Back in September, my cofounder Brian James Kirk and I moved our Philadelphia operations from Temple University Center City at 1515 Market Street to the new University City headquarters of First Round Capital.
This month, Geekadelphia visited the 10,000 square foot renovated space, in which we are now based.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
The regional distinction that the Philadelphia technology and business community is trying to carve out for itself is integral to the continued improvement of attracting and retaining talent, and that has little to do with the fool’s errand of trying to recreate itself as a far smaller, broad-based Silicon Valley copy cat.
That was among the bigger conversation topics on the hour-long Radio Times episode on which I appeared this week, along with Roseann Rosenthal of Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Josh Kopelman of First Round Capital and Bob Moul of Artisan mobile.
Continue reading Philadelphia’s technology distinction: Radio Times appearance [AUDIO]
I wanted to own a firearm enough that it was on my original list of 26.
I was no gun zealot, like many young boys. I didn’t even have much experience with firearms, . So, the desire to be a firearm owner wasn’t part of a healthy family tradition, nor was it a less healthy, although phase-based, violence obsession.
I suppose I instead understood early that it was important for me to experience and be comfortable with a potentially dangerous, but popular, healthy part of the American tradition.
Today, with a Living Social deal of a one-hour safety training seminar and shooting range practice for three people for $75, I did just that at the Gun Range above Spring Garden Street near 10th Street above the Callowhill neighborhood of Philadelphia.
After a half hour of training, I used a half hour of training time, armed with a small, simple, cheap .22 gauge Ruger handgun, with limited recoil at the request of the person with whom I attended. Good experience, I shot fairly well, am more aware and will want to practice more in the future.
It’s part of my intention of maintaining a basic level of comfort and respect for an outsized American cultural influence.
Continue reading Firearm ownershipIndividuality is a heavy load is among the largest themes of the 1976 Tom Robbins novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues that I recently finished.
Last year, I read and loved Robbins’ book ‘Still Life with Woodpecker,’ but I think I liked this even more.
Continue reading ‘Even Cowgirls Get the Blues’: My favorite passages from the 1976 Tom Robbins novel on individuality
The small, if compelling, story of two friends and me launching and growing Technically Philly after graduating college was the focus of a feature in the winter 2013 issue of the Temple University alumni magazine.
It also included a pretty fun photo shoot of my cofounder Brian James Kirk and I (our third cofounder moved on as an employee last year), as shown above.
Continue reading Temple alumni magazine profiles Technically Philly
It was a good year.
Continuing my annual tradition of resolutions, here is what I hope to accomplish in 2013 personally.
Because a number of friends have started turning 30 and I’ll be turning 27, in addition to working toward my original list, I’ve started thinking about what I’d like to accomplish by the end of my 20s.
Continue reading 2013 Resolutions
I like to wrap up each year by looking at what I’ve written about here. To do it a little bit differently, I looked at three different measures of content: what was the best trafficked, what got the most engagement (email, conversation, social chatter) and what I ones I most want to follow up on.
Continue reading my 5 best trafficked, most interesting and other posts of 2012
My upstairs bathroom underwent a big change from the week before Thanksgiving until Christmas. Thanks to my friends Shawn and Rob.
The before and finished
When you first launch your venture or your organization or group or initiative, you might throw every waking moment you have at it. You log lots of hours, play many roles and simply aim to outlast any competitors. It’s a blind outpouring of time. You start by working longer.
In time, you get to know your needs, strengths and shortcomings better. You add support and focus your efforts. You do a lot of research and plenty of outreach to refine your work. You’re still logging long hours but it comes with greater savvy. You grow by working harder.
It’s here that efforts can go one of two ways. Many will grow in this way, by working hard and simply letting product and chance decide winners and losers. That can work, but the greater goal (and therefore the greater challenge) is to transition once again.
As 19th century French writer Emile Zola said: “The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without the work.”
You could begin innovating beyond your origins. You could partner or compete when best suited. You might know well your market differentiation, exploit it and grow it. You succeed by working smarter.
