At the “TiE New York: Fostering Entrepreneurship Globally” meetup last May 8 in midtown Park Avenue, Fitbark launched a tiny wearable contraption that helps owners monitor the activity of their dogs, with the resulting data captured, stored and viewable on any iOS devices. It’s an app for dogs briefly mentioned in the previous post, so to provide more detail, here is Michael Chiang, “Woof Interpeter,” giving us more than a whiff or, woof, of things to come.
How did you guys come up with the idea?
We started FitBark about a year ago as a fun project to check up on our dog Freud and to m Dad, if he was really walking him. We looked around to see if anything existed that gave us a real-time view into Freud’s safety, health and happiness and didn’t find a compelling product for dog owners to stay connected with their dogs.
So when we designed FitBark, our goal was to feel connected with our pets at all times, rather than attempt to reconnect with them only after they get lost. This is why we designed FitBark’s experience to be seamless (no manual inputs required), dynamic and that has use throughout the day. We love to be able to check on our dogs and get insights into their life as much as we like – even if we’re out of town!
How did you get funded?
We have been bootstrapping, but will start looking for outside funding soon.
We are also in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign where new customers are pre-ordering the product by the day. Here’s a link to our Kickstarter page -> fitbark.com/kickstarter
What makes your product stand out?
FitBark is being built from the ground up to cater to the needs of dog owners and other caretakers. With this laser focus, our goal is to contribute to a great pet parenting experience, which begins with keeping in touch with our dogs, and getting insights about how they feel by looking at their energy levels. We live by the saying that “a healthy dog is a happy dog”.
Who are your competitors?
No direct competitors. Among the GPS collar manufacturers, TAGG has recently added physical activity tracking. We also view the GPS collars as a complementary market. Here’s the blurb from its Kickstarter page:
Why don’t you have a GPS on it?
We familiarized ourselves with a number of GPS products, and we found that they were too bulky and heavy for our dogs. It would have also greatly reduced battery life.
What do dogs and penguins have in common? They were the topic of two presenters at the “TiE New York: Fostering Entrepreneurship Globally” meetup last May 8 at the Loeb & Loeb in midtown Park Avenue. The two presenters were Fitbark for dogs and DreamIt Ventures’ Arie Abecassis who explained why you need the concept of the march of penguins to raise capital for your startup.
Fitbark launched what it billed dog parenting 2:0, a tiny wearable contraption that helps owners monitor the activity of their dogs, with the resulting data captured, stored and viewable on any iOS devices. It claims to give real-time insights about their pet’s activity and energy level. Pre-orders are now available.
From that presentation, the meetup sequed into how to raise capital for your business idea—and yes, it does have something to do with the march of penguins.
“It’ s a world of lots of ‘maybes’ and few ‘no’s’. So the trick is how to get the ‘maybes’ to say ‘yes,’”” Abecassis said. “You wait for the first penguin to jump into the water. Once that happens, the rest (of them) just jumps in.”
“It’s a similar phenomenon with investors. When investors perceive their risks are mitigated, they’ll jump right in,” he added.
Attendees at TiE meetup
Abecassis acknowledged what everyone knows to be true. “It’s not about what you know but who you know. It definitely helps to get to the right people, but it’s important that the relationship builds up. If you’re planning to raise money next month, it’s too late to pitch to VCs.
“Build the relationship by sharing your progress. And as you progress and update them, you will notice the conversation changing, especially when they see you’re comfortable in the positioning of your product. They’ll see how you are demonstrating the job you are supposed to do.”
“It’s especially important to tell them (VCs) why they’re a fit, why it’s a good opportunity for them and why they can help,” he said.
For him, making a connection with a VC is about connecting the dots. He almost singled out LinkedIn but later in his talk, he mentioned other social networks and for those running in the same circles, he said find out if you went to the same school.
On crowdfunding, he said it is “probably the single most exciting development in the world of entrepreneurship right now, because it holds so much potential to unleash millions of dollars or capital into the startup space.”
It was refreshing to hear him acknowledge how Kickstarter and Indiegogo have a strong foothold in this regard without mentioning his company, AppStori, which does the same in principle but only skewed to apps.
These platforms are being developed to open investor opportunities. “In 2014, the average American household may not need to meet stringent criteria to invest in a startup. That’s going to open up a ton of capital,” he said.
“This could raise the bar for VCs, but all good for the entrepreneur,” he added.
When it comes to raising capital from VCs, addressing those non-binding term sheets are crucial, as it establishes the valuation and terms of an investment and basically reflects the economics and control for capital and guidance.
“For those just starting their business, the good news is that VCs have become entrepreneur-friendly and less aggressive on some terms,” he said. “Besides, there are other ways for companies to assign value to itself.”
He advised the startup, though, that it’s not always about going for the highest bidder. “Value what investors are bringing to the table.”
Abecassis also talked about the aspect of governance in a startup, which covers board size, its composition, protective provisions and the roles of directors and observers, even the role of an independent, to the business. Governance should improve investor returns, he said.
How does one make use of the raised capital? Abecassis suggested the following: build product or service; build sales; expand marketing channels and take care of operations like legal and accounting work.
“You have the ability to use the Internet as your infrastructure,” he said. He doesn’t need to tell us what should follow next is customer acquisition.
The Queens Tech Meetup on Hunters’ Point Plaza in Long Island City may just have the most scenic view of Manhattan’s skyscrapers in Queens. It’s already unique for being out of Silicon Alley’s neighborhood, but if you think about it, the venue fits tech startup founders. It’s nestled on a rooftop like how startup companies featured here must feel with more downloads to their respective apps.
The guests at the 7th meetup of this group last May 2 soaked in the sun longer than usual as they admired the view. Later, as the people trickled into the main hall for the product demonstrations, the admiration would be lavished on the three companies –WeHostels, Uber NYC and Tacks, for making it to the top.
Brett Martin, co-founder and CEO of Sonar, kicked off the night by sharing some sobering startup stories: He said “you won’t get the best people right away,” but you still have to pursue your dream.
His company, Sonar, is a mobile app that tells you when your friends and friends’ friends’ are nearby. It leverages social and location data from networks like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and LinkedIn.
Wehostels report 50 bookings a day.
The demonstrations started with WeHostels’ Diego Saenz Gil, the hard-working Argentinian who moved to Barcelona and moved to the U.S. with an app that aims to make it easy to find and book value accommodations around the world while also connecting other travelers using the mobile device.
WeHostels started as a Web site, but when Saenz Gil realized the 411 percent growth in search mobile, he went full app on iOS (Android to follow) and linked it with Facebook. “We’ve had 120,000 downloads of our app so far and 50 total bookings a day,” he said.
Hostels are popular among young people who don’t mind sharing rooms with other strangers. This, he said, “is a $136 billion market.”
When they did the app, Saenz Gil said they only focused on three things: beautiful design, social integration and easy booking functionality. He made the booking functionality easy by doing his research on-site, asking people in hostels.
The next demonstration came from Ed Casabian, senior community manager of Uber NYC, the company that has been in the news lately. It will be recalled that the New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) initially banned Uber from Gotham’s taxicabs last year. But TLC has green-lighted the cab-hailing app.
In Uber’s world, you don’t have to carry cash or pay the driver, as this will be deducted from the credit card you signed up with when you downloaded the app. You tap a few keys, the cab closest to you comes to you.
Regarding the concern about the wait, Casabian said it’s now down to “4 minutes from 15 minutes last year.”
Uber is now in 10 countries, including London, Paris and Singapore. “All drivers (in New York) are vetted,” he added.
The last presenter, Tracks, showed its mobile social storytelling app. Designed for friends and the entire family to enjoy, the app collects your photos and turns them into visual stories automatically using Facebook and your phone’s camera roll. Tracks are also auto-published on a web application for viewing and sharing.
Tracks reported 2 million downloads for the app, so far.
Also in attendance was Senator Michael Gianaris who spoke about Queens and the planned $133-million infused funding for building the Cornell NY Tech on Roosevelt Island. Marissa Shorenstein, president of AT&T New York, lauded the Queens Tech Meetup and reiterated the continued sponsorship of its events.
How many apps do you have on your smartphone? How many do you actually use? In a 2010 study by Localytics, 26% of apps downloaded were just used once. The problem persists to this day with nearly 7 billion mobile apps downloaded, but with one in four apps never used again. Consider that Apple has nearly 800,000 apps—and growing; we haven’t even mentioned the fact that most of them are free, not counting other apps made for Android and other devices. How do you get people to notice your app?
Still, app developers have a reason to be optimistic, when sales of apps, in-app purchases and subscriptions across smartphones and pads combined are projected to hit $36.7 billion by 2015, according to Canalys. Total of apps now is 1.7 million.
The potential to earn from apps is there as long as consumers can find you. For advertising, that’s a creative challenge. For a news hound, that’s a story. For a startup, that’s a daunting one that requires entrepreneurs of the app kind to come together.
Last April 30 at the Alley NYC, they gathered together to find out “How to get noticed in a marketplace overflowing with apps.” Jake Ward, executive director of the Application Developers Alliance, served as moderator, with guest speakers Arie Abecassis, co-founder of AppStori; Mark Ghermezian, CEO of Appboy; Louis Simeonidis, CMO of Applico; Michael Ludden, senior technical marketing manager at Samsung Developers; and Glen Nigel Straub, director of Global Monetization Solutions at Millennial Media.
Guest speakers at Alley NYC
Abecassis led the panel of speakers—and rightfully so, as his company AppStori serves a higher calling for the rest of us who may want to have our own app but can’t afford to do so. It’s kickstarter.com for apps, a crowdsourcing and funding platform that connects mobile app consumers with developers.
Abecassis talked about the importance of lead-generation marketing your mobile apps, from concept to completion. He cited the importance of relationships with bloggers and app review sites as well as cross promotions. He suggested appflood.com, the only 100% transparent and 100% commission-free platform for trading app installs. “Favorable reviews can create appvocates.”
If one has an advertising budget in place, he suggested pay per click mobile advertising, which can increase an app visibility and rate of conversion. Constantly tracking and analyzing your success or progress is also highly recommended.
“Don’t fall in love with your idea too much. Test as many tools as possible to see which tools yield the most downloads and usage for your apps,” he said.
Beyond marketing, it was also discussed how improving the experience for users may help promote apps more effectively. Would it, for example, be a good idea to try an app before downloading it? Should there be a better curation of all the apps?
And how much does it cost to succeed in this business?
It’s a question that proved to be the hardest to answer. For Ghermezian, it’s about choosing the right team, which everyone at the panel agreed. But everyone was also in agreement that you just can’t get the best team right away, so it’s essential that you launch an app project, even with all its imperfections.
Ghermezian was emphatic about just having your app out there instead of constantly tweaking one’s app.
Straub said creating apps for Microsoft and Blackberry, being new to the marketplace, could pay off. Ludden mentioned developing for Samsung, while Simeonidis said Facebook is another option.
“More than the cost, it’s the sweat equity you put in,” added Straub whose mobile ad company Millennial Media identifies the best ad types, features and actions that most effectively engage consumers.
The event was organized by the Applications Developers Alliance Emerging Technology & Research Working Group. Visit devsbuild.it for resources to grow and analyze your business.
Last April 25, New York had its biggest NY Tech Day ever with an audience that is triple its size from last year and exhibitors from education, dating and e-commerce industries showing up in full force. All in all, about 10,000 people trickled in to hear from more than 400 startups and not-so-recent startups at the sprawling 75,000-square-feet Pier 92, with majority of them based in New York and its boroughs.
Startup founders talked to everyone who cared to listen.
There was Paul Canetti of MazDigital.com, formerly of Apple, who offers a publication app with no programming required. “Now, the magazine industry need not bother with the million-dollar cost of coming up with their own magazine app if they can use our app system.”
Would it save and even make magazines thrive? That remains to be seen.
There were about a dozen education sites and apps for both young and old—and those looking to transition to another career. Moocdom.com aims to give professionals the chance to upgrade their skills.
Across from each other were MeeGenius.com and Kitukids.com. Founded in 2010 Wandy Yeap Hoh and David Park, MeeGenius digitizes children’s stories in audio playback, whereas the latter, founded by Daniela Arredondo, comes in video format. Both think they can co-exist in the marketplace.
For adult learners, Mediabistro.com and General Assemb.ly talked to everyone interested in their short courses and workshops, which range from the marketing kind (social media marketing) to the startup and programming kind, for those not yet familiar with them.
Learning another language took another dimension with Smigin.com. Susan O’ Brien demonstrated the app’s interactive capabilities; they’re developed as videos and games.
Sites for the romantically inclined abounded. InkedMatch.com is about online matchmaking for tattoo lovers; Cheekd.com is still doing the online matching in reverse; Datenight.is for couples who need dating ideas and Parlor.me dares you to start phone conversations with strangers.
Asked about how she is going to compete against all the other dating sites, Lori Cheek of Cheekd.com raised her hand in a triumphant gesture. “I’m in it to make it!” Cheekd.com was featured in The New York Times sometime back.
To look great in those dates, DietBet offers a unique app game—you lose weight you win money. To begin, everyone puts money in a pot. You’ve got four weeks to lose 4 percent of your starting weight. Whoever hits their 4 percent goal is the winner—and splits the pot.
And for those looking to give special gifts, there’s Egifter.com for those must-have coupons, Giftivo.com, which bills itself as a “smart gifting engine,” and Danggle.com, with the most unique gifting idea—“social gifting for yourself.” You go to the site, post your lusted-after item, let your friends chip in, and get the money to buy it.
Those looking to make skilled, trade and household services easier to find were also in attendance: Handybook.com, Servicerunner.com and Myclean.com aim to fit every possible need outside of IT. Finding IT professionals is an entirely different challenge. For even the best recruiters, like TheLadders.com and Landover.com and the new ones like SoundAdvice.jobs, it must really feel like looking for a needle in the haystack with startups mushrooming everywhere. Some e-commerce sites like Bonobos.com and media companies like Medialets.com also used the event for their tech and marketing recruitment efforts.
Not all startups were for necessarily for consumers. Carlos Carbonell and Mat Gaver of JustEcho.com, a digital agency with emphasis on mobile innovation, launched their new company, EchoTime at the event. “It makes time tracking affordable and fun for employees to fill up.”
There were some physical devices, too—and they’re both made from Brooklyn. Solidoodle.com demonstrated its 3D printing machines which sold for $499. Set to launch this year, Bitponics.com offers a real-time sensor data that allows you to manage your garden from any web browser.
For those who want to start their own online businesses, start getting crowdfunded at Seedinvest.com or Indiegogo.com who were also in attendance. But if you can fund the business yourself like Afzal Faroroqui, owner of Rentagizmo.com, then we should also see you in next year’s tech startup event.
What’s your process in terms of making better business decisions? Have you considered Agile critical thinking? It’s easy to spot if your company is using it or not. Ask yourself, Is there always someone in your company selling you an idea you have to accept without argument? And if nobody is held accountable, is there actually a bad decision? You’d be surprised how many companies will tell you they are results-oriented but have never heard of Agile or lean startup thinking.
“The greatest risk is when people assume they know what they (really) don’t know,” said Brian Bozzuto, BigVisible Solutions’ principal Agile coach, at the “Techniques, Experiments and Actionable Metrics: Tools for Enterprise Change” meetup last April 23 at the iRise on Madison Ave.
Brian Bozzuto
Whether you’re starting a new company, launching a new product or introducing a new initiative, BigVisible is one of the companies now offering Agile training courses and coaches specializing in helping you succeed. Agile is a simple but powerful framework for applying critical thinking to business decisions. It’s even more critical to consider it when new research shows that 75% of startups fail, according to Harvard Business School’s Shikhar Ghosh.
Bozzuto took us back in time when pets.com, which raised $80 million in early capital, closed in 2000. That was a lot of funding at the time and even to this day. For the challenges facing startups, he recommends Agile or lean startup thinking, particularly in using revolutionary framework that goes with it: Alexander Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas.
Borrowing from Eric Ries’ Lean Startup model, Bozzuto suggests this sequence — “idea,” “build,” “produce,” “measure,” “data” and “learn.” Giving your initiative(s) or company an honest assessment is key, so is asking the right questions, i.e., “is it (the idea) feasible.” Even knowing how to accept failure goes a long way in helping people learn, assuming companies can accept failure as part of a process.
Bozzuto finds companies that cannot accept failure cannot believe in testing—and the actionable metrics that help inform and stir good decisions.
The Business Model Canvas chart (also pictured here) is a good framework for a product owner or team leader to ask his participants the following questions as part of the exercise– for whom are you creating value; what value do you deliver to the customer; how do you create and maintain relationships with customers; and how do you deliver value created for the customer. Beyond that, the product owner should be able to ask what will you do with these resources to build value; what will you need to create this value; and who would you partner with that will provide key resources or key activities.
What’s the clear takeaway here? Agile thinking is an invaluable addition to any product development team looking to improve their ability to learn from the marketplace and build solutions more suited to their current and future customers.
Sill, there are the risky assumptions. For any company using the diagram, Bozzuto said the hardest to answer are the columns on customer segment and value proposition.
As a parting shot, he proposed adding a column on a Kanban or task board to validate assumptions. “We should start building into our processes regularly checking the assumptions around work and validating if the work we complete does for what we thought it would.”
For more information or to consult with Bozzuto’s top-notch Agile coaching for your business, visit http://www.bigvisible.com/
The meetup was organized and hosted by Debbie Madden and Eli Bozeman at the iRise. iRise (http://www.irise.com/) takes your mobile and web applications beyond prototypes, wireframes and mockups, creating interactive simulations so you can test drive before code.
If there’s an award for the Most Generous Presenter this year in a tech meetup category, the creative digital agency Luxurious Animals is in the lead to win it. The company’s presentation called “Cannons A’Blazing! Post-mortem: LuxAhoy HTML5 Game” last April 18 at the Microsoft office was more than a meetup it was like a workshop.
The event stretched to more than two hours as Luxurious Animals’ founder Garrett Nantz, along with his “team of animals,” showed every stage of the creation of its hugely popular HTML5 game LuxAhoy (http://luxahoy.com/). It was named one of the Top 10 HTML5 games of 2012 by netmagazine.com.
Nantz, who is also its Chief Creative Officer, started the agency in 2008 to merge traditional storytelling with interactivity. Since then, the company has created websites, games, installations, and commercials for brands such as Esquire, Lufthansa, HBO, Porsche, Lunchables and Panera Bread.
The meetup felt like a workshop as Nantz and his team, Tai U, Ali Baranker and Cathy Davenport Lee showed sketches, wireframes and comps, the thinking behind the Box 2d Physics engine as well as the animation process and creation of JS Suite, Spritesheets and Optimizations. He addressed the challenges in different devices, the enhancements, tests and prototypes that happen and the tools that made it all possible.
Nantz is happy to have created the game entirely with the HTML5 canvas tag and javascript, an achievement for a company known for its predominant Flash background. “We were not sure yet how much we could push HTML5. We took our knowledge of flash and thought – ‘rock paper scissors’ would do the trick,” he said.
The challenge in developing an HTML5 game is optimization and browser compatibility. Canvas rendering is reportedly still quite slow on many browsers, even on iPhone4s up and the iPad. Google Chrome is ok, but with certain Android tablets, it’s not unusual for the team to encounter compatibility issues. “We optimize for one and another for our clients to test,” he said.
What does Nantz think now of HTML5? “I thought it was going to be a big challenge (creating games); that it can’t do anything perfectly. But I found out that there are more workarounds,” Nantz proclaimed.
HTML5 delivers the same complex animation, sound, and interaction people have come to expect from Flash. It works on mobile, canvas, CSS3 animations, local storage, plugin-free videos and audios. Even better perhaps is that unlike Flash, Google can index HTML5. Being found, after all, is imperative in a social media world.
Diving deep into the details, the team’s use of EaselJS, SoundJS, Box2dWeb and a dash of jQuery paid dividends. And in exporting all the character animations, it used Zoë to convert flash animations to spritesheets. It turns out Zoë also works together with Easel.
All assets such as vector illustrations were assembled, then transferred to Photoshop to add light and texture effects. A dozen animation libraries later, the team discovered EaselJS (now a part of his CreateJS).
For its physics engine, the team went with its familiar Flash, Box2D. “We settled on box2dweb, finding it to be the most up-to-date and efficient version,” he said.
“We are happy with the result of our first integration of box2dweb with EaselJS. There was concern initially. We found that the physics of box2d are so good, but when a cannon ball scored a direct hit, the collision sent the ship careening off-screen. To avoid this, we came up with the drop anchor,” he explained. A quick test proved that real-world physics sometimes require real-world thinking.
Overall, Lux Ahoy focused on four areas: mobile, performance, game play, and file size. It even switched from frame-based to time-based animation. With a time-based approach, the team was able to provide a smoother experience by making the application adaptable to varying conditions. The experience is top notch.
For those on the design field, you will like to hear that as much as physics is a big deal for some of its games, Luxurious Animals think the graphics play a big role, too. “We work closely with our designers.” The team also used ImageAlpha to greatly reduce the file size of spritesheets with no discernible loss in quality.
But how does Lux Ahoy work? Like any game designed for mobile devices, it’s a no-brainer. Two rivals – a sophisticated monster called LUXAMILLION and a posh elephant TRUNKFORD – face each other across the seas.
With galleons equipped with massive cannons, they fire cannons at each other. The victor takes home treasure in the form of gold coins, giving players two objectives — to destroy the enemy and to collect as much booty as possible. The loser sinks in the bottom of the ocean.
One other example that impressed people in attendance was the Panera Bread site, which blends photo and video assets captured in a studio with elements created in 3D.
In that outstanding piece of work, the team explored four of Panera’s most important brand pillars–bread, craft, trust, and community. Then it presented this wrapped in a beautiful, tablet-friendly HTML5 web experience featuring an intuitive user interface.
You have the idea, but you don’t have the money? You might want to try crowdfunding. Last April 15 at the Microsoft office, John Vaskis, Indiegogo’s Gaming Vertical Lead, presented how you can crowdfund your business successfully, whether it’s a game or your dream of publishing your own book: Do a video pitch.
Vaskis said a video pitch gives you twice the chance of getting funds. “Campaigns with videos raise 114% more than campaigns without. Do a three-minute video and make it personal, but also offer unique perks.”
Citing one successful pitch, Vaskis said Angry Video Game Nerd got 6,700 people to create a feature film based on his YouTube personality. “The Nerd sent over 2,500 autographed photos with custom message for his most ardent supporters.”
Vaskis also said updates every five days are important to keep the communication going with your audience. “It has been our experience that this doubles expected funding. “The higher number of updates…the greater the funding success.”
What is crowdfunding? It’s the pooling of funds, from the people who have passion about your idea. It’s as old as the pooling of funds for the Statue of Liberty stand in Ellis Island. Back then, it was the New York Times that served as the platform for New York to raise over $100,000 in funds. Average contribution the paper received: 89 cents.
Crowdfunding is about raising money and connecting with funders online. But where other ways of funding can be merely static collection, crowdfunding is about the shared enthusiasm between the fund-seeker with the funder.
How does one choose a platform these days? There’s the hugely popular kickstarter.com, and the fairly new seedinvest.com, which may still be free of charges.
Why do people give money for altruistic reasons when he could get a return on his investment somewhere else? That’s been a question for some people, but not for people who sincerely want to help another person fulfill his or her dream.
At Indiegogo, crowdfunding takes these steps to fruition: post a campaign, build virality, collect money, fulfill perks, and get started.
Getting started is just the beginning. You will need to generate interest and momentum for your campaign and that includes knowing how to motivate people to contribute to you. Vaskis said the keys to creating a good pitch are honesty, transparency and authenticity. “Make sure you know what you are raising money for, when your project will take place; why you are raising funds and how you can get people involved.”
It’s also vital that you develop a social media/PR strategy and discuss updates with your audience, as you push your goal and offer perks to your fundraising campaign. It could be a combination of any of the following: offer early access to products/services or discounts or coupons; throw a party for funders; teach a class or host a tour; offer unique, limited edition items; give personal thank you notes; share insider secrets; join the conversation and most important perhaps, communicate early and often.
But where do you even begin? That’s what may intimidate you at first, but it turns out that family and friends can be counted on to be your no. 1 cheerleaders, as Vaskis pointed out how 30 to 40 percent of funding came from them. This creates validation.
If anything, crowdfunding is fanbase building but with some money attached to it. Your network is your “fans” who may contribute $70, the average contribution at Indiegogo.
But what makes Indiegogo unique? It has been doing this on an international scale since 2008, ahead of Kickstarter, which has also proven to be very successful in the U.S. Indiegogo claims to have over 120,000 campaigns from 196 countries.
When you nonchalantly access public Wi-Fi in a café to check your friends’ newsfeeds on Facebook, other people have something more than Caramel Macchiato in mind. They’re thinking where does anyone even begin to think of public policy issues, including universal broadband access, federal spectrum policy, data security and civil liberties. The purpose of spectrum policy is to manage a natural resource for the maximum possible benefit of the public.
It turns out public Wi-Fi access is that serious a subject, as it even brought in the cavalry to the eBay office last April 11, in an event called “Internet Everywhere: Role and Implications.” The panels of experts came from government, the academe, legal profession, non-profit organizations, public policymakers and cyber security world.
With a big panel to moderate, Nilay Patel, managing editor of The Verge, had the experts take their turn answering questions based on their field of expertise. However, the talk presented more questions than answers with little wiggle room for the panel of eight experts to elaborate on their thoughts given the limited one and a half-hour time period.
Still, there were some interesting answers to questions that don’t come up too often. For example, is it possible to lose your Internet rights? Yes, if you have six recorded copyright violations.
There were comments about anonymity and security, as both have a corollary effect on a computer user. One can be anonymous at a Starbucks, but you may not be safe and can actually be rendered vulnerable by an application that can be easily bought online.
Others were confident about security online. One expert assured how encrypted data provides protection 90 percent of the time, although developing better mousetraps were still suggested.
Panel of experts at eBay office
New York City Council’s Gale Brewer was in attendance and she pointed how times have certainly changed since she allowed IBM to set up kiosks near municipal hall in the mid-90s. That was the time when just getting an Internet connection was already a big deal.
She might have been referring to how in January 8 this year Google didn’t need kiosks, as they wrapped Chelsea in free Wi-Fi—the largest Wi-Fi hotspot in the area where it also holds office, incidentally.
And that’s even a year too late, as Brewer recounts how “MTA (Metro Transit Authority) took a year to respond to Google” about the tech giant’s plans. She claimed the MTA finally responded when she asked MTA to return the call from Google. This anecdote drew some laughs but it also raised the issue of the city’s tech preparedness. Because in January this year, the city also announced a pilot program to turn payphones into open Wi-Fi hotspots.
To date, the City and AT&T has a five-year initiative to provide free Wi-Fi service at 26 locations in 20 New York City parks across the five boroughs. At present, AT&T Wi-Fi is now available free of charge to park visitors in all five boroughs. There are also plans to have 200 underground stations in New York’s subway platforms.
The event was hosted and organized by the Federal Communications Bar Association (NY Chapter), New York Law School, eBay NYC, the New York Legal Hackers Meetup, the Cardozo Cyberlaw Society, and the Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinic.
The panel of experts, not in any particular order, were: Diedre Flynn, executive director of Telecommunications Policy and Strategy, NYC DoITT; Joe Plotkin, Board member, NYCWireless; Bruce Regal, senior counsel, New York City Law Department; Mike Roudi, SVP Corporate Development, Time Warner Inc.; Michael Santorelli, Director, Advance Communications Law & Policy Institute, New York Law School; Christopher Soghoian, Indepdent Privacy Researcher; and Jody Westby, CEO, Global Cyber Risk.
If you’re looking to improve your scale or capability, there’s nothing like having some Agile thinking in place. For the uninitiated, it could simply mean having a workflow with sticky notes on a white board that categorizes tasks as “to be done.” “in process” and “finished.” But it’s more than that for two teams at the Agile for Non-Software Team meetup hosted and organized by Lori Masuda last April 9 at Kaplan Test Prep.
At the meetup, the two Kaplan teams that were paired with editorial and marketing staff presented the result of their Scrumban and Lean practices in a panel discussion that allowed for the “sharing of the good, the bad and the future.”
The toughest challenge for both teams proved to be meeting deadline dates.
One team was tasked to write the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) Premier, while another, Grad Marketing, worked on improving its own processes in both managing general tasks and fulfilling requests for marketing collaterals.
In the past, it was not unusual for the LSAT team to write a book with one author. This time, the LSAT team faced the challenge of collaborating with a large group of people where not all the great feedback can be incorporated instantly; that hefty book is like the yellow pages of old where the process of completing it can test the most patient of stakeholders and authors.
The marketing team, for its part, had a “black-box” process with many submissions but no clear way of prioritizing all the requests. They wanted transparency and collaboration with their stakeholders.
Both teams implemented daily scrum meetings and visual task boards. For the LSAT team, they implemented the Demos and Sprint Planning. For the marketing group, they streamlined retros and single product owners.
Masuda listed the following challenges presented by the panel:
1. Managing deadline dates. How to address deadline dates with shifting priorities
2. Planning/estimating/team capacity. How to adjust to unavoidable guess work
3. Commitment level. How to make everyone commit 100%
4. Work-in-progress concerns. How guidelines work but hard for everyone to stick with on a regular basis
When everyone can’t be together, it seems Agile thinking beats huddling in front of a computer, as it resulted in something that should inspire the rest of us: 1. Increased transparency
2. Increased collaboration and
3. Better communication and alignment with business
Since most of the participants worked remotely, a challenge for many, they discovered how Google Hangout was heaven sent.
