Nitty Gritty Tech Talk 1

We finally got our server today. We ultimatly decided on peer1 - serverbeach servers because of the good feedback we have heard along with the *excellent* deal we were able to get. Serverbeach provided me with the following configuration

• Dual Core Dual Processor 2.0 ghz Xeon 4mb l2 cache Cpu's
• 2 Gig of Ram
• 1 TB of disk split into 2 x 500 GB's
• 5TB of data transfer
• 10 GB ftp server backup

All for a great price of $190.40 USD per month, this is also because we paid upfront for the year. So for the next year i'll be nicley housed and sitting sweet @ the beach !:)

I would like to point out that the initial representative that talked me through the sale was extermely helpful (thanks mr John spears from serverbeach) . He provided me with a great deal and assisted with applying my discount as i completed the purchase

As usual (like almost everything) there was some slight mishaps but they are now sorted. This is what happened.

• Credit Card got billed incorrectly the first time so it looked like 2 deductions were made (which kind of stressed me out) resulting in lots of money not being accessible whilst awaiting for the rollback to occur
• Initial login didnt work, so i couldnt get into the server and begin setup

UPDATE: All issues have now been addressed ...

After i had acceess to the server i configured the DNS hosting that i purchased to point my main domain and subdomains to the new provisioned server. I was worried it was going to take a while however the redirection was very quick (it was under 5 minutes. last time redirection took 4 hours!). I also configured putty on my development machines and laptops so i can tunnel to the server and access the applications without opening ports to the outside world. I will write a small article on how i did this later as it is a very useful way to secure access when you dont have a firewall or VPN configured)

Pending tasks for the server configuration include

• IP tables and blocking of non required ports
• Lock down of users accounts
• Configuring the mail server to send outbound emails
• Disablinng linux processes that dont need to be running
• Formatting the secondary drive
• Creating the softlinks that are required
• Installing and tuning the latest version of the mysql database
• Installing and configuring lighttpd
• Installing the application and testing performance
• LAUNCH !!!

So ... there are a few tasks but we are getting there. Currently we are still in stealth mode, however just about to start doing the user testing to ensure that all the functionality is understood by users who are not so tech savvy (and make ammendments if need be). Also we are starting this testing to identify potential additional features to consider or revoke.

Mark also completed new versions of the templates and they are looking extremely *hot*, cant wait to get them in and test it all out.

Thats it for now, we are abit behind and there is a deadline we need to meet, we feel there are events right now that would really allow our company to piggyback which would in turn maximize the launch impact ... soooo ... back to coding & configuring :)

Taking road bumps in your stride and embrace the enterprenurial spirit ...

As one of the co-founder of a boostrapped startup lots of different thoughts enter our minds as we try to navigate through the different issues and problems that we face ever so frequantly. One of the most important traits that will allow for a greater chance of success for the new and inexperienced enterprenur is the ability to look between the lines and keep an eye on opportunities that initially may not be so apparent. Ideas are everywhere. No matter where we are, ideas are always whisking by and its up to us as Founders and enterprenurs to digest what we observe everyday (that most people may see as the norm) and see how we see can translate them to opening new doors and bring in better opporuntities for us and also the people around.

These opportunities that may not be initially apparent or clear, if cleverly interprated could lead to greatly improved marketing methods, developing better more useful features, product improvement using more effective and efficent ways or even the next project to embark on once the current project is complete (i guess this kind of thinking is what makes the serial enterprenurs).

One of the things i have noticed is when we see these opportunities and the little light bulb beams above our heads, *sometimes* the gut feeling towards EVEN our own ideas could be "that seems ambitious", "thats quite far out", "hmm that would be quite difficult to pull-off" or "...very outlandish". As entrerprenurs we can take salvation in the fact that once we start to get that uncomfortable gut feeling it means we are on the right track. Its usually when things get difficult do the majority of people pull back leaving that opportunity open for us willing to rough it out and take that slightly riskier path to succeed.

There are however some questions you need to ask to ensure you give yourself the best chance for success. So, what is important to ask before embarking on such a journey ? I found myself asking the following questions (to myself)

• (From a technical perspective) If i were to start would i be able to finish
• If the answer is yes how long would it take and is the timeframe reasonable. (we all know the longer the timeframe the more chance you have of going on a tangent and not completing)
• (From a monetary perspective) If i bootstrap with X amount of dollars how long would i be able to last and will this be enough time to breakeven (at the least) or have a user base compelling enough to warrant external funding
• (From a resource perspective) Do i have access to the resources and the skills that i need to achieve what i am setting out do. If yes does this impact on my bootstrapped startup capital (defined as X above) or will i be able to "pay later" through equity sharing or partnerships ?
• Is the idea viable from a marketing perspective, does the idea by nature mean that there is a large enough community base to make it easily adoptable and possibly grow into something large ?
• What stage is my life in now and do i have the energy, ability and time to cut large chunks out of my life to start (and more importantly FINISH) this project

If i find that the answer is a resounding yes to some of them, though a more reserved yes to the more difficult questions i find that overall .... YES is the answer. I guess the main difference between enterprenurs and non-enterprenurs is the way we answer more difficult and challenging questions. Where others would say NO thats too difficult, too time consuming, too expensive and resource intensive the enterprenur will quickly go through the difficulties in their head (before saying NO), assign some quick ideas and solutions to some of the difficulties, break the parts into smaller more manageable chunks and return back with ... YES its possible, its not going to be a walk in the park, but its possible.

In my case, i found that when it came time to thinking about the difficulties and issues that may come around when embarking on this project I had the following concerns.

• There were some questions around the technology aspect as i hadnt been involved in web technology for about 2-3 years and in computing timeframe of progress that is a massive amount of time.
• I didnt have any marketing experience other then presales experience when working for various tech companies selling their products (i had no idea about press releases or anything of that type, just how to push technology based on a cost benefit to operations)
• I didnt have anyone i had in mind (at the time) who i thought would want to help build this product and the company. (i had people who had the skills, just not the desire as it didnt match were they were in their current point in life)
• I had a day job so obviously time was an issue
• I had no place to emerse myself in the work and totally isolate myself away from the noise and the disturbances

In most cases with these (somewhat) decent road bumps the non-enterprenurial type may have said, no (not skilled enough, its been a while), no (sales is in your blood, you have it or you dont you cant learn it), no (cant start a business on your own, everyones so busy these days), no (no time to sleep or have a life), no (to noisey to concentrate need an office or something) and the usual (NO ... its all to risky)

People say you create your own luck and yes, in some instances i may have been lucky (up to this point, *un-jinxing myself*), though i believe if you dont try you will never know. In my case this is what happened.

• Around the technology problem: This was probably the easiest. I love technology by nature so learning new technologies to use for this project was actually quite fun and exciting
• Around the marketing problem: Yes this is a bit of an issue and still is as we havnt gotten to the full extent of the marketing process but now i am much more well versed due to the amount of reading i have done through various, blogs, forums and books (specially thanks to many blogs by great technologiest that have achieved what i am currently trying to do). I have also done various social experiments to test my confidence and my ability to sell and promote and its definitely alot stronger than it was before ...
• Around the co-founder issue:At the time of idea conception i didnt have anyone in mind, but eventually these people found their way to me. Funny circumstances occured and i met old friends both from many years back who were more then happy to be co-founders (now i dont know what i would do without them)
• Around the day job and lack of time issue: I negotiated firstly a 3 day work week in the office then a 4 day work week in my new job (after getting retrenched from the initial 3 day a week contracting position due to global finacnial strife. 3 days for the new job was to much for them :P), leaving me more time to do the startup
• Around the space issue: I rented a garage from my next door neighbour for $10 AUD a week giving me a very nice place to work with all the peace i need. Its quite large and fits all the equipment i need to do the testing

As is apparent from the above, i did get lucky by meeting my co-founders from many years back in very unexpected circumstances, i did get lucky by being able to rent a garage from my next door neighbour enabling me to require no travel to get *to my office* and i was quite lucky to get 3 day/4 day a week work weeks from my big4 concultancy organisation who usually work you to the bone (possibly due to my reading of books, reading blogs and advice when learning how to become a better salesmen :P)

Embrace the entreprenurial spirit (if you have that drive and ambition, dont be scared of it) as in more cases than not it will help pave the way to what you ultimatley want to achieve. I am still walking this path so this is the advice that i give to myself ...

Programmers Perspective ... Why startups are so attractive ...

As programmers/developers/software engineers why are tech startups so attractive to us ? Other than the obvious fact that its our field of interest, we like writing code and working through computing problems why does starting a startup look so attractive to many technologists? Lets look at some of the reasons why I think this is the case.

• We get to do what we like and have the potential to make a difference to someone somewhere who finds our product useful.
• In the process of doing something we like there is also the opportunity to make some money.
• Starting is cheap, we can start with small capital. Assuming that we also have some time and relativley good skills we can make up with what we lack in initial capital with what skill and time we have.
• The playing field is even. No longer does the big bad corporation dominate the playing field. If we plan accordingly, get the right advice and execute correctly we can come out ahead. Granted that its not easy to do all three but its surely not out of the question
• We all love a challenge and the challenge of building a product that people can benefit from, the challenge of scaling the system to accomodate a growing user base and the challenge in beating the odds seems to appeal in a weird kind of way
• The thought of creating something gives us goosebumps of excitement

Above are some of the reasons why im pretty happy i choose computer science & engineering when I was deciding on a career some 9 years back in my final year of highschool... Now i find myself trying to build a company with my 2 other co-founders, my single laptop, my whiteboard and my ideas ... the joys of computing, what other field allows you to do so much with such little resources ! ...

Negating Negativity ...

One of the most difficult things to overcome during the early stages of a startup is to fight off overwhelming negativity. Negativity can be detrimental to the moral of a startup and must be kept away as best as possible. This is not to say we should ignore reality, there is that fine line between keeping reality in check and blatent, useless negativity. As entreprenurs we must be able to identify the difference so we can filter out what we dont need and take only what is important. Negativity can come from all sorts of directions, some originating from within (your own doubts and fears) and others from external factors.

Personally i found that negativity from an external factor is alot easier to ignore. Many forms of negativity from external factors take the form of quotes from individuals who may be envious that your willing to take a risk, they may say things such as (hey, 1 in every 2 business fail did you know that ...) or (wow thats alot of (money/time) to invest for something so risky , why not buy a house or buy stocks/oil/currency instead, its much less risky you know). Some maybe so blunt as to say "your wasting time and money, get back to reality why dont you" !? When faced with this kind of negativity its actually quite easy to understand why many people will tell you this. Most people in this world are not entreprenurial and dont understand this state of mind hence looking at someone *wasting* weekends and weeknights hacking away and building a product doesnt make sense. Currently the system teaches us that a stable career within a large organisation is the best way to succeed, to climb the corporate ladder and to become a highly paid executive. Visualing success achieved in otherways is not the norm and hence isnt easily understood by the majority. The best way negate this kind of negativity is to take comfort in the fact that one day the same people who dish out these comments will also be the ones who will find your product useful.

The other form of negativity that you must combat is that which comes from within. Sometimes this kind of negativity comes in the form of fear and doubt, either towards your own abilities, the merit of the product you are building, whether you have enough capital (expecially the case for a bootstrapped startup) or of the big bad unknown of where this will all end up. There arent any silver bullets for this and the only way to combat these feelings is to constantly reassure yourself, your team and all the people involved that success is there for the taking. At times it seems like you must start with a white lie which is told for the greater good then eventually work your way up to the point that it is nolonger a white lie but within your grasp. You need to keep the positive energy up and you can do that by reading success stories of past entrepreuners, you can do this by visualising where you want to go, how your product will help the world and how, with your success you can help the world. I guess the ability to fight negativity is built into almost all enterupreners, it simply comes with the territory, this and the ability to keep going when things get tough ...

So as a final note, keep focusing on the goals you have and keep the positive spirit strong ... positive thinking is more powerful then you know ...