Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Team Meeting

I recently have had a Google Hangout with my team.  I was excited to see that we now have a working app on the phone. Ethan has finished it and has even connected it to servers, so we can have multiple users. He also made few update to the website. He says he will have it uploaded to the App Store and Play Store by the end of the year.  I am very excited to see where we go from here,  Link to our website: http://plott.co/

Friday, November 21, 2014

Local Entreprrenuers in Dallas






Business Magazine from Entrepreneur - December 2014  I recently bought a subscription to Entrepreneur magazine.  Today, I decided to read this month's issue.



I learned about WET, also known as WET Design. It is a water feature design firm based in Los Angeles,California. Founded in 1983 by former Disney Imagineers Mark Fuller, Melanie Simon, and Alan Robinson, the company has designed over two hundred fountains and water features using water, fire, ice, fog, and lights. It is known for creating The Dubai Fountain, the world's largest performing fountain, along with the 8-acre (3.2 ha) Fountains of Bellagio It has designed features in over 20 countries around the world, in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.


http://guiddoo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/12.jpg
NEAT FACT: Their first fountain was the Fountain Place in Dallas\
It was inspirational how they say their growth was slow and how their first office was Mark's Apartment and their first workshop was his garage.

It really shows how something can really grow. 

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Absent

I was not in class today because I was at the Anatole receiving the Young Women of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Lean startup analysis pyramid Pt 1


     



This grid was in the the part of the Lean Startup that I was reading today.  I really like this because it is an accurate flow chart that represents the lean startup methodology. 



At the base, you have the vision.  At Endevvr, we spent at 2-2 1/2 week on just the vision.  This was very frustrating for me because we constantly had to work in the abstract. I learned through Myers-Briggs Type Indicator that I work best when I am given a problem and asked for possible results.  However, I now know this is the most important part to your business.  Without it, it will fall from under itself, as shown in the pyramid.  That is why we did customer surveys to make sure we had a viable vision that was a painkiller and not a vitamin. 



Next time, I will explain my experiences with the second stage of the flow chart.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Networking

Networking is a very important skill that every entrepreneur must have. While in Atlanta, we went to the Atlanta Tech Village and listened to many 3 minute pitches.  Afterwards, there was always time to network with all the entrepreneurs at the event. This was my first real experience, and it was kind of scary.  The worst part was trying to end a conversation.  I found this article on Entrepreneur Magazine.com that how to end a networking conversation. It gives 5 main tips.

1. Pull in another person to the discussion.
2. Use a common excuse.
3. Ask for a business card.
4. Introduce the rambler to another acquaintance.
5. Take control of the conversation.

I personally like option three. This way you can stay in touch with that person. You never know if someone you meet could a potential mentor or business partner.  However, if the person you are talking to is not talking about anything you are interested in, then I suggest option 2. I also would like to add an option, and option 6. Just say, "Well, It was really nice meeting you." and shake their hand. I did this many times during these sessions.  All in all, I had a wonderful time and feel a lot more comfortable in networking situations.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Launch DFW

To follow up my post about Atlanta Tech Village, I wanted research start-up communities in Dallas. I cam across one called Launch DFW.

LAUNCH DFW is an organization that supports and promotes tech entrepreneurship throughout North Texas by way of events, this website, sharing information and connecting entrepreneurs to the resources they need to succeed.

Founded in 2010 by Bradley Joyce as a first step in building a better startup community, LAUNCH DFW now has the honor of being a key component of the local ecosystem.

They also have happy hours for entrepreneurs to meet a mingle and tons of informational workshops.  They are similar to Atlanta tech village because they also offer office space to small start ups.

 

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Our Mentor - Gerry Newton

One thing I loved about Endevvr was the mentoring we received from successful entrepreneurs. The man to the far left of the picture is Gerry Newton.  He is Founder + Managing Director at Cyclr.com, a blog for the everyday cyclist.  My team loved him, and he was pivotal to our success.  He made us think critically about our product while giving us helpful ideas. We plan to reach out to him, so that he can be our mentor. 

Team Plott with Gerry Newton - awesome mentor!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Atlanta Tech Village

I loved being apart of the Atlanta Tech Village while at Endevvr.  I loved the space and all the great people.

Established in 2013, the Atlanta Tech Village is a community of innovation powered by a 103,000 square foot building. The Village is designed for technology and technology-related companies that have a unique set of needs in their quest to change the world. Your workspace should be more than just a desk and a place to hang your hat – – it should bring the community together, promote serendipitous interactions, and be a powerful tool for recruiting the best talent. The Village is designed as a campus for cool people doing cool things in technology.
Their mission is to support and inspire entrepreneurs to achieve success through a community that promotes faster connections between talent, ideas and capital. Together, theywill fuel Atlanta’s rise to a top five tech startup center in the U.S.

Our Values

  1. Be Nice.
  2. Dream Big.
  3. Pay it Forward.
  4. Work Hard. Play Hard.

Atlanta Tech Village is a commercial office building designed for tech and tech-related companies between 1 and 30 employees.   Companies wishing to join pay membership dues and fees and the Village does not take equity in our members.

Here are some pictures