The Web Startup Product Model
I saw this great infographic over at Jude Gomila‘s blog representing one view of a generalized web startup product model.
Updates from May, 2009 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kevin Chiu
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Kevin Chiu
Reverse Engineering
Today I reversed engineered the core technology of a hardware company that recently raised a $20m+ Series B.
This just goes to show that keeping something secret doesn’t mean that others won’t be able to copy it or come up with something better.
The crazy thing is… I know next to nothing about hardware.
It was a depth sensor using a laser light source and an IR camera in a compact webcam-like enclosure. They made it sound magical, but it was really quite simple. They demoed it for about 15 minutes, and there were no pictures allowed. They shot down everyone’s guesses (structured light, time of flight, sonar), and didn’t really describe how the device worked. However, after a few minutes of thinking, extracting the trick behind the technology was pretty easy.
If their technology is really this simple, I’m guessing that their investors are actually investing in the business plan. Now I’m really interested in their strategy…
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Jules
How long did it take you to figure it out?
You should see what kind of strategy they use so you can mold it for when you start raising money for your inventions.
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Kevin Chiu
After their demo ended, I guess it took about 15 – 30 minutes.
Their strategy is to be a component for product makers, who can claim the technology is theirs. I think they’re doing something like NVidia’s model, where they make a reference design and other companies can adapt it as they see fit.
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Kevin Chiu
Speed up your Mac
I came across these nifty commands when trying to repair my Finder.app.
Rebuild your LaunchServices database to repair confused “Open With…” menus:
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework\
/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/\
A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system \
-domain user
Run the optimization that’s normally run after installing a program:
sudo update_prebinding -force -root /
My computer feels significantly faster now.
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Andrew Chen
Hi kevin, how do I get in touch with you? I couldn’t find an email address for you.
I’d like to chat!
Here’s my background:
http://andrewchenblog.com/about/Shoot me an email back at [ protecting your email from spam attack... -Kevin ]
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Jules
You have a lot of good tips. I’m going to see if it speeds up my Mac.
Andrew Chen has a good point in asking how to get in touch with you. How can we chat? You have my e-mail so look forward to hearing from you. Thanks!
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Kevin Chiu
Sync Google Calendar with Apple iCal
(bonus: multi-calendar syncing)
If you’ve ever wondered how to synchronize iCal with Google calendar, well, here’s how.
You can use this to synchronize calendars across multiple computers. Just sync up each one with the same Google calendar and you’re set. Any item created at one computer will transfer to the others.
Kevin Chiu
The Story of Stuff
This video was quite enlightening. It does a good job of explaining how the economy drives us on a macro level.
I am suddenly interested in economics.
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Jules
I didn’t know she spent 10 years traveling to research for this! Thanks for the link. The 20 minutes passed before I realized. Are you still interested in economics?
Jules 8:11 pm on June 1, 2009 Permalink
He really did a good job on that. All the organization and colors helped to understand.
btw, I found out that T-Mobile is going to release 3 phones I’m really looking forward to:
HTC Touch Pro 2
HTC Magic
Sony Ericsson CS8
I can’t wait for July. Maybe you can post your thoughts on them so we know which one is the one you like the best.
Kevin 1:52 pm on June 3, 2009 Permalink
Hmm, the problem here is that I would only be speculating unless I could get my hands on some of those. Maybe I’ll visit a T-Mobile store sometime.