What’s the best way to go about designing and prototyping a web-based product?
QUESTION:
What’s the best way to go about designing and prototyping a web-based product?
ANSWER:
Naomi Kokubo
by Naomi Kokubo, Cofounder of Founders Space
Let me start by saying it’s almost impossible to get funding on a prototype today. In the heady days of the dot com bubble and again in 2006 and 2007, it was possible to walk into a VC firm and line up millions on a PowerPoint and a demo. But, alas, today you’ll probably need to have real traction in order to make this happen.
Where can I find good website designers/developers?
QUESTION:
Where can I find good website designers/developers?
ANSWER:
Naomi Kokubo
by Naomi Kokubo, Cofounder of Founders Space
This is a question we get all the time. Find a great designer and/or developer for Web 2.0 sites isn’t easy. There are lots of good people out there, but they tend to be either too expensive or already employed. And if you want someone to work for equity or on the cheap, it can be difficult.
Should I build a custom CMS or use open source?
QUESTION:
Is it advantageous to build a custom CMS (Content Management System) for my company’s new microstock audio site or should we utilize an open source CMS solution like Drupal or Joomla?
ANSWER:
Naomi Kokubo
by Naomi Kokubo, Cofounder of Founders Space
This is a good question. If your site requires a completely unique CMS (Content Management System) that is radically different from any of the leading open source solutions, then you’ll probably need to build a custom one from scratch. Otherwise, you should definitely use open source. You’ll gain an enormous amount by using open source. Think of all the years of development time spent by the thousands of engineers who have crafted the leading open source CMS packages, like Wordpress, Joomla and Drupal.
What should I watch out for when hiring an overseas software developer?
QUESTION:
I want to hire an overseas software developer. What should I watch out for? I’m worried that they may steal my IP. I’m also worried that they may not deliver and I’ll have no recourse. But I can’t afford a US developer. Any advice would be appreciated.
ANSWER:
Ethan Stone
by Ethan Stone, Stone Business Law
First, a quick but important clarification: I’m not your lawyer and this answer doesn’t establish a lawyer-client relationship. I’m giving a generic answer to a generic question to educate the users of this site. The information below is general in nature and should not be understood as a substitute for personal legal advice.
What issues should I be aware of when using open source software?
QUESTION:
I have a startup, and we’re using a number of open source software packages, including Wordpress, Ruby on Rails, MySQL, etc. The list is pretty long. In general, what issues should I be aware of when using open source software?
ANSWER:
Ethan Stone
by Ethan Stone, Stone Business Law
First, a quick but important clarification: I’m not your lawyer and this answer doesn’t establish a lawyer-client relationship. I’m giving a generic answer to a generic question to educate the users of this site. The information below is general in nature and should not be understood as a substitute for personal legal advice.
Do you really need virus protection on Macs?
QUESTION:
My startup just switched over to Macs from PCs. Do you really need virus protection on the Mac? Is this a worthy investment? I’ve heard Macs don’t need virus protection.
ANSWER:
Most people don’t bother, but I’d recommend it. If you’re an entrepreneur, you just can’t afford to take chances. Also, if you use ETrade, Schwab or other financial or brokerage services, they may have buried in their terms & conditions something about you being required to have virus protection or else they aren’t responsible if someone hacks into your account. This is really the reason I started using virus protection software on my Macs.
My startup is about to launch our website & mobile app, do you know of any good checklists?
QUESTION:
My startup is about to launch our website & mobile app, do you know of any good checklists we can use? We don’t want to miss anything.
ANSWER:
Here are two very thorough checklists that you can use.
For websites, we recommend:
http://www.boxuk.com/upload/website_launch_checklist_v1.pdf
For mobile apps, we recommend:
http://www.guidanceshare.com/wiki/Mobile_Application_Design_Checklist
Guidance Share Checklist for Mobile Apps
- You have determined the device types you will support.
- You have designed the application with occasionally-connected limited-bandwidth scenarios in mind.
- The user interface design is appropriate for the mobile device.
I hear Microsoft is offering help to startups. What sort of program do they offer?
QUESTION:
I hear Microsoft is offering help to startups. What sort of program do they offer?
ANSWER:
The program is called BizSpark and it’s under the Microsoft Startup Zone.
Microsoft really has its act together when it comes to helping startups. We are thoroughly impressed. BizSpark seems too good to be true… free software, free support, free business referrals. It is true, and you shouldn’t hesitate to sign up if you plan on using any Microsoft technology or software at all.
Here’s some of what they offer:
3 Virtual World Technologies To Watch
Dennis Shiao
by Dennis Shiao on his blog “It’s All Virtual”
On September 24th, FountainBlue held its annual virtual worlds conference. This year’s event was hosted on Cisco’s campus in Milpitas, CA.
The event was attended by entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, investors and virtual worlds practitioners. Several virtual worlds entrepreneurs spoke on the scheduled panel discussions and a few set up stations to demonstrate their technology.
I’d like to highlight 3 virtual worlds technologies that caught my attention.
RocketOn: A virtual world layer on top of the entire web
Presenting executive: Steve Hoffman, CEO
