Techies get human and gather
Hey founder!
This week we have a must read article called Techies, showcasing the humans of the tech world. Other content is about IKEA (so you don't have to go there this weekend), and if the future of work really is about ordering taco's through Slack.
On making tech and entrepreneurship more human, in less than two weeks our team will head to Manchester for Leanconf, Europe's premier Lean Startup community gathering, and we'd love to meet you. Check it out, and find out about the insane discount their team has applied to this URL, so you can join us. Leanconf is also providing digital tickets for those of you who cannot make it to Manchester. Reply if you can, and let's meet!
Enjoy your weekend!
Must read
Techies: A study of Silicon Valley
What do the people of Silicon Valley look like? Surprisingly human.
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Culture
Why did tech companies take a week to get behind Apple in the FBI standoff?
"While the tech industry may seem guilty of inaction or, at best, benign neglect, I think it’s closer to the truth to say we were in denial — with a dose of fear."
Modern Entrepreneurship
What I learned from trying to innovate at the New York Times
A description of how the corporate world misses the 'Ecosystem Mindset' and how to get it.
You don’t have to build a scalable startup
"The right business to build is the one you want to build."
4 Reasons the “IKEA Effect” can help your startup
The author, a VC, links the relationship between self-made products and the perceived value for those products.
Measuring Monthly Active Users
The metric 'Montly Active Users (MAUs)' helped this company to filter out the vanity-metric part for their projects.
Promoted
3 Ways to invest in alternative platforms like a pro
With savings accounts and bonds paying historically low yields, savvy investors are increasingly following Wall Street into alternative assets. Whether it’s Lending Club and Prosper in consumer lending, Realty Mogul and Fundrise in real estate, or Wunder Capital and SunFunder in solar, online financing platforms are leading the way in providing investors direct access to the double digit annual returns that banks have been enjoying for years.
So how is a thoughtful investor to navigate this new landscape of alternative investing options?
Trends
The chat bot boom is about to catch fire
Chatbots are at an early stage, but do they have the potential to improve the experience of users in the messaging realm?
The future of work is … ordering Taco Bell through Slack?
Read about the chatbot example of TacoBot, which is tinkering on the future of work that many companies predict.
Finance
Lessons from the epic fails of well-funded startups
If you get funded, it doesn't mean that you succeeded.