Ryckbost

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-22)

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:26:07 -0500

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-22):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-15)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:46:49 -0500

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-15):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

"People are tempted to tell you everything, with perfect accuracy, right up front, when they should..."

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:33:56 -0500

“People are tempted to tell you everything, with perfect accuracy, right up front, when they should be giving you just enough info to be useful, then a little more, then a little more.”

- Made to Stick

Xcode Alias

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:15:39 -0500

Add ‘alias xcode="open -a Xcode"’ to your bash profile.

cd into your project directory and then it’s as simple as ‘xcode .’

Sleeping like a baby (via nsain)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:33:00 -0500

Sleeping like a baby (via nsain)

"Books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather and their own content."

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:40:22 -0400

“Books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather and their own content.”

- Paul Valery

Entrepreneurship in West Michigan

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:23:38 -0400

Do We Have What it Takes?

Paul Graham has a great essay on what he thinks it takes for a city to be a Silicon Valley.

Check out the article, it’s a great read and well worth your time.

Here’s a quick overview:

rich people and nerds
not buildings
- “So if you want to reproduce Silicon Valley, what you need to reproduce is those two or three founders sitting around a kitchen table deciding to start a company. And to reproduce that you need those people.”
universities
personality
nerds
youth
- “liberal cities tolerate odd ideas, and smart people by definition have odd ideas.”
time
- “startups beget startups… you need time to grow a silicon valley”
competing
- how do you compete with the real Silicon Valley?

Is there anything else to consider besides Paul’s points? How about a general infrastructure that supports startups? In the TechCrunch50 video, The Role of the Angel Investor, Ron Conway says that Silicon Valley has the infrastructure and depth to support these startups (skip to 46:00-48:00):

hi-tech accountants
hi-tech lawyers
hi-tech PR firms
hi-tech ad agencies
conferences, events

With the above infrastructure in mind, how does West MI compare?

Cultivating the Climate

I’m excited to see what affect Momentum MI has on the community. I’m particularly interested to see how the investment community reacts to Downstream, Revetto, and Public Collections. Can local investors make the jump from manufacturing/product based companies to high-tech, internet based, software as a service business models?

In a study of the entrepreneurship climate in West Michigan, the Seidman College of Business concludes that “West Michigan has a shortage of venture capital sources and the current business climate does not promote venture capital investment.” Furthermore, “Most respondents feel that the business climate in the West Michigan area is not supportive of the entrepreneurial companies and does not foster the growth of such companies.” Quite a dreary outlook, right?

It’s no surprise that action needs to be taken to make some progress. H. James Williams, Dean of the Seidman College of Business, acknowledges this when he writes, “What we need is a coordinated strategy for mobilizing the resources we do have to achieve maximum impact, along with a plan for enhancing our capacities, over time, to promote and support entrepreneurship.”

So, my question to you is, what are you doing to promote and support entrepreneurship in West Michigan?

Russ’: The “Home Made Goodness People” (via...

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:41:15 -0400

Russ’: The “Home Made Goodness People” (via nsain)

"An idea is not an innovation until it reaches people."

Fri, 29 May 2009 18:05:54 -0400

“An idea is not an innovation until it reaches people.”

- Scott Berkun

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it...."

Tue, 26 May 2009 18:35:25 -0400

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

- Goethe

Boxed Water (via nsain)

Wed, 06 May 2009 22:42:14 -0400

Boxed Water (via nsain)

Holland's Tech Embassy at Tulip Time 2009

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:59:43 -0400

Holland's Tech Embassy at Tulip Time 2009:

We (Collective Idea/Idea Foundry) are organizing a Tech Embassy during Tulip Time to highlight local tech companies and have some fun.

We’ve secured a storefront on 8th Street for the week of Tulip Time (May 2-9) and you’re invited to join us!

738 Bay Road (via nsain)

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:13:53 -0400

738 Bay Road (via nsain)

Wheat Brick (via nsain)

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:13:04 -0400

Wheat Brick (via nsain)

we're extending earlybird prices an extra week for the jQuery class, to give more of you a chance to save! http://ideafoundry.info/jquery

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:56:19 -0400

we're extending earlybird prices an extra week for the jQuery class, to give more of you a chance to save! http://ideafoundry.info/jquery

"In the future, there will be just two kinds of firms: those who disrupt their markets and those who..."

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 07:45:11 -0400

“In the future, there will be just two kinds of firms: those who disrupt their markets and those who don’t survive the assault.”

- Professor Richard D’Aveni, author of Hypercompetition

"Geeks are those that have technical aptitude, nerds are bright but socially awkward, and dorks are..."

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:09:20 -0400

“Geeks are those that have technical aptitude, nerds are bright but socially awkward, and dorks are just inept excuses for protoplasm”

- Geek vs. Nerd vs. Dork | Militant Geek Custom Shirts

"But if you just go through your document and blindly replace all the
s with..."

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:26:00 -0400

“But if you just go through your document and blindly replace all the

s with

s you are doing it wrong.”

- The WHATWG Blog » Blog Archive »
is not just a “semantic
”

Snow and Ice formations (via nsain)

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:04:30 -0400

Snow and Ice formations (via nsain)

Sand and ice crystals (via nsain)

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:04:05 -0400

Sand and ice crystals (via nsain)

Ryckbost

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-22)

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-15)

"People are tempted to tell you everything, with perfect accuracy, right up front, when they should..."

Xcode Alias

Sleeping like a baby (via nsain)

"Books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather and their own content."

Entrepreneurship in West Michigan

Do We Have What it Takes?

Cultivating the Climate

Russ’: The “Home Made Goodness People” (via...

"An idea is not an innovation until it reaches people."

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it...."

Boxed Water (via nsain)

Holland's Tech Embassy at Tulip Time 2009

738 Bay Road (via nsain)

Wheat Brick (via nsain)

we're extending earlybird prices an extra week for the jQuery class, to give more of you a chance to save! http://ideafoundry.info/jquery

"In the future, there will be just two kinds of firms: those who disrupt their markets and those who..."

"Geeks are those that have technical aptitude, nerds are bright but socially awkward, and dorks are..."

"But if you just go through your document and blindly replace all the s with..."

Snow and Ice formations (via nsain)

Sand and ice crystals (via nsain)

"But if you just go through your document and blindly replace all the
s with..."