Blog
Diary of a Tech Startup Gal – April 2012
This month’s See Magazine is all about the power of compassion. It’s definitely worth your time to read. My article this month focuses on Startup Weekend. What happens during the weekend and what happens when you win! Here’s a sneak peek: “I think you guys might be the dark horse”, Chris declared on Sunday morning as he checked out my team. Turns out he was right… We won Startup Weekend. Startup Weekend is a 54-hour competition where 100 people turn ideas into companies. Here’s how it works. On...
read moreTurning 4 Pitch Tips into a Startup Weekend Winning Pitch
During the Feb 2012 LA Startup Weekend, Tyler Crowley stopped by to give us pitch tips. I thought I’d share what I wrote down because we worked hard to incorporate them into our winning pitch. Our Winning Feb 2012 LA Startup Weekend Pitch Thanks TechZulu for making this! Here are the Tips from Tyler We Tried to Follow I say tried because we didn’t get them all right. Startup Weekend is fast-paced and there’s very little time to truly polish the pitch. I only had 10 minutes to practice the demo part… The tips from...
read more7 Lessons from an LA Startup Weekend Winner (Feb 2012)
Startup Weekend… 54 hours to create a company. It happens every 6 months here in LA at Coloft. I went last time and placed fourth. All those lessons still apply. This time, I won. Woot! The full story is coming out in Dairy of a Tech Startup Gal in April so for now, here are the quick tips. #1 – Have your Wallet Ready. Tickets Sell Out in 10 Minutes. Seriously, one of my friends went to get her wallet and by the time she got back, tickets had sold out! I hear that it’s not like this at all Startup Weekends but for #SWLA it...
read moreDiary of a Tech Startup Gal – Mar 2012
It’s time for another issue of See Magazine! I just finished reading it and am so very inspired by the women featured this month. Dr. Catherine Hamlin’s created a hospital in Africa that helps women deal with something most of us could never imagine. It stole their lives, forcing them to live in shacks as outcasts. Dr. Hamlin gives them their lives back. [starts on page 4] And then there’s 16 year-old Nicole Muller’s Neighbor-4-Neighbor program has helped feed so many people in need of food right here in the USA....
read moreTreadmill Desk – 1 Month Later
It’s been a month since I setup my treadmill desk so I thought I’d share what I’ve learned so far. Setup Changes with Cost and Height Updates In the original setup, the monitors were too far away. So, I ordered a SurfShelf Treadmill Desk and Laptop Holder from Amazon and now, it’s much better. It only holds my laptop so I don’t have my second monitor. Surprisingly, I don’t miss it as much as I thought I would. With the new surf shelf, I got to take everything back to Home Depot except the shelf for my...
read moreImnica Mail API Integration – ASP.NET 4.0 C#
Ah, apis. You love them. But don’t they just suck when the documentation is awful? Yeah, welcome to Imnica Mail’s API documentation. First, the URL is wrong. The base should be http://www.imnicamail.com/v4/api.php – not what they have listed. Second, if you use the JSON result, they add a “true(” to the beginning and “)” at the end (both without quotes). Again, no where in their documentation. Third, you need the List ID, not the name. While this is mentioned, it’s confusing and sorta hard to...
read moreASP.NET MVC3 on Rackspace Cloud Sites
Launching an ASP.NET MVC3 site on Rackspace Cloud Sites has been mostly easy. Mostly. There are a few ‘gotchas’ that make it painful. There’s no need for you to waste time I’ve already spent figuring this stuff out so here’s what I’ve learned the hard way. ASP.NET 4.0 isn’t the Default You’ll see this manifest itself with an ugly configuration error when you try to visit your site. This one is easily fixed, just open a ticket or start a chat and ask them to move your site to ASP.NET 4.0. It takes them about 10 minutes if you...
read moreDiary of a Tech Startup Gal – Feb 2012
My dear friend, Lori Lewis, has created a new digital magazine, See Magazine. Its mission is ”celebrating the accomplishments and contributions of strong girls and women the world over and the pursuit of mass media reform to correct inaccurate and damaging representations of girls and women.” Check the magazine out along with “Diary of a Startup Gal”, a new monthly installment by me that covers my journey into entrepreneurship. This month is all about facing fears. It starts on page 16. I’m honored to be part...
read moreTreadmill Desk Day 1
It took almost all day, but my Treadmill Desk is complete! There are some adjustments I need to make, but overall, a fantastic first start. I’ve been walking for about 30 minutes between 1 and 1.5 mph now and haven’t really noticed. The Idea I sit all day, every day at a desk. Sometimes, I don’t even leave my apartment for days in a row. Code has a way of crawling into your brain and not letting go for hours. I’ll look at the clock and hours have passed and I haven’t moved. This alone has made me want a treadmill desk for a...
read more5 Lessons from My LA Startup Weekend Experience (Aug 2011)
It has all the makings of a great party… loud music, loud people, all the tech gear you can think of, food, beer, movies, more men than women (good for me!), frantic atmosphere, cameras, video recorders, and a whole lot of fun. But, instead of being a raging night, it was 2.5 days of everyone hustling to make the next great company. Friday Startup Weekend kicks off on Friday night with everyone pitching their ideas rapid-fire style. 60 seconds is all you have and yes, there is a timer ticking. 34 pitches later, it was time to vote. 12...
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