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StartupBus: Things to bring!

By In StartupBus

This is a list of hints and tips about surviving the StartupBus.

As you can imagine, your productivity will largely depend on having your tools of the trade ready and being able to hit the ground running the minute the bus doors close. This discussion is different for developers, designers and hustlers, so I’ll structure it differently for each group.

Everyone:

  • Preinstall dropbox for file sharing with your team.
  • Bring memory sticks for file sharing in dead zones.
  • Bring headphones so that you don’t strangle your fellow hustler who might be on the call 24/7 with the media, customers, etc.
  • If you like listening to music while working, don’t rely on Spotify and other streaming services. iTunes will be your best option.
  • Think of what you want to work on and be ready to pitch that idea with as many facts as possible to back up your thinking (competitors, market size, monetization strategy, etc.)

Hustlers:

  • Bring a headset with a microphone so that you can pitch to reporters, close deals, and do your thing without disrupting others next to you.
  • You will probably want to use Skype or Zoom so I suggest having that preinstalled and working.
  • You may also want to consider using Toutapp which will allow you to send mass emails using a single template.
  • Make sure to come with a list of contacts that you want to blast once we’re ready to start marketing.
  • If you want to be involved in project management, consider using Things. They have a 30 day trial and it’s a great tool for non-collaborative (your teammates will be next to you ) and offline task management. Obviously, there are gazillion other ones. Just make sure to know what you want to use before you get on the bus – don’t waste your time researching while traveling. Trello works great with teams when there is Interwebs – Wunderlist is also good.

Designers and front end developers:

  • Git is king on the bus, so have that ready on your machine and be familiar with the commands. Also make sure to have a Github account.
  • Refresh your JS and other skills if you haven’t touched that in a while. I recommend saving a local copy instead of linking to a remote resource.
  • We should make sure to use a CSS framework, so familiarize yourself  Bootstrap and whatever is hot right now.
  • If you plan to do any front end development, you should also read the points under “Back end developers”

Back end developers:

  • Due to the spotty on-board internet connection, forget about developing on a remote server. Instead make sure to have all you need on your local machine, including your development environment and ideally even some manuals, guides, books, etc in PDF format.
  • For Rails, download rvm, rubygems and everything else you need. For other frameworks, do your own thing. You can build web apps, mobile, or something we haven’t even thought of.
  • Have your PHP frameworks nicely setup.
  • Same applies for Node, Lisp, or whatever you’re going to be using.
  • Make sure to have git locally and a Github account. Even better, install Git as a local server so you won’t need to rely on our local hotspots.
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I help cruise lines turn their technical ideas into reality. I'm experienced in all stages of innovation and technology management. I've also been programing since I was 8 years old, and have somehow retained the ability to have normal human interactions. Occasionally I speak about how Industrial Psychology and Neurophysiology can be interrogated with IT and systems management, because I spend a lot of time thinking about the subject, as strange as that may seem.

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Ignite Tampa Bay 2014

In StartupBus

Another good evening of interesting speakers at the 2014 Tampa Bay Ignite. Held at the historic Cuban Club in Ybor, with much drinking and good times for all.
Even better, this year, the slides that were behind me were actually the ones I submitted, and not just the practice slides! Seeing as I haven’t posted since the last time I put up my Ignite talk, I don’t really have to link to it, but if you want, it’s here.