rimutaka

Your "POWELL Principles"

A list of questions to compare your believes and practices to those of Colin Powell.

This list was inspired by a small 50-page book with 24 lessons from Colin Powell: The POWELL Principles by Oren Harari.

There are no "correct" answers here. It is just a framework to make you think where you stand and how you can improve. Write down your answers and then read the book to check them against those of Colin Powell.

Are you a leader or a manager?

rimutaka

This is a list of features I'd like to see in a markdown tool to make writing docs easier.

• Automatically format code snippets according tp ````lang` setting
• Display word counts
• Display doc stats:
  • word count
  • estimated read time
  • significant / insignificant words
  • code line/word count
  • ratios of code/text/singificant/insignificant words

rimutaka

Startmate Accelerator: W21 Application Questions

The Problem + Solution

Describe the problem your company is solving (400 characters)*

Finding software developers is either hard or expensive. There is no reliable source of information an employer could search for skills, location and salary expectations to build a shortlist of suitable candidates.

On the other hand, developers with popular public profiles are bombarded with mostly irrelevant offers while many very capable developers are never even considered.

rimutaka

Thoughts on license selection for StackMuncher

Objectives

• Complete transparency of operation by making all STM code open source: data use, processing, privacy, security
• Reducing competition from smarter and more resourceful entities
• Enabling the community to contribute
• Building a sustainable business with a single priority: delivering value to the community

Contenders

rimutaka

New market segment assessment

Discard unworkable target market ideas by identifying major road blocks early.

Go through the entire list before digging deep into the difficult questions to identify any obvious show stoppers.

• Name of the product or service on offer.

  E.g. a mobile ANPR camera

• Name the target market in just a few words. > E.g. individuals concerned of the traffic around them

rimutaka

Name assessment for an online project

Discard unworkable names as they come up

It won't tell you if the name is good, but it should save you the pain of picking a bad name.

• Is .com available?

  Usually it's the first one to go

• Is there a website behind it?

  Just go to the URL

• Can the domain be purchased?

rimutaka

Job offer assessment

Identify weak points and potential issues to help you make a decision

You are the expert on you and what you want from life. No other opinion matters in this process. Just be honest with yourself when answering these questions.

• Is it going to be fun?

  Will you genuinely enjoy the job?

• Is it taking you to where you want to be in life?

rimutaka

UpWork freelancer vetting

Discard bids and applications not worth pursuing

This is more a list of red flags to discard low quality candidates and build a shortlist.

• All questions answered satisfactorily

  Aim for 3 questions: easy, depth of expertise, attention to detail

• Job success less than 80%

  Definitely out.

• Job success less than 90%

rimutaka

Hard and fast customer service rules

How to save yourself time by not doing things you don't have to

I wouldn't call this a manual for "fanatical" customer support, though.

• Never rush to solve a problem - the problem may solve itself

  In most cases it is something the user did wrong at their end.

• Give them some homework

  Ask them to perform an action. There is nothing more off-putting than homework.

• Mention there may be cost involved

rimutaka

Validating a new idea

Background search

• Who else is doing it

  Competition

• Who else is trying to do it

  Startups, side projects, open-source projects.

• Who tried and failed > These can be extremely hard to find. Look through investor portfolios, accelerators, online maker spaces, forums, GitHub.