Rants, Reviews, and Random Thoughts

This is it! My brand new shiny blog. If you're reading this, you're most likely a close friend who is a victim of coercion or a wayward internet surfer who has stumbled upon this compendium of rants, reviews, and random thoughts about the tech world. First, I have to credit a few sources of inspiration. The first credit is shared jointly by Joel Spolsky and Paul Graham. These two are my tech blog idols, and I can't recommend them more highly. Following their advice simultaneously will have you dropping out, starting the coolest software company on Earth, and becoming a zillionaire before 30... which only makes me wonder how they read my mind so accurately. At the risk of sending his ego into the stratosphere (probably too late here), I also have to credit Peter Mertens. Peter bravely took the plunge into the blogosphere as part of his studies abroad in Athens, but as an aspiring sports writer, I believe he plans to continue blogging. If you are interested in reading well-informed sports commentary that is undoubtedly angrier and more cynical than anything I could produce, then check out his blog here.

So what could I possibly write about? What does this newly minted computer science undergrad have to contribute to the world at large? In all probability--very little. That's not going to stop me from trying though. Seeing as my interests mostly lie in the realm of software and technology, you're probably going to be hearing a lot about that. However, I'm reserving the right to rant about whatever I damn well please.

Composing a first blog entry purely of boring meta-commentary seems a bit cliche to me, so I'm going to dive into my first entry proper. The past few weeks I've been reading Jessica Livingston's silicon valley classic, Founders at Work, in between studying for exams and a trip home for Christmas. Luckily, the book is comprised of a series of interviews by the author of founding members of several prominent tech startups from the past 15 years or so (coincidentally, Spolsky is one of the interviewees). This allows me to read an interview every couple days or so without completely forgetting what was going on the last time I read. The book is unique in its genre in that it tells the stories of startups in the words of the founders themselves. By reading several of these interviews, one can start to recognize patterns which I think is the most valuble aspect of the book.

I recently finished reading Livingston's interview with Joe Kraus, the cofounder of the search engine Excite. At one point Excite was the fourth largest website in the world. The interview went a long way toward settling the debate over whether to found a company with friends or with business partners. Kraus started the business with a group of friends and a little bit of money from his parents. That's it. No idea. No technology. No company, really. He tells the story of sitting down with five of his friends and brainstorming ideas for a business all the while fully committed to doing something.

As an inexperienced entrepreneur, I'm not sure that I have any insights of my own to contribute, but I feel completely justified in throwing out my biased, underinformed opinion. It's my blog, so I get to do just that. I don't know how to put this diplomatically... I think starting a company with a group of friends would be the best. Any corroboration I can get from experts or "experts" is more than welcome. Kraus's main point is that dark days will come at some point or another. During these times, having something more valuable and enduring than money holding the gang together is necessary. I don't know if this really is true, but in my little experience it certainly seems to be.

Two of the three small "businesses" that I've started have brought me into a state of conflict over divying up the money. In one case I was best friends with my business partner, and I don't think that it's a coincidence that this scenario ended much more amicably and with both parties feeling more satisfied.

The moral of the story is that I'm going to go ahead with my plans for starting a tech company with the most qualified people I can find. If they're my friends then it's all the better. Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far, and check back for more soon!