Primul articol in Jurnal de Startup

Acum 2 saptamani va spuneam ca e posibil sa scriu la Startups.ro. Ei bine…. azi a aparut prima mea incercare de articol in Startups la Jurnal de start-up. Unde voi scrie saptamanal despre experientele mele antreprenoriale. Evident daca exista ceva interes. Apropo, despre ce ati vrea sa scriu in articolele viitoare?

Parents: excitement vs consequences
Image representing Paul Graham as depicted in ...

Image via CrunchBase

From Paul Graham:

It seems safe to say there are more undergrads who want to be novelists and whose parents want them to be doctors than who want to be doctors and whose parents want them to be novelists. The kids think their parents are “materialistic.” Not necessarily.

All parents tend to be more conservative for their kids than they would for themselves, simply because, as parents, they share risks more than rewards. If your eight year old son decides to climb a tall tree, or your teenage daughter decides to date the local bad boy, you won’t get a share in the excitement, but if your son falls, or your daughter gets pregnant, you’ll have to deal with the consequences.

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La e-ok party
Posted in General

Ieri am fost la e-ok party. Unde nu mi-am luat tricou pentru ca nu am dat pe blog nimic despre lansare. Asa ca zic acum: e-ok e ok. Ce nu-mi place e ca nu exista o modalitate usoara de a descoperi muzica, de a browseri printre piese si albume. Ce imi place? Calitatea buna a pieselor.

A fost o ocazie buna sa mai interactionez cu oamenii din online: cu Emi - care nu se focuseaza si continua sa faca 1000 de lucruri (told you man), Florin, Bobby, Pyuric - o jurnalista simpatica care trateaza foarte serios jurnalismul de monden, Zoso- care a zis ca sunt gay cand scriu pe blog si nu numai (e bine sa ai fani), Nihasa, Dan Berte - care se gandeste sa dea o tura prin Vale, Alexandru Popescu - cu care am vb niste chestii foarte sofisticate si multi altii. O petrcere reusita. Concluzie: Intrati pe e-ok ca e ok. Si mancati pufuleti!

2 noutati
Posted in General

1. Ma gandeam sa organizez Open Coffee . Exista doritori? Practic e o intalnire saptamanala unde se intalnesc oameni implicati in online intr-un mediu foarte, foarte informal si discuta proiecte and stuff. In timp ce isi beau cafeaua de dimineata. E un concept inceput de Saul Klein si care functioneaza in toata lumea civilizata.

2. Am fost invitat sa scriu la “jurnal de startup“. Ce v-ar place sa cititi? Merita sa scriu?

Start-up international made in Romania
Posted in Business

Am fost in Amsterdam sa ne prezentam jucaria. Povestea scurta. A fost foarte interesant. Am cunoscut o multime de vedete din Silicon Valley si de antreprenori vestici. Dar am dat si pentru prima oara de problema de a fi roman.

Prima poveste:
Cu cateva zile inainte de conferinta Mike Butcher scrie despre noi pe Techcrunch UK: Companie romaneasca care vrea sa faca multe chestii SF. Errrr. Ok. Vine si conferinta. Eu imi fac speechul. Nu a fost cea mai buna performanta dar e primul meu speech in fata a 1000 de oameni. Oricum in mare parte bine. Dupa ce ma dau jos de pe scena ma abordeaza Erick Schonfeld, de la Techcrunch USA. Imi spune ca ii place ce facem si ca ar vrea sa se joace cu uberVU ca sa ne faca un review. Se joaca cu produsul, ne da feedback, ii spunem in ce stadiu suntem (nu foarte avansat). Ne recomanda sa rezolvam niste probleme si sa ne facem infrastructura mai solida. Si cand suntem gata sa-i dam mail si 1000 de invitatii ca sa faca un review. Super cool.

In acelasi timp Mike Butcher de la versiunea uk avea reviewul gata: Companie romaneasca care vrea sa faca multe chestii SF. Errrr. Prezentare de cacao..Adica acelasi lucru ca acum o sapt + faptul ca prezentarea e de cacao. Ok. Stiu ca nu am avut o super prezentare asa ca ma duc cu laptopul langa el in timpul unei pauze sa-i arat ce facem. Daca mai scrie de noi macar sa stie ce scrie. El nu: “A voi sunteti aia din Romania.”; “Nu trebuie sa vad nimic. Nu ma intereseaza. Stiu tot.” Imi venea sa-l strang de gat.

A doua poveste:
Cineva ne spunea cat de mult ii place softul. Ne intreaba de unde suntem. Ii zicem ca din Romania. Si el foarte surprins ne intreaba daca noi avem ce manca acolo ca sa ne ocupam de net.

Si alte chestii de acest fel.

Vreau sa citesc din nou
Posted in General

Ma surprind cum reusesc sa parcurg/ sa consum atat de multa informatie fara sa citesc prea mult. Scanez texte, poze in cateva minute si asta ma ingrijoreaza. Dupa ce parcurg mii de feeduri in cateva minute si imi dau seama ca nu am ramas cu nimic, decat cu niste idei superficiale despre probleme sau subiecte pe care ar fi fost foarte interesant sa le aprofundez, raman cu un gust amar in gura. Pe langa febra musculara a degetului care clickaie neincetat pentru ca eu sa descopar noi povesti. Pe care nu o sa le citesc oricum.

O sa incerc sa citesc mai mult. Poate si sa scriu mai putin.

(RO) Resurse noi
Posted in Business

Piata de publishing de la noi s-a imbnatatit cu un nou site: startups.ro. Este un portal dedicat micilor afaceri si antreprenorilor, un proiect initiat de o ziarista cu foarte mare experienta: Crsitina Alexandru. Multa bafta!

PS: Un post foarte interesant la Madalin Durca, despre prieteni si clienti.

(RO) Climatul de colaborare in companii
Posted in General

Care e modul in care interactionati cu colegii vostri? Sunteti stimulati sa va auto-perfectionati? Raspundeti la cateva astfel de intrebari (dureaza cel mult 2 minute) pentru a ajuta la schitarea mediului de lucru din companiile romanesti. Linkul: http://www.hostedsurvey.com/takesurvey.asp?c=Climatcolaborare

Proeictul ii apartine Sarei Bocaneanu si rezultatele vor fi facute publice de indata ce vor fi procesate.

Simple is not the same thing with easy
Posted in General

This is a fact I come to understand since I am in the Internet business. The web is so damn simple: links, graphics and interconnected systems that everyone thinks s/he can master. But simple doesn’t mean easy. On the contrary. Think of the evolution, the time-space continuum etc. The theories are so simple and effective but so damn hard to use effectively.
It might sound like such an easy to see statement….. a simple thing. But really making decisions based on this is not that easy.

Why the educational system is broken
Posted in General

A fellow blogger asked me some months ago about my views on the educational system. Long story short… I believe that today’s schools are almost useless and the whole system is rotten. Why?

  • Teaching facts is stupid nowadays. When each and every person has access to information. The Internet made this possible. I believe that you can find more about the history of ancient Greece from Wikipedia than from every textbook available in todays school. What should then teachers do in the classrooms? They should focus on teaching kids on how to organize information and how to consume the stuff that they are running across. I remember how my dad, a high school history teacher, once told me how a girl made an essay on the greatest savior in the history: Mao. She found a website about the this great leader.
  • It is not only about facts. Remember all those boring physics lessons? I totally hated them. And I bet that we own most of todays inventions to Star Trek influence. The same we own past innovations in physics, chemistry or geography to Jules Verne’s books. And I believe that what a teacher should do before assigning homeworks is to seed some dreams and inspiration. To incite the interest! How about watching “300” instead of teaching a boring greek-persian war?
  • Tests are useless. National test, school-leaving examinations etc. I am not saying that competition is not healthy but that all of these imposed standardized subjects are not helping anybody. All these tests have been adopted to benefit an early industrialized capitalist society in search for a standardized employes. But that is all gone now.
    But competition is good. So a good idea is to have contest on a variety of niche subjects, where students should submit their projects. For example it would be very cool to have a computer games creation competition, where teams submit their electronic games creation in order to compete. I believe that the winners will need no high grades to get hired or to start a company and get seed funding.

But things will not change the way they should. It will probably be our generation to make these changes when they will be quite obsolete.