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jpastika | 13 years ago | on: The 18-Year Side Project: Why I Built and Sold The First Fantasy Basketball Site

"I can't say it made me the coolest kid in school, but it was fun. Don't worry, I still got chicks because I played trombone and was in advanced math." <-- I can relate (except I played trumpet)

I enjoyed reading your story. Always inspiring to see someone with a passion just go out and build something themselves. You weren't building a business you were scratching your own itch. Congratulations on the sale.

jpastika | 13 years ago | on: Sortfolio lives

Am I the only one here on HN that finds the whole 37Signals vs HN battle entertaining? DHH makes a direct (sometimes arrogant) comment, HN jumps all over him, Jason "clarifies", and HN hugs Jason. DHH and Jason seem to have contrasting personalities which is probably an important contributing factor to their success. DHH says what he thinks, whether we agree with him or not isn't the point. Jason calms the storm. I'm happy for the Sortfolio customers who see value in the service continuing. I'm also glad that 37Signals shared at least some of the details behind the sale and the process. But most of all, I'm entertained!

jpastika | 13 years ago | on: When startups compete, no one wins

I'm having a difficult time getting past the image that the author wants startups to sit around a campfire and hold hands chanting "we're all in this together". That is not the reality of business. Today it seems that the entrepreneurial spirit is being watered down, because it is considered "ok" to create a service with no monetization strategy or goal and simply hope for an acquisition. I believe competition breeds innovation as well as better businesses. It isn't about startup vs startup, it's about business vs business. Personally, I'm not building a company to see how many "friends" I can make (and subsequently share random thoughts and photos with). That being said, I do agree with the author's sentiment that in business relationships, just as in personal relationships, we have the opportunity/choice to do the right thing even when it doesn't necessarily make the most business sense.

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Google SketchUp and Team Being Acquired by Trimble

Actually, Trimble's focus is not on consumer GPS, it is on machine control (heavy equipment GPS guidance), survey, and build construction. I'm familiar with the machine control hardware through my involvement with a Trimble distributor. The accuracy, especially vertical, achieved through Trimble's machine control is incredible. However, that accuracy is only achieved through the use of a static "base" and mobile (attached to machinery i.e. bulldozer) "rovers".

I do agree that the technology has become much cheaper over the last 10 years, while Trimble's pricing has not fallen at the same rate.

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Google SketchUp and Team Being Acquired by Trimble

I wouldn't expect much in the way of improvements (read additional functionality) because of the acquisition. Google is a company for the masses, Trimble is sector and market specific. The only changes I would expect for a while are integrations with Trimble's current software and hardware.

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Google SketchUp and Team Being Acquired by Trimble

I have worked with a Trimble distributor for many years, and find this acquisition interesting. Over the last few years Trimble, traditionally a hardware company, has been acquiring various software companies. Internally, they are developing a virtual jobsite platform and I can see SketchUp fitting in with their other BIM technologies. Saying that though, I think the real motivation here is a talent acquisition.

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: How I Tricked Myself Into Being Awesome

Congratulations, you are awesome! Not only did you accomplish your goal, but you have tangible evidence of your achievement. Your name is on the cover of three books, and no one can ever take that away. So what now? Does the bar get raised. Are you saying to yourself "Wow, I can't believe I did that, what else can I do?" The difference between success and failure is ambition. You sir have tapped into your inner ambition. Harness it, focus it and you are unstoppable. You've inspired me. Thank you!

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Getting to 'No'

I recently began experiencing and practicing exactly what this post describes. The startup I co-founded began receiving leads and of course not all leads are a good fit for our product. I'm a developer and have never been in a sales role previously, but when you are the only salaried employee and a co-founder, you do what needs to be done. So I've been following up with the leads and in a five minute conversation it becomes clear if our solution is the best solution. When I started, I made the mistake of trying to convince everyone that our product could do everything they wanted. Then I realized this tactic was not only exhausting, but ultimately would lead to dissatisfied, short-term customers. Once I made the switch to using the same techniques the OP describes, not only was the sales process far less stressful, but I found myself enjoying talking to people and just trying to help them. If our solution is a good fit, great, but if it isn't, I'm not going to BS you. I have been thanked over and over for being transparent and honest, something people apparently aren't generally used to when dealing with sales people. At the end of the day I'd much rather be a helpful person than a sales person.

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: .NET: So long and thanks for all the fish

Two years ago I began developing a large web application and I had to choose a language and stack. Having built applications on .NET and PHP most recently, I knew I could fall back on either and be safe. I decided to investigate RoR and .NET MVC. For whatever reason, RoR felt strange and I knew it would have a steeper learning curve initially, but probably be more efficient to develop with in the long run. On the other hand, .NET MVC felt a bit more familiar, and had many attractive qualities that "appeared" to mimic RoR. I went with .NET MVC. Now 2 years later I find myself spending my day job in .NET MVC and my side projects are all RoR. I found that .NET MVC was a great bridge from regular .NET to RoR. I am frustrated that I didn't pursue RoR harder 2 years ago, but hind sight is 20/20. I am extremely happy to be working on side projects in RoR because honestly it is more fun. Don't get me wrong, RoR isn't all roses, I'm just finding fewer weeds!

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Why LightSquared cannot deploy LTE

Interference Studies: http://saveourgps.org/interference-studies.aspx

I am by no means an expert on the technical reasons for the interference with GPS, however, I work in the heavy highway construction industry and LightSquared's use of the spectrum is of real concern. The level of accuracy of current GPS guidance systems for construction equipment is astounding and enables significant improvements in job productivity over conventional practices.

I hope the truth and or a solution is discovered, as I do like the idea behind LightSquared and would use the service if available.

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Coding Horror: Separating Programming Sheep from Non-Programming Goats

Similarly, my first exposure to programming was in a high school AP (advanced placement/college credit) class taught by a math teacher. The teacher would give us an assignment and then leave the room for the rest of the period. As a group we would come up with an answer in about 5 minutes and then spend the rest of the time playing games on the class computers. His teaching method wasn't exactly effective for me, and needless to say I didn't learn a whole lot. I ended up getting a 1 (on a scale of 1-5, 1 being terrible) on the exam. The way I ended up learning and becoming infatuated with programming was with my TI-82 calculator. By trial and error I would write programs for games, class notes (hi-tech cheat sheets) and animations. In college I began taking "real" programming classes, but found the teaching to be both dated and lacking real-world application. I kept learning through side projects though and now, 12 years later, I realize that in this vocation, there is never an end to learning and that people can learn in so many different ways.

I think the misconception some teachers have is that if a student is struggling, he or she is either incapable of learning the material or just not trying. The reality is that it could just be a reflection of how effective the teacher's methods are for that particular student.

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