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Starting Your Own Business – Some Life Lessons From Steve Jobs

Stefan — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:14:11 +0000

I always find it interesting to here other people’s stories about how they started their own business and how they not only succeeded but also failed way more often than many would think. One of the most inspiring and motivating stories I have heard recently on this topic is the one by Steve Jobs held in 2005 during Stanford University’s 114th Commencement. It is hard to summarize this speech in just a few words but I guess “don’t give up and live the life YOU want to live” or as Steve puts it “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish” describe it quite well. Watch the video below and take a couple of minutes to digest his messages! They might be quite useful for those looking to start their own business.

Video: The 10 Golden Principles of Successful Web Apps by Fred Wilson

Stefan — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:33:13 +0000

Fred Wilson, venture capitalist and blogger, did this talk at the Future of Web Apps conference in Miami in February. The reason why I wanna share this with you is that some of the 10 principles he describes have often been key reasons for me to choose a certain web app over another. I think these principles are actually very basic but nonetheless extremely important. I will use them as a basic checklist for all future web apps that I am going to develop.

Source: Carsonified on Vimeo

For those who do not want to watch the whole video, here are Fred Wilson’s 10 Golden Principles for Web Apps:

Speed
A web app needs to be fast. If the user feels that the application is slow, he will stop using it.
Instant Utility
Fred says that users should be able to instantly use the application and see results without waiting too long.
Software is Media
This basically says that web software should have a personality, an attitute or a certain style.
Less is More
Web apps should only have a minimum set of features when they are launched. Features can be added over time although simplicity should always be favoured over new features.
Make it Programmable
Allow others to build software on top of your product (e.g. via APIs). I guess facebook is doing a good job at this.
Make it Personal
Users should establish a personal connection with the software and feel like they own the application. (e.g. by allowing them to customize backgrounds or avatars)
RESTful
This means that every part of a web app should have a clean and comprehensive URL.
Discoverability
Do SEO and use social media to make your application discoverable.
Clean
Web applications should have a clean and intuitive interface with lots of space and only the most needed features visible.
Playful
There should be a certain game dynamic in any web app. People like to play and this should be reflected in a web app.

That is a short summary of Fred’s points. For a full transcript, please visit the Carsonified Blog where I found this valuable video.

Video talk: Gary Vaynerchuk on Why You Should Do What You Love

Stefan — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:15:38 +0000

I found this video quite a while ago and I thought it might be worthwhile sharing with you on this blog because it really gives you the motivation you need when you have one of those moments where all the potential drawbacks of starting your own business come back to your mind. The guy is a little crazy but that probably makes him one of the most interesting people on the internet. He started off running a video blog on http://tv.winelibrary.com which was and still is a huge success. He now regularly speaks at web conferences sending out his message that basically anyone can start a business online. He also stresses that creating your own personal brand is key to sucess. I guess some of his advice is not for everyone but just seeing how passionate he is about what he is doing makes me wanna start my own business right now.

Remember to bookmark this page so that you can watch it everytime your inner chicken says ‘starting your own business is stupid’ – because it’s not!