An Empathetic Listener : Organization

Give Camp is Coming to Phoenix!

Dan Willis — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:48:35 GMT

Give Camp is a growing nationwide effort for software professionals to give back to the community. On a given weekend, the development community comes together to partner with non-profits and charities, and over the course of one weekend developers take projects from idea to completion!

Arizona Give Camp is just getting started, and we need your help! This is a big event, working with possibly hundreds of developers, dozens of non-profits, dozens of sponsors, and big logistical problems.

We are making a call for volunteers to help with the organizational side of Give Camp. We need dedicated professionals that can devote significant amounts of time to help get Arizona Give Camp going. This is an all volunteer effort, and it will take many months of sustained effort to have a successful event. We will need teams to work with non-profits and charities; to work with sponsors; to organize the developers, designers, and business analysts; handle servers and networking issues; coordinate logistics including venue, hospitality, etc… the list goes on!

Your technical skills are important, but what we need most is dedication and energy. If you have an interest in having a big role in the success of Give Camp, we invite you to attend the first AZ Give Camp organizers meeting on October 15th at Microsoft’s downtown office from 6pm to 8pm. If you plan on attending, please sign up at:

http://azgivecamp2009orgmeeting.eventbrite.com/

To learn more about Give Camp, you can visit www.givecamp.org and follow us on Twitter @AZGiveCamp. You can even call us at 623.252.GIVE if you have questions.

When: October 15, 2009, 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Where: Microsoft Office – 2929 N. Central Ave, Suite 1400, Phoenix, AZ 85012

How Can I Get A Job Like That!

Dan Willis — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:34:54 GMT

Most people with ANY job today are happy and I would certainly include myself in that category. However, there are jobs that have inherent “opportunities” – for adventure, fulfillment, etc. (you get the picture)… Joe Wilson, a Senior Director in the Academic Evangelism organization for Microsoft has one of those jobs. Joe is one of many people working on the 2009 Imagine Cup awards show in EGYPT! Check out his video for yourself. I was struck by the juxtaposition of the technology of putting on a modern event with the technology inherent in the pyramids in the background.

A bit of background on the Imagine Cup… Now in its seventh year, the Imagine Cup is a global student technology competition focused on finding solutions to real-world issues. The competition encourages the world's most talented software designers, programmers, game developers, photographers and filmmakers to tackle the toughest problems facing the world today.

Over 200,000 technology students around the world competed in the 2008 competition.

Do you want:

To contribute your talents to tackling some of the toughest problems facing us today-and maybe even turn your ideas into a business one day?
To learn new technology skills and test yourself against the brightest students on the planet?
To make new friends from around the world?
The chance to win cash prizes, internships at Microsoft, and even a free trip to Cairo, Egypt this July for the Worldwide Finals?

Since 2002, the Imagine Cup has been challenging the world's brightest students to step up and make a difference.

We're the world's premier student technology competition and we invite you to join us!

BizSpark Phoenix – Legal Issues for Startups

Dan Willis — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:28:55 GMT

On May 13, 2009 Garland Brown, an attorney with Greenberg, Traurig, LLP presented a well-rounded overview of some of the core legal issues facing startups. I have included his presentation in this post but I also wanted to share my personal notes on some of his key points for technology startups.

Before doing that, let me also mention that Garland has a unique background that should make anyone interested in this area eager to reach out to him for advice. He started out as a software developer working for a certain large software company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. At one time he lead the team responsible for the Encarta web-based encyclopedia series. He also has worked as an independent software developer toiling away on his own to bring ideas to life as salable products. Somewhere along the line he entered the legal arena and spent considerable time trying to work out aspects of Microsoft’s relationship with the European Union (talk about global perspective)! He is now focused almost exclusively on startups and early-stage technology companies.

Locally, Garland is a big fan of the Microsoft BizSpark initiative and has personally devoted many hours to assisting startups engaged in the program. He is also an angel investor and a member of ATIF (Arizona Technology Investor Forum).

Presentation Notes:

Organizing Concepts

An obvious but overlooked fact is that you don’t have to do ANYTHING to organize a startup. Many jump to the conclusion that they MUST be at least an LLC, LLP, C Corp, S Corp or whatever before even settling on what their product or service is. The entity you choose is important and has tax and liability considerations but the reality is that if you never develop that great idea in the first place, the organization of the company is moot.

If you do choose to organize right away, many software entrepreneurs choose LLC (limited Liability Company) as the entity of choice. Garland points out that choosing a Delaware based LLC is a good idea in that there is a large body of (pro-business) law around Delaware-based LLC’s.

More important, in Garland’s opinion, is to engage an Advisory Board of at least 3 members. This group will serve as your sounding board and sanity check. Composition can vary but should consist of at least one person with business expertise (especially in the domain you are trying to reach), a financial person and a technologist familiar with your industry. They don’t have to be local but it should be an odd number to aid in making decisions.

Funding Issues

Debt vs. Equity is a critical area for startups and Garland had some strong opinions here. In the debt arena this was the first time I heard of the Three F’s as sources – Friends, Family & Fools! (ouch!) The reality is that you need to get to a revenue stream or large user base as soon as possible. Angels and early stage investors are reluctant to engage with just an idea that has no one else validating it.

If you are funded by an angel, expect three things – A schedule, regular meetings and results. Think 10-15X results!

Equity is a particularly challenging area in that it’s so difficult to assign percentages where there is no solid valuation (which will change over time anyway). Garland’s view is that the VC sets the valuation no matter what you might think. And yes, each VC has a different set of variables and methods to assess valuation for equity distribution. An additional note of concern is high initial valuations.

If you have an excellent advisory board expect to reward them with an equity stake. Be careful with employees. Giving away too many equity positions can dilute the company too quickly. Think hard about how critical or essential someone is to the operation before conferring equity positions. An emerging rule of thumb is reserve 15% of the equity for employee stock options and/or grants.

In the middle of the road between debt and equity is Convertible Debt Financing. This is usually a note that accrues interest but can be converted to equity. No payments are made until conversion.

Intellectual Property

Garland zeroed in on the patent issue as similar to the obsession with getting the organization structure in place before getting real work done. Patents have their place but are too often seen as the anchor for funding an idea. The reality is that a patent can expose your technology to a broad set of competitors that can infringe almost immediately and potentially outlast you legally and financially. This is an area for deep consultation with competent legal counsel.

A Trade Secret on the other hand is very helpful in that it lasts indefinitely. Just remember to keep it secret and avoid divulging even components of the idea.

Copyright is unique in that as soon as the work is created it IS copyrighted. Software code is intrinsically copyrighted by the fact you uniquely create it. A Registered Copyright is one where you send the material to the the copyright office for registering. You can request that the the office not expose the source material.

For background reading Garland recommends Competing in Internet Time.

Technorati Tags: startups,BizSpark,funding,IP,Organizing

Team System Big Event Coming to Phoenix

Dan Willis — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:51:04 GMT

Visual Studio Team System events are typically focused on existing customers to the exclusion of too many for too long. This event is for EVERYONE interested in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM). We will have high-quality speakers from industry, the community and of course, Microsoft.

May 7, 2009 8:30 – 5:00PM AZ time
Microsoft Office – 2929 N. Central Ave., Suite 1400, Phoenix, AZ 85012

Registration Link

Event Overview

How do you take an idea from conception to completion? How can you truly do more with less?

Please join us for this unique, invitation-only event to discover how both product and processes help your organization succeed in today’s environment. We will explore how Team System assists teams across the board to be successful in today’s tough times. This “break through” event will not only provide you with best practices around development and testing, but will demonstrate key capabilities of both Visual Studio Team System 2008 and the upcoming 2010 release. It’s a day that promises to have something for everyone!

Agenda:

Test Driven Development: Improving .NET Application Performance & Scalability

This session will demonstrate how to leverage Test Driven Development in Team System. We’ll highlight both writing unit tests up front as well as creating test stubs for existing code.

"It Works on My Machine!" Closing the Loop Between Development & Testing

In this session, we will examine the traditional barriers between the developer and tester; and how Team System can help remove those walls.

Treating Databases as First-Class Citizens in Development

Team System Database Edition elevates database development to the same level as code development. See how Database Edition enables database change management, automation, comparison, and deployment.

Architecture without Big Design Up Front

Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2010 Architecture Edition, introduces new UML designers, use cases, activity diagrams, sequence diagrams that can visualize existing code, layering to enforce dependency rules, and physical designers to visualize, analyze, and refactor your software. See how VSTS extends UML logical views into physical views of your code. Learn how to create relationships from these views to work items and project metrics, how to extend these designers, and how to programmatically transform models into patterns for other domains and disciplines.

Development Best Practices & How Microsoft Helps

Sometimes development teams get too bogged down with the details. Take a deep breath, step back, and re-acquaint yourself with a review of current development best practice trends, including continuous integration, automation, and requirements analysis; and see how Microsoft tools map to those practices.

"Bang for Your Buck" Getting the Most out of Team Foundation Server

Today’s IT budgets are forcing teams to do as much as they can with as little as possible. Why not leverage Team Foundation Server to its full potential? In this session we’ll highlight some capabilities of TFS that you may or may not already know about to help you maximize productivity.

BizSpark Phoenix – Participant Update

Dan Willis — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:37:29 GMT

May 13, 2009 - 1:00–3:00 PM (AZ time)
Microsoft Phoenix office – 2929 Central Avenue, Suite 1400, Phoenix, AZ 85012
Ocotillo Conference Room

The first part of the meeting will be lead by Garland Brown, an Attorney from Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Garland is a unique member of the technology/legal community. He has worked as a professional developer both as an independent and for Microsoft. His legal experience ranges from negotiations with the European Union on behalf of Microsoft to his current focus on early stage companies.

Garland will cover in part:

Formation issues (LLC, LLP, Inc., etc)
Funding issues (equity vs. notes)
Issues involving protection of IP (trade secret, patent, copyright, trademark)
Licensing

In the second half of the meeting I will cover some new components of the BizSpark offering such as:

Hoster Update
New Tools Available
New Portal Info.
BizSpark T-Shirts
CRM Update

This will also be an opportunity for you to bring up any issues with the program and areas where you would like to hear from your peers. Feel free to bring your partners or anyone who might be interested in the program.

Good News on the Interoperability Front

Dan Willis — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:20:11 GMT

Like many folks within Microsoft, I come from a background that includes many different technology approaches/solutions to business problems. That being said, interoperability is a crucial element for enterprise applications. I’m happy to say that his area is getting renewed focus within Microsoft and I highly recommend this presentation from Vijay Rajagopalan of the Microsoft Interoperability Team at MIX09 on the state of our current thinking.

Come hear how Microsoft has delivered multiple technologies that focus on interoperability with non-Microsoft and Open Source technologies. Learn how to use the Eclipse tools today to build Silverlight applications that run on PCs and Macs, how to develop using combinations of Java, Ruby and PHP in addition to the standard Microsoft languages, and how Microsoft's commitment to openness with the Azure Services Platform and the use of claims-based identity supports heterogeneous identity systems.

Microsoft Can Help Businesses Save Money!

Dan Willis — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:15:59 GMT

You probably won’t catch this in time but yours truly will be interviewed on the John Adams Show, KFNN, 1510 AM in Phoenix. The 10 minute interview will be broadcast LIVE at the FBR Open in Scottsdale on Friday, 1/30/09 at 9:08 AM. I will be speaking on some key initiatives and offerings from Microsoft that can save businesses money in the current economic climate. You can get the stream of the interview post event at www.thejohnadamshow.com. I will post a direct link and additional content after the show.

LISTEN LIVE!

Does a Company Need a Chief Engineer / Chief Software Architect / Chief Anything?

Dan Willis — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 08:48:00 GMT

Interesting post by Scott Bellware on Toyota's Chief Engineer and the impact of the role on Toyota's planning and production. With the recent talk of the new administration in the US appointing a CIO for the first time; it got me thinking about the importance of a single individual to the technical direction of an organization. It's an interesting area for me as I spend a good amount of time speaking with Chiefs of all sorts and I work at a company that has a unique "Chief" position.

Before he left Microsoft, Bill Gates created the role of Chief Software Architect (way back in 2000 - time flies). In 2006, he announced that he would phase out of an active role with the company and Ray Ozzie would take over the CSA role. Well, here we are at the end of 2008 and I wonder what difference having a CSA has made to Microsoft.

To the public at large, most of what Mr. Ozzie does is internal to Microsoft and does not appear to have a direct affect on day-to-day operations. He occasionally appears at key public venues (well, for the Microsoft-interested public) such as MIX and the Professional Developers Conference (PDC). Notably, he usually announces very broad reaching and significant directions such as Surface, Silverlight, Live Services and most recently Azure (Uber Cloud Computing platform). What is interesting about these announcements is that Mr. Ozzie is not just a mouthpiece for these initiatives but has actually provided some of the intellectual foundation and executive backing to bring these major efforts to fruition. In that sense, he has been successful in marshalling the myriads of groups and projects within the company to bring about focused effort.

At the end of the day that is what anyone in a "Chief" role does - provides focus and consolidation of effort on the most important things. Sounds simple enough but in my albeit limited experience, incredibly difficult. This is the essence of why you do need "a" Chief and not Chiefs. Too many Chiefs quickly become a committee and serve as a bottleneck and impediment instead of the single point of focus and action. Chiefs are owners and initiators. They enable their staffs and departments to work with the confidence that what they do matters and if they are successful, all will benefit. That's my view. What's yours?