Category: small business

1. How do we bring the next billion people online? Ben Davis suggests three points: (1) alternative funding models like a $35 Android tablet funded by advertising, content and networks, (2) apps that can switch between web and SMS depending on if they are online or not, (3) devices that make it easier for developing world’s computer programmers like Raspberry Pi.
2. Evernote CEO on how company was saved at eleventh hour. Evernote CEO Phil Libin’s key moment was deciding to build a product they loved. And then there would be others that also loved it. That’s a message I’m sure will resonate with many open source software fans. Note that I think you can make a product you love that you realize you are not the main user. (For example, I may love kids books or certain type of toys and realize they are for an audience that is not 100% like me.) Another point to me in the article was that this wasn’t the founders’ first company. It took them a couple of companies before they founded one with a product they loved!
3. Schools Aren’t Teaching Kids To Code; Here’s Who Is Filling The Gap. This article is about how US high school students are not learning how to code and how a nonprofit Code.org is helping to fill that gap.
4. Startup Lab workshop: How Google sets goals: OKRs. This hour and a half video is an insightful look at how Google manages their quarterly and annual goals and how startup companies might use that same process.
5. Firefox Developer Tools Highlighter. Are you a developer and want to weigh in on how developer tools work? Now’s the time to talk about the highlighter. (Mozilla introduced the Firefox OS App Manager this week too.)
6. Regular Bedtimes Tied to Better Behavior. This makes me feel better about my super strict bedtimes! I do it because I think you sleep better if you go to bed at the same time everyday and I think sleep greatly affects how well you think and therefore how well you learn.
7. Google’s five questions every business should address on mobile strategy. Google publishes a mobile playbook – this is Econsultancy’s summary of what’s important in it. One interesting tidbit is that “68% of mobile searches actually occur at home where there are other larger screen devices available.”

 

Other interesting links:

• Why Android First is a Myth. Startups typically pick iOS or Android as their first mobile platform. Steve Cheney theorizes that most startups go iOS because it’s cheaper and the opportunities for making money are greater.
• Tiny barometers in cell phones could tell you how high you are
• Do Learning Styles Teach Us Anything? A nice visual with tips on what you can do to help yourself learn depending on your learning style.
• The site that claims to know if someone died in your house. Unfortunately for their future success, I think they are charging a bit too much for a search. I think they’ll need a new business model.
• The Good Men of India. A lot of violence in India against women by men has hit the news lately. Don’t forget all the good men in India who value women and families and have helped make their countrywomen successful.
• Everyday Jet Lag. We all have a time of day we’d naturally wake up. Trying to mess with that can affect your health – including causing you to gain weight.
• Can You Visualize a 3D Object from a Diagram? There is some correlation between being able to visualize 3D objects and creativity in science and technology.
• What people to trust you? Try apologising for the rain. I hate when people repeatedly apologize for something they could not possibly have prevented. Now I’m going to be even more annoyed by this knowing I might like them better for it!
• Infographic – developer Economics Q3 2013 – State of the Developer Nation. 52% of mobile app developers use HTML5!
• True Story: My Boyfriend is a Quadriplegic.

Not an article but a top site:

• The Old Reader – it’s just like the old Google Reader complete with sharing, navigation, look and feel. Thanks to Justin Crawford for telling me about it!