Announcing ThinkCode.TV’s new English newsletter

Ten days ago I mentioned ThinkCode.TV, my startup on the side, the aim of which will be to produce high quality screencasts about programming, both in English and Italian. My two co-founders and I are relatively well known in Italy, so I was expecting the announcement to generate some buzz in my home country. What surprised me though was finding out that my informal pre-announcement generated quite a bit of interest...

Startup Interviews: Zooppa.com

What follows is an interview with Nicholas Wieland, CTO of Italy-based Zooppa, a fast growing social network for creative types. This is the second in a series of interviews I will carry out with interesting figures from the micro-ISV and startup scene. If you have a compelling story to tell, own or run a tech startup, and would like to be featured, please drop me a line via email. 1. I’d like to start by...

Ruby 1.9 screencasts plus an announcement

Previously I mentioned the importance of migrating away from Ruby 1.8, in favor of 1.9. Before my business trip to Italy, I had a chance to watch David A. Black’s new videos for Envycast, in which he presents the essential concepts required to migrate from Ruby 1.8 to 1.9. This pair of videos totals roughly an hour and a quarter, and can be purchased in a package deal for $16. You probably won’t find...

Startup Interviews: Balsamiq Studio LLC

What follows is an interview with Giacomo “Peldi” Guilizzoni, founder of Balsamiq Studio LLC, a fast growing micro-ISV. This is the first of a series of interviews I will carry out with interesting figures from the micro-ISV and startup scene. If you have a compelling story to tell, own or run a tech startup, and would like to be featured, please drop me a line via email. 1. Before starting Balsamiq you...

Better Software 2009 and Pycon Italia Tre

In May I will be presenting at two conferences in Italy. The first is called Better Software 2009; it’s dedicated to the world of software development, Agile methodologies, Web 2.0 and a bunch of other buzzword compliant technologies. This conference will be held on May 6 and 7 in sunny Florence. If you speak Italian and happen to be in Europe, you can register here. Italian conferences tend to be fairly...

Do you really need Venture Capital funding?

One distinctive characteristic of software startups that really sets them apart from other new companies in different fields is the exceptionally slim amount of capital required to get started. The ability to bootstrap is what makes our industry such an incredible business opportunity. Anyone with a good idea, decent technical skills, and a dose of business sense can come up with a profitable venture, without having...

Developers are blinded by the light

Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night — Bruce Springsteen Humans are exceptionally bad at calculating odds. We let our limited experience strongly influence our perception of the likelihood of an event. For instance, we tend to vastly overestimate the odds of dying due to a terrorist attack, accidental firearm discharge, or a hurricane, and vastly underestimate causes of...

Random thoughts on software piracy and open source business models

In a recent blog entry, Jeff Atwood discussed the subject of software piracy, bringing up the example of a succesfull indie game called World of Goo, whose estimated piracy rate is about 82% (initially reported as 90%). Perhaps in an effort to appeal to the ethical side of his readers, Jeff underlines how “this is not a game that deserves to be pirated”, how it’s developed by a team of two indie...