentially easier for you. No matter why you want learn, the only thing you really need is curiosity. But if you’re just starting out as a novice and don’t know where to begin,...

   Learn programming,Efficient way,Experiment,iPad     2012-02-03 08:11:21

  What can we do about Facebook?

Around 4 years ago, we have posted an article Is Facebook becoming Tencent like? to analyze the strategy Facebook adopted to build its technology empire at that time. Today, we would continue this discussion since the story seems not end there. Facebook is still on the way of copying others. The latest victim being copied is Snapchat where lots of its new features have been copied by Instagram -- an app owned by Facebook. This has helped Instagram acquired lots of active users, especi...

   FACEBOOK,OPINION,SNAPCHAT,NEWS     2017-08-11 10:39:37

  Don't. Waste. Time.

Stuff we startups do that doesn't delight users:Office spaceLaunch partiesHealth insurance plansSalary negotiationsFounder equity splitsSeries F stockOffice Food Team-building activitiesCRM systemsBookkeepingHead countWorking in SOMAConvertible debt capsValuationsTechCrunchKarma scoresISOsPowerpointBusiness CardsBanksLawyersDesks1099sBug TrackersAgile ProcessesAdvisory BoardsHiringCap TablesPayrollMeetupsMeetingsOf course, much of this stuff still needs to get done.  At some point.&nbs...

   Time management,Work,Startup,How to     2011-11-21 09:55:06

  The Failure of Passive Recruiting: Recruiters

This is an actual conversation I had with a recruiter:Phone rings and I pick it upHim: Hi, is Paul there?Aaron: May I ask who is calling?Him: I have a technical question. Aaron: Ok, what is it?Him: Are you technical?Aaron: Yes. Who is this?Him: Who are you?Aaron: Are you a recruiter?Him: Yes and…Aaron: Great, send us your resumes, if we like what you send over, we’ll let you know if we want to meet with the candidates, other tha...

   Recruiter,HR,Recruitment,Failure,Hire     2011-10-26 06:59:33

  1) How to Reset a Mac Computer

Why do you want to reset your Mac computer? Probably, you are thinking about selling it. Alternatively, maybe the computer has become too slow thus frustrating you most of the time. Additionally, you may simply be considering freeing up some space. Regardless of your reasons, the first thing you should realize is that resetting the machine is a demanding task. Additionally, it would be great to remember that in resetting the machine, you are basically formatting the hard drive fully while reins...

       2019-05-30 19:13:20

  Fear of Ignorance

This past week, I was interviewing a candidate for a VP role along with two of our engineering leads. Everyone in the room excluding myself was classically “technical” – they could write code, had experience solving hard software problems and a background in computer science. I wrote my last line of PHP in 2004, and it had to be rewritten by a real programmer within 6 months.During the interview, we had the following exchange (due to an imperfect memory, I’ll ...

   Leader,Team,Technical,Leadership,Ignorence     2011-11-21 10:03:03

  Alphabet chooses the domain extension .xyz

Google has been restructured and it now has a parent company which is called Alphabet. This new company will fully own the original "Google". Larry Page will be the CEO of Alphabet and Sergey Brin will be the president of the new company. Sundar Pichai will be the new CEO of the new Google. The new Google will continue its current business with some slimmed changes. While Alphabet will focus on working on the next generation of Internet and creating more billion user companies and services...

   Google, Alphabet,XYZ, Domain name     2015-08-10 20:18:33

  Let Your Programmers Be Silly

6Share You’re in the middle of a crazy startup development sprint. Pressure is sky high as you might have to fire everyone if you don’t generate significant traction over the next 4 months. Make it or #fail situation. The guys (I wish we’d have girls but … wait we have a student, anyway) are killing tickets and you’re pretty much on the target you’ve set with your investors. Not comfortably confident but ok. And you catch your guys debating, f...

   Programmer,Style,Management,Work     2012-01-29 04:31:56

  The Power of Efficiency: 10 Practical Energy-Saving Tips for Tech Startups

In today's fast-paced world, where technology reigns supreme, energy consumption is a significant concern for tech startups. Not only does excessive energy usage contribute to environmental degradation, but it also adds up to substantial operational costs. However, the good news is that there are plenty of practical steps that tech companies can take to reduce their energy footprint without compromising productivity or innovation. In this guide, we'll explore ten actionable tips that can help te...

   STARTUP,ENERGY,ENVIRONMENT,RENEWABLE ENERGY     2024-03-03 03:07:04