“Do you know where we are?” asked Milo.

“Certainly,” he replied, “we’re right here on this very spot. Besides, being lost is never a matter of not knowing where you are; it's a matter of not knowing where you aren't – and I don’t care at all about where I’m not."

Join a Startup. Here’s How.

I’m a startup proselytizer. Anyone not working at a startup who’s had coffee or a meal with me will tell you that at some point in our conversation I probably slipped in something about working at a startup. It’s an amazing opportunity to learn, make a difference, see results, have responsibility, etc. and I think everyone should at least try it once. Here’s how:

  1. Immerse yourself in a tech/startup community. Most big cities have one - you don’t have to move to silicon valley (and if you’re thinking about it, come to New York instead). Put your email address on all the local newsletters (in NY, at least subscribe to Charlie’s), attend every event (especially the ones you don’t think are relevant), and just be an outgoing, friendly person.
  2. Read the industry papers. I read TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Silicon Alley Insider, Hacker News, and a few others. They all talk about startups that have just raised a round of financing (meaning they have money in the bank). Those are the ones that are hiring. Capital raises are referred to in rounds: a company raises a Series Seed/A, then a B (maybe a year or so later), then a C, etc, until they are sold or go public. The earlier the round the smaller the team and the more scrappy/cash strapped they will most likely be.  Also try searching the archives on those sites for your areas of interest to see if anything has come around recently.
  3. Become an expert before you reach out. When you’ve found an interesting startup, learn everything you can about it, the space, and their competitors. And then learn more. Figure out how you can add value, reach out, and then offer to work for free. Prove you’re worth the money and they’ll bring you on.

While this is focused on tech (by the way, everything today involves tech – from fashion to education), the same idea can be generally applied: immerse yourself, learn all you can, then prove your worth. For more in-depth thoughts, check out Alex Taub’s posts on the subject.

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Life, Liberty, & Ownership of Data

Lately I’ve been frustrated that my data - created and stored in different applications across my iPhone, iPad, and Mac - still often resides within those applications alone. Despite the fact that we’re in a mobile, “internet everywhere” age (I was told yesterday of a town without running water that had wifi), I can still only get at certain data in certain places. Evernote has excelled at meeting this challenge, as has Amazon with WhisperSync, but what about my ToDo items? Or messages and @replies marked read in Twitter? Or the fact that of the myriad of mind mapping applications for iOS, only one does multi-device sync!

I don’t mention Apple among the successful syncers in protest of their “charge for sync,” Mobile Me model. Owning your data should be an inherent human right, and companies that force you to keep it in their walled garden, or charge you for access to it, should be boycotted. Unfortunately I’m of a weak will when it comes to Apple products, and will be sitting out of that battle for moment….

Developers: the value of my data is the data itself, not the application! Give me a way to get at that data anywhere and I will be a very happy customer - even if you’re not the one providing the vehicle to access it. I’m a big proponent of beautiful UI/UX work, but I would definitely sacrifice that to make sure I can access my stuff.

This was actually another one of those posts that has been sitting, written, in my file for a while now - only seeing the light of day because a friend mentioned that he was planning to make an investment in this space. Thank god. No developer should be releasing something they want people to use heavily if the underlying data created in use is not entirely transferable. Yet of course there are always exceptions, and it will be interesting to see where companies like Facebook end up in this regard.

comments.

Juventas Fugit  is designed and written by Justin Wohlstadter, who, when not writing in the third person, can be found in a coffee shop talking about startups, thinking about the future of education, and generally procrastinating something important.

  • Passions: startups that positively affect the world, education innovation, good design, learning, and meeting those with an equally insatiable curiosity.
  • Play: director of product design at Enterproid and partner at BOLDstart Ventures.
  • Previously: built the early-stage venture arm of Penny Black. And many other crazy, less successful ventures involving fire extinguishers, measuring philanthropic impact, and creative spaces.
  • Pedantry: most of the important stuff I taught myself or learned from friends, but I’m fortunate to have (barely received) degrees from Harvard and Oxford. At Oxford I wrote my dissertation on how internet innovation will disrupt access to higher education.
  • Procrastination: can be found on Twitter, Linkedin, AngelList and other web spaces, and be reached via email at my first name at this domain.
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