alexwolfe

Bad experiences with stock options happen a lot in the tech world. I believe it's one reason that working for a startup doesn't have the allure it once had. Many are busting there butts and just collecting a paycheck because their shares have been diluted or rescinded. Starting early with a company now doesn't mean nearly as much.

This doesn't come a huge surprise. Since a consumer could buy a kindle, 2 kindle touches, and a kindle fire (or some combination) for the same prices a the lowest model iPad. These prices are going to make kindle products really popular for gifts during the holiday season. I think they are going to do extremely well.

Btw, I've been using this app for my mac to implement the Pomodoro technique (didn't know it was called that though)

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/breaktime/id427475982?mt=12

A lot of truths in this article. Thanks for sharing, at the very least it makes me feel sane for feeling like I'm going to go insane working at home all the time. Cheers.

I actually emailed them explaining my frustation on how the site was really for people who already had connections. It didn't work very well for connecting people that had very little influence or existing connections with investors. They were very honest and admitted:

"Right now, we don't do a great job addressing your situation. That forces some users to make initial contact with investors off-site (LinkedIn is common); we're working on new ways for you to make those initial contacts within AngelList."

If they can solve this problem then I think the platform will really gain mainstream appeal. Otherwise I think it will remain a tool that works well for a small niche of startups.

Apple is going to face some stiff competition in 2012 from the Kindle Fire and the new Nook. There is no iPad Killer but these are real players in this space and I don't see them going away anytime soon. Both will have access to an incredible digital library similar to Apple's eco system. This will be a good year for consumers looking to buy tablets.

It could have but the message didn't tie into spurring someone's imagination. Perhaps if you had something interesting such a picture, illustration, or even brief write up of what you expect this section to become it would have allowed for the user to imagine the potential. However, most of these pages just show "coming soon" or "tba". In many cases this leaves the user slightly annoyed by feeling tricked into clicking a link that had no content.

Just a basic comment. If you dont' have content for a page, don't put it in your navigation until it is ready. No one will be disappointed about a page they don't know exists. Coming Soon... is very 90's

You might want to try http://teamtreehouse.com/ They have some good videos that give concise explanations on a range of topics including design.

I would also try looking at http://dribbble.com for inspiration even though it is not an official learning resource it is valuable.

For books dealing with good design I would recommend "The Non-Designers Design Book". It is general advice but you will be surprised at what a huge difference it can make. Its a great foundation to build upon.

If your really motivate, buy some books on color theory, typography, iconography, and layout. These are all the essential building blocks for design (web and print).

Finally if you need to brush up on your photoshop skills, try psdtuts.com for some good tutorials.

Good luck.

I think there are plenty of examples of poorly designed web pages out there (most are poorly designed). The trick is describing what makes a great home page and why. Even without the color coding I think many of us could see how poorly laid out this page is.

Pretty addicting scrolling feature. An overload of information but a cool graphical way to see what's going on.

The ROI is creating something incredible that you can be proud of forever. This is art! I hope people will always have the courage to create amazing things without worrying about the financials.

The most important part (resources to build your mobile site) is just a list of vendors. I would have liked to see frameworks, templates, ets. Paying someone else is certainly a viable option but shouldn't be the main resource. Part of helping businesses create mobile friendly sites is showing them how.

Really nice article, thx for sharing. Did you do any testing on the length of the video? I would be interested if you found an ideal length that effected conversions.

Also, starting a company and being an Entrepreneur are not the same thing. There are many owners of small businesses that would certainly not consider themselves Entrepreneurs. I never hear that term tossed around by the owner of the local Deli.

Although this might work for some people I have found personally that creating a sustainable lifestyle is probably best. Setting a schedule that is mentally, physically, and emotionally draining is not a recipe for success in my experience.

The process of building something (although difficult) should be fun (at least part of the time). If you're having a great time doing something chances are you are more productive and willing to stick it out over the long term.

If you need more time freelancing could be a viable option that affords you the financial and mental stability of a regular job while working on your own project. The reality is that there are probably many ways to go about this but I think it is important not to sacrifice your happiness. If most startups fail, throwing your life at it (Social, Romantic, etc.) will certainly make things worse if your project does not work out.

So true. This term seems to be abused more than ever now a days. I've seen too many people who are just starting a company (literally), throw this term around. It's not something to be proud of unless you have something to be proud of.

Clearly it can't apply to everything but certainly some of the things Ashton said can be taken as solid advice without having to fail first.

I'm not making a comparison between knowledge and experience as they are two different animals. But there is certainly a lot to learn from another person's experience. It's the reason a boxer study tapes of their opponents fighting other people, although it by no means ensures success it does increase their chances.

The thing is in the real life you don't get unlimited chances to learn from your own mistakes. In somes cases if you fail once, its over. You don't get a chance to build a new product everyday, or write a book, or play for a championship ring, etc. If you can find sound advice that saves you the time/pain of failing, take it. Winning is better anyway.

The problem with this is that you can't manufacture cool.

me too.

Way to sum it up. "Make Things" is a good mantra, that's the fun part anyway. Pretty sure financials, legal work, and HR are not the exciting part of any endeavor :)

The whole point is not having to do it for a year and messing up before learning those things.

One of the truly undervalued assets in this world is learning from other people's mistakes instead of having to learn from your own. It can be the difference between winning and losing.

I think this Eulogy helped give many people closure on Steve's passing. Such a well written piece. I'm really appreciate that she publicly shared this very personal moments with the rest of us, touching.

I learned this concept years ago in "The Non Designer's Design Book". It really gave a logical breakdown of Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity along with a number of other useful/important design techniques.

http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-Typographic-...

Good points. It seems he certainly has an interest in startups in the tech industry. It would be great to see him work with or invest in companies he has a lasting interest in.

Although I agree there are plenty of people who want to start a company before they have a product or passionate area of interest I don't agree this is a reason for him to have stayed in Boston.

Zuck is not appreciating the fact the one of his most valuable assets (Sean Parker) was out here and help him raise a tremendous amount of capital for facebook. The story could be much different if he was in Boston without Sean Parker. I certainly think they wouldn't be doing better, and he might not have control of the company anymore. I just think its silly to rewrite history in your mind and assume you would have the same success.

Thanks for the clarification. Should have guessed that by the clothes in the photos ;). The 90's is still very recent. I'm interested in hearing some of there theories behind why/if they were buried so deeply.

This is one of the most amazing discoveries I have seen recently. The sheer weight of that stone is absolutely insane. I'm still a little stunned this was just discovered.

I would love to know what the people who made this were thinking. To create a work of art that detailed and massive just to bury 75% of it seems very odd. I'm sure there was a good reason to do it (in their minds at least), I'd love to know what that was.

Really cool experiment. I'd love to see a breakdown and explanation of the code. It would be interesting to hear how you went about creating this. Thanks.

Many Amazon Customer are Apple Customers as well. The Kindle Fire is definitely a direct competitor not only in hardware but also in digital goods (books, movies, and music).