The new Microsoft Surface

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Two things arrived from Microsoft today, and one of them was the new Microsoft Surface RT.

Wow, I'm impressed!  I've been playing with a Samsung Series 7 running Windows 8 before this, but the Surface seems way better with no fans.  It just seems nicer somehow.  Starting at $499, I think Microsoft is going to get some market share with this device, and not just for people who want to be able to use Microsoft Office.  It feels different than the iPad or any other tablet I've played with.  Kind of like how Xbox felt different from all the other consoles when it first came out.

I thought I would not want a keyboard, but the TV ads convinced me to give it a try.  I actually got each of the two available keyboards and both are nice, but I'm writing this with the one with real keys and it feels like a great keyboard, with the keys in the right place for me.  The keyboard really does just snap in place like magic and then it just works.  It's actually been awhile since a piece of technology made me think, "that's cool" but this did.

 

Sizewise, it is a little bigger than the iPad 3 but it feels about the same even with the keyboard attached.  The two keyboards weigh about the same, so I'm guessing most will go with the one with real keys if they get a keyboard.

 
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I have resisted keyboards on touch devices, but I'm giving it a second thought now since this one is so light and gets out of the way easily.  The photo above shows the Microsoft Surface next to an iPad 3, and the extra keyboard above that.

This is an RT version, so I was surprised that it came with Microsoft Office installed.  The one drawback to RT is that you can't just install any Windows application on it.  For that you'll need to wait for "Surface with Windows 8 Pro" which isn't available yet.

I'll do an update after I've had it for a while, but for now, I'm impressed!

Colorado Entrepreneurial By Nature

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Gold Systems is now over twenty one years old, and our offices are
less than a mile from where it all started here in Boulder.  It's really
hard to imagine starting Gold Systems anywhere but in Colorado, so I'm
happy to lend our name to Colorado Entrepreneurial By Nature.  It's a
grass roots campaign to make sure the world knows that Colorado is a
great place to live and to start a business.  I've benefited so much by
being in a community that supports and encourages entrepreneurs and I'm
happy to give back that support to the new people starting up here in
Colorado.

If you are an entrepreneur in Colorado, lend your name to the effort by going here:  http://www.entrepreneurialbynature.com/

The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time

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My old YPO buddy Verne Harnish has written a new book, and it is available today.  His previous book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits is a favorite of mine.  After you read Built to Last and Good to Great, read Rockefeller Habits to learn how to opererationalize what you've just read.  I'm sure The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time will be fantastic, and the forward is by Jim Collins himself.  Every time I talk to Verne, he teaches me something and helps my business so I'll be ordering the new book first thing in the morning!

Before I got this blog post published, another book arrived in the mail from my other old YPO buddy Brad Feld.  This one is Startup Communities and it is the first in the Startup Revolution series.

 

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Boulder would be a very different environment for entrepreneurs if both Brad and Verne had not come to town and decided we needed a YEO chapter.  (Now EO)  Thank you guys, you've really made a difference in the community and the world, and it has been my pleasure to know you both.  Brad's book is what he's learned about helping communities attract and support start ups, and I just started reading it on my Kindle.  I'm sure it's great too!

ANZ Inovyz START announces Year One Results

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In July I wrote about my experience going over to the wonderful city of Adelaide, Australia, where I was a mentor in the ANZ Inovyz START technology accelerator.  I had a great time, met some great people and found that I could be homesick for a city that I really didn't know anything about before that visit.  Since then I've been spending a little time on Skype with two of the companies, Australian Baby Bargins and Be Intent.  And there is a new company in Boulder that was part of the first group of Innovyz entrepreneurs, Beneath The Ink.  They went a long way to participate in the program!

The books are closed on the first class of entrepreneurs and they are off to a great start, and they have just announced that they have been funded for the next season and applications are already being accepted.  If you are an entrepreneur in Adelaide, Australia, or really anywhere in the world, check out http://www.innovyzstart.com/ and hit the "Apply Now" button if you think you've got what it takes to join nine or so other hot startups in the great city of Adelaide.  U.S. folks – remember, it will be summer there in Adelaide while it's winter here in the states.  Applications close November 30, 2012.  Check out this FAQ too.

 

 

Nine Tips for the the bootstrapping start up by Art Reisman

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My good friend and local entrepreneur, Art Reisman, has written a thoughtful blog post with practical advice for the start up entrepreneur.  The title of the post is "Nine Tips for Organic Technology Start ups" and it's well worth a read because it has advice you won't get from most places, such as "Be leery of late 1990's dot com moguls."  Art has nothing against moguls I don't think, he just cautions that the new entrepreneur needs to be able to tell the difference between lucky and smart.  Some were smart, some where lucky.  By the way, that's the name of a book you might want to check out too - Lucky or Smart?: Fifty Pages for the First-Time Entrepreneur, by Bo Peabody. 

Check out Art's post, I think it is worth reading if you are just getting started and it is a good reminder for those of us who have been doing this for awhile.  Art has built a very successful company that is running circles around far bigger companies. 

 

 

A week at Innovyz START in Adelaide, Australia

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In my previous post I talked about my first full day in Adelaide. This post is about my time spent at the ANZ Innovyz START technology accelerator in Adelaide, Australia.

My good friend Jana Matthews has been going to Australia and other parts of the world for years to work with start-ups and fast growing companies. I was thrilled for her when she told me that she was going to be spending the summer in Adelaide, Australia working with a new technology accelerator. When she invited me to come over for a week and work as a mentor to the start up entrepreneurs, I thought, "that should be fun, and I can repay Jana for all she's done for me over the years." After getting home from Adelaide and thinking about my experience there, I realize now I didn't repay anything and I believe I'm now deeper in debt to her!

Jana and I have spent many mornings sitting at Turley's talking about the challenges of leading and growing a business. She's seen me at my worst times and at my best times, and through it all she has given me great advice that I've sometimes listened to. I'm not always the best student, but it is fair to say that without Jana's advice over the years, Gold Systems would not be what it is today.

Boulder, Colorado is home to TechStars, which is the #1 startup accelerator in the world. I was asked to be a mentor in the first year of the Boulder TechStars, and it was a fantastic experience. I learned a lot and I gained a close personal friend in the process. The Innovyz START accelerator in Adelaide is modeling a lot of what they do on TechStars, and they are part of the Global Accelerator Network which the TechStars guys also support. Both David Cohen and Brad Feld have helped get them off on the right foot.

My experience with the people of ANZ Innovyz START was fantastic. I was in the second week's flight of mentors to arrive and we were welcomed with a great dinner put on by Jana, Philip Vafiadis and Jerry Kleeman. I was the only Boulderite in that week's group of mentors, but Sherri Leopard, Catherine Merigold and Lu Cordova were also mentors other weeks. Most of the other mentors were from Australia or other parts of the world, and I really enjoyed getting to know everyone in my group.

Monday morning started with quick introductions and then we jumped into one-on-one's with each company. There were ten start-ups selected to participate in the program, and the founders had all relocated to Adelaide and for the most part seemed to live in their offices. They are working hard to make the most of the program and to be ready for Investor Day on August 17.

I felt for the entrepreneurs, because they had to quickly explain their company, and then process questions and suggestions from mentors that though they had a lot of experience, had just the smallest understanding of the company. As I think about it, that is one of the first lessons you have to learn as a new start-up entrepreneur. How do you to take all the advice people are willing to give you and make sense of it? Often the advice is conflicting and threatens to take your company into an entirely different direction. I did my best to let them know that while I might have an insight or an opinion for them, it could well be wrong and it was ultimately up to them to decide if it was helpful.

New entrepreneurs get a lot of advice on hiring. "You need a strong tech person" or "You need an awesome sales or business development VP." Maybe, but that advice can get a – into trouble. The founders first need to be competent in all areas. Maybe not great, but competent. A founder needs to be a fast learner and willing to dive into things they know nothing about, and then do the job until the company can really afford to bring in the experts. Except for running out of cash, nothing will kill a start up faster than hiring the wrong person at the wrong time. Getting someone who doesn't fit the values and culture that the founders want to create is deadly. Hiring a VP from a big company who "loves the idea of a start-up" but has no idea how to execute without a big staff is killer. I spent a fair amount of my mentor time with the entrepreneurs just reassuring them that they were in fact very capable people who could get the job done. Everyone of them was passionate about their idea, smart, and hard working or else they would not have been selected for the program.

That's the basic idea behind accelerators. Get lots of entrepreneurs to apply, select the very best, and then give them mentoring, introductions and financial help. Do that, and most of the companies will exit the accelerator a few months later and be on their way to success.

I'm happy to have been a part of the first year of ANZ Innovyz START in Adelaide, but I'll bet that next year and the year after will be even better. Adelaide looked like a great place to start a technology company and I hope to get back there again soon. I asked Jana, "How is it possible to miss a place I didn't even know existed a few months ago?" I wish the best of luck and success to ANZ Innovyz START, the entrepreneurs, my new mentor friends and the city of Adelaide!

SARRC Sea to Summit 34k run, Adelaide, Australia

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A few weeks ago I visited Adelaide, Australia to be a mentor at the Innovyz START technology accelerator. That was a great experience, and I'll write about in another post, but first I have to talk about the weekend I arrived in Adelaide.

 

A few weeks before the trip I started looking on line to see if there might be a nice 5 or 10k race that I could run since I was arriving on a Saturday and wouldn't have to show up at the accelerator until Monday morning. What I found was the Sea to Summit race, put on by the South Australian Road Runners and Walkers Club. I'm sure I had heard about this race before and remembered that it was considered to be a "can't miss" race. I think I read every word on the website trying to figure out if I was going to be up for the run. It was to be 30k, starting at the ocean and climbing to the top of Mount Lofty, the highest peak in the area at 2,500 feet. It was was described as a "bush run" which made me wonder if there might be crocodiles and dingos to contend with, or at least poisonous snakes. Having read A Sunburned Country, I was pretty sure there would be some sort of lethal plants or animals to contend with.

 

My biggest fear was the trail itself. As my friends know, and are probably tired of hearing me say it, but I believe that traditional running shoes are evil devices guaranteed to hurt people. I wear Vibram Five Fingers or I wear nothing at all. I found the website for the Heysen Trail which the route would use, and they specifically said "Good walking shoes, or boots, with grip soles. Thongs, sandals, elastic-sided boots and smooth-soled sneakers are not appropriate." I will admit, that was pretty good advice in hindsight.
I kept telling people in the weeks before that I was going to run the race, but I had not actually signed up. Then the night before I was to leave I got an email from Andrew Hyde promoting his new book, TRAVEL. Wanting to help a fellow Boulder entrepreneur, and thinking what better to read on the plane than a book about travel, I bought the book and started reading it. Even the first few chapters were enough to cause me to think differently about the trip, so the next morning while sitting in the Denver airport, I signed up for the race. I decided I would just figure out the logistics when I got there and I'd do my best.

I left Denver Thursday afternoon and arrived in Adelaide Saturday afternoon, stayed awake all day and went to bed at my "normal" time with an alarm set for a 6:15 AM Taxi that I had arranged. I ended up being dropped off on a dark street near the ocean well before the race was to start and before anyone else had arrived. Walking down a trail, in the dark, to where I thought the starting line might be, I was startled by the sound of what I thought was either a homeless man snoring or a Dangerous Australian Creature. Either way, I decided a retreat back to the street was the best move, and I found another trail that looked promising. That one also had the strange sound, so I made one more detour and found my way down to the ocean via what looked like a boat ramp where I found an almost empty parking lot where the race was to start.

Thinking about Andrew's book, and the lesson he's learned about just getting out there and talking to people, and trusting that things would work out, I walked up to a couple of people who were obviously runners and introduced myself. Within a few minutes I was welcomed to Australia and assured that I would not only make it to the top of the mountain, but that someone up there would help me find a way back down. I was also told that the sound I had heard was not a crocodile or homeless person snoring, but was most likely a male Koala.
 
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(Photo by Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0)
 
The Australians seemed pretty amused that I had been frightened off the trail by a Koala, though they did admit that they (the Koalas) could be testy at times. The rest of the day I spent too much time looking up into trees hoping to spot a Koala, but I never did. I did manage to fall twice by not looking where I was going, and I came home with what I'm told Australian trail runners call "badges." Everyone else calls them cuts and bruises.

 

As the sun was coming up, most of the racers made their way onto the rocky beach and many joined me in actually touching the water before moving to the starting line a hundred yards back up the hill. Then Terry Cleary, the race director, stood on top of a cooler or "Esky" as they call it, and talked to the runners. He reminded us to be careful and have fun, but he also reminded us that we would be running on land that passed through Kaurna country, who are the traditional owners of the land. In fact, the race would be supported by Neville Highfold and other members of the "Mari Yerta Men's and Young Men's Aboriginal Corporation." Terry talked about respecting the people and the land, and it was a great way to start the race.

 

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The race started, and off we went climbing stairs and then a series of single-file switchbacks to get out of the park by the ocean. We ran through neighborhoods on the street for a few miles and then into a park. I had heard that the race could be tough just because it was easy to miss a marker and end up off the trail, but I thought the race was very well marked. I did miss a turn, but it was my own fault. As we got farther along what is know as the Heysen Trail, it became more rugged, but I was just amazed by the beauty of the land and the unfamiliar trees, bushes and birds.

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The best part of the race was the people. Terry (I call him Australian Terry now so people won't think I'm talking in the third person about myself) caught me pretty quickly, even though he must have been one of the last runners to start. I introduced myself and we talked a bit, and then he ran on as I was running at my "just finish the race" pace. I caught him twice more, but only because he stopped at every aid station to thank the volunteers. Because of that, we got to spend a lot of time talking and it was just a great way to spend what could have been a lonely and tough race.

 

Everyone else I met was also very friendly, and two literally gave me a hand up after I fell and made sure I hadn't broken anything. If anyone from SARRC is reading – thank you for a WONDERFUL experience! And Nina, thank you for encouraging me and sharing your story those last few miles, and for the offer of the blister pads. I probably should have taken them!

 

The race ended up being 34K or 21.32 miles according to my GPS. I finished in 5 hours 21 minutes and 30 seconds, which was just fine since my goal was just to finish. After the second fall I think I started taking it a little easier, so now of course I'd love to go back and try again for a faster time.

 

After the race, Australian Terry invited me to dinner at his house, which I accepted, and I had the best welcome to Australia that I could have hoped for by Terry and his wife Gay. It really was fantastic. Monday morning when I arrived at the Innovyz START office space, I was limping a bit and people thought I was crazy for having ran the race at all, much less after flying half way around the world. For me, it is on the list of the best experiences of my life, and it was the very best running experience I've ever had. Even with the "badges."

 

Thanks to Andrew Hyde for giving me a different way to look at travel, to Australian Terry and all the other SARRC people, and of course thanks to Jana Matthews and Innovyz START for inviting me to Adelaide!

ANZ Innovyz Start Accelerator

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What's better than being asked to go to Australia for a week to mentor a bunch of start up entrepreneurs?  Getting selected to actually BE one of the start up entrepreneurs!

The ANZ Innovyz Start Accelerator, which is part of the Global Accelerator Network and "Championed by TechStars" has selected ten companies to meet up in Adelaide, Australia.  They will receive mentoring and support, and hopefully they will all grow into successful, job-producing, successful, cool companies. 

Most of the companies are from Australia, but one, Cipher This, is from right here in Boulder, Colorado.  I'm so excited to be participating as a mentor, and I thank Jana Matthews and all the other mentors who have made this possible.

Congratulations, and I can't wait to meet you in person this summer!

The 10 companies selected to participate in the 2012 ANZ Innovyz Start accelerator program include:

  1. Adelaide Baby Bargains:Free online marketplace for preloved baby & children’s goods, Adelaide, AU
  2. Be Intent:Online HR solution that measures mindset, staff engagement, optimizes people performance and delivers measurable productivity improvements, Auckland, NZ
  3. Captioning Studio: Speech to text, video search, web based captioning & subtitling, and tools for those who are deaf and hard of hearing, Adelaide, AU
  4. Cipher This: Software that automates the creation and integration of puzzles into any author's original content, Boulder, Colorado, USA
  5. ConfPlus: Mobile service to facilitate registering, scheduling, networking, and communicating at conferences, Madison, Wisconsin, USA and Beijing & Shenyang, China.
  6. Credit Key: A web ‘transaction brokerage’ service that vastly reduces the amount of time between the issue and payment of invoices, Adelaide, AU
  7. iStudent: recruitment of international students with on-line search and enrollment, Sydney, AU
  8. LEAPIN:Cloud-based Property Management System featuring 'smartphone room check-in' and a 'complete web check-in system for the accommodation industry', Adelaide, AU
  9. www.mysupervisoronline.com: On-line resource, support and networking site to assist Honours, Masters and PhD students, Brisbane, AU
  10. P2P Agri: Farm business management decision software, Adelaide, AU

Braingate – turning thought into action

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In the early days of Gold Systems, I joked that someday CTI would stand for "Computer Telepathy Integration" and we would just think about what we want to do on the computer and it would happen.  That was almost 21 years ago, and over the last five years I've been seeing signs that this will actually happen in my lifetime.  Or rather is happening.

The latest example was reported in the May 16, 2012 article by Benedict Carey in the New York Times Science section.  (You can try this link if you are registered on the site)  The article talks about the first published demonstration about how people with brain injuries have been able to control a prosthetic arm.  In other words, they can no longer control their own arms, but they are able to control a robotic arm, just by thinking about it.  This has been reported in Nature, and can be found here.

This technology is in the lab today, and requires "a tiny sensor about the size of a baby aspirin" to be injected just below the skull.  I've got to think a wireless sensor will come along at some point, and I hope that it will find its way into the real world quickly.

This photo says it all, which the New York Times credited to braingate2.org.  Be sure and check out the BrainGate website for more information about the technology and photos of the amazing team who is making this dream a reality. 


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Gold Systems is Growing

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Q1 has been a great quarter for Gold Systems, and we're hiring again.  If you are a software project manager, or a .NET engineer, check out the job postings at http://www.goldsys.com/careers 

(Note to recruiters. We have several great relationships with recruiters already, so only contact us if you have a specific person who would be a great fit for one of our jobs. Thanks!)

Speed up Comcast internet 3x for almost free

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Dear Comcast Customer,

We are constantly working to serve you better, which is why we want to remind you that you have been leasing a cable modem from us for $5 a month for almost five years.  We're so embarrassed by that, given that the modem only costs us about thirty bucks wholesale, so we quit charging you a while back, but really, you've paid way more than the modem is worth and it is terribly obsolete now.  We suppose it is a credit to us that it works well enough that you haven't gone to another provider, but do yourself a favor and buy a new modem already.

Sincerely,

Comcast

OK, I in made that letter up, but it's the letter I wish Comcast had sent me.  When I switched from DSL to Cable, I just wanted it to work, so I let Comcast lease me a modem.  I figured I would get the service working and then in 6 or 8 months I would buy my own device, ending the lease payment.  I got busy, and to be fair, it worked fine and I rarely thought about it.  When I did think about it, I imagined the hassle it would be to buy the new modem, install it and then get the old lease charge removed from my bill.  It turns out, Comcast really does make it easy.

If you have been leasing a modem, or you have a modem more than a few years old, you might be able to buy a new modem and in the process, significantly increase your internet speeds.  I increased my download speed by 3X for no extra money, except for the price of the new modem.  Here's how to do it.

Go to Amazon.com or your favorite store and buy this modem.

http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-SB6121-SURFboard-DOCSIS-Cable/dp/B004XC6GJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330549413&sr=8-1

It's a Motorola SURFboard eXtreme Cable Modem Model S86121

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(Note to readers of the future.  This was written 2-29-2012.  Check to see if there is an even faster modem available in your time.  And drop me a note, I love to hear from people from the future.)

Before you disconnect the old modem, make sure you have your Comcast account number.  You'll need it later, so if you do electronic billing, go online now while the old modem is working and get your account number.

You are going to need to plug the new modem into power, move your cable connection from the old modem to the new modem, and then you want to run the included ethernet cable directly from the new modem to the computer you want to use to configure it.  Don't worry, when we're done, you can plug the modem into the ethernet cable going to your home network, but for now we need a direct connection to a computer.

After everything is connected, open up a browser on the computer.  You'll be redirected to a Comcast page where you can change your service to the new modem.  If you aren't getting any page, use the included instructions to interpret the lights on the new modem.  You didn't forget to plug it in or attach your cable from the old modem did you?  Be patient, the new modem may need a few minutes to connect.

Next you will be prompted to enter your home telephone number and your Comcast account number.  Just follow the prompts, hitting next.  Here's the tough part – be patient.  It really may take a while for everything to work.  Maybe 2 or 3 minutes, but it will seem longer and you may think you have done something wrong.  Be patient.

If everything worked, you should be able to go to your favorite web page.  Do that to make sure you have a good connection before you start trying to connect the modem to your home network.

Now unplug the new modem from your computer, and connect it to the ethernet cable going to your home network that the old modem was connected to.  Don't forget to plug your computer back into the home network too.  Now you really need to be patient.  I was sure something was wrong and ripped everything back apart, but no, it just needs some time to reconnect to Comcast and for your home network to recognize the new modem.  If you must, cycle the power on your modem and network device, but for me after about 5 minutes it all started working.

Once the new modem was in place and working, I went to speedtest.net and rechecked my speed.  I was very happy to see that I was getting three times faster download speeds - I went from 9.72 Mbps to 36.01 Mbps.  The modem cost me $82.19 at Amazon.com so I figure that's a great deal.

All that was left was to return the old modem and get the lease payment removed from my bill.  I called Comcast (the first time I actually talked to a person) and they directed me to take it to my local Comcast service center which was just a few miles away.  I walked in a half hour before closing time to find an empty room with four people ready to help me.  One of the guys scanned the bar code on my old modem, printed a receipt and that was that.

I have to say, this was a LOT easier than I expected.  I thought sure I would have problems, have to call a technician, and then wait all day for them to show up, but that wasn't the case at all.  Thanks Comcast for making this easy, and I'm loving my new higher speed internet.

 Update 10-24-12  Quite a few people have said they made this change and it worked for them.  I was just asked about Ping times, so here are the before and after speedtest.net screenshots.  I would say they didn't change, though several tests before had it at 9ms so maybe it improved a bit.

Speedtestbefore

Speedtestafter