Tim Gasper

Brogrammer Engage

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:45:00 -0500

In entrepreneurship-land, I’ve always though of myself as the “business guy” in a business versus technical polarization. I come from a marketing / economics / management background, and it just made sense. I’ve spent a long time skirting the edges of the technical world, and it’s time I dove in.

The last couple weeks, I’ve begun immersing myself in programming documentation and challenges with the hopes of (in order of awesomeness):

Gaining some perspective on the life of programmers.
Enhancing my product management impact by being able to be more involved in technical decision-making.
Building something cool.
Building something cool that makes a lot of money.
Building something cool that changes the world.

I’m focusing on a few things at first, but tackling them simultaneously so I don’t get bored. And so when I get stuck (which has happened many many times already), I can stay fresh. Technologies I’m tackling:

Languages: Ruby and Java
Frameworks: Rails and Hadoop
Slices of Stack: Databases and Web Servers
Tools: Terminal, Git, Emacs, and TextMate
Cloud Services: Heroku and Amazon Web Services

Progress so far:

Created a Hadoop cluster from scratch
Created a Hadoop cluster using Cloudera Manager
Created a Hadoop cluster using Ironfan (authored by Infochimps)
Created a Rails app on Heroku (gotta figure out what site to set up now…)
Lots of messing around with Terminal, Git, and various configuration files thinking I know what I’m doing only to figure out after 4 hours later of troubleshooting that I’ve got much, much further to go.

I’ll blog about my journey as it progresses, and share my creations as they become available. If you have recommendations or hints for a new programmer, give me a shout with your ideas!

Startup Crawl!

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 22:11:31 -0600

Startup Crawl!

Shortcuts

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 10:27:00 -0600

Everyone is always looking for shortcuts, whether it’s personal life, business, whatever. It’s not always the easy path that is the best path. That’s common sense. But applying that logic to life decisions doesn’t happen as often as it should.

Startup life is somewhere this happens like crazy. Some common complaints:

Features

Misconception One: we have to create these small features that customers have been requesting. Realization: we dont’ have time to build more significant, large feature sets.
Misconception Two: let’s build only the most important large feature sets. Realization: our customers are pissed off.
Stop trying to take a shortcut. You have to take bold leaps forward, but you also need to sweat the small stuff. This might involve staying late some nights or coming in on the weekend, but hey - that’s what you signed up for.

Customers

Misconception One: I don’t like cold contacting people. I’ll just cultivate the accounts I already have. Realization: Whenever I lose a customer, it’s like someone stole a limb.
Misconception Two: I’m gonna create and follow up on leads like crazy. New business, new business, new business! Realization: I’m plowing down all the trees, but no one is building a house.
Stop trying to take a shortcut. You have to put the time into lead generation and new opportunities, but by keeping customers happy you will maintain strong, loyal business. There is no sales silver bullet.

Documentation

Misconception One: I take meticulous notes about everything that goes on in my [insert your function… development / marketing / sales / ops / customer service] process. Realization: I spend more time documenting than doing.
Misconception Two: I just cc some people via email and everyone else should just keep up with me. Realization: The team lacks good communication and shared learning.
Stop trying to take a shortcut. You can’t let distractions keep you from your *actual* job. But without strong communication and documentation channels, your crew members are all rowing the ship in different directions. You get to a point eventually where you feel productive… but you’re doing the wrong stuff. Or something your coworker already did. Or something opposite of what you coworker is doing.

Bottom line? As long as it’s smart work, put in the work. See: Lead Bullets.

Transitioning to Lean at Infochimps

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 10:18:09 -0600

Transitioning to Lean at Infochimps by Tim Gasper

listen to ‘Transitioning to Lean at Infochimps’ on Audioboo

Since Posterous is mostly a ghost town, I’m going to switch my blog platform to Tumblr. That...

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 09:57:40 -0600

Since Posterous is mostly a ghost town, I’m going to switch my blog platform to Tumblr.

That also means I’ll be posting a few old posts onto Tumblr that I liked on my old blog that I don’t want to lose, so apologies if you’ve seen this content before already.

Foursquare Day

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:57:50 -0500

Foursquare Day

Trailer Food

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:57:19 -0500

Trailer Food

Buffalo Billiards with Sparefoot

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:56:41 -0500

Buffalo Billiards with Sparefoot

Red Table Coffee

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:55:50 -0500

Red Table Coffee

Photo

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:43:03 -0500

Photo

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 15:36:26 -0500

Photo

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 13:28:51 -0500

Entrepreneurship is an Art not a Job http://v.zite.com/eg6yCH via @Ziteapp

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 23:09:26 -0500

Entrepreneurship is an Art not a Job http://v.zite.com/eg6yCH via @Ziteapp

New app: GreyScale. Share photos, with… no one. Are you lonely? http://ow.ly/4rwr2

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 09:25:53 -0500

New app: GreyScale. Share photos, with… no one. Are you lonely? http://ow.ly/4rwr2

.@swonderlin No prob! Thanks for meeting up, your tips were awesomely valuable! Good luck with your...

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:50:53 -0500

.@swonderlin No prob! Thanks for meeting up, your tips were awesomely valuable! Good luck with your new role, I’ll keep you updated on KS.

RT @contentcurating: Brave New World: Debating Brands’ Role as Publishers http://t.co/RnenZiy...

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:08:26 -0500

RT @contentcurating: Brave New World: Debating Brands’ Role as Publishers http://t.co/RnenZiy via @Keepstream

Monday Ain’t Got Me Down @ 906 E 5th St, today from 10am-6pm http://hrrcn.com/h3E4q6...

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:59:18 -0500

Monday Ain’t Got Me Down @ 906 E 5th St, today from 10am-6pm http://hrrcn.com/h3E4q6 #hparty

:D RT @Lately: @hurricaneparty and @keepstream get a present http://t.co/cKLAnoW courtesy of...

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:06:47 -0500

:D RT @Lately: @hurricaneparty and @keepstream get a present http://t.co/cKLAnoW courtesy of @VHSchneider (yours truly is the free rider)

Video

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:32:37 -0500

Tex Mex Fantasy @ Curra’s Grill http://instagr.am/p/nG5I/

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 04:34:42 -0600

Tex Mex Fantasy @ Curra’s Grill http://instagr.am/p/nG5I/