10.31.08
Posted in Journal, Software Development, Travel at 1:20 pm by Pablosan
It dawned on me today that I have been preparing myself for the Boulder.me experience for over a year now: ever since I was introduced to Paul Graham’s essays. I decided to re-read How to Be Silicon Valley, which was written a couple years ago. Toward the beginning of the essay, Paul Graham states:
“What it takes is the right people. If you could get the right ten thousand people to move from Silicon Valley to Buffalo, Buffalo would become Silicon Valley.”
I read on with interest and from a brand new perspective, thanks to my recent experience in Boulder. As I read, I realized that Boulder has nearly every ingredient he mentions as requirements for a Startup hub. In fact, Paul Graham recognized this two years ago:
“Most nerds like quieter pleasures. They like cafes instead of clubs; used bookshops instead of fashionable clothing shops; hiking instead of dancing; sunlight instead of tall buildings. A nerd’s idea of paradise is Berkeley or Boulder.”
And a little later on:
“Within the US, the two cities I think could most easily be turned into new silicon valleys are Boulder and Portland.”
I think Boulder is quickly on its way to placing high in the list of Startup hubs. There are so many things about Boulder that make it ideal. They have a great nucleus of top-notch talent (nerds) and a good foundation of local investors (money), the two types of people required by Paul Graham’s Startup hub formula.
The Boulder.me experiment’s primary aim was to entice the right kind of people to move to Boulder. Having attended, I deem it a smashing success. From what I heard from the companies, they did too. And I would count it a privilege to be among the “right ten thousand people”… even though I’d be moving from Dallas; not Silicon Valley, and to Boulder; not Buffalo.
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10.30.08
Posted in Journal, News, Software Development at 1:50 pm by Pablosan
I arrived back home from the Boulder.me event Tuesday night, and I am very glad I was able to be a part of that experience. Everyone there referred to it as the “Speed Dating” version of interviewing. On Monday I interviewed with 14 different companies in seven hours (30 minutes per company). It was a blast, though I was exhausted at the end of the day.
There were several significant insights gained along the way, and I’ll be sharing a few of them in my next few posts. Very early in my trip I sent out a tweet stating “‘Company Starters’ are in it to earn money, while ‘Start-up Companies’ look to make money: subtle but significant.” That was my first insight and it was reinforced many times as I talked to different companies.
Most of my career has been focused on earning money. If I hone my skills and work hard, I increase my chances of remaining gainfully employed. Even when I dreamed of starting my own business, I was always thinking about sustainability: how would I make sure I earned and retained customer respect so that I could enjoy a continual revenue stream? And there is absolutely nothing wrong with those statements: quite the contrary. It is an honorable approach which many have followed to grow successful businesses.
I knew, intellectually, that Start-ups didn’t exactly fit this mold. I really had no idea what that meant, though, until a few days ago. Having the opportunity to talk to about a dozen Startup companies (not all who participated in the Boulder.me event were Startups), I think I finally get it. The goal of a Startup is to sell their product. However, this is quite different from a traditional, mass-produced product. There is only one copy of the product they are “manufacturing” and they are looking to sell to the highest bidder: they are looking to make money.
Up until a few days ago, I didn’t hold this latter approach to business in very high regard (putting it lightly), and I still think there are some interesting implications to placing the top priority on finding a buyer for your product. But I came to realize that this, too, is a respectable approach to succeeding in business. Furthermore, the Startup approach puts the business objectives in sharp focus: if a specific task, feature, etc. does not directly impact the product’s marketability, it is discarded. Waste – of time, resources… anything – is virtually eliminated. There is no excess; no “padding”; no escape-clause. The amount of intensity, passion and focus this brings to a company is a very good thing indeed!
I count it a privilege to have had the opportunity to meet so many Startups and gain my first glimpse into this exciting approach to growing a business. In fact, they very well may entice me to join them!
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10.28.08
Posted in Agile, Iterative Development, Journal, Software Development, Teams at 9:52 am by Pablosan
Back in the mid-nineties, having been introduced to Apple Newtons, Palm Pilots and Wacom’s new tablet-is-the-screen technology (I don’t remember the official name), I started dreaming. It had been several years before this that a conversation about computers with my dad ended with his comment “I’ll use a computer when it starts speaking my language!” He has been using computers for a long time now, so I’m pretty sure he has since lowered his standards. While all of this was swirling around out there like the “breeze of democracy”, I came up with the perfect byline for a PDA: “As easy to use as a piece of paper.”
I’ve been reminded of this tag-line twice in the last week. The first time was while attending a debrief meeting with a company who had unsuccessfully demoed their ALM tool to the company with whom I am currently consulting. We provided them with some valuable feedback, with one of the main complaints being the product’s complexity. I asked them why their product, which is intended for Agile teams, did not more resemble a Card Wall. There are several products out there that do: GreenHopper is an excellent plug-in for JIRA and there is Mingle, which is fairly new, has a ways to go, but is off to a great start.
The second time I was reminded of my tag-line was yesterday, while interviewing with Rally Software here in Boulder. We didn’t go into much detail (we only had 30 minutes), but I shared with them my concern that the current crop of software tools, with a couple exceptions, seem to take what was supposed to be a light-weight, very fast and effective practice, and turn it into an incredibly complex piece of software. They shared with me that, using feedback from their users, they were finding ways to simplify their product. Kudos to them!
So, if using Index cards and slapping them up on a wall is so great, why use a software tool? Here are my answers:
- Don’t use a software tool. Use a Card Wall.
- If your team is not co-located (meaning not everyone on the team will be able to see a physical Card Wall), divide up the project in such a way that you have several, co-located teams that can each have their own Card Wall.
- If your teams are not co-located and you have a need to aggregate data across your teams, be ruthless in your process to find the most light-weight possible approach to gathering that data.
I understand the need for Agile ALM tools. If you’re like me, you’ll view them as a necessary evil. The last thing you want to do is force your teams back into the Chisel-and-Stone era. Even though it’s probably impossible, be unrelenting in your pursuit to make the tools you use “As easy to use as a piece of paper.”
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10.21.08
Posted in Journal, News, Software Development, Travel at 4:19 pm by Pablosan
While the last couple months have been quite eventful, I haven’t felt at liberty to share some of it publicly for several, mostly boring reasons. Today I decided to lift the Cone of Silence a bit.
I have had some incredible opportunities to meet with some great, like-minded developers in the Midwest and to coach a great deal of developers as we all seek to improve our craftsmanship. In the same timeframe, I also ran across an intriguing approach to getting top-notch talent together with some interesting Startup companies.
Toward the end of September, during one of my daily newsfeed perusals, I ran across a post on YCombinator’s Hacker News site, advertising a unique opportunity in Boulder, Colorado. The Boulder New Tech Meetup set up an all-expense paid trip for 100 developers to meet with nearly 20 Startup companies in the Boulder area. The Startups (my guess is with a little help from their VC’s) are footing the bill, and the user group is providing the volunteers to handle the logistics. They advertised this through the website Boulder.me and, after encouragement from my wife, I decided to throw my hat in the ring.
They recently wrapped up the selection process (from nearly 400 applicants) and, yes, I’m going to Boulder! I am very much looking forward to spending three days in the Boulder Startup scene! And I suspect that, much like my experience in the Midwest, I will have the privilege of meeting fellow developers committed to honing their craft… that is, whenever there isn’t enough of a base to warrant a trip to the slopes! 
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10.17.08
Posted in Agile, Journal, TDD at 7:56 am by Pablosan
A new friend of mine, Cheesy (it’s a long story), drug me out to the Northern Ohio Software Quality Assurance Association (NOSQAA) monthly meet-up last night for several reasons, the first of which was to drink some beer. So we headed over to The Boneyard and started… er, drinking in the atmosphere. Sorry… I had to.
Part way into the evening, Maciej (the creator of Anthill), wandered over to where we were sitting and introduced himself. What ensued was a passionate debate about TDD. For fear of misquoting him, I won’t give you Meciej’s stance. I’ll simply say that Cheesy and I are both strong advocates of TDD… and we were recently emboldened by enjoying a couple of our favorite beverages.
It was a great conversation and the three of us learned that, while we had our differences, there was an awful lot of common ground. What struck me was the passionate discussion that kept us at that table even after the rest of the group had turned in for the night. Because of that, I know I spent the evening with two fellow artisans. And regardless of the disagreements, these are the kind of software developers I want to be around: the kind that challenge me to keep improving.
I know Majiec ended up with much more than he bargained for because, toward the end of the conversation he asked “So what the heck are the two of you doing at a QA meeting?!” To which we responded “it’s a long story.”
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