tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151526162008-10-12T18:42:14.625-05:00Bootstrap Austin is a community of entrepreneurs taking a bootstrap approach to building their ventures.Bijoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15442882007675771070noreply@blogger.comBlogger141125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-41582118339022353722008-10-10T08:00:00.007-05:002008-10-12T18:42:14.639-05:00

As a founder of a bootstrap company, I'm passionate about finding ways to improve productivity. The following excerpts are from a longer essay about lessons I've learned over the years. They all focus on improving efficiency, reducing distraction, and getting more out of life. Distractions: The Internet is the new TV Years ago I decided to stop watching TV. It was an addiction that offered

Michael Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02647730505807438412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-91075607629973636662008-10-07T21:51:00.008-05:002008-10-10T10:15:22.113-05:00

Some really smart people have commented publicly about the US and global economic crisis at hand and what that means for startups. Jason Calacanis was one of the first, followed by Fred Wilson and Ron Conway (my good friend Ian Clarke has jokingly referred to me as the Ron Conway of Austin because I'm an early stage investor in so many different Austin companies). As I've been fundraising for

Joshua Baerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02129805786150341225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-52940681121430609762008-10-03T10:19:00.013-05:002008-10-03T15:16:17.077-05:00

My first bike was a pink Huffy. I loved that bike. It was Mine. It had a cushy seat, handle bar frills, and a big flowery basket attached to the front. I was excited about riding it, but also fearful because I knew how much it would hurt if I fell. But having the encouragement of my father, I climbed on. Dad held it steady, and I made my first wobbly attempt down the driveway. As the day

Austin Art Starthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06405685576948594779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-19007086974694507212008-09-25T14:45:00.001-05:002008-09-25T14:55:38.043-05:00

The first part on the Architecture of Education is here. The conference I attended, 3 days in the woods in British Columbia, changed who I am. I was there as a result of one man, who bootstrapped what I think is the most forward thing happening in education right now. This is why I traveled all that way to meet him, and join his organization to help them bootstrap their global program, taking

Ariel Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12173870249891024610ArielMargalo@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-25857238570965256412008-09-20T18:14:00.009-05:002008-09-22T12:38:40.231-05:00

I'm a naive idealist, how 'bout you? In late 2005, my motivations were many to quit a six figure, 25-year, high tech career and launch TRACEe, a venture dedicated to applying technology to tracing lives for good; the good of the individual, society and essentially for eternity. Among the most significant of these motives were to release pent up entrepreneurial energy, to engage in work that kept

Tom Baumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11738151007856655713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-66430558248765541712008-09-18T22:22:00.004-05:002008-09-19T11:58:31.209-05:00

Maxim V "To Teach, as the former of character, and the promoter of the collective happiness of man" - A. Bronson Alcott, General Maxims by which to regulate the Instructor's Practice, In Instruction, from the original Journal of 1826 Recently, I was traveling by bus from Seattle to British Columbia, for a business conference on education. I was so awed by seeing the beauty of the northwest for

Ariel Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12173870249891024610ArielMargalo@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-67245611785206329462008-09-14T22:27:00.004-05:002008-09-15T10:56:12.198-05:00

Brewster Kahle used to talk about the Internet as a huge book that everyone was collaboratively writing, and in that spirit, we adopted early on the metaphor of "bookmarking" to note online addresses we might return to for whatever reason. Bookmarking was crucial to evolving browser navigation, and soon enough we had web sites where we could store bookmarks. A site called del.icio.ous gave us a

Jon Lebkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16248713335392018033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-85118082975070475542008-09-11T21:10:00.002-05:002008-09-11T23:55:54.154-05:00

Twelve years ago, I was fresh out of college and found myself at a now-defunct Mac conference in San Jose. The keynote speaker was Guy Kawasaki. As any Mac zealot will tell you, Guy was (and is) almost as much of an icon for Apple as Steve Jobs himself. As I stood at the door to the hall, first in line, reading Guy's latest book, How to Drive your Competition Crazy, I felt a presence next to

Andy Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01915968506119787384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-41446398262122717772008-09-09T21:30:00.012-05:002008-09-11T15:52:56.933-05:00

Talk to customers, get feedback, and shape your product into something customers will pay for. These were some of the words of motivation that Barry Thornton offered in talking to the Bootstrap Austin Ideation Subgroup on July 21, 2008, which can be heard on the BootRap Podcast. Thornton, founder of Clear Cube and current owner of startup Austin Medical Research, offered a number of insights into

D Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17982327181750460819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-31686223055316478722008-09-07T14:53:00.016-05:002008-09-07T16:36:52.234-05:00

I'll admit it. I like to enjoy the finer things in life. Gourmet food and superb wines. Luxurious and stylish clothing and furniture. Art. Gadgets. You name it. But more than that, I have always enjoyed sharing those things with others and sharing the stories about how I found and chose the possessions and experiences I have, and how I've used those things to create the environment in which I

Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14032147079626999018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-19045977372040046382008-09-03T01:20:00.001-05:002008-09-03T01:53:54.367-05:00

We think we make logical decisions when purchasing products, choosing a mate or deciding whether or not to cheat. Dan Ariely has some experiments that will make you question just how rational you are. Dan Ariely is the author of the playfully eye-opening book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions. This month, Dan spoke with the Marketing Subgroup of the Bootstrap

Brian Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046124512823741822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-20621627464868243522008-08-27T14:15:00.012-05:002008-08-29T14:44:48.758-05:00

At the Bootstrap Growth Subgroup meeting Monday, Neelan Choksi delivered an inspiring discussion for business leaders about characteristics and decision-making strategies when their company is in growth. Having founded a company with two partners, taken it through growth and then joining the company that acquired it, coupled with his C-level employment in another start-up and moving them through

Nancy Schillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005639625694087542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-70820911731704666772008-08-24T15:40:00.000-05:002008-08-24T15:50:30.057-05:00

Last year I was approached by a local consulting group to create an Innovation Practice for them. Because I have so many inventions and created so many things of value they, and I, wrongly thought that we could build a practice of it. What a crock of, well, you know. I tried to apply myself to it for a couple of months, followed all the popular stuff, got into it, and found that it could only be

Barry W Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15726639946934387036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-67815927653667297462008-08-21T13:12:00.014-05:002008-08-21T19:49:34.518-05:00

(Note: this post is geared towards the cautious entrepreneur stuck in the Preideation Phase) Don't get me wrong, a business plan is a very useful tool and having one increases your likelihood of success. However, there is a risk of spending too much time in the Ideation 'lab,' and occasionally I advise entrepreneurs to stop work on their business plan and try starting their business in 'pilot'

gavinlohrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12172789044057994447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-44370326102977057612008-08-18T12:17:00.006-05:002008-08-19T17:01:45.117-05:00

Bootstrap held its first Bootstrap FilmFest on June 26, 2008 (pictures on facebook). Five films by Bootstrap Film members were featured: Little Dove, Open House, Snake Pit, Art Erotica and Mystic Cab. Bootstrap member, BSide powered the film fest website. The BootRap Podcast includes an introduction by Bootstrap Film Subgroup lead, Brandy Rainey Amstel and a dialogue with the filmmakers: Nils

Bijoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15442882007675771070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-38581815521696374862008-08-17T21:26:00.003-05:002008-09-10T09:50:33.263-05:00

Boy, this ones going to get me in trouble - but here we go. IP ain't worth crap.I just finished a bunch of work-arounds, that is I looked at several different patents and for each figured a way to do the same thing that didn't violate the original patent's claims. In a couple of them I came up with novel and unique ways to do the same thing that weren't covered so I created new IP. In effect I

Barry W Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15726639946934387036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-65486232457597432802008-08-14T16:05:00.002-05:002008-08-15T13:38:12.082-05:00

So, I'll admit it. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. The idea of Celeb 4 A Day began years ago when I was at photography school (a very serious school with very serious future/career promises). The thought occurred to me at that time that as celebrity obsession grew, there were sure to be people that wondered what it was like to actually BE famous. In fact, I was pretty sure that's where

Tania Cowher - Celeb 4 A Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06560094797946169810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-49458345597121755142008-08-14T15:58:00.004-05:002008-08-14T16:09:33.019-05:00

David Galenson, author of Old Masters and Young Geniuses, spoke with the the Bootstrap Art Subgroup in July. Marcy Hoen, Bootstrap Contributor and founder of Austin Art Start, interviewed Galenson. Bootstrap Art member Dara Chambers shared her reactions on the Bootstrap Austin Blog. Beyond art, a bootstrap analogy was uncovered: Galenson's old masters/experimentalists correspond to bootstrappers

Bijoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15442882007675771070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-84572807198881355632008-08-11T07:04:00.002-05:002008-08-11T07:13:45.695-05:00

One of my son's favorite movies is the Disney film Cars. There's a scene where Doc, the old wise race car, is teaching Lighting McQueen, the rookie, to make a difficult turn on a dirt track and he tells Lighting, "Sometimes you gotta turn right to go left"... Hmmm, that's an odd piece of advice, isn't it? As I think back on my own entrepreneurial journey, I can tell you that I've always focused

Damon Flowershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04532219903849637624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-17842254351304034032008-08-06T02:40:00.006-05:002008-08-07T12:23:21.863-05:00

A while back (longer than it should have been), Bijoy and I were discussing some Q&A's on the Bootstrap Austin yahoo group and Bijoy asked me to blog an expanded version of the comments. We were talking about the difficulty of giving meaningful answers to posters' questions that lack appropriate framing information. Whether it is a "who do you recommend" or "what should I do" kind of question,

Don Jarrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04437606628906198561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-2228509639140480592008-08-01T14:11:00.001-05:002008-08-01T23:01:12.512-05:00

Join Bootstrap Marketing for an evening of unpredictable food, rational conversation and a live interview with Dan Ariely, author of "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions." In his playful book, Dan Ariely offers some unexpected insights into how people behave when making decisions. Now is our chance to quiz him live on how to apply these simple concepts when

Brian Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046124512823741822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-34302433860956980092008-07-31T21:01:00.002-05:002008-08-01T13:30:17.737-05:00

On July 21 I addressed the Ideation Subgroup of Bootstrap Austin, a fine group of beginning Entrepreneurs. They, and I, follow Bijoy Goswami's Bootstrapping ideas about the flow from worker bee to business Entrepreneur, in this case you start with and idea, create a Demo, and then proceed with raising some money to get on with business. As usual I found my self 1) running overtime about 45

Barry W Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15726639946934387036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-29329430931601713122008-07-30T02:15:00.001-05:002008-07-30T02:23:22.425-05:00

First and foremost, the idea that continued to come up for me during the discussion at the July 7 Bootstrap Art Subgroup meeting with David Galenson, was the notion that experimental and conceptual artists alike should not try to be anything other than what they are. While this idea is comforting and liberating, as an experimental artist at the beginning of my career, it is also somewhat

Darahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165676300423469460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-7670629561163046992008-07-25T07:45:00.002-05:002008-07-25T12:36:11.255-05:00

I'm supposed to write about the Bootstrapper's Inner Journey. You already know about the Outer Journey, the one that goes from Preideation to Growth. A while ago I theorized with Bijoy and others that there is also an inner journey that may be just as important and that we could discover what this journey is. As time passes the inner journey gets clearer, but in this blog I'd like to take a bit

runeighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08292686823804107055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15152616.post-69464829438189030602008-07-21T21:07:00.002-05:002008-07-22T02:50:58.222-05:00

There is an old story that goes: sit down and don't rock the boat, I'm trying to drill a hole in the bottom. Trying to scuttle the boat, or business, may not be intentional, but the action or conduct that does that may be all that people can figure out to do. This is part of the problem of the Entrepreneur inside a company has to face. Businesses die today because, in the now common business

Barry W Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15726639946934387036noreply@blogger.com