Demasiados emails? Inbox Zero es la solución definitiva

Hace unos tres meses empecé a usar la metodología "inbox zero" y desde entonces mi bandeja de entrada ha dejado de agobiarme. Si tienes permanentemente una montaña de correos es tu solución, pruebablo un par de dias


Google Tech Talks July 23, 2007 ABSTRACT Merlin Mann, a well known productivity guru and creator of the popular 43 folders website will talk about Getting Things Done, the importance of getting your inbox to zero, and strategies for dealing with high volume email. 

You can down­load a PDF of the slides for the pre­sen­ta­tion and can watch the video of the talk plus Q&A right here.

Ojo navidad

Definitivamente la mejor felicitación que he visto esta temporada



Via Feld Thoughts

Chris "Lockergnome" Pirillo en #leweb

Interesante keynote con un montón de frases lapidarias, incluyendo

"You have a bigger problem if no one steals your book than if they do, because if no one steals it, it aint worth stealing"

-Chris Pirillo

Steve Johnson on Product Management and Agile

Impresionante video recomendado por Angel Medinilla que llevaba un mes o dos buscando un rato para ver




Via Presion Blogosferica

Steve Wozniak: How I designed the personal computer

Via HackerNews

Experience (Dilbert)

Fuck Google, Ask me!

Hay días que no te queda claro si llevabas la ropa adecuada al salir de casa...



Para aquellos que esteis más interesados que el editor de Veo7, la segunda frase acababa con "...como aquellos por reconocer, como la neutralidad de la red y el acceso universal, que considero esenciales para nuestro desarrollo"

Cuatro años de "La Palabra Harry???"

Se acerca el momento del balance anual y debido al tiempo dedicado a mis actualizaciones en Twitter y posts en los blogs de Okuri, Tetuan Valley y Akaimedia la verdad es que no he tenido tiempo para escribir en este blog todo lo que quería

Lo que si he estrenado hace poco es un dominio en el que integro mis publicaciones, incluyendo las mencionadas en el párrafo anterior, enlaces sobre negocios y tecnología que referencio en delicious / slideshare y fotos que comparto a través de flickr. Aquellos que no useis las diversas herramientas de forma habitual podeis encontrar luisriverag.com de utilidad para seguir mi actividad en las distintas redes

En cualquier caso hago proposito de enmienda para la quinta temporada, todos los que llevais años visitando estas páginas lo mereceis ;)


Saludos

luisriverag

La prensa tradicional tambien escribe sobre Tetuan Valley y Okuri Ventures

A pesar de mis comentarios del último post parece que la prensa escrita nacional tambien empieza a mostrar su interés por el proyecto, muchas gracias a los respectivos autores


Tetuan Valley arranca su escuela de 'start-ups' con diez proyectos TIC en Cincodias.com (Santiago Millán, Cinco Días)


El proyecto Tetuan Valley catapulta emprendedores tecnológicos al mercado (El Correo Gallego)


 

Artículos publicados sobre Okuri Spaces y Tetuan Valley

Durante los últimos meses en Okuri Ventures hemos recibido un par de llamadas de periódicos de tirada nacional ofreciendo media página describiendo nuestros servicios por unos 2000-3000 Euros para "cubrir el gasto del soporte".

Debo confesar que nos lo pensamos... unos 30 segundos. Pagar a una agencia de comunicación puede ser defendible, pero una nota de prensa-publireportaje colada como noticia legítima queda feo (por no entrar en que se nota).

Este mes he recordado aquellas llamadas y me ha venido a la cabeza el anuncio de Mastercard (aquel de "hay cosas que el dinero no puede comprar") cuando he leido estos cuatro posts que debo confesar están siendo una dura prueba para mi ego. Muchas gracias a los respectivos autores por vuestro apoyo. Y, sobre todo, muchísimas gracias a Marina Zaliznyak por considerarnos dignos de aparecer Techcrunch; supongo entenderás el honor que supone para todo geek

Oficinas compartidas a partir de 125 euros en Madrid 
(Remo, Pymesyautonomos.com)

Tetuan Startup School: formación gratuita para emprendedores   
(Oliver Carreira, Pymesyautonomos.com)

Tetuan Valley. Perdón... @TetuanValley
(Ángel Medinilla, Presión Blogosférica)

Why are there not more Spanish startups? OkuriSpaces aim to change that
(Marina Zaliznyak, Techcrunch)

Twitter (Dilbert de hace unos días)

A walk through TetuanValley

Acabo de terminar de subir mis fotos del photowalk a través de Tetuan Valley de ayer. Incluso estando tan cerca a veces se nos olvida lo rápido que está cambiando el barrio y lo mucho que le queda por cambiar



Los demás participantes están añadiendo las suyas al grupo de Flickr, haremos un post con ellas en el blog de TetuanValley próximamente

Anyclip propone solución para indexar videos

Finalmente una manera razonable de buscar escenas en películas:

AnyClip, a startup that launched at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco today, is a service that purports to let you find any moment from any film every made.
 

It’s a tall order. AnyClip says it searches through all the publicly available video on the web. It doesn’t use speech-to-text technology. Instead it relies on movie buffs to tag and sort their favorite moments through the ClipIt platform - the Mechanical Turk approach to product development. Users can create metadata that AnyClip uses to sort through video.

Videos in AnyClips’ database have on average about 500 tags, the company said. Like most startups, AnyClip also wants to become a platform, by releasing a public application programming interface today. AnyClip plans to make money through advertising deals that will run on AnyClip, and by routing users to buy DVDs and taking a cut of the sale.

Visto en post de Venturebeat sobre Techcrunch50

Se acabó el cachondeo

Tocaba volver, aunque no descarto mudarme a Ko-Chang permanentemente ;)

Ojo vacaciones... ¿Puede un geek emprendedor sobrevivir desconectado?

Esta tarde salgo de vacaciones y por primera vez en mi vida adulta pienso estar un mes "off the grid", lo que sin duda va a suponer un esfuerzo dada mi adicción a un mundo hiperconectado y las muchas iniciativas en marcha, pero creo me va a venir muy bien.

Si necesitais algo antes del 20 de agosto contactad con el resto del equipo de Okuri Ventures o Akaimedia o enviadme un email (prometo procesar backlog)

En septiembre espero poder anunciar bastantes novedades, incluyendo el nuevo local para emprendedores de Okuri Spaces que inaguraremos a principios de septiembre y novedades sobre el proyecto Tetuan Valley

Nos vemos a la vuelta!

Tetuan Valley

Hace algo más de 6 meses en Okuri decidimos lanzar una primera versión de nuestro espacio de trabajo compartido y acabamos decantandonos por el humilde barrio de Tetuan, un "valle" a la sombra de las torres del Floren, las torres Kio y los complejos de Cuzco. Desde entonces, y dado que Akaimedia fue uno de los primeros inquilinos, y poco a poco se ha mudado casi todo el equipo de Okuri Ventures he empezado a pasar bastante tiempo en el barrio. Parte de mi primera impresión fue la misma que se llevan muchos de nuestros colaboradores, clientes y antigüos compañeros al ver los grafittis y cruzarse con algunos inquilinos poco considerados, pero al final hemos acabado todos convencidos de que tiene mucho más encanto que Moncloa o las murallas de asfalto en Castellana en las que hemos pasado tanto tiempo. Los vecinos empiezan a estar muy extrañados con la exótica oleada de geeks, creativos, moteros, ejecutivos trajeados y guiris que está tomando la zona, pero creo que nos vamos a quedar.

De hecho no sólo nos vamos a quedar sino que parece que hay intenciones de echar raices. Hace unos tres meses Alex Barrera, uno de nuestros colaboradores, empezó a bromear sobre "Tetuan Valley" y acabó trayendo a Santiago Siri, uno de los principales promotores de Palermo Valley. Como suele decirse, una cosa ha llevado a la otra y desde hace unas semanas hemos empezado a dar a conocer el proyecto Tetuan Valley, que esperamos ayude a cambiar la zona aprovechando que los precios de alquiler en la zona y facilidad de acceso al centro lo convierten en el espacio ideal para emprendedores.

Para saber más sobre la iniciativa os invito a leer el manifiesto en su blog o seguir la actividad a través de Twitter. Esperamos poder invitaros a todos a la inaguración del nuevo Okuri Spaces, que será base para muchas de las actividades, en breve. Por cierto, si teneis fotos del distrito de Tetuan no dejeis de enviarlas al grupo de flickr para el primer concurso de fotos que servirá para conseguir material para la web

Regulación de mercados (quotes)

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
-Thomas Jefferson

Visto en el ezine de Angelnews

Project Natal

Parece que Microsoft finalmente trabaja en algo que puede dejar atras a la Wii

El caso es quejarse

Bonita campaña viral de dreamjob.ar




Via email

MBAs (Dilbert de hoy)

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe

Todo un clásico visto hoy en Mahalo

Letter to our Spanish employees

FROM: Group Offices London
TO: All Spanish Staff
SUBJECT: Improper Language Usage

It's been brought to our attention by several officials visiting our headquarters that the Spanish staff commonly uses offensive language. Such behaviour, in addition to violating our group's policy, is highly unprofessional and offensive to both visitors and the staff itself.

Therefore it is requested to our Spanish staff to adhere immediately to the following rules:

1. Foreign colleagues or visitors should not be referred to as "ese guiri de mierda".

2. Words like "coño", "hostia", and other such expressions will not be used for emphasis, no matter how heated the discussion is.

3. You will not say "la ha cagao" when someone makes a mistake, or "la está cagando" if you see somebody being reprimanded, or "¡qué cagada!" when major mistake has been made. All direct or derived forms of the verb "cagar" are inappropriate in our environment.

4. No Project Manager, Section Supervisor or Head of Administration Chief, will be referred to, under any circumstances, as "el hijo de la gran puta", or "el muy cabrón" or even "el comemierda".

5. Lack of determination will not be referred as to "falta de huevos" or "mariconería" nor will persons with a lack of initiative be ever referred to as "capullo" or "acojonado".

6. Unusual and/or creative ideas shall not be referred to as "pajas mentales" in particular when they stem from your manager.

7. You will not say "cómo me jode" if a person is persistent, or "está jodido" or "se lo van a follar" if a colleague is going through a difficult situation. Furthermore, when matters become complicated the words "qué jodienda" should not be used.

8. When asking someone to leave you alone, you must not say "vete a tomar por culo", nor should you ever substitute the most educated "may I help you?" with "¿que coño quieres ahora?"

9. If things get tough, an acceptable expression such as we are going through a difficult time should be used rather than "esto esta jodido" or "nos van a follar a todos". Additionally, if you make a mistake, just say so and do not say "que putada" or any expressions composed with the root "puta".

10. No salary increase shall ever be referred to as "subida de mierda".

11. Last, but not least, after reading this note please do not say "me voy a limpiar el culo con ella" or "me la paso por el forro de los cojones".

Just keep it clean and odorless and dispose of it properly.

B. regards
J.W. Adamson



Via Facebook

Matriz de sistemas operativos

Ojo a la matriz que se han currado para resumir cómo ven los fans de los distintos sistemas operativos las opciones disponibles




¿En que cuadrante va Android? ¿Es sólamente un linux o se merece una cuarta fila/columna?


Post en Vivalinux
Via Bitacoras.com

Capitalismo (Dilbert de hoy)

Trail hacia las Torres del Floren (2)

Segunda excursión por detrás de El Pardo, esta vez con cámara medio decente

The Rules of Combat...

1. If the enemy is in range, so are you.
   
   
2. Incoming fire has the right of way.
   
   
3. Don't look conspicuous: it draws fire.
   
   
4. The easy way is always mined.
   
   
5. Try to look unimportant, they may be low on ammo.
   
   
6. Professionals are predictable, it's the amateurs that are dangerous.
   
   
7. The enemy invariably attacks on one of two occasions:
   a. When you're ready for them.
   b. When you're not ready for them.
   
   
8. Teamwork is essential; it gives the enemy someone else to shoot at.
   
   
9. If you can't remember, the claymore is pointed at you. Claymores are labeled "This side toward enemy" for a reason.
   
   
10. If your attack is going well, you have walked into an ambush.
    
    
11. Don't draw fire, it irritates the people around you.
    
    
12. The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.
    
    
13. When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend.
    
    
14. If it's stupid but works, it isn't stupid.
    
    
15. When in doubt empty the magazine.
    
    
16. Never share a fox hole with anyone braver than you.
    
    
17. Anything you do can get you shot. Including doing nothing.
    
    
18. Make it too tough for the enemy to get in and you can't get out.
    
    
19. Mines are equal opportunity weapons.
    
    
20. A Purple Heart just proves that were you smart enough to think of a plan, stupid enough to try it, and lucky enough to survive.
    
    
21. Don't ever be the first, don't ever be the last and don't ever volunteer to do anything.
    
    
22. The quartermaster has only two sizes: too large and too small.
    
    
23. Five second fuses only last three seconds.
    
    
24. It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed.
    
    
25. Tracers work both ways.
    
    
26. If the brass says it is a routine mission... bring extra ammo.

Redescubiertas en mi carpeta del instituto al hacer limpieza

The Stockholm Syndrome

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
The Stockholm Syndrome
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Via Facebook

Al-Qaeda air

Otra foto encontrada al hacer limpieza de la PDA...

Curioso cuadro, visto en alguna galeria de Barcelona a finales de enero. Lamentablemente no apunte datos del autor, pero dan ganas de preguntarle el objeto de la obra

Trail hacia las Torres del Floren

Acabo de encontrarme estás fotos sacadas con la PDA hace un par de domingos de una breve excursión cerca de El Pardo.

Creo tendré que terminar de explorar esos caminos (equipado con una camara ya que me pongo) porque había trozos muy divertidos. A veces se nos olvida lo que hay a menos de 10km de Plaza de Castilla

School kills creativity

Impresionante charla en TED de Sir Ken Robinson

Ojo Impreza

Y ojito al del Segway



Via email

Dans a Sinde

Enrique Dans acaba de publicar la siguiente carta abierta a Sinde explicandole el "nuevo orden". Es un poco Cluetrain manifesto

• La red ha redefinido muchos de los conceptos relacionados con la creación y la propiedad intelectual. Por un lado, la tecnología democratiza muchas de las herramientas de creación, y por otro, la red facilita la distribución sin límites de las obras culturales sin necesidad de soportes físicos.
• En la sociedad actual, todos somos autores, y no hay “unos autores más autores que otros”. Privilegiar a determinados autores frente a otros en función de criterios arbitrarios es injusto. Pretender otorgarles graciosamente un dinero cobrado en forma de peaje a quienes circulan por las autopistas de la información es directamente demencial.
• La industria basada en la venta de copias no tiene sentido en un entorno en el que las copias no tienen coste alguno. La industria debe redefinir sus modelos de negocio, algo que, además, se ha probado ya como perfectamente factible. La llegada de las tuberías significó el fin de los aguadores, pero no el fin del negocio del agua: hoy pagamos por el agua embotellada, a pesar de que ésta sale de los grifos.
• La extensión del copyright no tiene sentido, y únicamente beneficia a las empresas discográficas y a los poseedores de grandes catálogos de materiales sujetos a derechos. Varios estudios rigurosos han demostrado que la extensión del período de copyright no beneficia a los creadores, va en contra de los intereses de la sociedad, y es producto de la actuación de poderosos lobbies comerciales sobre el poder político.
• La descarga de la red de obras sujetas a derechos de autor no es un delito conforme al ordenamiento jurídico vigente si no conlleva un ánimo de lucro. Los flujos de bits en la red no pueden ser perseguidos sin vulnerar derechos como la privacidad y el secreto de las telecomunicaciones, y además, no existen razones para hacerlo. Solo pueden y deben perseguirse los flujos económicos relacionados con ello: si alguien genera ingresos con la propiedad intelectual de un tercero, debe pagar a ese tercero una parte de dichos ingresos. Ese debería ser el papel de las sociedades de gestión de derechos de autor.
• La confusión de fenómenos como el llamado “top-manta” con la descarga de obras a través de Internet es completamente torticera, malintencionada e interesada. Mientras el “top-manta” representa la explotación industrial con ánimo de lucro de la propiedad intelectual de terceros mediante métodos claramente ilegales y en los que se aprovecha mano de obra típicamente inmigrante en régimen de subempleo y carentes de todo derecho elemental, la descarga en Internet proviene de simples ciudadanos queriendo acceder a obras para su disfrute personal sin ánimo de lucro. El “top-manta” debe ser perseguido, las descargas, en cambio, no. Se debe perseguir a quienes se enriquecen usando la propiedad intelectual de otros; pero no criminalizar ni considerar sospechosa a toda una sociedad por utilizar la tecnología.
• Los ciudadanos estamos por la defensa decidida de los autores y de los participantes en la creación cultural. Estos deben tener el derecho inalienable a controlar los usos lucrativos que se haga de sus obras, y a percibir una parte de los ingresos que éstas generen, así como el derecho de escoger quién les representa de cara al ejercicio de dichos derechos. Otorgar dicha representación a una entidad en exclusiva no tiene ningún sentido, porque un monopolio siempre tendera a ser más ineficiente que un mercado abierto.
• No se puede criminalizar a toda la sociedad por una conducta que supone simplemente acceder a las obras culturales, y más en un entorno en el que dicho acceso se obtiene en muchos casos merced a las acciones de la propia industria. No se puede perseguir a alguien por descargar unos archivos que muchas veces la propia industria pone en Internet, porque esto crea un marco jurídico profundamente confuso y no operativo.
• Bajo ningún concepto se puede pretender que sean los prestadores de servicio, empresas privadas, las que vigilen lo que los ciudadanos hacen en la red. La protección del derecho a la intimidad y la privacidad está por encima de la supuesta protección de la propiedad intelectual.
• La mal llamada “piratería” no existe, y en ningún caso es, como pretende hacer ver el ministerio, “el mayor problema de la cultura”. La creación cultural española adolece de problemas mucho más serios: cultura basada en subvenciones, aislamiento del mercado y servilismo al poder político. La cultura no se impulsa a golpe de subvenciones, y mucho menos si éstas están al servicio de una agenda política.
• La creación cultural no está en peligro. De hecho, la creación cultural nunca ha estado mejor. Internet ha posibilitado la época de mayor creación y difusión cultural de la Historia. Negar este extremo es no entender la naturaleza de la red.
• Las campañas publicitarias del ministerio de cultura resultan completamente torticeras y vergonzosas, están basadas en mentiras, y despilfarran recursos del erario público para transmitir mentiras que pretenden privilegiar a la industria de distribución cultural y a las sociedades de gestión de derechos. Las campañas de adoctrinamiento al respecto que se han llevado a cabo en colegios son directamente inmorales.
• Equiparar una descarga a un robo es una falacia conceptual, como lo es equiparar la propiedad de un bien físico con un bien intelectual. Cuando un bien físico es sustraído, su legítimo propietario no puede disfrutar de él y sufre un perjuicio. Cuando un bien cultural es copiado, nada desaparece de ningún sitio, y se generan una serie de bienes, como la popularidad y la difusión, que pueden ser (y están siendo) adecuadamente monetizados con los modelos de negocio adecuados.
• El canon es un pseudo-impuesto indiscriminado, recaudado por una entidad privada y más que posiblemente anti-constitucional, que no tiene razón de ser y que penaliza el desarrollo de la sociedad de la información. Su uso para pagar favores políticos y apoyos durante una campaña electoral es, además, completamente inmoral. Las administraciones nunca pueden privilegiar de modo injusto o limitar la capacidad creadora de los individuos. El canon digital es un impuesto que coarta la capacidad creadora de la sociedad al imponer privilegios artificiales, por eso reclamamos su supresión. El canon digital es una sanción previa, que considera a los consumidores culpables potenciales sin mediar denuncia ni posibilidad de defensa ni actuación judicial o administrativa, y se les multa.
• La Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE) debe ser regulada. Su falta de transparencia y su sesgo hacia la concesión de privilegios a determinados estamentos de autores y editores sobre otros resulta inaceptable, y sus métodos de persecución para-policiales provocan alarma social y la sensación de que se encuentra “por encima de la ley”. Los autores deben poder tener la libertad de gestionar sus derechos como lo deseen, bien por sí mismos o eligiendo la entidad que les represente en un mercado abierto no sujeto a prebendas ni privilegios.
• La sociedad actual, la sociedad en red, exige tener acceso a las obras culturales de una manera que le permita interaccionar con ellas, reutilizarlas, comentarlas y compartirlas. Dicho uso es, además, perfectamente compatible con la explotación económica de las creaciones culturales. Los creadores deben adaptar su cadena de valor para aprender a generar riqueza en la sociedad de la información.

Presentación gurusblog en Bolsalia

Interesante punto de situación

Bolsalia 2009 Gurusblog

View more presentations from Gurusblog.

Ojo Sixth Sense

Yo quiero uno!!!



Via Facebook

Ojo Zoom

Si alguien quiere comprobar quien asistió a la toma de posesión de Obama puede hacer zoom en la siguiente foto de 1474 Mpx

Big brother is watching!


Via email

¿Qué Caja será la próxima?

Me extraña que aún no se pueda apostar en Unibet

El problema viene cuando uno empieza a comparar los números de CCM con el resto de Cajas de Ahorros y ve como sobre el papel CCM era de las cajas de ahorros que estaban mejor. Aquí me empiezo a poner algo nervioso, ¿Si los números de CCM no estaban tan mal comparados con otras Cajas, este problema de “liquidez” le podría pasar a cualquiera?. Francamente a mi me hubiese tranquilizado más si los responsables políticos y el Banco de España nos hubiesen dicho que la intervención de CCM ha sido debida a que eso era la Cueva de Alibaba, que los números no reflejaban la realidad contable de la entidad y que hay un agujero de dimensiones considerables.



Post completo en Gurusblog

Ojo April's fools

Parece que Google empiza fuerte con "autopilot". No sé si es mejor el concepto o los ejemplos

The easiest email could possibly be. As more and more everyday communication takes place over email, lots of people have complained about how hard it is to read and respond to every message. This is because they actually read and respond to all their messages.

Respond to business proposals

Manage relationships

Match your personal style

Opinando sobre los prestamos participativos

Enlazo al blog de Okuri Ventures donde acabo de publicar un artículo sobre los prestamos participativos que tanto protagonismo están acaparando en el panorama emprendedor nacional

Web de Gloria Gurrea-Nozaleda

Aprovecho que acabo de cambiar mi avatar en Facebook y Twitter por un dibujo hecho por mi madre para enlazar a su web, donde podeis ver más trabajos suyos

Portafolio artístico de Gloria Gurrea-Nozaleda

La web se apoya en el gestor de contenidos Drupal y ha sido diseñada y producida por Alejandro García (aka cabezabomba) en un tiempo record

Madoff explicado por Barrio Sesamo

Hola, me acabo de encontrar con éste simpático video que hicieron el pasado jueves en programa de Jimmy Kimmel en la ABC estadounidense



Via Unience

Como Dropbox y Google cambiaron mi manera de entender la informática

Aprovecho que esta mañana he pasado por la charla organizada por Terremark con VMWare como invitado en la sede de Cisco en Alcobendas para cumplir con el post que prometía tras mi incidente con los tres portatiles que me terminó de convencer de que es absurdo depender de máquinas o sistemas operativos específicos. Me ha impresionado alguna de las novedades que Jesús Fernandez, de VMWare, ha comentado sobre su próxima suite que podría estar disponible este verano y en la que parecen ha dado un pequeño paso para consolidar su liderazgo en las arterias de la nube

Transcribo descripción de sus tres productos tras el rebranding:

1. VDC-OS: Foundation for the cloud, con

una capa de agregación que incluye

• vCompute (Hardware assistance for virtualization, extended migration compatibility)
• vStorage (storage management, replication, storage virtual appliances)
• vNetwork (network management)

una capa de servicios y políticas que garantiza

• availability (data protection, clustering)
• security (firewall, antivirus, intrussion detection, compliance)
• scalability (dynamic resource sizing)

2. VCloud: Choice and cloud federation

vCenter suite con

• Self service portal
• Service catalogue
• Billing/chargeback

Ofrece

• Provisioning
• Configuration
• Capacity, performance
• Operation, availability

3. VClient: Desktop as a servive

Lamentablemente no han comentado mucho, pero especulo que va a ser la única alternativa creible al Google OS que nos invadirá en breves, no sólo podrían realizarse las visiones de IBM sobre terminales tontos enchufados a mainframes sino que hace tiempo preparan el desembarco en telefonos móviles

Por cierto, Cisco tambien está muy motivado para que las maquinas virtuales trabajen bien con las tarjetas de red. ¿Será un movimiento defensivo ante empresas como empotrasys que aprovechan hardware "estandar" más aplicativos opensource para producir máquinas que compiten en prestaciones a fracciones del precio?

Bueno, ahora que ya he copiado los apuntes para que no se me pierdan volvamos a lo que iba: el tiempo perdido y miedos generados me ha ido impulsando a experimentar cada vez más con máquinas virtuales y terminar migrando casi todos mis contenidos a "la nube" (Gmail, Dropbox, Delicious y Flickr resuelven casi todas mis necesidades). Finalmente he optado por tener dos ordenadores en casa y dos en la oficina, combinando distintos sistemas operativos:

• Portatil "fijo" que utilizo como servidor doméstico: IBM R40 con Winxp (después de más de 5000 horas de uso el pobre esta en sus últimas)
• Portatil casa - Macbook con Leopard
• PC fijo en la oficina: Mutante clónico resultante de despieces con Ubuntu 8.10 y una cuenta de usuario para cada empresa asociada a Okuri Ventures
  
• Portatil oficina - El resucitado Dell XPS 1210 con Windows Vista

Tengo media docena de máquinas virtuales que muevo en un LACIE con lector de huellas y me permiten trabajar y hacer distintos experimentos sin perder tiempo en configuraciones:

• Máquina virtual para declaraciones de Hacienda con Windows XP (una de las más útiles, dada la importancia de cuidar firmas digitales y lo puñeteros que son con las configuraciones... estaría incluso mejor si ellos mismos distribuyesen una en linux aunque sé estoy soñando)
• Maquina virtual con instalación actualizada de Windows XP y aplicaciones básicas lista para clonar cada vez que quiero hacer algún experimento
• Máquina virtual con Ubuntu 8.10 que llevo usando desde que empecé a jugar con linux en serio hace un par de años
• Máquina virtual con Ubuntu 8.10 configurada para usuarios de Okuri Spaces y lista para clonar
  
• Máquina virtual con Wifislax, que aún no he aprendido a usar del todo ;)
  
• Otras tres o cuatro que ya no uso (un hackintosh configurado para el difunto Philips Freevents, un Mandriva, un Linpus...)

Algún día explicaré en detalle cómo hemos desplegado la infraestructura de Okuri Ventures, incluyendo Okuri Spaces, y Akaimedia... tema que dará para otro post probablemente más largo que este. Sin duda uno de los mayores placeres de ser un geek emprendedor es poder dictar tu política de sistemas ;)

La parte negativa es que como todavía no he terminado de montar "mi propia nube" soy demasiado dependiente de las de Google y Dropbox, por lo que me veo obligado a hacer distintas "chapuzas" de forma manual para hacer volcados de seguridad y me faltan "nubes alternativas" por si algún día cambiasen las condiciones del servicio a algo que no me convenga.

Aprovecho para dejaros con un enlace a dropbox que os dará un poco más de capacidad de la estandar y me amplia la cuenta por referiros

https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTM5NDE3Mzk

DimDim como herramienta de formación

Acabo de publicar en el blog de Okuri un post sobre el taller de coaching para emprendedores que estamos organizando a través de DimDim, una impresionante herramienta web para el trabajo colaborativo que permite videoconferencia, chat, visualizado de documentos y pizarras compartidas

Si bien era evidente hace tiempo que las posibilidades de sitios como YouTube para la distribución de contenidos digitales permitían celebrar sesiones magistrales como la de Randy Pausch, abrir al público grandes discursos de personalidades como Steve Jobs y Warren Buffet en actos inagurales de MBAs y publicar materiales de formación a instituciones como Stanford y el Instituto Empresa que además se agregan en AcademicEarth, creo que Justin.tv y DimDim abren una nueva etapa al facilitar que organizaciones más pequeñas consigan una audiencia global y dotar de mayor capacidad para la interacción

Espero que la sesión virtual de coaching para emprendedores facilitada por Juan Carlos Arrese sea la primera de una larga serie y podamos seguir distruyendo algunas de las sesiones de formación de Okuri Ventures a través de DimDim

Ojo Midwest

Alex acaba de publicar una espectacular serie de fotos sobre el midwest en su blog

Brutalidad policial

Que animalitos. Evidentemente esto no sale en los telediarios, pero el periodismo ciudadano está cambiando las reglas



Post en Sinfuturoysinunduro

El libro negro del emprendedor

Dado que en Okuri Ventures últimamente recibimos bastantes solicitudes de colaboración de "emprendedores Gollum" he decidido citar el resumen del libro que lleva tantos meses de moda pero es evidente muchos no han leido.

Sin duda debería haber bastante más gente que escriba sobre los "factores críticos de fracaso" de nuevas iniciativas dado que como bien comenta Trias de Bes no se estudia lo suficiente. Otro libro, junto con "In Search of Stupidity" para actualizar la lista de diseña to propio MBA que proponía en el 2005.

Salto base nocturno en el ensanche de Vallecas

A3 km10. 55 metros de altura. 27 de febrero 2009 1am. Publicado en akaimedia.

¿Les gustará a los Microsiervos tanto como los saltos con formación en diamante? Yo creo que es mucho mejor video, pero no puedo ser objetivo

Campaña Toyota "Human touch"

Esto es trabajar por tu cliente y lo demás son tonterias!



Via email

Dont stop believing

Impresionante post de Calcanis visto en Bizdeansblog bastante relacionado con el curriculum del emprendedor publicado hace poco

Location: Mahalo HQ, Santa Monica
Date/Time: February 26th 2009 6:25pm
Subscribers: 12,483
Rock out To This While Reading: Don’t Stop Believing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip1zsUIosoA
Forward To: Startups that are hitting the wall

A lot of CEOs with less than 12 months of capital left have been asking me for advice about what to do, given the massive economic turmoil we’re facing. I thought I would take the time put these various conversations into one email to help those who are “up against it,” as we say in Brooklyn.

Now, sprinting to the startup precipice is one of the most horrible and exhilarating experiences you can have as an entrepreneur.

The exhaustion sinks in as you slam on the brakes. You dig in your heels and watch the dirt and pebbles fly off the cliff as your left foot dangles down in the ravine, with your right foot desperately trying to save you. Your momentum could–if the wind kicks in–send you straight down to your death. Heck, even the two inches of earth under your right foot could give way and send you to your death. Or, you could slip and fall on a magic carpet that will take you to the Promised Land.

OK, that last part is made up. You’re probably screwed and you know it.

This email is intended for startup companies with less than 12 months of cash in the bank, who know in their hearts that their VCs have lost faith, and that Google, Yahoo or Microsoft aren’t going to pick them up on a magic M&A carpet ride.

This is the email I’d like you to forward to your friends who are running startups that could go under in 2009.

Some background
————————-
I’ve been to the precipice and faced the fall a couple of times. I’ve learned a couple of things from the experience. I can tell you that the first time it happens, you’re terrified, because everything you’ve done–all the effort and dreams–will probably be lost (like tears in the rain).

The second time it happens, you’re deeply concerned, but know it ain’t over until you’re splattered on the boulders below.

The third time it happens, you smile and say “let’s get it on!”

You see, there are two types of entrepreneurs in this world: real ones and the folks who play entrepreneurs for some portion of their lives. From a distance, most folks can’t tell who’s who. In up times, when the market is flush with cheap money and unexplained exits (Bebo, anyone?), everyone looks brilliant.

It’s only when the tide goes out that you know who’s naked. (Who said that? I hear it on CNBC every other week now).

The differences between the two types of entrepreneurs become clear when the fan and the manure meet. The faux entrepreneurs run for cover rather than dealing with the storm. They go back to their plush, somewhat mindless jobs as VPs at mega-companies, while the real entrepreneurs suit up and clean up the mess.

We’re going to find out who the real entrepreneurs are in 2009 because they are going to spend another 12 months, on top of the last six, cleaning up the mess. It will be two years of total pain, so before we go any further you gotta make the decision if you’re in or you’re out.

In or out?
————————-
Here is a really easy way to figure out if you can deal with the mess in front of you. How many of the following can you deal with:

1. Laying off half your staff.
2. Laying off half your staff again three months later.
3. Spending 20 hours a week on the phone being yelled at and threatened while trying to renegotiate a dozen contracts–like your
T1, phone system, rent, equipment leases, etc.
4. Having an investor scream at you and tell you that they will ruin you, your career and that “you’ll never raise money again, you mother
f-er.”
5. Laying off half your staff for a third time.
6. Getting served a half-dozen lawsuits, courtesy of the folks who you tried to renegotiate with in point number three who wouldn’t deal.
7. Having one of the people you’re renegotiating with come to your office every week and ask for their check in person.
8. Having the same media outlet that once claimed you were the next Barry Diller write that you’re a fraud.
9. Not getting a good night’s sleep for six months.
10. Having dozens of paying clients default on their bills.
11. Having staffers who you really need to double down and focus walk out the door after you helped make their careers.
12. Have the people who begged you for a meeting at the peak not even return your emails or phone calls.

If you can’t deal with these 12 situations, then you’re out. It’s time to refresh your resume, tell your board you resign, sublet your place and go to Thailand. Go sit on the beach and lick your wounds for $40 a day (all-in) like the fauxtrepreneur you are. You suck. I hate you. You’re smart enough to cut your loses in a way I could never understand.

If you think you can handle most of the horror above, well, then you’re in.

How do I know this?

Those 12 things–and more–happened to me for over a year when Silicon Alley Reporter, my first business, got whipsawed by the dotcom bust.

We went from $11.6m in revenue one year to $600k the next. From 70 full-time people to 12. From a 20,000 square foot office to subletting ten desks at a PR firm.

Personally, I went from being on top of the world, with appearances on Charlie Rose, 60 Minutes, CNN, and Fox News, to being savaged in the press as a fraud who got lucky and who no one would ever hear from again.

My office used to get 100-200 phone calls a day and I had two assistants. Six months later, I answered my own phone–on the rare occasions it would ring. When it did, it was either my mom calling to check in on me or a vendor calling to yell at me.

It was the worst year of my life, but it made me who I am today. I’ve never talked about the tailspin that my business went into, and how I barely managed to land the plane, but I get the sense that there are a lot of twenty-somethings about to experience the same thing, and
perhaps my lessons could help.

I’m not going to tell the story. (That would take 80,000 words, a hard cover and the right publisher), but I’m gonna share some of the lessons.

Let’s get to work.

The Good News
————————-
If you’re a real entrepreneur, you’re still reading. If you’re a faux entrepreneur, you’re writing your resignation letter, considering which beach to surf and how long to grow your beard. God bless you fauxtrepreneurs, because you’re gonna have a much nicer 2009 than the
real entrepreneurs who are “up against it.”

Of course, a year from now, the real entrepreneurs will be battle-scarred beasts who are capable of taking big bold risks, and you’ll still be crying about what could have been with your last business while attending back-to-back meetings about nothing at BigCo.
Not that I’m judgmental of fauxtrepreneurs who create noise, distract investors from the real workhorses, suck at their jobs and take no real risk in their lives.

No, on the contrary, I love you fauxtrepreneurs, because you create the foundation upon which real entrepreneurs stand. At the start of my career, it wasn’t east to stand out, but by the time I’d done two or three businesses and become a fixture in the technology industry, I
had figured it out: Longevity is a big part of credibility. I met Esther Dyson, Fred Wilson, John Brockman, Jerry Colonna, Mark Cuban, Ted Leonsis, Seth Godin and countless other luminaries between 1994 and 1997.

Well, it’s a dozen years later and they still take my calls and respond to my emails.

Longevity is credibility.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the good news: People’s reputations are made in the bad times more than the good times.

Even if you’re 100% sure your company is going to crash in the next six months, you’ll learn more from staying on board than you will from running. You’ll also earn the respect of your peers and you’ll learn exactly how people break down and lose their cool. You’ll see how
certain VCs screw entrepreneurs, you’ll see entrepreneurs screw VCS and you’ll watch the lawyers and landlords collect their vig the entire time.

Most of all, you’ll realize who you are and who your real friends are.

So what’s the sitch?
————————-
You need to figure out your runway immediately. This is really easy to calculate: you look at how much cash you burn every month and divide that into how much cash you have in the bank. Your accountant can do this for you or you can simply look at your P&L and bank statement.

Once you know how many months you’ve got left, you’ve got to do the hard work of trying to extend it by at least 1/4. This means cutting staff, negotiating with your landlord and cutting any and all recurring bills. You then need to look at your revenue streams and figure out if you can double them. In most cases, if you do these two simple things, you will have increased your runway by 50-100%. If you double your runway, your chances of figuring out what your business actually is will go up exponentially.

You also need to do a monthly P&L review with your management team. Look at every single recurring cost you have and figure out how to cut it. In an up market, this level of obsessiveness is often wasteful, because you’re in a race to take market-share. In the case of MySpace vs. Friendster vs. Facebook all having unlimited funds for a period of time, this makes total sense. Why worry about $100,000 in server costs if you’re racing to see who gets bought for a billion dollars first? However, this is not that time. You have to change your style. There are times to hit the gas and there are times to conserve your gas.

Look at it this way: Getting the most market-share and running out of cash is the equivalent of getting to the moon first without the ability to get back to Earth. Congratulations, you won the race… and now you’re dead!

My primary business right now, Mahalo.com, is lucky to have raise a large amount of capital and is going to fairly easily make it to profitability based on our growth curve, runway, modest spend and significant traffic (we’re at 5.6m unique visitors over the last 30 days).

We couldn’t be in a stronger position.

However, even we recently did a deep review at Mahalo and were able to cut 30% of our costs in under 60 days. The company is still growing just as fast, and in fact we’re actually more efficient. There is something strange about that: 25-person companies seem to get more
done than 40-person companies in my experience (other CEOs have told me the same thing).

Perhaps it’s because after you trim down you have the most efficient folks left, or maybe we’re all more focused because we don’t have to communicate what’s going on to as many people? Does anyone know if there is any research on optimal team size for startups? I’d beinterested to hear what the studies say. Anyway, we made the hard decisions and that extended our runway by a year. That means Mahalo will be here in 2013 if we make every single wrong decision and we’re asleep at the wheel. Of course, we’re focused like lasers on getting to profitability and developing a really helpful service. If we can’t figure this business out by 2013 or 2014 then, well, either we really suck or there is no solution to combining search and knowledge exchange (of course we know search and knowledge exchanges can and have worked–so we’re bullish).

Also, when your company goes through this kind of economic boot camp, I think you get stronger. You understand which parts of your business are working the best and which ones are, well, not working at all. We had one area of our business that was two percent of our spending making 30% of our revenue. You figure these things out when you start cutting. It’s a sick and sad process to be sure, but Darwin is your friend at a startup.

Put your VCs to the test
————————-
If you’re running out of money, you’ve got three choices: cut costs, make money or raise capital. We’re going to get into cutting costs and making money below in a minute, but I’m a big fan of testing your investors. When the market is crushed, most VCs get realistic, greedy or paralyzed. You’ve got to figure out where you stand with your current investors as quickly as possible, and the quickest way to do that is to ask them for more money.

Let’s say you’re burning $200k a month and you have a million dollars in the bank. Go to your VCs and say something like the following:

“John, we’re going to run out of cash in five months. I’ve developed a cost-cutting and revenue-generating plan that I believe will extend our runway to 10 months. I’d like to present it to you and your partners tomorrow for a half-hour with the goal of doing an ‘A+ round’
of one million dollars. I truly believe in this business and I’m willing to do a flat-round, bust my ass for the next two years and come out of this recession on top.”

Now your VC is probably going to start asking questions–as they should. They may try and push off the discussion of the “A+ round.” Your job is to stand firm and say something to the effect of:

“Well, we’re both vested in this business and I’d like to take the time to present to you guys this week and get a response from you either way within five days. I know it’s a compressed time frame, but we’re living in extraordinary times, and if you guys don’t believe in the business the way I do, I can accept that and make other arrangements.”

At that point, you say nothing. Silence is the greatest negotiating tactic ever created–use it. Your VC right now will be thinking the following:

a) “This guy/gal’s a real killer and I wish all my CEOs were this focused. At the very least, I should hear them out.”
b) “This guy/gal has another opportunity, so I’m gonna have to deal with this train wreck myself–that will suck.”
c) “This business is a dog and I shouldn’t have invested in it. Since they’re asking for the truth, I might as well give it to them.”
d) “I’m an idiot and I can’t make decisions. Let me push this out a couple of weeks and make this person’s life hell while I procrastinate.”

That last part is not what the person would actually say, but that’s basically the translation of “let me think about it.”

Now, in cases a, b, and c you’re in good shape. You’re gonna either get your meeting and money or you’re gonna get told you’re not getting any more funding. Situation D is what you don’t want. If you’re running out of provisions in the middle of the Atlantic, your best bet is to go either East or West–not in a circle.

VCs and investors will sometimes send entrepreneurs in circles, either inadvertently or as leverage. Sometimes VCs are juggling a lot of balls and can’t focus. Sometimes they’re inexperienced and/or they have issues that don’t concern your business, like their limited partners, their partners or their divorce settlements. Sometimes they’re cutthroat and know that, when you’re down to your last two or three payrolls, they can extract a 2-3x liquidation preference out of you.

It’s your job to force the issue now–don’t wait.

Heck, even if you have a year’s worth of runway, you should probably do this kind of thing so your VCs know you’re the real deal and so you know where you stand with them.

Put your staff to the test
————————-
If you’re down to six months of cash, you’re gonna have to cut the bottom 1/3rd of your staff, if not half. This sucks, but there is no choice. You’re gonna also have to cut salaries. So, here are some suggestions on how to do this:

1. Get rid of the non-core staff. Look in places like PR, marketing, and admin to cut. See if you can put some of these folks on part-time.

2. Look at the salaries of your current staff vs. market and look for ways to cut the high-priced ones who you can get cheaper at the current market. I know this sounds cutthroat, but remember, this is advice for folks going out of business in six months. Another way to run this test is to ask yourself “Would I hire this person for this amount today?”

3. Go to each member of the team who is over-paid by today’s market rate and tell them that you’re probably going to be cutting their salary and that you’re increasing their options. Ask them how they feel about it. Some people can take a pay cut, others can’t–you don’t
know until you ask.

I’m really against cutting people’s pay above cutting position because you want the people remaining in your organization to be happy. Of course, sometimes that’s just not realistic. Many CEOs overpay in a hot market because they feel they have to, and those folks are the
ones who really need to take this hard action now.

Put your landlord to the test
————————-
Call your landlord and ask them to get a cup of coffee. Do this in person. Let them know that it’s 50-50 you’re going out of business and that you need their help in the form of four months free rent, starting today, the ability to sublet some space (if you don’t have that right already) and to keep the rent at the same rate you already have. Tell them you feel horrible about this, and you wouldn’t ask them to do this if it wasn’t urgent, but you didn’t want to drop the bomb on them five months from now when there were no more options.

Remember, silence is your friend. Tell your story and see what they say. I did this at one point and not only got free rent, I got 50% of our letter of credit freed up. It was a win-win. Trust me, your landlord is probably facing a LOT of fallout right now… better to get half than nothing.

Put your vendors to the test
————————-
Since you’ve probably got webhosting, CDNs, equipment leases, and other recurring charges on your credit cards, cancel those cards immediately. Call up each vendor and tell them you need six months free while you figure out your status, and if they can’t do it, ask for suggestions. Then call each of their competitors and let them know that you are willing to switch over for the first six months free. If you get one of four vendors to do this you just saved 25%–I bet you can get two or three.

Vendors would rather eat some profits for six months than lose your business. If they can’t support you in your time of need, then you should find someone who will. There is a LOT of competition out there and you can negotiate harder than you probably think you can. Tell
vendors you’re willing to switch if they give you six months free and see what they say. We’ve had folks offer us a *year* of free service to switch (of course, that’s an exception, not the rule).

Put yourself to the test
————————-
If you’re going to ask so much of your staff, investors and vendors, you obviously have to take a hit yourself. Go to your VCs and ask them to participate in the next round–the A+ round. Tell them you know it’s not a lot but you want to put in $5 or $10k in the round as a show of support. This will result in them saying it’s not necessary. After that, tell them you’ll sell your car and take a bike to work and put $20k into the business if you can get that for your car. Make sure your staff doesn’t take a bigger cut than you do in salary if you’re doing salary cuts.

Even if it’s just ceremonial, it means a lot to make cuts. I’ve stopped traveling as much to conferences even though they cost me little to nothing (normally people pay me to speak or at least pay for my travel). Of course, don’t cut traveling if you’re going to conferences where you might find clients or investors (which is why I travel half the time!)

Put your product to the test
————————-
As Mark Cuban told me over and over again, “Sales solves everything.” If you can’t sell your product, it’s not a product–it’s a hobby. Take your consumer service and sell it as a software package to someone. Go on the sales calls yourself. During the final year of Silicon Alley Reporter I made cold calls and set up lunches to sell folks on our new product, Venture Reporter (the rebranded Silicon Alley Reporter). It works. When people see the CEO making sales calls, they respect the company and take it seriously. When the VCs and staffers see you doing this, they get inspired.

Put a whiteboard up and count any stat you can: sales calls made, meetings scheduled, contracts sent and sales closed. Give your team something to think about other than just the bottom line, because you might have to celebrate the little victories before getting the check in the door. Celebrate getting the meeting. Celebrate sending a pitch out.

What to do if it’s over
————————-
If you’re going to hit the wall, you should do so with three or four months of capital left in the bank. You should cut down to your core staff and tell them “we have 120 days of cash left and we’re going to try to land the plane safely. If you want to leave at any point during the 120 days you’ll get the reference of a lifetime from me. If you help us land the plane safely I think we’ll all be better off because of it.”

Then make a plan to do one of the following:

a) sell the business
b) close the business
c) sell the assets of the business

There’s a little bit of overlap up there, since sometimes you close the business and sell the assets, or you sell the assets and leave a shell behind. The point is, don’t wait until you have a month left. Do it when you have 120 days left. If you signal to everyone it’s over, you’ll have done the honorable thing for your employees, by giving them the maximum time to have a safe landing, and for your investors, by allowing them to roll the business or its assets into another company.

The worst thing to do is to delay this process. I’ve gotten down to this point exactly, but when I was at break-even at my first business, we looked for a buyer, because I didn’t think we had much chance of making it on our own in the 2001-2002 market. I could have been wrong about that in retrospect, but either way, I’m glad I got out because it set me up for Weblogs, Inc.

And that is the final lesson: when one door closes, three more open up. When you shut down your business properly, you will have a clean slate and renewed energy to take on your next project. You might even get the investors to give you the company with the 90 days worth of capital left to start your next project with a recapitalized structure.

Remember that there is no shame in failure but there are honorable and dishonorable failures. If you’re going to lose the game, remember that it’s just that: a game. There will be another and another and another yet to play. Don’t lose your cool and don’t get depressed. Just get yourself back up, dust yourself off and get back in the game. The precursor to success is almost always failure.

[ To the 17 folks who made it to the bottom: If you're struggling with failure right now, if your business is failing and you don't think you can go on, remember that at the very least you've been lucky enough to take your shot. That's more than most people get. You're going to be much stronger for getting through the heartbreak of a failed business.Also, you've always got me--your pal Jason--if you need a shoulder to cry on. I'm only an email, tweet or IM away jason@calacanis or jasoncalacanis on skype/twitter/AIM. ]

Nota: Este post tambien ha sido publicado en el blog de Okuri Ventures