http://sarpcentel.com/wp today is the first day of the rest of your life Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:38:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This post is intended for people who will attend a Startup Weekend event for the first time. Why attend a Startup Weekend? It's a better networking event compared to daily events. You'll cooperate together to achieve a common goal, you'll suffer together, you'll have fun together. Overall, you'll spend more time together, ... http://sarpcentel.com/wp/10/lessons-learned-at-atlanta-startup-weekend-2/ I spent this weekend participating in Atlanta Startup Weekend 2. If you're not familiar with Startup Weekend idea, this is a good introduction. Friday at 7 PM: Ninety random people with different backgrounds (software development, design, marketing, business etc.) gathered in a room to work on ideas that would lead to start-up ... http://sarpcentel.com/wp/10/atlanta-startup-weekend-2/ Atlanta may not be the heart of technology in the U.S. but there are many opportunities to meet like-minded people that are interested in technology here. For instance, Atlanta Web Entrepreneurs Meeting is one of the largest ones with 1000 members. It's a monthly meeting, where a subject is chosen ... http://sarpcentel.com/wp/18/atlanta-events/ Here are some quotes that I'd like to remember from a book (Founders at Work) on interviews with founders of technology companies: On hope and persistence Joe Kraus, cofounder of Excite "We were so naive we didn't know we could fail, and therefore we almost had to succeed." Evan Williams, cofounder of Blogger.com "I see way ... http://sarpcentel.com/wp/05/quotes-from-founders-at-work-part-2/ I wrote about Founders at Work recently. Here are some memorable quotes from this book: On customers: David Heinemeier Hansson, cofounder of 37signals "First we built the audience and then we figured out a product" Meno Trott, cofounder of Movable Type "Having customers from day one was the thing that really forced us to be ... http://sarpcentel.com/wp/26/quotes-from-founders-at-work-part-1/ "Founders at Work" consists of 32 interviews with founders of famous technology companies such as Paypal, Apple, Lotus, Yahoo, TiVo, del.icio.us, craigslist, Flickr, Adobe etc. It's about stories of startups' early days, and contains valuable advice not only for people starting companies, but for everyone in technology business.  It's a great ... http://sarpcentel.com/wp/26/founders-at-work/ Lately, I've been thinking that everything is about user experience. We buy brands that make us feel special, we use beautiful products that provide a good experience. We love people that treat us well. What matters is how you feel, it's all about the experience... I bought a new bag for ... http://sarpcentel.com/wp/20/living-simpler/ Randy Pausch, a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, passed away from pancreatic cancer in July, 2008. One year ago, on September 18th, 2007, he was one of the speakers in a series of lectures called "Last Lecture". The idea was, "If you had one lecture to give before you ... http://sarpcentel.com/wp/19/last-lecture/ Getting Real is one of the books that helped me look at software development from a different perspective. The title of the book is "The easier, smarter and faster way to build a successful web application", but it's really the manifesto of 37signals, a web application and design company that's ... http://sarpcentel.com/wp/16/getting-real/ There are many unconventional social events going on in the U.S. that seem experimental and fascinating at the same time. I'm an early adopter, so I enjoy trying new things like these and try to be involved. Previously, I've shared my experience with CloudCamp, an unconference/barcamp type of event. Coworking is an emerging ... http://sarpcentel.com/wp/14/coworking/