Not being an employee…

By akie

Switching jobs had not solved my problems. The truth was that I hated working in a conventional structure. I hated having a boss, working on someone else’s creation and sitting in an office all day. My time was not my own, and I was miserable. I could not bear it for even one day longer. So I quit and decided to become an entrepreneur.

Exciting as it may be, however, the entrepreneurial life is far from easy. Stress is a regular part of the day. Money is tight. There are frequent emotional highs and lows, and the desire to succeed can become all-consuming. Underlying all of this is the knowledge that failure is the most likely outcome.

Yet, no matter how tough things get, I wake up every morning with renewed hope and excitement for what lies ahead. The fact that I am working on my passion gives meaning to even the most mundane tasks.

My future is perhaps more uncertain than it ever has been. I may end up wealthy, or I may earn barely enough to support myself. But the realization that I face a high likelihood of failure is not enough to send me back to the corporate cubicle.

Very true. From The New York Times.

Where can I fly for how much?

By akie

Link

Business plans

By akie

I think I’ve had this conversation… let’s say… ehm… regularly? If only they would accept my equity

From “8 Websites You Need To Stop Building“

Design hell

By akie

Link

Reminds me of this earlier post.

Apple brainwashing: how we do it

By akie

Via the amazing, great, fantastic, easy, beautiful FakeSteve

The 11-Year Quest to Create Disappearing Colored Bubbles

By akie

Link

The cardapult

By akie

A catapult made from a business card…. wonderful! Build one yourself!

Business software :)

By akie

6 secrets of persuasion

By akie

(in dutch)

Lees “De zes geheimen van verleiding“. Verplichte kost!

Perceptions of a project

By akie

It’s funny ’cause it’s true

TinEye

By akie

With this you can take a picture of an album cover, and find it in an online shop or on Wikipedia.

Made with the technology from this post (by the same guys (again)).

If architects had to work like web developers

By akie

I really like this:

Dear Mr. Architect:

Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have somewhere between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.

Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don’t have nearly enough insulation in them).

As you design, also keep in mind that I want to keep yearly maintenance costs as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra-cost features like aluminum, vinyl, or composite siding. (If you choose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain your decision in detail.)

Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted, however, that kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.
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Creative barcodes

By akie

I like these creative Japanese barcodes. Click to view all.

Original

The truth about meetings

By akie

Diary of a failed startup

By akie

I’m starting a company in a few weeks, and found this blog post about a failed startup quite interesting. I hope I can avoid his mistakes.

13 tips for building a successful online product

By akie

“Much of the online literature about starting up is focused on how to create some fantastic product which will gather millions of visitors and make you a billionaire, and the “new wave”, so to speak, proposes that rather than taking a 1 in 10’000 bet that you can make billions, it is better to take a 1 in 10 bet that you can make millions.

Since I have started two such businesses already, here are thirteen tips from my own experience.”

Link - very worth a read