August 12, 2008

SXSW Panel Picker is up - cast your vote!

Sxsw09_iconEvery year, SXSW puts up all of the great panel submissions and lets the community vote on which ones are best. They combine this data with their own advisory panel and staff to select the final panels.

At the very minimum, please show your support for me and OtherInbox by clicking here and
PLEASE VOTE 5 STARS FOR THESE 4 PANELS
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http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/index/3/company:otherinbox

Here is a list of all the panels I'm involved in, of course I'd recommend them all!

Don't Declare Email Bankruptcy! Take Control of Your Inbox.
Joshua Baer, OtherInbox.com

Your inbox is overflowing with spam, bacn, ham, email lists, Bcc's, and even a few emails that you actually want to respond to. Learn about new tools to help protect you from spam, prioritize your inbox, and save you time. Don't be a slave to your inbox!
Should I Build my Startup on Ruby on Rails? Joshua Baer, OtherInbox.com
You've heard Ruby on Rails is the hottest new technology for developing web applications. You've also heard of concerns about scalability and hiring talent. How do you separate the facts from the hype? Hear the business perspective on why to consider Ruby on Rails now and why you might want to wait and see. Get ready for a head-to-head comparison with PHP, Java and .NET!
Hackproofing Ruby-on-Rails Web Applications Mike Subelsky, OtherInbox.com
Ruby-on-Rails makes building web applications deceptively simple, and for most Rails startups, security is usually an afterthought. Through a live coding demonstration, I will demonstrate how thinking from the attacker's perspective can help you protect sensitive data and avoid the pain of a hacking incident.
Scaling Ruby-on-Rails Using Cloud Computing Mike Subelsky, OtherInbox.com
Skeptics argue that Ruby-on-Rails "can't scale". In this talk, I prove them wrong by demonstrating how cloud computing technologies have changed the game, enabling developers to use the expressiveness of Ruby and Rails to build high-performance applications that scale easily. Will include a case study and live scaling demonstration.
Email Deliverability Secrets from Deliverability.com Dennis Dayman, Eloqua & Joshua Baer, Datran Media
Okay so you have read all the white papers about email deliverability and you've got the basics covered - but some of your email still goes to the spam folder. Learn about advanced techniques for segmenting by IP address, building your email reputation, removing spamtraps, and more. Find out how to get your problems priority access from ISPs like Hotmail or Yahoo. Plus we'll take 3 volunteers from the audience and help to diagnose your deliverability challenges on the spot!
Spend More & Pay Less: How to Create a Great Company Culture Brett Hurt, Bazaarvoice & Joshua Baer, OtherInbox.com
Learn from successful entrepreneurs the do's and don'ts of building a company culture. Take home a list of specific ideas you can implement to make your employees perform better and increase their loyalty. What's the rationale behind providing free drinks, catered meals or free cab rides? How much strategy and financial information is appropriate to share with the entire company? Can employees work from home? How do you celebrate your successes? Find out what really works and what is just a waste of time and money.
Hire an Employee, Hire a Local Contractor, or Outsource it Overseas? Steve Bell, ShangBy.com & Joshua Baer, OtherInbox.com
Should you hire employees in-house, work with local contractors, or outsource overseas? Learn the overall pros and cons as well as the specific exceptions. Hear personal success stories and horror stories from entrepreneurs who have extensive experience building products in-house and overseas. At the end, we'll take specific examples from the crowd and give recommendations on how to proceed and who to work with.
So You Want to be an Angel Investor? Hall T. Martin, Central Texas Angel Network & Joshua Baer, Austinpreneur
Wishing you were an early investor in Facebook? Have some extra cash? Or maybe you just love talking to startups? Whatever your reason is, Angel Investing can be fun and financially rewarding. As software and hardware costs go down, many startups don't need as much money and Angel investors become more attractive than venture capitalists. Hear from a panel of experienced Angels to learn basic strategy, evaluate opportunities, negotiate terms and find other investors to partner with.
The New Inbox Mark Schmulen, NutshellMail & Joshua Baer, OtherInbox.com
Everyone knows that email is the killer app. But we get so much email that we're in danger of information overload - and its only going to get worse. New paradigms for email are evolving to help prioritize the email you want and ignore the email you don't want. Hear from the innovators in Inbox management about what to expect in the years to come.
Bootstrap Your Startup Bijoy Goswami, bijoygoswami.com & Joshua Baer, OtherInbox.com
Dell, Oracle, Microsoft and Virgin were bootstrap companies that were able to get started without raising traditional venture capital. Bootstrapping is not just capital efficient, it has many other positive influences on your business and your potential to profit from its success. Learn why you should consider the bootstrap method and ask questions of a successful bootstrap entrepreneur.
And here are some other friends doing panels that are also worth voting for:

Widgets and Mashups - Enablers or Risky Business?
David Altounian, iTaggit Inc.

Time-to-market demands on web developers are leading to the creation of widgets, mashups, and embed code to add functionality to sites. This panel will explore the options, benefits, and risks of using third party sites and modules.
Dancing With Zombies: Monetizing the 'Old Media' Graveyard Matt Cohen, OneSpot
With online content exploding, the “old media” deathwatch has become a popular spectator sport. But with large financial war chests, millions of readers, and a burning need to re-invent their business models, big media brands aren’t joining the departed anytime soon. They’re just turning into something new. This panel will contemplate the old media metamorphosis and discuss why these brands will offer substantial syndication and revenue opportunities to third party online publishers in the years ahead.
Blog Revenue Strategies for the Web Discovery Era Matt Cohen, OneSpot
What will it mean to be a professional blogger three years from now? As the Web becomes more intelligent, bloggers must be prepared to evolve their publishing, syndication and monetization strategies. A better collective understanding of individual consumers, “smarter” content aggregation tools and new models for content distribution will transform the current landscape, creating new opportunities for market leadership and revenue generation. This panel will examine the major trends at work, and dig deeply into these new opportunities for the online publisher.
PR for Pirates Jeremy Bencken, BuzzStream
Doing your own PR? How to use the latest tools and techniques for finding the right bloggers & reporters, researching their contact info, writing a great pitch, and conducting highly personalized outreach, without making it your full-time job.
The Whole Business Web - Making the Shift Jon Lebkowsky, Social Web Strategies
The accelerating emergence of Web 2.0 and the new converged digital social media enables business to move all its processes, not just sales/marketing/PR, out of the deep-hierarchy low-velocity world of conventional mass-based operations, up into the high-knowledge high-velocity network structures of the Web, creating a whole new platform in which the old tradeoffs of quality vs. speed vs. cost no longer apply. This panel explores how the Whole Business Web is emerging, and how you can make the shift now.
Making Green Visible Jon Lebkowsky, Social Web Strategies
Sustainability requires informed buyers. The accelerating convergence of real and virtual is opening vast new potentials for us to make the “green” visible in every purchase by increasing the interaction between the product and the buyer, making the product’s true history and composition transparent. This panel explores these trends and the globally emerging new technologies and businesses working to make this happen.
Showtime -- Bringing the Co-Web to a Screen Near You! Andrew Donoho, IBM
The Co-Web, the collaborative, media converged web, is upon us. Showtime uses Web 2.0 technologies (OpenAJAX, XMPP and RTP/RTSP) to build a Co-Web page where we all interact on the same data at the same time, see the same context and make better decisions as a result.
Measuring the Health of Your Online Community: Metrics That Don't Suck Miles Sims, Small World Labs
There is a lot of buzz today around measuring & defining community health. This panel will focus on the right way to work WITH your community to measure success and make sure value is being provided for both sides.
In the Cloud: Massively Parallel Computing for Everyone Mason Hale, OneSpot
"Machine learning" once implied PhD's and racks of servers. No more. With projects like EC2, Hadoop and Mahout, and accessible texts lining bookstore shelves, advanced distributed computing techniques are going mainstream. After introducing the basics of map/reduce and collaborative filtering we will ponder the possibilities of web-scale computing for everyone.
Martha Stewart-izing Your Site with Rich Complementary Content Steve Waters, OneSpot
Recipe for Vertical Media Destination Site: Place high volumes of exceptional content in bowl. Add 2 cups of affinity focus. Stir in 1 cup of SEO flavoring for richness. Bake at 500 degrees all day. Serve hot. Repeat indefinitely. Until now, only fabulously wealthy master chefs could make this dish, because only they could afford the staff and tools necessary for its successful creation. This panel will explore the emerging content syndication trends and technologies that are allowing the rest of us to turn our humble sites into vertical media destinations. Felony conviction not included.
Lessons Learned from the Open Source Software Neelan Choksi, SpringSource
Open Source Software, once considered revolutionary, has increasingly been accepted as mainstream. In this panel of some of the most experienced open source leaders and analysts, we will explore what has made open source successful and what lessons all businesses can learn from this paradigm shifting technology.

Making Money with Royalties and Revenue Share Agreements
Lou Ellman, RoyaltyZone

Technology companies often enter licensing or partnership agreements to target new markets and increase revenue. The panel will discuss common licensing agreement strategies, keys for success, and effective ways for companies to track and monitor agreement performance.

August 11, 2008

Ceasar Chavez goes both ways

I'm looking forward to taking Ceasar Chavez all the way home today, rather than routing around it as I have always had to do in the past. It was always such a pain to get over to the west side from the convention center. If you drive through downtown on your commute, please add your comments below and let me know what you think of the new traffic pattern.

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July 21, 2008

2 free VIP tickets to Steve Almaraz Boxing Match at Austin Music Hall on Saturday, July 26

5450jpeg300ONE NIGHT, ONE TITLE - STEVE ALMARAZ

Saturday, July 26
Doors/Bar @ 7 pm | Event @ 7:30 pm
Austin Music Hall

Tower Club VIP Tickets include:

  • Free Valet Parking
  • Reserved seating in Tower Club VIP section
  • Drink service in your seats
  • Tower Club VIP Bar
  • Tower Club VIP Bathrooms
  • Tower Club VIP Balcony

Note that these seats have VIP service but are located up high above the ring, not ringside.

2 tickets available.
Email tickets2008@austinpreneur.com if you'd like them
Sorry the tickets have been claimed. Have fun Jim!

July 12, 2008

Come learn Ruby on Rails on August 2nd

Rails Bootup

If you've been hearing about Ruby on Rails and wondering what all the fuss is about, come spend a Saturday learning Ruby on Rails with a group of experienced Rails developers as your guide. The program will outline the major pieces of Rails and dellve into the practial aspects of building web applications with the framework. Hands-on work on your own laptop will be encouraged during the work session.

Major topics will include:

  • Some Ruby Basics
  • Broad Rails Overview
  • Building a Rails Application From the Ground Up
  • Active Record Models and Database Migrations
  • Views, Controllers, and Helpers: A Guided Tour
  • Application Deployment with Capistrano 2
  • App Lab

We'll be hosting the event on August 2nd from 10am to 5pm at the Datran Media and OtherInbox offices. Space is limited so reserve your spot today!

Austin on Rails meeting Tuesday July 22nd

Ruby_on_rails_logo_3On Tuesday, July 22nd we'll be hosting the Austin On Rails monthly meeting at the Datran Media and OtherInbox offices (fourth Tuesday of every month, 8th floor of the Omni Hotel at 7th and Brazos downtown). The meeting runs from 7pm - 9pm and then everyone heads to a bar for drinks after. Datran Media provides free drinks and pizza!

Topics for this month include...

Lightning Talks!
For our first segment this month, we are going to open up the floor for lightning talks, so please start thinking about what you would like to share now. We'll allow for 5 minutes or so per speaker, but no more than 10, and we'll fit in as many as we can. Good ideas for a talk might be a tool or technique you've learned recently, a new Rails project you've developed, a brief tutorial on a process or library you've found helpful. Etc! Should be fun.

Merb: The "Came for Rails, Stayed for Ruby" Framework
Merb is the pocket rocket framework that's creating buzz in the Rails community. Merb is fast. Merb is modular. Merb is efficient. And Merb might be the best choice for your next project. And it might not.

This presentation will provide an overview of the philosophy behind Merb, the 0.9 rewrite, where Merb is headed, and how it can compliment Rails. We will quickly dive into checking out Merb's internals, a few Merb plugins, and how you can get involved in the Merb project. Merb is a great example of a ruby project done right, and we'll highlight a few features that Merb knocks out of the park while helping your determine if merb is right for you.

Brian & Ben are partners in software consultancy specializing in Django, Rails, and Merb development. The team has closely followed the progress of both Merb and DataMapper since their respective 0.9 rewrites, contributing to the projects whenever possible. Since April 2008, they have been using Merb + DataMapper on new client applications.

Otherinbox_logo_small

Also, OtherInbox is hiring Ruby on Rails developers, so if you're interested in learning more please come to the meeting and find me!

June 23, 2008

Austin On Rails meeting Tuesday June 24th

On Tuesday, June 24th we'll be hosting the Austin On Rails monthly meeting at the Datran Media and OtherInbox offices (fourth Tuesday of every month, 8th floor of the Omni Hotel at 7th and Brazos downtown). The meeting runs from 7pm - 9pm and then everyone heads to a bar for drinks after. Datran Media provides free drinks and pizza!

Topics for this month include...

Client-Side Performance Measurement & Optimization
by Eric Falcao
Performance optimization tends to focus on topics like database tuning or server-side caching with the goal of getting response times as low as possible. A recent trend in client side optimization has been found to provide huge performance improvements to the user's experience.

In this talk, we will explore how to best measure the client-side download time and look at how to implement best practices (from O'Reilly's High Performance Web Sites) using a mongrel/rails/nginx stack.

Eric Falcao is a software developer at FiveRuns who has a passion for Internet startups and the business of software. Formerly of the .NET world, Eric is glad to be a part of the Ruby and Rails community and an advocate for the great startup climate in Austin. He blogs at http://austinentrepreneur.wordpress.com.

What's Coming in Rails 2.1?
by Steven Smith
Rails 2.1 was announced at this year's Rails Conference and had 1,400 contributors which resulted in 1,600+ patches. A lot has been done since the release of 2.0, which occurred approximately six months ago. This session will cover the major new features of Rails 2.1 including UTC-based migrations, better timezone support, and better caching.

Steven Smith is the Vice President of Engineering and co-founder at OtherInbox. He also founded FiveRuns, a venture-backed start up with the goal of bringing a simpler, smarter solution to the Ruby on Rails monitoring and management marketplace. Prior to FiveRuns, Steven was the CTO of Tonic Software and SVP of R&D at Neon Systems. He was also Founder and CEO of Relational Development, Inc., a software company specializing in System Management solutions from 1991 to 1998.

Also, OtherInbox is hiring Ruby on Rails developers, so if you're interested in learning more please come to the meeting and find me!

June 18, 2008

Support your local PBS station!

Nice WSJ hits for Chirp and Minggl

ChirpMinggl

Congratulations to Eve Philips at Chirp (Trilogy University 99) and Dewey Gaedcke from Minggl (Austin-based startup) for getting mentioned in a recent Wall Street Journal article about social aggregators. Christopher Lawton interviewed me for this article as well but none of my comments made it in.

June 16, 2008

Learn about private-label social networks at the Social Media Club meeting this Thursday

On Thursday June 19 we're hosting the Austin Social Media Club meeting at the Datran Media and OtherInbox offices (third Thursday of every month, 8th floor of the Omni Hotel at 7th and Brazos downtown).

Sam Eder from Small World Labs will be talking about private-label social networks:

You’ve all heard of FaceBook and MySpace, but do you realize that there are social networks springing up all around you? Sam Eder from Small World Labs will be presenting the landscape of private-label social networks and case studies of how companies have created their own social networks to increase customer retention and attract new customers.

I'm looking to hire a product manager in the social media space for Datran Media as well as Facebook app developers for Datran Media and OtherInbox. If you know of anyone who might be a good fit, please encourage them to attend and introduce themselves to me.

June 08, 2008

Thank you for an amazing evening

Thank you to all the friends and family who turned out for the party! It was an evening that I won't ever forget - everything I had hoped for and more. I can't imagine anything that could compare to being surrounded by so many people I love.

Thank you to Sarah and Cindy at Red Velvet Events, Toddy B, the Southern Sirens, the Grove, and the Four Seasons!

And of course thank you to my beautiful bride for making it all happen!

June 02, 2008

Join me at Interactive Austin on June 19

Logo_skyline

I'll be speaking on a panel at 11:00am called "Managing Your Digital Landscape: Success Stories" along with
Andy Meadows, CEO, Live Oak 360; Tony Schum, Director of Economic Development, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce; and Sam Decker, CMO, BazaarVoice.

Looks like a great lineup with lots of good friends participating including Dave Evans, Bill Leake, Jon Lebkowsky, Lorin Rivers and Michael Wilson.

My personal portfolio of companies is well represented! BazaarVoice, Datran Media, OneSpot and Small World Labs.

May 29, 2008

Get in line at The Grove

I went by The Grove last night to pick up some takeout at 6:30 and it was packed as usual! While I was there I bumped into Bill Leake having a glass of vino at the bar.

Img_0350Img_0349

If you haven't been there yet, The Grove is a wine bar and restaurant opened by Reed Clemons and Beth Lasita over on Bee Cave Road, just west of 360 and across from The County Line. Reed has been doing restaurants in Austin for years, including Mezzaluna, The Bitter End, The Granite Cafe, Hangtown Grill, Reed's Supper Club and more. I was fortunate to get involved as an investor!

Besides having great food, great wine, and great service, The Grove has an incredible deck under a massive tree that makes it the place to be on a summer evening or weekend morning. We'll be opening a coffee shop next door soon!

May 21, 2008

Great Greenling story on FOX 7

There is a great story on Greenling Organic Delivery on FOX 7. I'm an investor in Greenling and on the board of directors. And I'm a happy customer!

Texchange dinner tonight - "The New VC Math: Does Less = More?"

Texchange
Tonight I'll be leading a table discussion at the Texchange dinner with topic:
The New VC Math: Does Less = More?

With hardware costs dropping and open source software booming, the capital requirements of most Internet business are also dropping. Sounds like bootstrapping to me!

Panelists

Moderator:
Charley Dean – Principal, Silverton Partners

Panelists:
Brett Hurt – Founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice
Mike Maples – Founder and Managing Partner, Maples Investments
Bill Wood – Founder, Silverton Partners


Discussion Leaders

Joshua Baer – Founder & CEO, OtherInbox
Tom Ball – Partner, Austin Ventures
William Chan – VP Products & Co-founder, Crimson Services
Matt Chasen – Founder & CEO, uShip
Morgan Flager – Silverton Partners
Scott Gardner – CFO, Metrosol
Jason Reneau – Founder & CEO, Mindbites
Michael Wilson – Founder & CEO, SmallWorldLabs
Jim Yang – Founder & CEO, Identyx

May 20, 2008

Austin on Rails meeting Tuesday May 27th

On Tuesday, May 27th we'll be hosting the Austin On Rails monthly meeting at the Datran Media and OtherInbox offices (fourth Tuesday of every month, 8th floor of the Omni Hotel at 7th and Brazos downtown). The meeting runs from 7pm - 9pm and then everyone heads to a bar for drinks after. Datran Media provides free drinks and pizza!

Topics for this month include...

ORM Deathmatch!
by Mike Perham
ActiveRecord isn't the only game in town when it comes time to access your database with Ruby. We'll take ActiveRecord, DataMapper and Sequel, put them in a steel cage match to the death and see who emerges victorious. Attendees in the first three rows might get bloody so bring a poncho.

Sinatra - a Tiny Ruby Web Framework
by Damon Clinkscales
There are times when Rails seems like massive overkill, but you would still like to use Ruby goodness. This is especially true when your entire web site idea can be contained inside one file. We'll take a look at the features of Sinatra and play around with a sample application based upon it.

Also, OtherInbox is hiring Ruby on Rails developers, so if you're interested in learning more please come to the meeting and find me!

May 19, 2008

Austin blogs the mostest

We all know Austin is cool, but it turns out that Austin is the bloggiest, most tech-savvy, early-adopting city in the country. More likely to own a PDA, a DVR and yes, to blog!

May 15, 2008

Austin Social Media Club meeting - 60+ attendees!

Tonight we hosted the Austin Social Media Club meeting at the Datran Media and OtherInbox offices. More than 60 people showed up to hear Jon Lebkowsky and David Armistad discuss "The Headless Organization". It was an engaging discussion and I found it particularly relevant to the MailThink conference I'm organizing in September.

Img_0337Img_0336

May 14, 2008

Austin Rice Alliance Start-up Mentoring Workshop

Rice Alliance

On Saturday I'll be participating for the second time in the Austin Rice Alliance Start-up Mentoring Workshop.

Last year this was a lot of fun and I got to meet Jeremy Bencken and learn about ApartmentRatings.com and TenantMarket.com. It wasn't long before he sold them to InternetBrands!

In addition to mentoring, Bijoy asked me to give the Bootstrap presentation to the group. I've probably seen Bijoy give it 20 times, so I feel like I could already repeat it by heart - but I'm looking forward to adding my own twist to it!

You can view or download the slides from my presentation here.

Read this doc on Scribd: Bootstrap Rice Alliance 20080517

Joshua Baer speaking2008@joshuabaer.com http://www.austinpreneur.com/ Definiton: boot·strap Definiton: boot·strap noun 1. a loop of leather or cloth sewn at the top rear, or sometimes on each side, of a boot to facilitate pulling it on. Dictionary.com
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2006. Definiton: boot·strap noun 2. a means of advancing oneself or accomplishing something: He used his business experience as a bootstrap to win voters. Dictionary.com
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2006. Definiton: boot·strap adjective 3. relying entirely on one's efforts and resources: The business was a bootstrap operation for the first ten years. Dictionary.com
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2006. Definiton: boot·strap adjective 4. self-generating or self-sustaining: a bootstrap process. Dictionary.com
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2006. Definiton: boot·strap verb 5. to help (oneself) without the aid of others: She spent years bootstrapping herself through college. Dictionary.com
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2006. Definiton: boot·strap verb 6. to create a company by use of one's own initiative and work without reliance on outside investment Dictionary.com
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2006. It’s worked before It worked for me D L O S D L O S How about you? Right Action, Right Time Use what you don’t have Demo, Sell, Build (demo - maven) Ideation • Don’t quit your day job • The Human Fabric • The Power of Two • Build the best demo you can • Prepare for the Valley of Death Valley of Death (sell - evangelist) • Take the plunge • Find customers • Fail quickly • Figure out your model • Necessity is the mother of invention! (build - relater) Growth • Time to fix everything that’s broken • Focus on the organization • Focus on recruiting • Most founders get bored • Time to raise capital? Repeat the Cycle Capital Agile Resources • Bootstrap Austin Community http://www.bootstrap.org/playbook • Bootstrap Austin Meetings http://www.bootstrap.org/meetings • Bootstrap Austin Blog http://www.bootstrapaustin.org/ • My blog http://www.austinpreneur.com/ Joshua Baer speaking2008@joshuabaer.com http://www.austinpreneur.com/

May 06, 2008

Is Austin recession-proof?

Forbes thinks that Austin is recession-proof. I'm not an economics expert, but their reasoning makes sense to me and things still feel very strong.Austin

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