Futuristic Reality

Focusing on technology-- but I get off-topic easily and enjoy sharing anything interesting. Follow me @Grant_Covington

[grantcovington-blog]

My blog has moved, now at FuturisticReality.com

I have officially taking the blogging plunge and henceforth my blog will be located at FuturisticReality.com. Please head on over there and bookmark the new site, see you there!

[grantcovington-blog]

Uncle Sam, Stop Preventing Progress

The entrepreneurship bug has taken hold in America… I LOVE IT! It’s tough talking to anyone these days without startups being mentioned; whether they just discovered a new one, they’re thinking about joining one, or they have an idea for one. Startups are in vogue, or as one recent blog post I saw on HN put it, Startup is the new Hipster. Yet all is not roses and butterflies in this new landscape dominated by “rock stars” and “ninjas.”

Recently Uber, the amazing town car and taxi service, has been in the news because of legislative threats in the cities they operate. Their service threatens the business of longtime taxi operators, who haven’t taken kindly to the recent competition. As a result, they’re using their friends in government to try to strong-arm Uber into shutting down. Luckily those attempts have failed so far, but it got me thinking about the future of super-disruptive startups in America, and how their biggest obstacle might very well be the government.

Recent attacks on Uber as well as legislature such as SOPA, ACTA and PIPA demonstrate that the American Government is more concerned with keeping the status quo and protecting their special interest groups, then fostering innovation and advancement. Of course there are outliers in government who are trying to facilitate change, but they’re in the minority. It is a sad commentary given that our country was itself a radical shift from what was considered the norm, a startup of sorts, less than 350 years ago. You could write a thesis on how our government has become so stale, and I’m sure someone has and I’d love to read it, but the more important question now is; how can we right the ship?

Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer and this isn’t a political blog so I don’t want to write a long-winded post on this subject. I only wrote this post because it’s something that I have been increasingly concerned about. When I recently read about the progress Google has made with their automated cars, my first thought should have been, “OMG cars that drive themselves - how awesome!!!” but instead I thought, “I hope the government doesn’t fuck this up.” I’m afraid that unless things change, we will begin to get left behind by other countries, and people will talk about America as the country that used to lead the way in innovation and progress, not the one that still does.

What do you think - are American politics getting in the way of progress or are my fears unfounded? Let me know in the comments. 

[grantcovington-blog]

Make Your Email More Efficient

I’m using my email more than ever these days, so making sure it provides maximum utility has become something I take very seriously. I have been trying different 3rd party add-ons to help with a variety of things: organization, reminders, information, automation and more. All of these add-ons are free, so I figured in lieu of donations the least I could do was give some positive press about the three that I’ve found to be most useful. So without further ado... if you are looking for ways to improve your email productivity and experience, I highly recommend checking out the following products.

       ● Rapportive: www.rapportive.com

“Rapportive shows you everything about your contacts right inside your inbox.”

Whenever you send or receive an email, Rapportive displays an array of personal information to the left of the email. This includes: a picture, their name, links to their social media accounts (which you can scroll over to see their most recent activity), as well as any personal notes you have added about them. Rapportive has helped me make my emails more personalized by having quick access to information about my recipients. Here is what it looks like when I send an email to myself:

         ● Boomerang: www.boomeranggmail.com

“Take control of when you send and receive email messages … create follow up reminders … remind yourself if you don’t hear back”

Boomerang is a simple add-on that I find super powerful. You can schedule emails to be sent at a specific time or remind yourself to write a follow up email after a period of time or if you don’t receive a response. The scheduled emails are great for when you’re working on a bunch of emails at night, particularly on a Friday. Instead of sending them at a time when there is a good chance your recipients will miss them, you can set them to be sent at a time that has a higher chance of being seen, such as early in the morning. The reminders have been very helpful when I am reaching out to a bunch of people in quick succession. I won’t necessarily remember if I don’t get a response from one particular person, so I set Boomerang to let me know if I don’t get a response within 4 days.   

       ● Unroll.me: www.unroll.me

“Unroll.me is the free and easy way to end unwanted subscriptions”

This app is awesome for getting subscription email clutter under control. I used to be very careful about what I signed up for using my primary email account for fear of losing control of my inbox. Unroll.me has completely eliminated that fear. Unlike the other apps, you don’t have to install anything. Simply visit their website, connect your email account and they will generate a list of all of your subscriptions. They then bundle all of your subscriptions into a “roll” that they deliver to you once a day. So instead of getting tons of emails every morning, you get just one. You can also choose to have certain subscriptions appear in your inbox as they normally would rather than include them in your “roll.” Unroll.me also offers the ability to remove yourself from any mailing lists with just one click.

Let me know in the comments what apps/add-ons/products you use to improve your email experience!

[grantcovington-blog]

Teach Kids Business Lessons Early

I read an article a couple weeks ago encouraging parents to use lemonade stands as an early lesson on how businesses function (sorry I can’t find the link). It got me thinking about my Dad and the ways he encouraged my entrepreneurial spirit from an early age. He’s started two companies in his lifetime, one successful and one less so, and seeing he’s always been my biggest role model (except when I was 12-16, when everything he did embarrassed me, sorry Dad it was just puberty) I always viewed owning your own business as the ultimate success. 

Coincidentally, the first way he got me interested in and taught me about running a business was by helping me set up my own lemonade stand. I was instantly hooked. Between the ages of 8-11, I was somewhat of a lemonade stand mogul; I would go over to friend’s houses and convince them that we should spend the day running a stand (my house was in a terrible location for the cutthroat lemonade business, so I had no choice but to have business partners). I can even remember doing some very basic A/B testing: trying different prices, different cup sizes, offering discounts for bulk purchases, selling other drinks besides lemonade as well as having food and even trying different lemonade brands. Its pretty funny looking back at it but there is no denying the profound impact these early experiences had on my views about how to make money.

As I got older I continue to pursue avenues of self-employment. After I felt I had conquered the lemonade stand world (only joking, I probably ran ~10 lifetime) I decided it was time to move onto bigger and greener pastures. My next idea had no costs, so everything was pure profit; “The Golf Ball Club”. Not the most original name but it made sense, as my friends and I would collect lost golf balls at our local course and then re-sell them in the parking lot to players.

We would charge anywhere between $1-$5 dollars a ball depending on the condition and the brand. Unfortunately we were taking business away from the course pro shop and after about a month they told us we had to stop or they would permanently ban us from the course grounds. Looking back at it now we should have made a deal with the pro shop and sold directly to them, but the thought didn’t cross our minds because we were so young, and apparently the owners didn’t have the business sense to notice an opportunity. 

Between the lemonade stands and “The Golf Ball Club” I realized that I enjoyed making money probably more than I enjoyed spending it, and so I continued to devise moneymaking avenues as I got older. Rather than write a whole bunch about them I’ll just create a short list:

Used Kazaa to burn and sell CD’s to friends [middle school]

Taught private tennis lessons using local courts [middle school]

Setup Diablo 2 script allowing game to play while I was AFK, and then selling the items found on Ebay [high school]

At summer sports camps I would buy Gatorades in bulk at home and then sell them for cheaper than the camp store [high school]

Would cook meals for special occasions (valentines day, anniversaries, birthdays etc.) [college] 

Buy items for cheap at end of year, store them and resell at the start of the following year [college] 

The point of this post was two fold: first, I enjoy reminiscing about this stuff because it amuses me to reflect on the various ways I’ve made money. Secondly and more importantly, I want to encourage parents to think about ways that they can teach their children about how running a business works. I believe that my Dad’s encouragement to run that first lemonade stand and his unwavering support and enthusiasm for my other hustles was instrumental in shaping my views about making money and cultivating my entrepreneurial spirit. I managed to avoid working traditional “jobs” until college because I found creative ways to earn cash. As an added bonus, I found these alternative paths more enjoyable and rewarding for me.

In todays world of collaborative consumption there are more ways then ever for people to earn some extra money and the potential to empower themselves to be their own bosses. The sooner people become familiar and comfortable with that idea, the sooner they can take advantage of it. As always please share your thoughts in the comments section!  

[grantcovington-blog]

Crowdfunding in ... people?

The other day a buddy and I were just throwing startup ideas back and forth at each other, having some fun (super cool I know). One of the ideas I jokingly threw out was an investing platform where you put money in to fund a childs education, in exchange for a percent of their future earnings.

We both thought it was an interesting idea, but were unsure of the legality. As we fleshed the idea out a bit more it also became clear there were a lot questions that needed answering. For example, when does the funding start? Do wait until they graduate high school and see where they get accepted into college? Wait until they graduate college and have proven themselves in the workforce for a bit? What about something as extreme as at birth? How long must they forfeit part of their income? And what about if something happens and they decide they’re content working a minimum wage job for the rest of their lives? The list goes on and on. Clearly launching a startup such as this would be no easy task.

We talked about a lot of these questions and potential solutions for a bit, but eventually moved on to other ideas. Not 2 days later I saw a TechCrunch article announcing that some ex-Googlers had recently launched a crowdfunding platform. The story caught my attention because I am a huge fan of crowdfunding; not only has it helped to create amazing new opportunities for many people, but I also believe that it will continue to grow and disrupt more industries (case in point, Petridish.org, a new crowdfunding site changing the way scientific research is funded, I recommend checking it out). So I was curious to see what niche market this new platform would be appealing to. Seeing the founding team is so accomplished, I was expecting big things, and I wasn't disappointed.

Enter Upstart.com a crowdfunding platform for educated young-adults to raise money to help them achieve their dreams. I know that probably sounds like a bad Disney movie, but it not. The money isn't a gift, it an investment in the funded person's future, because repayment is a percent of the dreamers future income. The percentage is negotiable, as is the amount being borrowed and you don't pay during years you're making less than $30k. If you’re curious about learning more about their service I suggest checking out their site, as well as the TechCrunch article.  

I was super excited, Upstart had taken my fleeting idea and transformed it into something incredible. Something that I think has the potential to be truly revolutionary. As more and more students graduate from college with 5 and even 6-figure debts, we risk losing many great minds to the corporate world. Upstart offers a new alternative, giving students the chance to pursue their dreams by helping them connect with investors who believe in them.

Like I said if you want to learn more I really encourage you to check out their website, I think what they’re doing is amazing. I am incredibly jealous of the current members of their team, as they’re working on something that I think is not only innovative and destined for success, but something that could also help the greater good. Hopefully one of these students will make a world-changing breakthrough, which would’ve never been possible without Upstart. 

As always please leave any comments or thoughts you have below in the comments!

[grantcovington-blog]

NBC's failed Olympic "coverage"

Late Friday afternoon I had a meeting near my apartment, so when it finished I decided to head home and do my remaining work from there. I figured I could work while watching the Opening Ceremony for Olympics in the background. Much to my surprise, the Olympics were nowhere to be found on television. 

I realized that NBC must be using a time delay and airing the ceremony later that night. Clearly they didn’t want their viewership split between a live broadcast and the time delay later that night. While I understand NBC’s rationale, it seemed very un-21st century to me and left a bad taste in my mouth. 

With my TV viewing attempt thwarted, I turned to the place we all do it times of great strife and uncertainty, the Internet. I went to the NBC Olympic site figuring that if its not on TV, then surely they have to stream it online.  Wrong. I went from unhappy to incensed. How could NBC think that this was at all acceptable in today’s day in age?!?

So not only did they not offer live streaming during the opening ceremonies, but even worse, if  you want to use the service for viewing of the actual Olympic games you need to prove you are already an NBC customer. That is complete bullshit in my opinion, for two reasons: first I am lazy and so I don’t want to go through the hassle of proving that I am a cable subscriber. Secondly, these games should be available for anyone in the US, whether or not you are an NBC customer. NBC should make access to their online live streaming services as easy as clicking a “Watch Now” button. Throw some online ads into the mix and monetize the online viewership that way.

NBC has been largely criticized, not only for their handling of the opening ceremonies, but for their coverage in general. I personally hadn't experienced just how much it sucked (outside the opening ceremonies) until last night. I have been very busy, so I have had little time in front of the TV to watch the games, and I am boycotting the use of their online services on principal. However, I managed to find some time to tune in late last night. As if on cue, NBC found a way to ruin the experience yet again … this time by spoiling who won the Women’s 100m backstroke with this debacle.

NBC needs to get with the times or the IOC needs to find a company that will! It is completely unacceptable to botch the coverage of an event as important as the Olympics and NBC thus far has proven they’re not up to the task. Let me know what you’ve thought of NBC’s coverage of the Olympics thus far, or any other thoughts you might have in the comments.

[grantcovington-blog]

MINSWAN

I’ve been a big fan of Skillshare ever since I first learned about the site and joined over six months ago. That being said, until last week I had never actually used the service. Despite the fact that I had managed to accumulate a watchlist which consisted of over 30 different classes, ranging from 'How to Homebrew Beer'  (much to my dismay this class still has yet to be taught) to 'Launch Your Startup Idea for Less Than $5000' and everything in between.

So what class was it that I decided to pop my SkillShare cherry with you ask, Introduction to Programming with Ruby. Its a three-week, six class course taught by Avi Flombaum (@aviflombaum). Hence the title of this post; MINSWAN is an expression used by Rubyists that means "Matz is nice, so we are nice". Matz is the creator of the Ruby language who is beloved by everyone because he is an all around awesome guy. The sentiment is that, because Matz is so nice, everyone who uses Ruby should be nice too AKA help the Ruby Newbies.

So what motivated me to take this course? 

I enjoy learning … I really mean that, no bullshit.               Now that not to say that I haven’t taken classes that I found boring and hated, because I did. But I also took classes, which I loved, and I looked forward to attending and even doing the work for. By taking this course I hope to whet my appetite for programming/web design, in the hopes that it will cause me to crave learning more of it (so far so good, the class is awesome and I find myself practicing what I’ve learned in my free time).

The dream of building my own product … eventually.          Obviously it’s going to take me awhile to build up a skill set that allows me to create anything complex, but the prospect of one day accomplishing that is incredibly alluring. Hopefully I can get decent enough in the near term, that I’ll be capable of building a shitty MVP, which might help me attract a technical co-founder. Non-technical business/idea guys are a dime a dozen these days, so hopefully by having even minimal engineering skills I can separate myself from the crowd. At the very least I’m gaining a better understanding of how programming works, and the language associated with it, which I believe is vital for anyone working in the tech-startup scene these days.

Meeting people similar to myself … basically networking.  This is a common theme justifying a lot of what I have been doing this summer. Having just graduated college and previously only working finance jobs, I’m still an outsider (relatively) to the startup and tech communities, which is something I’m working to change. I figure that many of my classmates fall into one of two categories: programmers who are looking to learn a new language, or non-technical employees at startups who are looking to separate themselves from the pact in the hopes of advancing their careers. In short, the type of people I want to start creating connections with.

I already consider my first Skillshare experience to be a success, which has lead me to sign up for several additional classes! Stay tuned to hear more about those, and as always please share your thoughts in the comments.

[grantcovington-blog]

The Speed of Progress

Don’t worry this isn’t going to be some existential drivel where I talk about the process of learning as a human being and progressing as a civilization (that’s a post I am far too young and naive to even pretend to be able to offer an opinion on). Instead this post is about the issues I encounter when purchasing a tech gadget (computer, TV, tablet, cellphone etc.)... issues that I think others grapple with as well.

The issue has to do with what is known as Moore's Law. Moore's Law has to do with technological progress and it basically states that every 2 years tech capabilities double. In other words, progress is exponential. 

To put this in perspective, over the weekend I pre-ordered the Google Nexus 7 tablet, but only after my mouse hovered over “confirm” button for close to 15 minutes. It seems with every passing year I become more uncertain of whether I am making a smart decision when purchasing a new gadget. In the back of my mind there is always this nagging feeling that the second I click to order, something newer and better will suddenly appear on the scene.

I am particularly hesitant when I am purchasing things that I don’t really need. Unfortunately, the reality of the matter is that I haven’t really “needed” anything for sometime. Every tech purchase I make, and I believe this is true for most people, is merely an upgrade. When I got my iPhone I didn’t need a new phone, I had a Blackberry that fulfilled all my needs, but not anything extra. For instance, this Nexus 7 is not something that I truly need, but it provides a certain utility which I think makes it worth the price tag.

So, how then can we decide whether or not we are making an intelligent purchase? If you are hoping for a concrete or formulaic answer, I am sorry but you'll have to look elsewhere because I don't have it, what I can offer some personal advice. 

I'm someone who has in the past has waited around for the next release of a product, hoping that it will have a certain feature, only to be let down when it doesn't. I had an upgrade available from Verizon for ~6 months before I used it, because I was waiting for the iPhone 5 and 4G, you all know how that turned out. That was a far worse feeling than when I purchased something, only to see a better version of it be released ~6 months later.

Technology is constantly moving forward, so even if you buy a product right when it releases, chances are pretty good that within a year there will be something better than it out there. So my advice would be, try not to worry about it too much. I know that this is easier said than done, but I've come to realize that trying to wait for a product to be "just right" is a losing battle.  

Let me know your thoughts about buying new gadgets or anything else in the comments!

[grantcovington-blog]

Faith in Humanity Restored

Last night I lost my wallet somewhere on my commute home, unfortunately I didn't even realize until I woke up this morning. As I was getting ready to leave for the day, I finally noticed my wallet was nowhere to be found. In a panic, I quickly went online to check my CC statements, fully expecting the worst- that they had all already been maxed. Much to my surprise none of my credit cards had been used. My spirits lifted slighted, but I was still unhappy at my stupidity and that I would have to order a new license, cancel my CC's and replace everything else in my wallet.

As I picked up my phone to call Visa, dreading what was sure to turn into a bigger hassle than necessary, I noticed I had a missed call and voicemail from an unknown NYC number. As I listened to the voicemail, my bad mood melted away and my faith in the decency of humanity was lifted to new heights.

Someone had not only found my wallet, but they had called Visa in order to track down my phone number. I quickly called the number back and talked to my new favorite person, John. He informed me that although he lived in Long Island City, he would be returning to the Manhattan area later today. He told me not to worry, that the wallet still had my cash in it, so he assumed nothing had been taken out of it and that I could meet him later to get it back. 

I met John 2 hours ago, and not only did he return my wallet with all of its contents still inside, he refused to accept any monetary reward. I told him that if he wouldn't accept any money hopefully he would allow me to take him out to dinner and drinks. Hopefully he calls me soon to take me up on the offer.

So here is a thank you to John, not only for returning my wallet and saving me a stressful, hassle-filled day, but also for showing me that there are still people in this world who are willing to go out of their way to help others for no reason other than doing the right thing. His one request was that I make sure to pay it forward, and I intend to do just that. 

[grantcovington-blog]

Grinding

I’m “officially” employed! On Monday I started working at ShopCube (I also worked for them for 3 months during the Spring of my senior year), an Gaming/E-Commerce website expected to launch this summer. I put quotes around officially because I’m not getting paid, but that’s just semantics, and fuck semantics. I’m doing real work, lots of it, so it sure feels like employment.

I intend to write a multiple posts in the future about the company, including what they do, why I wanted to work for them, some of my experiences there etc., but not today. For this post I want to focus on their office, Grind, a public working space in Downtown NYC.

(TV screen by the entrance which loops a video discussing the space)

Let me just start by saying, I’m super pumped to be working in such a unique environment. The space is incredible; great location, the wi-fi is fast, coffee and tea are available all day, the chairs are comfy (if you think that doesn’t matter your crazy, it is a goddamn necessity when sitting in front of a computer 8+ hours a day) and two conference rooms are available at all times. At night, on a near daily basis, the space is used for to teach a variety of workshops and classes, and my goal is to attend at least one per week.

What excites me the most about Grind, however, is that I now have the opportunity to meet lots of interesting people in the startup world, just by coming into work everyday. Already I have met a few people and learned about some interesting projects they’re working on. Stay tuned for future posts about some of the amazing companies sharing the space at Grind.

If you want to see photos of Grind please click the read more, and please share your thoughts in the comments section.

(Grindists at work!)

(The little black things are basically really comfortable cubicles, also check out the cool wall art that only shows up from certain angle)

(One of the conference rooms)

[grantcovington-blog]

Random Thoughts: The Future of Cable vs. Satellite

So last night a buddy and I were watching the Food Network, which by the way is probably the best network on television. Chopped and Iron Chef are probably my favorite shows, but I digress. During the commercials we are shooting the shit about all sorts of things, and we got on the topic of cable vs. satellite in the future.

First we tried to decide which technology would be more widespread in the future, and quickly decided that satellite had the greater upside long term. We decided in the future there would probably be giant satellites own by corporations in space and they would be able to broadcast anywhere on the planet and you would be able to connect with them via subscription service. We estimated that the technology required for these satellites would probably take at least another 250 years. Who knows though, with the speed at which technology is moving forward, that may be too conservative an estimate.

By this point in the conversation our show had returned so we stopped talking, and by the next commercial we had moved onto a new subject, but I can’t help myself from exploring this question further. Will satellites truly be the dominant technology and if so, what will these satellites look like in 250 years, what features will they offer, how will the work, will they be publicly or privately owned, will they offer bundled packages such as TV, internet and phone or by that time will all those be provided by one service, the internet etc. Conversations such as this are always fascinating to me because in hypothetical situations like this, you can let your imagination run wild.

Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments, I’d love to hear everyone’s ideas!

[grantcovington-blog]

Time to start this for real

When I started this blog in the Spring, I was in my final semester of college, not the most ideal timing. Between studying, lacrosse, helping my brother and enjoying what little time I had left, there was barely a spare second to think about blog posts, let alone write them.

Luckily (or unfortunately) I graduated as scheduled and am no longer a student for the first time in 17 years, an odd realization. I am currently job hunting, which gives me more free time than I am used to, and so hopefully that means I will be blogging regularly. Expect a new post within the next few days!

[grantcovington-blog]

Facebook Purchases Instagram for ... $1 Billion Dollars

I'm sure by now everyone has heard the news from yesterday- the incredibly popular social photo sharing application Instagram, sold to Facebook for $1 Billion dollars. Thats right, a less than 2 year old company with no revenue is worth $1,000,000,000! This is the world we live in right now, and everyone, not just those in the Tech industry, is talking about it. 

I won't pretend to know enough to judge whether or not this was a good deal, but it certainly seems to indicate that Facebook believes that mobile is the future. An opinion I share (as do most) and at this point in time Facebook is generating very little mobile revenue, so if this begins to change that, than its a step in the right direction. Increasing mobile revenue is sure to be a scrutinized subject for Wall Street while evaluating Facebook's stock in the coming year, so I wouldn't be surprised if they made another acquisition of a mobile company of sorts.

Let me know in the comments what you think of the deal, or what, if any, acquisitions you might see Facebook making in the coming year

[grantcovington-blog]

Internet Accounts for 4.7% of US Economy

Both Mashable and CNN posted articles today discussing a new study which showed that the internet accounted for $684 billion dollars, or 4.7% of the US economy in 2010. The researchers admitted that measuring the full economic impact of the internet is difficult, but ultimately their numbers came from tallying the totals of: e-commerce, cost consumers pay to access internet and money spent building building internet infrastructure. The study also predicted that internet spending will continue to grow by 10% every year until 2016. 

$684 billion dollars is obviously a staggering number, however as the article notes the true number is probably even higher. The internet helps the economy in many ways which are not easily measurable. One obvious example of this is people who look online and then buy in person. Another example is how the internet enables people to learn new skills, which may help to advance or expand their careers. A final example, although I am sure there are many more, is how the internet has transformed the job search landscape, improving things for both employees and employers. 

There is a lot more that can be said about this study, however I think the most clear takeaway is that the internet is AWESOME!

[grantcovington-blog]

Kickstarter: Three $1M projects in less than two weeks

So for those of you who have been living under a rock, Kickstarter is a crowd funding website for creative projects. It allows people to fund projects which they are interested in or just watch creative projects as they develop. If you choose to fund a project you will receive something in return, typically the more your donate the better compensation you receive. Lets say you are funding the publication of a book, if you donate $5 dollars you might just get a handwritten thank you but if you donate $15 you get a first edition of the book. If you have never been to their website go check it out, it can be a very fun way to kill time, and you might just stumble upon something you want to fund.

Anyways, the big news two weeks ago was that Kickstarter broke the $1M dollar funding mark for one of their projects, specifically Elevation Dock. This was the first project in Kickstarter's history which had raised over a million dollars. They had come close a little over a year ago with TikTok, however in the end it raised just over 900k. 

Then a few hours later, a second project broke the $1M mark. Amazingly this time it was accomplished less than 24 hours after the initial posting of the project. That was the Double Fine Adventure, a new game being developed by Double Fine studios. As of this post they are above $2M and still have an additional ~3 weeks until funding closes. This was a huge day for Kickstarter, to go from never having a $1M project, to getting two in one day is pretty incredible stuff, you can read their blog post about it here. Now less than two weeks later they have their third project surpassing $1M in funding, The Order of the Stick Reprint Drive.

This raises the question will we begin seeing a plethora of $1M+ funded projects on Kickstarter, or was this just coincidence that these three projects did so around the same time? I think the answer is yes. It was definitely a coincidence that these three were funded around the same time, however given the very public success of these projects and growing public awareness of Kickstarter I think more established artists/designers/companies etc. will begin using it to fund new projects, which will in turn lead to more $1M projects.

Let me know what you guys think in the comments! 

[grantcovington-blog]

ENVY, that is what I have for anyone who owns one of these. 

[grantcovington-blog]

Startup Weekend Advice for First Timers

Two weekends ago (January 27-29), I attended and participated in a Startup Weekend event (http://startupweekend.org/) in Storrs, CT at the UConn campus. Let me begin by saying that if you have been considering attending a SW event or have never even heard of SW, visit the website and signup immediately. It is an incredible learning experience which I think would be beneficial for anyone, but especially if you are interested in working for a startup.

Below are a few tips I have for anyone attending a future Startup Weekend event,

Meet and Greet: 

Try to review the mentors and organizers bios before you go. Seek out the ones who work in areas that interest you and try to make a meaningful connection.

Introduce yourself to everyone you can! Seriously, everyone who attends a SW is doing so partly to meet new people like themselves, so don't be shy!

Pitches Time:

PITCH! I think for the full experience this is really important and I think everyone should do it. Practice it several times, being sure to keep it under 1 minute. Be energetic and memorable. The best ideas don't always win the voting period, its the ideas that people remember.

Pay close attention during the pitches, have a pen and paper and write down the name and general idea of pitches which sound interesting to you. This is important for later. 

Voting Period:

You can use all three of your votes on one pitch. This is important to know, and something I didn't realize until after voting ended. 

If you want your pitch chosen, campaign hard for it. Be loud and be energetic. Hustle people into voting for you.

If a pitch gets 10 votes there is a good chance it will be one of the ones chosen, so you only need to convince 2 other people to use all of their votes on your idea (obviously if they do that means they will be a part of your team)

If there was an idea you wrote down which you really want to be a part of, leverage your three votes in exchange for a spot on their team.

Night One:

First go around the room and do quick introductions, telling everyone a little about yourself and what you think you can contribute to the team. 

Next iron out what your minable viable product (MVP) is going to be. This is the most important thing to do before you start working on anything else, as your goal for the weekend should be to have a rock-solid MVP.

Realistically you won't do much work on the first night so instead focus on things which can help you tomorrow. Set up a group GoogleDocs and any other organization tools you want to use. If you have a name setup a Splash page (http://www.kickofflabs.com/), Twitter account and Facebook page.

Get some sleep! I know it is tempting to dive right it and get as much done as you can the first night, but resist. Day two is not only the most important, but it is also the longest- you need to be at 100%.

Day Two:

Finish deciding on your MVP if you haven't already. Assign work, but set time-limits, once the time-limit is up reconvene and update each other on your progress and then re-adjust the assignments accordingly.

Your goal should be to have as polished a demo as possible. If your idea is too technically difficult for 54 hours you can fake it, but make sure you have something visually finished for the presentation.

Create questionnaires for distribution regarding your product. This along with email signups on your Splash page, Facebook likes and Twitter followers will be your validation for your final presentation.

Begin devising your business plan. A great idea is awesome, but in order to win SW you are going to need to monetize your idea and have a business plan. Do research on the space and competitors and try to show your 3 year projection.

Begin working on your presentation only after everything else is finished, worst case you can do it all on Sunday.

Move around regularly, barely moving for 12+ hours will only hinder your productivity. You need to stay fresh and focused!

Day Three:

You should be putting the final touches on everything: front-end, back-end, website, business plan and validation. This is the final push so stay focused!

Start working on the presentation no later than Noon. If you are using PowerPoint or Keynote keep it to a maximum of 7 slides, but I would suggest 5. Keep the slides simple, to the point and visually appealing. Be creative, just like the pitches being memorable goes a long way.

Begin practicing your presentation an hour before they start. Make sure to keep it under five minutes. If you can, try it once in the space you will be using for real.

If you need any last minute advice seek out the mentors and judges, they should be around and are great resources.

Final Presentation:

No more than two people should give the final presentation. With so little time you don't want to waste any of it by juggling between speakers.

Try to break it down to: 1 minute for the problem, 3 minutes for the solution and the final 1 minute for the business plan and validation. 

Spend some time going over questions which you believe will come up during the Q&A, and make sure to prepare answers for those. It doesn't matter if they're mostly bullshit, looking like you know all of the answers is half the battle. 

Enjoy the work all of your fellow attendees have accomplished. It is very inspring to see what people are able to be accomplished in so little time. 

Before You Leave:

Talk with your team and make plans for what you intend to do now that the weekend is over. Try not to lose momentum if this is an idea you guys are interested in pursuing further.  

Talk to as many people as you can, try to make some last minute networking connections. Try to introduce yourself to the groups who impressed you during the final presentations.

Seek out any of the mentors/organizers whom you are hoping to meet with after the event is over. Let them know that you intend to e-mail them and that you are hoping they could meet with you to offer any advice they might have.

Once Your Home:

Follow up via email with everyone you wanted to within the next few days.

Get some much needed rest!