BOCC's New Home: Scrib

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Boulder Open Coffee Club is moving to Scrib next week! My co-moderator Doyle Albee and I had looked into several possibilities and are very excited about having Scrib be our new venue.

 Immediately after the news broke that Atlas Purveyors was closing its doors for good, we received tons of offers from other coffee shops, restaurants, coworking spaces, and startups to provide a new home for BOCC. The support that has been shown over the past few days has proven that it's truly a community event. It's humbling to be a steward of something that has grown into such a beloved part of this community.

Atlas' Chris Rosen let Doyle and I know about his decision to close a few days ahead of making it public to give us a head start in finding a new home. Chris, thank you for all that you've done for us, particularly in the classy way that you've handled Atlas' closing, and thank you for being a community leader. You've left big shoes for Scrib to fill but they're up to the task!

For those of you not familiar with Scrib, it's a thriving coworking space on Broadway just north of the Pearl Street walking mall. Thanks to Jeff, Toby, and the rest of the Scrib team for making BOCC feel so welcomed. Coming from the mall on Broadway, hang a right when you see Unseen Bean, head through the doors, and find Scrib one floor below.

We're really looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday at 8am!  

 

One Brick at a Time, One Step at a Time

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I have a hard time sitting down and writing consistently. It's a habit I'd like to form but have had a few false starts with since I decided to create a blog three years ago. Each post feels like a huge project though I know that I'm putting too much pressure on myself.

A tidbit from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance prompted me to think about an approach to break my unproductive cycle: when you're blocked trying to write something about the United States, focus on a smaller chunk until you have the focus you need, whether it be a single city, street, building, or brick.

This brick by brick approach reminded me of my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail years ago. A 2,100+ mile, 7 month hike that was taken not as an epic journey, but as a series of states, resupply points, shelters, and steps. Step by step I walked from Georgia to Maine.

​One brick at a time, one step at a time.

What Civic Hacking Is All About

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In case you missed it I'm co-organizing the Boulder Civic Hackfest coming up 6/1 & 6/2 as part of the National Day of Civic Hacking. Some people have asked me whether they belong at such an event because they don't code. The short answer: yes, you belong.

​Not sure what civic hacking is?

Take a peek at this short video about civic hacking:​

You belong if

  • You are not sure how you belong but want to be involved.​
  • You are a citizen with thoughts on how technology can solve civic problems with open data. We need ideas for problems to solve!
  • You are an open data provider or other subject matter expert.
  • You are a developer evangelist for an API or service that developers may be interested in integrating into an application.​
  • You are a developer who wants to hack on an open source project to make the world a better place.​
  • You are a designer who wants to ​hack on an open source project to make the world a better place.​

​Register now

I'd love to see at the event - register for the Boulder Civic Hackfest here.​

Thanks to Quick Left, dojo4, Adventure, and Rally Software for making this happen!​

I'm Looking for a Co-Organizer for House of Genius

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I've been the organizer for House of Genius Boulder for a little over a year now and have had a blast. In that time I've invited over 150 businesspeople help more than 40 entrepreneurs ​move forward with their business. If you're interested in volunteering a couple of hours each week to split my workload as Co-Organizer, read on.

Two hours each week

In order to organize the event each month, I spend a couple hours each week doing a variety of tasks:

  • spreading the word about House of Genius at other events in the community
  • reviewing requests for invitations to curate each ​session's group
  • screening entrepreneurs who would like to present
  • handling logistics for the venue and food
  • following up after sessions with session notes

I'd also like to spend some time being proactive about:​

  • ​staying in closer touch with former contributors and presenters
  • obtaining sponsors
  • making Boulder the example city for the rest of the House of Genius network
  • improving the overall experience for contributors and presenters

Overall it's a manageable commitment, even for one person. Why invite somebody else into the mix? It's analogous to wanting a workout buddy - I'm looking for somebody to keep me in a routine and to have some fun with.​

​What you get in return

Here's what I've gotten out of volunteering my time so far:​

  • ​warm fuzzies - House of Genius helps entrepreneurs move forward with their businesses in a way that other Boulder events aren't able to
  • a network of organizers in key entrepreneurial communities across the country and globe; this network is likely to expand to over a hundred cities in the next two years
  • access to the founding team and executive director, an incredible group of people making shit happen
  • introductions to scores of entrepreneurs and other businesspeople from ouy community

Interested?​

​I'd love to hear from you if you're wanting to work with me on House of Genius Boulder: bing@houseofgenius.org. If you've got somebody else in mind, send 'em my way!

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Giving Back: the Boulder Civic Hackfest

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I'm very proud to be a member of a company and community that gives me the opportunity to collaborate with a competitor, a startup in alpha, and a soon-to-be-public-technology-company. Quick Left is teaming up with dojo4, Adventure, and Rally Software to organize the Boulder Civic Hackfest 6/1 and 6/2. Let's give back to the community together, shall we?

Boulder_Civic_HackFest_EmailBanner.jpg
The Boulder Civic Hackfest is being organized in conjunction with the National Day of Civic Hacking, an effort taking place in cities all across the country. We'll be bringing together citizens, software developers, and entrepreneurs to build open source software in a short weekend of fun and fulfillment.

We welcome all comers. If you have a problem you think we can solve or if you think you can help solve problems with open data and technology, we want you there:

  • Subject matter experts: people working for the civic good, open data providers, data scientists, etc.
  • Designers: don't leave this in the hands of developers!
  • Developers: don't worry if you don't have experience working with open data - if you can code (or are learning) we'll see you there!

We're throwing this shindig at HUB Boulder, home to people who are looking to make change happen. That's us, at least for the weekend.

Please register so that we can ensure that we've got space, wi-fi, and nourishment ready for you!

Volunteering Your Way into the Startup Community

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​Three years ago I decided that I wanted to find a career in the startup ecosystem in Boulder. In that time I volunteered my way from being an outsider looking in to being a thriving member of the community. If you're interested in doing the same, I recommend finding ways to donate some of your brainpower and give-a-shit around town.

I consider myself an introvert. I grew up in New England and generally have the attitude that I already have all the friends I need in life. My ancestors in China built thousands of miles of wall to keep people out. It's fair to say that becoming an active community member doesn't come naturally to me.

I fell in love with the Boulder startup ecosystem because it represents the energy, calculated risk taking, creativity, and everything else that I love about entrepreneurship. I knew that if I wanted to take part, I'd have to come out of my shell to match that level of activity. Scary. I started showing up at BDNT, Ignite Boulder, and eventually BOCC pretty regularly as a passive attendee. It was a start, but because I'm a wallflower by nature, I hadn't really gotten to know too many people. That changed when I started to volunteer.

I spent a weekend at SnapCamp to work on an initiative to help organizations across the country tap into volunteers within their communities. In working shoulder to shoulder with a handful of people for a weekend, I was able to build long lasting, meaningful relationships that traditional networking rarely delivers on for me. I didn't know it at the time, but volunteering would become the only form of networking that I rely on.

In the meantime I've handed out shirts at TEDxBoulder, written posts for boulder.me, worked the registration desk at Big Boulder, and pitched in with a variety of other small efforts around town. I've also become an organizer for House of Genius, an all volunteer organization that helps entrepreneurs move forward with their companies by harnessing the collective genius of the business community.

Update: Take a look at Startup Communities Are Built By Self-Appointed Leaders by Brad Bernthal for other examples of ways to contribute to the community. Brad is the Entrepreneurship Initiative Director at Silicon Flatirons Center and linchpin to the connection between CU and the rest of the startup community here in Boulder.

Brad Feld, a local community leader, encourages people to give before you get. I've given some and gotten plenty in return. I've been able to call upon people I would otherwise never have access to, based purely on the fact that they've heard I'm a "community guy", to help me with personal, professional, and volunteer pursuits.

There's no need to draft a strategy and tactics to become a member of the community. Look for a couple of things that sound interesting, show up, and pitch in. It's as simple as that. If you're in Boulder, I'd love to cross paths with you.

Having a Hard Time Finding a Technical Co-Founder?

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Finding a technical co-founder is hard. Non-technical entrepreneurs and wantrepreneurs ask me how to find one on a pretty regular basis. I usually name a few events in Boulder where developers show up and wish them luck. Recently, however, I decided to add a parting thought: having a hard time finding a technical co-founder may be a sign that you and your idea aren't compelling enough.

It's well known that technical talent is hard to come by. At Quick Left we're constantly on the hunt for the best developers and there just aren't enough to go around. In fact, our Careers page always has an opening. Always. Non-technical co-founders need to understand that the most talented developers have a lot of options: web development firms, existing startups, stable companies, independent contracting, and launching a startup without you.

In Boulder, there are a few places I recommend that people look for technical co-founders:

Make the rounds, get to know some folks, and pitch, pitch pitch. Keep in mind that you're looking for a long term partner, not a one night stand, so slow down and get to know the person well. That said, if you're having a hard time finding anybody to show interest, it may be time to take a hard look at the team you already have in place and at the idea itself.

It may not be that there aren't enough candidates, but rather that the few available technical co-founders who are out there just aren't that impressed with what you're working on. Technical co-founders are picky. So are investors and customers. If you can't find a co-founder, take that as a sign that you've got some important work to do above and beyond tracking them down. Maybe it's your business model. Maybe it's you.

Look in the right places. Then look in the mirror.

Don't Make Decisions Based on "Just One More Customer"

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​Making a decision based on "just one more customer" is a terrible idea unless you have unlimited resources at your disposal. If that's the case, congratulations on your early retirement and you may stop reading now. For the rest of us, we'll have to make decisions by weighing them against other options that you'd otherwise not be able to afford.

It happens all the time. A vendor pitches you with the idea that the money you'll spend with him will be more than covered by landing "just one more customer". Internally it happens all the time too. You tell your boss that the $12,000 PPC campaign you need will be more than covered by the $100,000 that "just one more customer" will bring (I'll save the idea that "need" is actually "want" in these scenarios for another post). Thinking about whether "just one more customer" will justify an expense is a luxury that none of us have.

Have you exhausted all the other better options already? Are your time, money, and other resources better spent on another form of lead generation? This type of critical thinking is completely left out of the "just one more customer" mentality. Ideally your analysis compares return on investment across the different options. When it's hard to track ROI, common sense works pretty darn well. Either way, spending money on PPC needs to be compared with PR, a referral program, other forms of advertising, or other options you can afford.

Justifying an expense with "just one more customer" is seductively easy. Deciding whether to spend the money elsewhere is not. Don't fall into the trap.

Another idea: how about we all just go out and get just one more customer without spending more money?

Why You Need to Go to Code Retreat

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​The best advice I've ever gotten about learning to code was when my friend Collin Schaafsma told me bluntly "Get out of your basement." My learning had plateaued as an individual learning Ruby on Rails from tutorials, books, and banging my head against the wall. It was time to code with others. I signed up for Code Retreat and have been recommending it ever since as the most concentrated learning I've had in a single day.

The first Code Retreat I went to almost melted my brain. I had never written any Ruby outside of the Rails framework, let alone written anything in another language (unless BASIC or Logo from 30 years ago counts). The last time I went, I left with my brain overflowing again. It was drinking from the firehose in its most extreme form. On both occasions it took a day or two to catch my breath. When I did, I was a much stronger programmer.

Code Retreat gives you the opportunity to focus 100% of your time on honing your craft away from the usual distractions and pressures of a work day. You'll pair with people of different skill levels, different language preferences, and most importantly, different approaches to problem solving. It will open your mind in a way that coding in your usual environment can never do.

If you're hesitant to go because you feel like your skills aren't up to snuff, get over it. Today. Every developer had shit for skills in the beginning and frankly, many still do. If you're curious what skill level I went into the first Code Retreat with, feel free to take a look at the code for Get Shit Done, my first complete web app. I've made the repository publicly viewable to remind me and others that we all write shitty code. If you show enthusiasm for learning, you'll be welcomed with open arms at Code Retreat.

My friends at Scrib are hosting the next Code Retreat in Boulder coming up on December 8, 2012. The only investment you need to make is a day of your time. Make sure you grab a seat by registering for Code Retreat on Eventbrite. You won't regret it.

Don't Get Sucked into the New Year's Black Hole

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The holiday season is right around the corner. For me it will include travel, family, shopping, and all the other typical holiday craziness. What it won't include is something I've been guilty of in past years - losing momentum at work.

It's especially hard to stay focused on work that needs to be done when end of year business planning is layered on top of holiday planning. We spend so much time looking forward during this time of the year that today can get lost in the shuffle.

No New Year's resolutions for me. It's a November resolution: get shit done.

Granola

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I make some pretty damned tasty granola. That's a fact.

While I love sharing it, I don't always have the motivation to make it. For those of you who want more but can't talk me into making another batch, here's my recipe, which is adapted from Cook's Illustrated.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Combine in a large bowl:

  • 1 cup almond slivers
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
  • 3 cups rolled oats (I prefer "quick" oats for its finer texture)

Warm up (15 seconds in a microwave will do the trick):

  • 1/4 cup maple syrup (my duty as a New Englander is to insist on the real stuff)
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup canola oil

Stir the wet mixture into the oatmeal mixture until everything's coated thoroughly. Transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil and bake.

After 20 minutes or so, you should start checking on the color every few minutes. Give it a stir each time before you put it back in the oven to brown things evenly. Remove it from the oven when the granola is a shade lighter than the final color you want.

While the granola is still warm, sprinkle on:

  • a pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 cup craisins

Break it up into bite sized chunks and you're ready to go.