Mindbloom’s Chris Hewett on the startup rat race and how to work smarter

mindbloom222

Veteran game designer Chris Hewett and his team at Mindbloom want to make sure you are living your healthiest, happiest life. Though he was once no stranger to the hectic schedule and eighty-hour work weeks common in the tech startup space, Chris took a step back and decided it was time for a change. Now,… Read More…

Commentary: A press release isn’t a partnership

Photo: Zach Taylor

Let’s get one thing clear: Supporting partners and clients via participation in case studies, white papers, events, press, and social media is just good business. But, what really matters, happens outside of the trade press and punditry spotlight. It’s the legwork conducted over countless emails, IM’s, calls and working lunches between the actual “doers” on… Read More…

Blue Gecko co-founder Chuck Edwards on bootstrapping and focusing on customers

nextcast-77

Life as an accountant wasn’t quite enough for Chuck Edwards, so when he was given the opportunity to learn Oracle and grow his database skills, he jumped at it. Now he’s at the forefront of data management after spending 12 years growing his own startup, Blue Gecko. What did he learn along the way? It’s… Read More…

Startup lessons from the ‘Tough Mudder’ race

The GeekWire Mudders celebrate after the race. Members: Russell Benaroya, Mike Curry, Loren Curtis, Guenna Curtis, Kyle Davis, Rob Hanlon, Joe Heitzeberg, Mandy Lane, Joshua Lane, Adam Loving, Chris Lynch, Kevin Nakao, Charla Neuman, David Nui, Will O'Brien, Chrisann Rauschenbach, Carlos Rodriguez, Nora Schneyer, Matt Shobe, Bob Thordarson, Peter van Wesep, David Wickwire, Adrian Burton and David Aronchick.

A few months ago, Media Piston founder Joe Heitzeberg and I had the crazy idea to assemble a team to run in last Saturday’s Tough Mudder race, an 11+ mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces. It is billed as “probably the toughest event on the planet.”  You scale walls and ropes, slog around in pungent mud,… Read More…

Ironman entrepreneur Ron Erickson on patience, persistence and luck

erickson1

Some Nextcast guests have seen it all, and Ron Erickson is among them. Starting out in public policy and law, Erickson made waves in a few fields (including selling zucchini squash at the age of six) before settling in technology and entrepreneurship. Now, the former Egghead, eCharge and Blue Frog Mobile executive is leading the team at… Read More…

Driverless cars: Looking under the legislation’s hood

hood

So driverless cars are to be street legal in California! I thought it would be fun to look “under the hood,” so to speak, at the text of the legislation that Governor Jerry Brown signed this week, California Senate Bill 1298. At the outset, we should note that the new law doesn’t exactly legalize the widespread… Read More…

Facebook: The personalization engine for all of the Web

facebook-opengraph1

Facebook and its third-party applications today know a hell of a lot about each us: what content we read (Washington Post Social Reader); what music we listen to (Spotify); what movies we watch (Netflix). Facebook opened up a green field for the game creators, too: games with friends are just so much more engaging. However,… Read More…

No borders: Space heroes join together for epic night

aldrin

They were all up on stage when the cosmonaut Valery Kubasov was introduced. With a lapel full of medals he strode across stage. As he walked past Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell, and almost every other living American space hero, the Soviet anthem blared out over the audience. Soyuz nyerushimyy respublik svobodnykh / Splotila naveki Velikaia Rus. I wasn’t… Read More…

Q&A: Wikispeed’s Joe Justice on inventing, innovating and executing at lean startups

justice-joe1

Joe Justice knew from a young age that he wanted to get involved in technology and change the world (he even found a childhood diary entry to prove it!). Now he and his team at Wikispeed are taking on some of the biggest challenges in the automotive industry and playing by their own rules, using… Read More…

Big shift for Microsoft’s Forefront security products: RIP ISA Server

Microsoft_Forefront_Logoxx

Today Microsoft announced “Important Changes to Forefront Product Roadmaps.” Product roadmap update announcements often aren’t terribly interesting, but oftentimes the bland naming hides the full scope of what’s really happening. Today is no exception. Microsoft is making a rather dramatic change in its server security offerings, signaling a narrowing and shift in focus and bidding goodbye to nearly all… Read More…