Comments on: Seattle Startup Weekend Redux http://www.npost.com/blog/2009/02/09/seattle-startup-weekend-redux/ Connecting Startups with Talent Since 1999 Fri, 27 May 2011 04:20:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Josh Maher http://www.npost.com/blog/2009/02/09/seattle-startup-weekend-redux/#comment-314 Josh Maher Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:38:27 +0000 http://blog.npost.com/?p=1931#comment-314 Great insights, I definitely think the smaller teams worked better. Even at the weekend there were largish teams that needed the overhead of planning. For this type of project, the goal should be small enough that a simple shared vision/goal should be all that is needed to be successful. Sprint planning, etc is great for larger projects, but those are not weekend projects. My feedback, continue to distill the projects to the heart of what the startup is and go at it full speed. The Obey The Decider team accomplished an amazing amount of work with no late nights simply because our goal was simple and shared. We still had PR, Evangelism, Legal, developers, etc - but we all worked independantly on a shared vision reaching the end product quickly. The rest of my thoughts are here: http://joshmaher.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/thoughts-on-seattle-startup-weekend-2/ Great insights, I definitely think the smaller teams worked better. Even at the weekend there were largish teams that needed the overhead of planning. For this type of project, the goal should be small enough that a simple shared vision/goal should be all that is needed to be successful. Sprint planning, etc is great for larger projects, but those are not weekend projects.

My feedback, continue to distill the projects to the heart of what the startup is and go at it full speed. The Obey The Decider team accomplished an amazing amount of work with no late nights simply because our goal was simple and shared. We still had PR, Evangelism, Legal, developers, etc – but we all worked independantly on a shared vision reaching the end product quickly.

The rest of my thoughts are here:

http://joshmaher.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/thoughts-on-seattle-startup-weekend-2/

]]> By: Marina Martin http://www.npost.com/blog/2009/02/09/seattle-startup-weekend-redux/#comment-313 Marina Martin Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:12:57 +0000 http://blog.npost.com/?p=1931#comment-313 Great write-up, Nathan ... I concur with everything you said. My favorite anecdotes from this weekend (and last) are those of people learning an entire new programming language in a weekend. That's something they'll be able to use many times in the future, and it's a great testament to the talent of so many people in the room. The one part of the weekend that could have used improvement was the initial idea pitching and vetting. When you have so little time, spending all of Friday just pitching and voting on ideas wasn't very efficient. Luckily, KnarlyVote was created over the weekend to help make the vetting process faster in the future. Talk about seeing a problem and solving it ... that team gets major props from me. They say you shouldn't marry someone until you've seen them with the flu and have traveled with them to a foreign country, because that's when you see their true colors come out. The same idea applies to people you work with on a company (or any project) ... seeing so many teams not just succeed, but *thrive*, amidst some very significant challenges (coding with no power and no Internet is a challenge!), was incredibly inspirational, and once you've worked through obstacles like those with someone and come out on the other side, you know you can work with them on just about anything. Great write-up, Nathan … I concur with everything you said.

My favorite anecdotes from this weekend (and last) are those of people learning an entire new programming language in a weekend. That’s something they’ll be able to use many times in the future, and it’s a great testament to the talent of so many people in the room.

The one part of the weekend that could have used improvement was the initial idea pitching and vetting. When you have so little time, spending all of Friday just pitching and voting on ideas wasn’t very efficient. Luckily, KnarlyVote was created over the weekend to help make the vetting process faster in the future. Talk about seeing a problem and solving it … that team gets major props from me.

They say you shouldn’t marry someone until you’ve seen them with the flu and have traveled with them to a foreign country, because that’s when you see their true colors come out. The same idea applies to people you work with on a company (or any project) … seeing so many teams not just succeed, but *thrive*, amidst some very significant challenges (coding with no power and no Internet is a challenge!), was incredibly inspirational, and once you’ve worked through obstacles like those with someone and come out on the other side, you know you can work with them on just about anything.

]]> By: Bruce P. Henry http://www.npost.com/blog/2009/02/09/seattle-startup-weekend-redux/#comment-312 Bruce P. Henry Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:12:11 +0000 http://blog.npost.com/?p=1931#comment-312 I had some of the same reactions about small groups. They're much more nimble and the communication (at least in most of the groups) was easy and transparent. My thoughts on why some teams had trouble getting enough technical folks are on my blog at http://www.brucephenry.com/2009/02/seattle-startup-weekend-2-why-are-good.html I had some of the same reactions about small groups. They’re much more nimble and the communication (at least in most of the groups) was easy and transparent.

My thoughts on why some teams had trouble getting enough technical folks are on my blog at http://www.brucephenry.com/2009/02/seattle-startup-weekend-2-why-are-good.html

]]>