The Mountain Goats - No Children (Live)
I’m not typically a fan of the concert sing-a-long - but I would have loved to have been there for this. Awesome.
Hops & Chops migrating to a new location on Capitol Hill
You’ll now find Hops and Chops at:
Auto Battery (next to Po Dogs)
1009 E Union St (map)
Seattle, WA 98122
We’re moving Hops & Chops to Auto Battery, a new bar even closer to my house than Linda’s. Besides a change of scenery, Auto Battery also has a couple shuffleboard tables (the value of games at bars can not be overstated in my book), so it is bound to be a good time.
If you ever find yourself in Seattle on a Thursday night, and want to have a drink with a bunch of startup nerds, stop on by! If you’re looking for me, let me know first, as I don’t always make it every week these days, but there are always lots of good people to meet.
CSA Box, Week 6 (from Boistfort Valley Farm)
Green cabbage, cauliflower, shunkyo radishes, mixed squash, green onions, tatsoi, butterhead lettuce, mizuna, cilantro, apricots, broccoli, and yellow lilies.
Lots of new things this week; the summer variety is starting to kick in!
Slides from Mongo Seattle
Mongo Seattle was fantastic, I learned a lot about MongoDB, and met a bunch of awesome people. If you’re interested in MongoDB, and the conference comes to your town, you should definitely attend.
Hopefully I also taught folks a thing or two, or at least notched down their fear levels about using MongoDB in production, with my talk about TeachStreet’s Mongo-powered teacher metrics dashboard. There should be video of my talk online soon, but in the meantime feel free to peruse the slide deck.
Real Value in Real Time: MongoDB-based Analytics at TeachStreet (SlideShare)
My friend @dacort also gave a talk entitled “MongoDB Real-time Data Collection and Stats Generation“ about using MongoDB with RowFeeder and some of his other projects. It is worth checking out; he’s processing a boatload of data.
Thanks to Meghan Gill and the rest of the 10gen team for making it happen, and Chris Lea from Media Temple, who kept the tab open all night for delicious post-conference food and cocktails at Tavern Law.
Jeff Bezos (via TechCrunch) (via swindsor)
I just pre-ordered a Wi-Fi Kindle.
I originally wrote off the Kindle device as nice but not necessary. Maybe for the heavy reader, but not for me. When the iPad came out, I was certain it was a nail in the Kindle’s coffin. But as much as I like using Brooke’s iPad, the light weight and small form factor of the Kindle, along with the e-ink display, really do make for a far better book-reading experience. At $139, the price feels a lot more ‘right’, and I’m happy just using my iPhone for email, web, and any other computing needs when my laptop is out of reach.
She sells seashells by the sea shore.
5 Lessons Learned While at TeachStreet.com
Today will be my 2 year anniversary at TeachStreet. I don’t really pay attention to these milestones, but a couple of my friends reminded me. I have to admit, this has been one of the quickest 2 years of my life. A lot of things have happened, and I wanted to share 5 important lessons I’ve learned during my time here:
1. Make moves, son!
You got to make it happen. If you want to help start an e-mail campaign, Premium Partners Program, or Featured Blogger Program: make the necessary moves to do so. Make the necessary calls / emails, close the deals, get buy-in from your team, etc. You have to do what it takes to have your company succeed. A great tip would be to try new ideas you can implement that doesn’t need much developer help initially. If it works, you’ll have more reason to get more developers and grow the idea. Remember, a successful idea can always grow.2. Learn how to work with developers / designers
In the startup world, I’m on the business side of things (i.e. sales, marketing, product management) and we all know that developers / designers are the ones who make your ideas into reality. It’s magic. Get to know your developer team and understand how they work, whether it’s learning the type of specs they’re looking for or the support they’ll need during the process. The better you know how they like to work, the better you can compromise and even adjust to get your projects done more efficiently. There’s still so much room to grow, so I continue to learn and try to be a better team player.3. Don’t be afraid to fail
During my time at TeachStreet, I’ve definitely had my share of ideas that have failed (i.e. TeachStreet Teams, Forums, etc.), but I’ve learned from every one of them. Every failure I’ve had has always made me a better person, which has led me to the successes I’ve had. You can’t be afraid to fail, there’s a sense of risk taking one must have to be successful at a startup. I’ve been lucky to have a team that has been collaborative / supportive along the way.4. It’s important to be a net native at a startup
It’s important to understand what’s happening in the startup world — trends, opportunities, and new ideas. Whether it be signing up for all the new web startups to see how they work, taking screenshots of signup pages or 404 pages, or even just reading up on tech startups — it’s important to be connected. I’ve also found that building an online brand in the startup world can be very beneficial. I’ve become more involved in the startup scene and have been loving every minute of it.5. Shape your company culture and have fun!
Be happy and have fun. Don’t forget to shape the culture you’re working in. Working at a startup, you have a chance to help mold the company culture — so do it! You have to enjoy what you’re doing and the people around you because working in a positive environment does wonders in building a great company culture. You’re in a startup and more likely than not, you’re trying to move mountains — might as well love every minute of it.I know there’s much more to learn and lessons to be had — I can’t wait!
CSA Box, Week 5 (from Boistfort Valley Farm)
Purple Radishes, Snow Peas, Shell Peas, Arugula, Carrots, Kohlrabi, Italian Parsley, Cherries,Bulb Fennel, and Flowers.
Finally, some real summer produce! The peas and the cherries were the first things we popped in our mouths, and they’re perfect right now.
Date Night: Dinner at La Carta de Oaxaca followed by skeeball at King’s.
In Defense of Rock Stars
So tired of job listings looking for “rock stars.” Rock stars show up six hours late, start drinking at 11, punch lawyers, and sleep with the account managers. Why would you want to hire one?
Cowboy Coders are usually not worth the price.
While rock stars often have bad habits like throwing TVs out the window, and demanding absolutely no brown m&m’s in the candy dish, there is a reason they’ve gotten to where they are. Talent, both natural and learned, self-confidence, stage-presence, and the ability to deliver performances day after day (minus the occasional freak-out).
A rock star is not a cowboy. A rock star plays in a band, and that band is as tight-knit as any startup team. While each member has their own idiosyncrasies, they have figured out how to work together, and the good bands stay together for a long time. Or the band explodes, and some of the members go off and form a new band together. Sound familiar?
I agree that the lone-wolf cowboy is not a good hire. You need someone you can work with, and someone self-realized enough to balance their ego with what is best for the team. Maybe you don’t need a rock star, there’s a lot of bad ones out there, but if you get the right one, I’m certain you won’t be disappointed.
