One of my favorite concepts in programming is called code smells. The principle of code smell is that if something looks odd or bad on the surface, there’s a high likelihood there’s a larger underlying problem. More simply put, if you see compromises and bad practice in small ways, there’s almost always larger compromise and […]
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There’s No Excuse for Shoddy Work
Inevitably if you’re under the gun to hit a deadline with your product, the temptation will be to allow things to slip. Your development team might say things like “We’re going to skip x or y if we’re going to make the deadline” or “We’ll have to take a shortcut here and come back and fix […]
Is Your Product 10X?
It’s a well-understood norm that in order to displace your competition, particularly as a startup, your product has to be a 10x product in one of these areas: 10x better 10x faster 10x cheaper Is your product good enough to overcome the switching costs associated with their current solution? I was reviewing a product the […]
What Are the Three Things You’re Watching Every Day?
What are the three things (or less) you have to get right today for your company to win? Write them down on a scratch piece of paper just to prove it to yourself. Does everyone else who works with you also know what those three things are? Go ahead, ask around. Are you publicly sharing […]
The Scott Barstow Show, Episode #014 – Brian Dally, CEO of Groundfloor
Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher! Brian Dally is the CEO of Groundfloor, a crowdfunding real estate finance company based in Atlanta, GA. I first met Brian back when he was building Republic Wireless as an intrapraneur at Bandwidth and have watched him build Groundfloor for the past few years. Brian is a different breed. He […]
Two Things You Must Do When You Hire a Developer
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney. You should consult an actual attorney like Jesse Jones for the actual agreements and process. Frequently overlooked in the process of hiring a new developer are the two legal agreements that you must have before they start work. Every developer (and probably every employee, period) must sign an Assignment […]
How to Buy a Domain from Someone Else
One of the key components of your brand identity is the domain name you use. However, as you’ve no doubt discovered, it’s hard to find good domain names these days. Many times, there’s someone who owns the domain you want but isn’t using it. They’re squatting on it and hoping to sell it to you. […]
The Scott Barstow Show, Episode #013- Brent Boekestein, CEO of Vintra.io
Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher! Brent Boekestein is the CEO of a brand new startup in the Bay area called Vintra.io. I wanted to have Brent on because I worked alongside him for a few weeks as he took his latest venture from concept to customer discovery and now into fundraising and early customers. His […]
July Must-Haves
Each month I’m going to provide a list of resources (podcasts, talks, blog posts, books, music etc.) that I consider to be must-haves. There’s no doubt that you’ll see recurring themes or resources throughout these posts. Check out June and May’s list if you’re just joining the party. Here’s my list of July 2016 Must-Haves […]
How to Change Passwords on Key Systems
This post is going to be short and sweet, and cover something really practical: How to change passwords on key systems. You’re going to have to do this if senior people on your team leave the company for whatever reason and you’ve shared administrative credentials on your servers (be they Windows or Linux). Here’s the […]