ssg

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last posted Oct. 9, 2016, 6:07 p.m.
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Charles Jo
ssg
by charlesjo
repost from Startups & Online communities by jean
2

SSG - the Startup Study Group

Occasionally while I was at http://chats.directory a directory of interesting Slack groups and found the Startup Study Group. Seriously it is the biggest online community I met so far and I am very excited about it.

Sign up for Startup Study Group slack here https://ssg-slack.herokuapp.com/

created May 1, 2015, 3:48 a.m.
Charles Jo
ssg
by charlesjo
0

SSG started as a blog at startupstudygroup.com to help me share some ideas and notes from founders and venture capitalists freely available on the web.

created May 2, 2015, 8:48 p.m.
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When you have interesting people in your community, even jokes pivot to startup ideas.

created May 3, 2015, 12:41 a.m.
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ThoughtStream may become my primary publishing tool. I can draft ideas and compose blogs here first then when ready, push out to Twitter, Medium and other venues.

created May 3, 2015, 1:56 a.m.
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StartupStudyGroup.com is a free resource for entrepreneurs: future, current, and former founders. Goal is to become the most useful tool for this community by learning “Startup as a Second Language” together.

Thesis: entrepreneurs -> startups -> job creation -> wealth creation -> better world.

created May 3, 2015, 2:40 a.m.
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Ongoing list:

created May 3, 2015, 7:57 a.m.
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Why SSG?

Because the next Zuckerberg, Page, Brinn, Andreesen, Jobs, and Gates will directly and indirectly create hundreds of thousands of jobs so we absolutely need to help more of their future versions succeed faster as well as everyone else who ventures into the business world. She may be a high school student in Palo Alto or in a remote village in Africa. Everyone should learn startup concepts and think more like an innovative entrepreneur who gets things done for herself and her company than someone who games the bureaucratic corporate system with useless skills and not adding value to company, society or our future.

created May 3, 2015, 1 p.m.
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Crowdsourcing ideas to offset infrastructure costs for SSG member startups https://ssg-slack.herokuapp.com/

Partner with best tools, infrastructure, and infrastructure vendors with get costs of getting to MVP to $0.

created May 3, 2015, 1:23 p.m.
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Helping an SSG startup

created May 3, 2015, 2:17 p.m.
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At the very least, ThoughtStreams is the free Evernote I'd been wanting forever.

created May 3, 2015, 2:23 p.m.
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To read

created May 3, 2015, 2:28 p.m.
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created May 3, 2015, 4:42 p.m.
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created May 3, 2015, 6 p.m.
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created May 3, 2015, 6:20 p.m.
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Omg. What if we built the next SSG on Zork? "Pick up stick, move forward 5 steps." You encounter an angel investor, what would you like to do?

created May 3, 2015, 8:52 p.m.
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We reached 500 members on SSG recently. Another milestone and it seemed like it was yesterday when we reached 100.

For the next 500 members, I would again like to focus on founders from under-represented groups including female founders and investors.

If you see this note, please think about the entrepreneurs in your network and ask them to check out http://startupstudygroup.com/slack.

We are creating magic.

Charles Jo

created May 3, 2015, 11:23 p.m.
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created May 4, 2015, 12:46 a.m.
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created May 4, 2015, 3:47 a.m.
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Quickest way to join SSG is at http://bit.ly/joinssg

created May 4, 2015, 7:17 p.m.
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Footer for SSG projects

created May 4, 2015, 8:15 p.m.
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Feels like we are adding 1 new founder or investor to SSG Slack per hour.

created May 4, 2015, 10:45 p.m.
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More brainstorming on offsetting founders' costs to MVP. I want journey to MVP to be frictionless.

created May 5, 2015, 1:26 a.m.
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Welcome to SSG!

Please introduce yourself on #intros channel and tell us about your startup(s) and how SSG and members can help you level up. We have a lot of channels but please feel to create a new one if none addresses your interests as those may inspire others here. We want to see everyone here to learn and succeed together. For SSG Slack, you are encouraged to complete your profile including a picture.

Some popular channels you may want to explore:

#3f - a space for Female Founders and Funders
#intros
#partnerships
#pitches
#random - Talk about random stuff
#ssg-dogfood - where you can explore SSG member’s startups
#twitter-handles - to follow people who are at SSG

Notes: Welcome to SSG v.0.0.0.0.1 Started by Charles Jo 5/13/15 Google Docs link

created May 5, 2015, 4:12 a.m.
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If bossing of TopChart views resembles disruptors, new players can totally win and win quickly.

created May 5, 2015, 4:44 a.m.
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Said no one ever.

created May 5, 2015, 6:42 p.m.
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created May 5, 2015, 7:09 p.m.
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TopChart IRL seems to be opposite of TopChart Said no one ever.

created May 5, 2015, 7:21 p.m.
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created May 5, 2015, 8:05 p.m.
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SSG has a vibrant and growing Spanish speaking founders and investor community channel. We are discussing a Chinese language channel.

created May 5, 2015, 8:54 p.m.
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created May 5, 2015, 10:30 p.m.
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Reality Distortion Field to me is less about selling seemingly impossible visions but more about one person deciding to create something better and the confidence and will power to see it through.

created May 6, 2015, 12:22 p.m.
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Any startup founder or investor interested in helping others succeed are welcome to join our 536 member grassroots community at https://ssg-slack.herokuapp.com/.

created May 6, 2015, 9:47 p.m.
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Thinking about ssg CS 101 & startup 101 w/ssg members.

created May 7, 2015, 1:31 p.m.
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Self-organizing communities through supportive, collaborative, encouraging members. This is the future. Magic when seen in action. No limits.

created May 7, 2015, 1:50 p.m.
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SSG is becoming a must-join startup community. So much great content from awesome founders & investors.

created May 7, 2015, 7:12 p.m.
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Hanging up on people smartphones are not the same as the gratification from flip-phones.

created May 7, 2015, 9:23 p.m.
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Even with 551 members, there are some who are really active on ssg slack

created May 8, 2015, 2:57 a.m.
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1% DoD growth on SSG :)

created May 8, 2015, 11:20 p.m.
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Is anyone else excited about possibility of using AR/VR for MS Outlook, Word, Excel?

created May 9, 2015, 12:14 a.m.
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Great convo on #education channel on ssg re: improving lives of 93m unemployed & underemployed in U.S.

created May 9, 2015, 9:19 p.m.
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created May 9, 2015, 9:54 p.m.
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created May 9, 2015, 10:53 p.m.
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There's an old joke in Silicon Valley that goes something like this:

Q: "What made Silicon Valley so successful?"

A: "ICs."

Q: "Integrated Circuits?"

A: "No, Indians and Chinese."

Diversity along with meritocracy, visionaries, hyper-competitiveness are all wonderful traits of Silicon Valley and I sincerely hope that the rest of the US and the globe will adopt as ways to improve business ecosystems.

There is another factor that I am exploring with SSG which I call Integrated Community or full-stack startup ecosystem. It already exists in the supply chain for unicorns but most people are locked out. So I have been recreating an open source version of it at SSG with a twist. We welcome every founder and investor who is interested in helping others. We have 569 registered users on the SSG Slack version and today on Mother's Day, I see we have 25 users online and I suspect many more lurking.

Vision I have for SSG as an Integrated Community is highest speed in communication which leads to quickest MVPs. As a group, we should be able to create a startup from idea to MVP in an hour.

Join us at https://ssg-slack.herokuapp.com and explore. Instant access to 569 founders and investors. No need for silly "warm introductions" to our members. Commiserate with fellow entrepreneurs. Share success stories. Let's change the world.

I'm @charlesjo on Twitter, SSG slack, on HeyNow -- say charlesjo sent you.

created May 10, 2015, 10:45 p.m.
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Excellent discussions on SSG now regarding value & guarding of startup ideas. Join us https://ssg-slack.herokuapp.com/

created May 11, 2015, 2:51 a.m.
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created May 11, 2015, 3:49 p.m.
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Ideas + passion + confidence + resilience + community + operators + experience. How can we lose?

created May 11, 2015, 4:01 p.m.
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Exciting news today on SSG: (1) Ben's startup has announced their app so please let’s dog-food our fellow SSG member startup products. I want us to test to use as our default private messaging app for SSG. https://itunes.apple.com/app/id949311456?mt=8 + ben (or charlesjo); (2) in case you missed it, please see #accelerator-incubator channel for possible deals on AWS and MS tools for your startup -- remember, we are trying to get ssg members' costs to MVP down to $0; (3) please explore ThoughtStreams as a blog publishing tool eg. https://thoughtstreams.io/charlesjo/ssg/ ; (4) more increasingly relevant private betas being discussed on SSG Slack so please share with your favorite founders and investors: http://bit.ly/joinssg.

I'm @charlesjo on Twitter, SSG Slack, and on HeyNow app.

created May 11, 2015, 4:28 p.m.
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Treatment of 3rd party devs is kind of extreme on Twitter but how about other platforms? Seems to be a concern for startups.

created May 11, 2015, 6:31 p.m.
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Value of 1 person's vision combined with a supportive community should never be underestimated.

created May 11, 2015, 7:29 p.m.
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I was just thinking about this the other day. We should get bigco innovation groups in ssg.

created May 12, 2015, 1:22 a.m.
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MBA degree value for startups being discussed on ssg slack.

created May 12, 2015, 3:34 a.m.
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Encouraging ssg members to dog food our startup network products http://www.topchart.io/lists/ssg-dog-food#!items/19962-heynow-chat

created May 12, 2015, 2:23 p.m.
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Are startup pitches just glorified loan applications?

created May 12, 2015, 3:29 p.m.
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Lunch discussion re: Thiel's Palo Alto restaurant analogy https://ssg-slack.herokuapp.com/

created May 12, 2015, 7 p.m.
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Startup pitch practice Thursdays at 9am PDT. Please inquire http://bit.ly/joinssg

created May 13, 2015, 12:58 a.m.
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ssg pitch Short URL: http://bit.ly/pitchssg Long URL: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tk1ZBNxa3ZOhiPBiaqyJGlWVYvi_wlH9hs61O2ce6DQ/edit?usp=sharing

Minor edits by Charles Jo 5/12/15

Hello SSG Members,

JD and Nathan are accepting more startups for pitch practices Thursdays 9am PDT. Please email nathan@myecommerce.co.za subject: SSG Pitch Session - 14 May 2015 (Also accepting reservations for 21 May 2015)

Thanks again JD and Nathan for driving this. I am hearing from SSG members that this is a huge value add for the community.

Charles Jo @charlesjo (Twitter, SSG Slack, HeyNow) charlesjo@me.com 650.906.2600

P.S. Support fellow SSG startups at SSG Dog Food project http://www.topchart.io/lists/ssg-dog-food

===

Hi All,

Please note we'll be running this via Google Hangouts on Air.

This is the public URL for viewing the stream: https://plus.google.com/events/c0sv4pvqqn4uemrg0k2qlqevi5s

For all those pitching please connect with JD to get the speaker URL. (max 10 participants at a time)

Last round we went over capacity, so we're trying things a bit differently. Please bare with us and provide feedback so we can learn and improve for the next round.

Don't forget to connect with SSG on your favourite network:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/startupstudygroup Twitter: https://twitter.com/StartupStudyG Google+: https://plus.google.com/106149706512805295478/

Curated list of community members: https://twitter.com/V4Violetta/lists/startup-study-group/members (to get added to the list just submit your twitter handle in: https://startupstudygroup.slack.com/messages/twitter-handles/)

Greetings Nathan __ Mobile: +27 82 454 1019 | Web: Blog • Twitter • LinkedIn • Instagram • Rdio

StartupStudyGroup mailing list StartupStudyGroup@lists.sonic.net https://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/startupstudygroup

created May 13, 2015, 4:24 a.m.
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Join 600+ global founders & investors. It's free but you are not the product. http://bit.ly/joinssg

created May 13, 2015, 1:42 p.m.
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1% D0D growth at SSG it appears...

created May 13, 2015, 6:28 p.m.
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Approaching 2% DoD growth at SSG...

created May 13, 2015, 10:34 p.m.
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Knowing what we know now, what are the most critical priorities?

created May 13, 2015, 10:59 p.m.
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Maybe it's an age thing or a parent thing. There is nothing more beautiful than seeing people helping others.

created May 14, 2015, 1:47 p.m.
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SSG topics this evening: bitcoin, payments, fraud-protection http://bit.ly/joinssg

created May 15, 2015, 2:18 a.m.
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It's a no-brainer for startup founders & investors to join ssg & get instant access to 600+ helpful peers. For free. http://www.topchart.io/lists/quickest-ways-to-join-ssg

created May 15, 2015, 3:17 p.m.
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SSG Combo Meals is an exploration of bundling members products & services.

created May 16, 2015, 5:39 p.m.
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1 discussion on ssg slack today was about VC scaling a a startup. I'm curious how Minecraft and Craigslist scaled as I don't think either took VC but are household brands. http://startupstudygroup.com/bootstrapping/

created May 16, 2015, 9:45 p.m.
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Scaling Serendipity

*

Jobs' was known to have designed his companies with floor plans to increase random interactions between employees. The coffee bar could be at center of an open space to encourage happenstance inspirational discussions instead of at an dismissive corner break room.

What we observe at SSG is increasingly valuable discussions regarding startups by new entrepreneurs and seasoned, as well as investors. The added feature of our community is that many can execute ideas discussed in real time. We need to explore this further as there may be markets waiting for products to fit their needs.

I'm @charlesjo on Twitter, SSG Slack, and HeyNow + say charlesjo sent you.

Original post by Charles Jo 5/16/2015 https://thoughtstreams.io/charlesjo/ssg/8330/

created May 17, 2015, 1:09 a.m.
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Unlike other open platforms which aims to squeeze every penny out of participants, ssg should theoretically be the opposite: we should add to your bottom line through better knowledge, network, fair win-win deals.

created May 17, 2015, 2:24 a.m.
repost from Thought Streams
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It's an accumulation of wild ideas of equal access to opportunities.

created May 17, 2015, 6:49 a.m.
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Best ways to contact Charles Jo re: SSG community --

@charlesjo on Twitter, SSG Slack, and HeyNow + say charlesjo sent you.

Testing TopChart as a messaging system.

Alternatively, charlesjo@me.com & 650.906.2600.

This ThoughtStreams link

created May 17, 2015, 8:15 p.m.
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Sharing economy or not, we must think about the entire supply chain. These are people who have to pay bills, raise families. Uber was very exciting in the beginning when it was able to say their drivers could earn very good income. Hoping for more sharing platforms to be able to say this. Actually, I know of at least 2 early stage platforms in works to pay their business partners well.

Original post: http://ssg.space/comments/5BnKGAagGynmJoftt

created May 18, 2015, 1:16 a.m.
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700 members milestone reached today. Almost 10% growth in 1 day.

created May 18, 2015, 4:15 p.m.
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753 already. It's only 2:52pm.

created May 18, 2015, 9:52 p.m.
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761 as of 4:32pm.

created May 18, 2015, 11:32 p.m.
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created May 19, 2015, 1:57 p.m.
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We are creating magic at SSG. In order to keep quality high and ensure all members feel welcome and encouraged, please speak up if another member made you feel uncomfortable in any way. We have a no a**hole rule and I'll enforce it. I have no problems with anti-aircrafting SSG accounts of users who act as bullies, racists, sexists. Thanks everyone.

created May 19, 2015, 6:57 p.m.
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835 members now.

created May 19, 2015, 7:25 p.m.
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850 so far today.

created May 20, 2015, 12:27 a.m.
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Emergent properties

Pack as many great people into venue and see what happens.

Neat projects are happening already at SSG and more are expected.

Closest to my heart is job creation. Idea is to help founders succeed and they create jobs. Pre-money or pre-revenue though, that can hard so we need to brainstorm at SSG on how to do this. One idea I'd been half joking about is repackaging our expertise. It was done this morning at 3am 5/19/2015 by SSG members at http://www.topchart.io/lists/ssg-expertise. I am thinking selling consulting hours and projects with commissions to those who bring in leads. I am open to all ideas. Please see me on #ssg-consulting channel.

Thank you.

Charles

created May 20, 2015, 5:47 a.m.
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880 members in ssg as of this morning.

created May 20, 2015, 12:46 p.m.
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Multiple requests for ssg meetups so discussing on #meetups channel. Founders mostly. Some investors.

created May 21, 2015, 3:26 p.m.
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When I first heard about Uber drivers getting paid better than taxi drivers, I was thrilled. Uber may be the extreme case but I like disruptors who challenge regulations which favor incumbents for no other reason than favoring incumbents.

created May 21, 2015, 7:51 p.m.
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Heh. Uber made me think about Pando.

So Pando is doing a series on small business and the growing connections to startups. Reminds me of the HTML coder gold rush during Doctom I. There were few eBays and Googles but look at all the coders and artists that tech started to employ. This is a promising topic.

created May 21, 2015, 7:56 p.m.
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I started my blog about 1 year ago at startupstudygroup.com then this SSG slack in Jan 2015.

We keep it positive, fun, and no a**hole rule and that seems to work. What I am finding is that there is a butterfly effect. Everyone counts. Every action counts. There’s an emergent property phenomenon that we can’t predict but keeping core values of community encourages good people to speak up and engage.

Core values scale :)

created May 22, 2015, 4:46 a.m.
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Who knew tech founders had so many opinions about politics, religion, society, economics, spelling?

created May 22, 2015, 7:39 p.m.
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Why are Twitter & HBO insisting on showing me ads w/shirtless dudes?

created May 22, 2015, 7:44 p.m.
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Time is so precious. Invest it in people who you want to see succeed.

created May 23, 2015, 2:10 a.m.
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1k to 10k

As ssg membership nears 1000, I am thinking about 10,000. There was a friend in college who had participated in some student protests in South Korea in 1980s and he had remarked that when you stand with 10,000 other students, you feel nothing is impossible.

I don't imagine ssg members protesting anywhere but when we get to 10,000, individually, we may feel different. Hoping for more confidence. As if nothing will stop us.

Our member startups would be able to ideate, MVP, and scale at ridiculous speeds.

created May 23, 2015, 2:05 p.m.
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Awesome to see ssg tech founders in Mexico guide founders in India re open source.

created May 23, 2015, 4:35 p.m.
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created May 23, 2015, 5:25 p.m.
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created May 23, 2015, 9:44 p.m.
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More on integration

Push hard as we can for models that benefit each member and addresses our needs now but not diminishing our long term goals: empowering the individual founders, entrepreneurs, freelancers as well as investors.

There are ongoing concerns of labor either (1) being pooled and squeezed to only benefit existing capitalists; and (2) being completely removed through increased automation.

With enough good people working to resolve these problems, I believe we can. Ironically, we will use leverage tools developed by the tech world to benefit the masses.

Sharing economy doesn't have to be about all shares making rich richer. Sharing economy can be about more people participating in wealth.

created May 25, 2015, 1:10 a.m.
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Even if we can help 1 founder get to their next step per day, that is meaningful.

created May 25, 2015, 6:12 a.m.
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created May 25, 2015, 1:07 p.m.
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created May 25, 2015, 1:11 p.m.
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Languages on SSG

We encourage global communication and languages. We have #brazil and #espanol-castellano channels where members discuss in those native languages. Members text in Chinese. We encourage founders and investors in all regions to join. Language will soon become a non-issue with real-time translators from tech companies.

created May 25, 2015, 2:03 p.m.
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ThoughtStreams.io is what Evernote should have been. I don't need to sift thru my 30k tweets to find what I had thought I saved.

created May 25, 2015, 2:14 p.m.
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We honor those who have given their lives for our country. I may not always agree with our foreign policy, but my deepest respect goes out to my American brothers and sisters who had given their lives in service -- despite their own personal views on decisions by our elected officials.

created May 25, 2015, 2:27 p.m.
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created May 25, 2015, 2:55 p.m.
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created May 25, 2015, 6:59 p.m.
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The biggest difference I see in the founders and investors I meet are blue ocean v red ocean. Many are stuck in red ocean thinking: let's create that Palo Alto restaurant because we can do it faster than others. The ones that are most interesting to me: let's create new categories knowing what we know now, there are much better ways to deliver food to Palo Alto than starting brick and mortar restaurants on University Avenue.

created May 25, 2015, 9:22 p.m.
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created May 25, 2015, 10:38 p.m.
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Just kidding. Nothing here to see. It was a joke. LOL.

created May 26, 2015, 1:33 a.m.
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Creating success

The current game is not optimized. We are getting there with likes of YC, Angellist, and A16z where value add is educating promising founders and their startups and connecting them to customers, partners, and financial capital. But it's still like having to pray to saints or buy one's way to heaven.

We need to save ourselves. We need to learn, network, build communities to help us become more successful.

Our job at SSG is to make everyone care about our startups and figure out ways to fill in the gap. Otherwise, there's no value anyone is adding other than whining. As we talk through issues each startup is facing, we are learning individually and as a group. We are improving every day and eventually will crush everyone in the way.

created May 26, 2015, 3:27 a.m.
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created May 26, 2015, 1:01 p.m.
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Key to discerning given advice is how to process: trash it or shelve it for later or do the opposite and 10x harder. Sometimes the latter yields best results.

created May 26, 2015, 1:14 p.m.
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@kurt: @yangterrence is right about me mentioning TopChart.io 5000x. I've concluded it's quite a number. But insufficient. I'm going to ramp it up to 20,000x so TopChart.io -- and ThoughtStreams.io become household words.

Hehehe.

created May 26, 2015, 1:30 p.m.
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created May 26, 2015, 3:06 p.m.
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Pre-seed precedes seed proceeds or pre-money money.

created May 26, 2015, 6:49 p.m.
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created May 27, 2015, 1:18 p.m.
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It's really a fun idea. SSG members self-organized pitch practices to help each other improve their pitch delivery and content.

What if we turned that around for investors? Let investors pitch to SSG startups on why the founders should go with them and what types of startups they are seeking to fund.

created May 27, 2015, 7:31 p.m.
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created May 28, 2015, 1:39 p.m.
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As Twitter can be storified, I plan to revisit ThoughtStreams later to build out longer blogs and publish on Medium and http://ssg.space.

created May 28, 2015, 1:58 p.m.
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Brainstorm best part-time projects founders can work on while still have enough time to keep working on their MVP.

http://www.topchart.io/lists/best-part-time-jobs-for-startup-founders

created May 28, 2015, 3:19 p.m.
reposted to Sustainable Founders
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created May 28, 2015, 4:33 p.m.
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created May 28, 2015, 5:19 p.m.
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Recycling startups

As I read about and communicate with founders who have closed down their startups, I am playing with the idea of recycling their products or keeping them in maintenance mode by SSG members.

Something to think about.

Please join us at http://bit.ly/joinssg cuz we cool http://bit.ly/coolssg

created May 28, 2015, 9:40 p.m.
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Jean, Tom, I thinking this is why @a16z hires proven operators.

created May 29, 2015, 2:55 p.m.
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SSG Dog Food list is growing. We use our member startup tools. http://www.topchart.io/lists/ssg-dog-food

created May 29, 2015, 3:04 p.m.
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Read everything. It was 1 of the few things I recall from a book on literature & writing. Something spammy this morning sparked an idea for an SSG startup. I think a similar grade of ad email sparked Ryan Hoover to create Product Hunt.

created May 29, 2015, 5:33 p.m.
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created May 29, 2015, 7:04 p.m.
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created May 29, 2015, 7:11 p.m.
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created May 29, 2015, 7:34 p.m.
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created May 29, 2015, 11:42 p.m.
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created May 30, 2015, 12:27 a.m.
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I think getting past 1000 members was really fun and looking forward to us hitting 10k by Dec. But again, I'm more interested that there is a small group who love the community. We just keep adding neat people to make the community more valuable (more wise members, and more knowledge seekers). There are secret projects underway that will make ssg really interesting.

created May 30, 2015, 1:55 a.m.
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1082 registered users, founders & investors, students too. Est. 10% W0W growth https://ssg-slack.herokuapp.com

created May 30, 2015, 4:46 p.m.
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created May 30, 2015, 7:29 p.m.
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SSG Plugs

Packing as many ssg plugs into 1 tweet will be a good challenge:

  • HeyNow (micro)blog on ThoughtStreams.io & list stuff on TopChart.io.
  • DM me on HeyNow to review your ThoughtStreams & we'll TopChart takeaways. (note DM does not work on twitter, LOL).
  • Ping me on HeyNow to review your ThoughtStreams & we'll TopChart.
created May 30, 2015, 7:33 p.m.
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Why wait?

People have bills to pay. Why wait for glacial speed of government & multinationals to create jobs? Let's create value, opportunities. Innovation at the edges.

created May 31, 2015, 2:11 a.m.
reposted to Sustainable Founders
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Web & Mobile Web

We are only at the beginning of the potential of the Web and Mobile Web.

I was having lunch with a friend and we had each connected or reconnected with our spouses because of the Web during Dotcom 1.

There are great founders and investors I am meeting because of SSG, much faster than if the Web wasn't there.

Lots of work to do.

created May 31, 2015, 2:56 p.m.
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Google Photo looks very interesting to me.

created June 1, 2015, 10:23 p.m.
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Freelance economy continues to grow

created June 2, 2015, 1:05 p.m.
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Founder: I finally have an hour to breathe so I'll ship that other web project in in about 10 minutes. What colors you like?

Me: Uh ok. Cool!

created June 2, 2015, 3:11 p.m.
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created June 3, 2015, 1:31 a.m.
reposted to Sustainable Founders, SSG Jobs
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created June 3, 2015, 1:41 a.m.
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created June 3, 2015, 2:22 a.m.
reposted to Sustainable Founders, SSG Jobs
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created June 3, 2015, 5:42 a.m.
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My first reaction after reading this piece was to create a glassdoor for startup community at ssg which we can continue to discuss but why not celebrate the great VCs to work with by listing them at TopChart.io?

http://www.topchart.io/lists/top-10-vcs-to-work-with-for-startup-founders

created June 4, 2015, 2:26 p.m.
0

Here is the other story which reinforces the idea that we need to support the good ones to succeed even more.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Advice/comments/389c71/3year_startup_market_value_4m_got_blackmailed_by/

created June 5, 2015, 12:09 a.m.
0

Just saw an ad for "The Ultimate CRM."

Nah. My dream CRM which I shall label IceCRM would be an AI that would wake me up everyone morning with Philz coffee to tell me which sales would be closed today then at the end of the day, the AI would let me know it closed all of them. Then serve me ice cream.

created June 5, 2015, 5:56 a.m.
0

Cofounder discussions on this SSG Slack channel:

"#co-founders-by-myecom"

((I need to learn to markdown))

created June 5, 2015, 3:11 p.m.
0

Some ideas for SSG over this weekend

Below are some things we should think about over the weekend:

  • How to generate income now for SSG member founders and startups so they can sustain themselves while working on MVP.

  • How to help founders find cofounders within SSG and outside SSG.

  • How to help founders who want to relocate to Silicon Valley.

  • How to announce to all within Slack and email (without annoying "everyone").

  • Best ways to test each other's products. (We have 1100+ members so physically impossible to test all in timely manner).

  • Any others? Please join me on ssg stream on ThoughtStreams.io. Or email me at charlesjo@me.com.

created June 5, 2015, 7:17 p.m.
0

New Silicon Valley

When VCs complain about cost of living in Silicon Valley, it means something. Everyone here feels it and we all complain about it and discuss it online but nothing gets done.

I joked (mostly) about people in Silicon Valley doing a flash move and we would all pick up stuff and leave for a nearby town but much better housing prices.

I mean, it's the people. There's no magic fountain of unicorn here. It's the ecosystem of entrepreneurs and funders and universities.

What if we all one day decided to pack up and exodus. Which town would that be? Truckee?

Crowdsource potential destinations: http://www.topchart.io/lists/new-silicon-valley

created June 6, 2015, 2 a.m.
0

AI

Starting stream about AI, ML, robots, drones.

created June 6, 2015, 6:22 p.m.
0

Emergent Properties Revisited

Pack as many people into 1 venue and see what beautiful properties emerge (eg. http://startupstudygroup.com/ssg-consulting/).

Too many ideas, not enough time to develop them, not enough resources to see them through... What if that didn't have to be the case.

A couple of ssg members have expressed this independently. Let's explore.

Status quo says that all these have the aligned:

  1. Ideas.
  2. Talent.
  3. Funding.
  4. Time.
  5. Market timing.
  6. etc.

What if SSG can coordinate all of these?

created June 6, 2015, 9:04 p.m.
0

All - even if we discuss 1 ssg member startup per day here on SSG Slack, we've won. That's PR that the member gained among founder peers and investors.

created June 7, 2015, 2:51 p.m.
0

When I think about lists, I think @kurt’s TopChart.io which I blog about on @jtauber’s ThoughtStreams.io. You can also DM me any time and I prefer @basche42’s HeyNow https://itunes.apple.com/app/id949311456?mt=8

created June 7, 2015, 3:12 p.m.
0

I'm pretty sure we started a list on TopChart.io with similar topic too.

created June 8, 2015, 12:49 a.m.
0

More...

created June 8, 2015, 1:02 a.m.
0

SSG internal projects could be used to filter out people you want as your cofounders in future.

created June 8, 2015, 7:56 a.m.
0

It's a numbers game

created June 8, 2015, 3:34 p.m.
0

some thoughts on ssg community

Let natural discussions flow from founders and investors on SSG Slack. Highlight their products on daily email so SSG community is more self-aware of the awesome products, founders, startups, capabilities, and resources. And track their asks for the community. Encourage dog fooding member products to accelerate feedback and iteration.

created June 9, 2015, 4:58 a.m.
0
created June 9, 2015, 1:09 p.m.
0

global coverage

U.S. - JD LATAM - Jean Asia - Doug, Chris Europe - Daniel Africa - Craig, Nathan

created June 9, 2015, 1:30 p.m.
Charles Jo
ssg
by charlesjo
repost from Improving life and business by ProximusApp
1

I like the models of behavior which can be applied to different processes of life. There're not that many scenarios in our everyday businesses. Today i wanna tell about, for example, public speaking( pitches as many like to call it) and trips. Both take a lot of nerves and energy. How to fell better and not to worry. You're gonna be nervous anyway, but you can significantly lower the pressure on yourself. We'll take the situation everyone has already passed through - a first date. Lets remember when we were 18. Boy is going on a date with a girl he really likes. He's nervous like never before. Why? He doesn't know what to expect from her, a lot of things can go wrong (out of money, phone battery is low, restaurant is too expensive, weather, her behavior and expectations may change). She wont be nervous, 'cause she knows she can end this evening at any moment. What he can really do is to reduce the number of uncertainties. He can borrow some extra money (maybe he won't need' them, but he's gonna feel calmer), check if his phone is charged, go to a cafe he knows, take a sweater, ask her friends what she likes. He can come up with plan B - if not cafe, than cinema or some sports event. And so on..Lower the level of unforeseen. This model works in the moment when we have to make presentation of products, pitch to the investors or just speak to the public. Again, what we can do to lower the pressure: if you have your presentation in Dropbox - take a copy on a flashcard and dvd (if wifi goes down you have alternatives), take your own markers, batteries, silent your phone, take extra business cards, do not wear new clothes (we feel the new on us), take a small sponge to clean your shoes the weather is bad, etc. Think what situations you can predict now and prepare - you're gonna be much more confident and everything's gonna be great.And remember, the audience, like the woman, can forgive a mistake, but will not forgive insincerity.

In the next part i'll tell you, what we're building to take the pressure of not knowing while you're in a trip.

Evgeny Popravko

created June 9, 2015, 3 p.m.
Charles Jo
ssg
by charlesjo
0

Brainstorming best ways for funding a winter code camp for youth in Africa.

created June 9, 2015, 3:19 p.m.
0

An SSG member founder is working on fundraising for her winter code camp in Africa. A coder in Brazil is advising her in business. A marketing consultant in Europe is advising on social media. All on SSG.

created June 9, 2015, 7:22 p.m.
0

Interesting observation: people who add no value whine the most. Negative value.

created June 9, 2015, 11:04 p.m.
0
created June 10, 2015, 11:47 a.m.
0

Cliches

If I had a nickel for every time someone referenced the Chinese proverb of seeing opportunity in crisis… but this is the power of ssg. Since it’s a community of not only entrepreneurs and investors, but developers too, we are problem solvers and uniquely qualified to approach problems we see in ssg as a potential market that needs to be addressed so as you read or lurk our discussions and emails, let’s try to see if there is a market that is waiting for us to discover or rediscover.

bit.ly/ssgdaily

created June 10, 2015, 1:21 p.m.
0

Twitter: passive-aggressive relationship management via humblebrag cliches.

created June 11, 2015, 12:35 a.m.
0

Be nice on SSG & elsewhere even if only online. There are big name VCs lurking. Possibly next Zucks lurking.

created June 11, 2015, 7:50 p.m.
0
created June 12, 2015, 5:50 a.m.
0

The thing about whining is that it is the start, not the end. Some people I read whine and that is the end game for attention. You know #socialmedia gurus.

The good people, the whining is the beginning of a problem which needs to be solved. They then think things through and welcome a dialogue. I like peers who are confident -- reality distortion field confident. My whining describes a bump in the road which I shall bulldoze with my abilities.

created June 12, 2015, 7:46 p.m.
0

Please review for ssg

created June 12, 2015, 11:40 p.m.
0
created June 13, 2015, 2:47 a.m.
0
created June 13, 2015, 2:42 p.m.
0
created June 13, 2015, 4:03 p.m.
0
created June 13, 2015, 4:25 p.m.
0
created June 13, 2015, 6:15 p.m.
0
created June 13, 2015, 7:12 p.m.
0

Me: Have you uploaded your pitch on FounderFox?

Founder: No. I'm on Android.

Me: At least you can install Cuddli dating app which us iPhone users are locked out of.

Founder: I have a wife. I need investors.

created June 16, 2015, 2:26 a.m.
0

SSG Consulting was about selling ssg member billable hours as a way to help themselves sustain while working on their MVP. Some members privately messaged me about their frustrations at possibly having to stop working on their product since they need to pay bills which means taking a a full time job.

created June 16, 2015, 2:23 p.m.
0

What's worse than cold emails? Terrible warm intros.

created June 16, 2015, 7:07 p.m.
0
created June 16, 2015, 9:05 p.m.
0

I see blogging as a branding tool for founders. You are the product for all the future investors and future users. Write with personality but with moral authority. No one should be able to question your ethics even 20 years later. Get people excited about the future you want to see and build. Let them want to buy stuff from you.

created June 17, 2015, 5:23 a.m.
0
created June 17, 2015, 8:22 p.m.
0
created June 18, 2015, 12:52 a.m.
0

It's drawing out the best in people. Everyone wants this. This has to exist. We did this when we were kids (see @shub's upcoming blog) but when we grow up, we are told to not share and be afraid. Not preaching but I get great inspiration from sermons. One of themes at my church is do absurdly good things. Just exploring different ways of thinking. Getting all the George Baileys to connect and build a community.

created June 18, 2015, 4:32 a.m.
0
created June 20, 2015, 3:51 a.m.
0
created June 21, 2015, 2:32 a.m.
0
created June 21, 2015, 4:26 p.m.
0
created June 22, 2015, 2:26 a.m.
0
created June 22, 2015, 5:32 a.m.
0
created June 22, 2015, 1:20 p.m.
0
created June 22, 2015, 1:56 p.m.
0
created June 22, 2015, 2:31 p.m.
0
created June 23, 2015, 12:32 a.m.
0

Already iterated ssg beyond to v2

created June 23, 2015, 5:34 a.m.
0

SSG Beyond Slack Projects

ssg beyond 1: http://bit.ly/ssgbeyond

ssg beyond 2 input bit.ly/ssgbeyondsay view bit.ly/ssgbeyondsayring

created June 23, 2015, 3:14 p.m.
0

ssg.space as the community portal!!!

http://ssg.space/comments/zbkaDjpcimqNYvARw

@sromo16 @rafaecheve @indymike @aleattorium

created June 24, 2015, 4:29 a.m.
1

Decisions for ssg community is mostly easy.

It's like the clarity a parent experiences when having kids: if the decision is net positive for your child, it's a good decision. For ssg, if the decision is net positive for each ssg member startup founder or investors, it's a good decision.

created June 24, 2015, 6:37 a.m.
0
created June 24, 2015, 3:21 p.m.
0
created June 24, 2015, 7:31 p.m.
0
created June 25, 2015, 6:15 a.m.
0
created June 25, 2015, 9:17 p.m.
0

Unleash the creativity and energy from the ssg community.

created June 26, 2015, 3:25 p.m.
0
created June 26, 2015, 3:28 p.m.
0
created June 26, 2015, 3:41 p.m.
0

Interesting.

created June 27, 2015, 2:05 a.m.
0
created June 27, 2015, 2:41 a.m.
0
created June 27, 2015, 3:36 p.m.
0
created June 27, 2015, 5:29 p.m.
0

Investors at SSG community

One of the key observations recently has been that our investors are excellent at helping ssg startup founders. We need to leverage this. Let's get creative. How can we as a community add more value to these great investors, in addition to working on each potential unicorns.

created June 27, 2015, 11:58 p.m.
0
created June 28, 2015, 3:54 p.m.
0
created June 28, 2015, 4:46 p.m.
0
created June 28, 2015, 5:46 p.m.
0

Reviewing & Reviving

Our review of @evgeny_popravko's excellent Companions app means that we should also find out what prior products or side projects ssg members have that we can help with that. Perhaps, those can be revived leveraging ssg community power.

created June 28, 2015, 6:23 p.m.
0
created June 29, 2015, 4:02 a.m.
0

Idea - SSG Jams

Brainstorm sessions focused on scheduled founder/startup. 1400+ peer founders and investors can do an AMA for product, founders, startup. Let's explore. Join us on #ssg-jams channel on SSG Slack at http://bit.ly/joinssg

created June 29, 2015, 2:59 p.m.
0

Greece

It's possible that we are discussing different parts of the elephant. My concern is daily lives of everyday people and in particular the entrepreneurs in that region and other regions that ssg community can connect with and help in any way we may be able to. We shouldn't penalize everyday people for mistakes governments or bigcos make.

created June 30, 2015, 2:39 p.m.
0
created July 1, 2015, 3:05 a.m.
0
created July 1, 2015, 7:17 a.m.
0
created July 1, 2015, 1:04 p.m.
0
created July 2, 2015, 2:10 p.m.
0

Reddit users - just the good ones

I would like to extend an open invitation to the lawful good, neutral good, and chaotic good users of Reddit to join the following:

  1. http://ssg.space
  2. http://bit.ly/coolssg
  3. ThoughtStreams.io
  4. TopChart.io

More to come...

All other alignments, please stay at Reddit.

created July 3, 2015, 4:54 p.m.
0

2 interesting channels on ssg slack

side-projects

is a promising new channel for those working on pet projects. Please see Andrew @tectonic.

startup-co-op

For those interested in new models of startups, see @seang.

created July 4, 2015, 6:13 a.m.
0
created July 4, 2015, 6:23 a.m.
0

Side Projects

Side-projects channel on SSG Slack is very interesting. These are things we personally gravitate towards during off hours and can't stop thinking about... usually not for immediate financial gain.

SSG is my side project. I have absolutely no idea if/when it will make any money but I don't care. It's a community that I believe needs to exist.

@tectonic's side projects are Huginn (https://github.com/cantino/huginn) and SelectorGadget (http://www.selectorgadget.com).

Join us on http://bit.ly/joinssg. About page is http://bit.ly/coolssg.

created July 4, 2015, 3:46 p.m.
0
created July 4, 2015, 11:13 p.m.
0

Housing in Silicon Valley

Topic of housing in Silicon Valley comes up frequently. Work visa is a separate issue but there are startup talent within this great nation of ours who are eager to live at the place of their dreams so they can meet with people beyond Skype and Google Hangouts or occasional flights in. High cost is keeping them out so we should figure this out. Danielle Morrill recently posted an incubator proposal for rentals (jokingly?):

and I think we need to keep the discussion going until we make it easier.

Related: New Silicon Valley https://medium.com/startup-study-group/new-silicon-valley-cde1b5615345

List of New Silicon Valley http://www.topchart.io/lists/new-silicon-valley

Ideas http://www.topchart.io/lists/housing-in-silicon-valley

created July 5, 2015, 6:56 p.m.
reposted to Silicon Valley
1

SSG Stack

  1. ssg.space (http://ssg.space) - startup blogs and ssg community portal.
  2. Oplerno University (www.oplerno.com) - based on pro-student, pro-teacher philosophy.
  3. ThoughtStreams.io - (micro)blog without limitations.
  4. TopChart.io - lists.
  5. Cuddli.com - dating app on Android.
  6. Sunsama.com (https://sunsama.com/group/startup_study_group) - Community communications scheduling tool. Member directory.
  7. FounderFox.io
  8. Companions (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/companions/id909886216?l=ru&ls=1&mt=8)
created July 5, 2015, 9:35 p.m.
0

1494 registered founders & investors

Our current focus is less about growing membership numbers and more about helping our current members succeed as startup founders and investors. Already, members are connecting to build business relationships which I hope will last a lifetime. Members include college freshman working through ideas of future startups, those accepted to top tier accelerators, funded startups, and retired techies who are now angel investors.

http://www.topchart.io/lists/coolest-things-about-ssg

created July 12, 2015, 2:51 p.m.
0

Hackathon Organizers

Discussions about organizing hackathons are in progress. http://bit.ly/joinssg

created July 12, 2015, 3:19 p.m.
0

Business model canvas in 20 minutes

created July 12, 2015, 6:40 p.m.
0

Social ventures should listen to this impact investors podcast from @a16z

created July 13, 2015, 2:05 p.m.
0

Best iOS Photo Management apps?

created July 13, 2015, 7:15 p.m.
0

Reg A http://ssg.space/posts/BNSzSozpuYXMRJuKX

created July 13, 2015, 11:31 p.m.
0

New issue of Go Deeper is out! @jdcarlu

http://godeeper.co/godeeper-labs/

created July 15, 2015, 7:10 p.m.
0

Do you know any startups that could use some feedback? Start at http://www.topchart.io

created July 17, 2015, 12:34 a.m.
0
created July 17, 2015, 1:35 a.m.
0

The Hustle

There is nothing more admirable and exciting to see than founders and investors who hustle. They keep at it whether things are up or down or others don't see their vision yet. You just know that they are going to succeed. So let's help them get there faster. Why not?

created July 17, 2015, 4:16 a.m.
0

ssg FAQ

  1. Technical Cofounders
  2. Beta testers
  3. Early adopters
  4. Investors
  5. More female founders & investors
created July 17, 2015, 8:35 p.m.
0

Is there an app that turns a picture into a wall street journal trying ?

created July 18, 2015, 3:51 p.m.
0
created July 19, 2015, 1:49 a.m.
0

ssg flow

  1. Post on ThoughtStreams.io; is it possible to TopChart.io?
  2. Post ThoughtStreams.io link on http://ssg.space.
  3. Tweet the http://ssg.space item.
  4. Share on ssg slack for broadcasting.
created July 21, 2015, 8 p.m.
0
created July 22, 2015, 4 a.m.
0
created July 22, 2015, 4:01 a.m.
0
created July 25, 2015, 10:45 p.m.
0

money

let’s discuss and make this happen -- starting with paid for services member startups are willing to pay, eg. referral fees, affiliate marketing, etc.

created July 26, 2015, 12:07 a.m.
0

side projects

created July 26, 2015, 4:35 a.m.
0

Testing marketing slogans

created July 26, 2015, 9:31 p.m.
0

More business & marketing students to join ssg would be great

created July 27, 2015, 9:29 p.m.
0
created Aug. 4, 2015, 7:27 p.m.
0

I wonder if anyone has done a blog for Quit on Medium/How I rocketed by Product Hunt post...

created Aug. 13, 2015, 10:09 p.m.
0

Hahahackathon/Fakeathon inspired by recent SSG pitch practices, Founderfox, YC Fellowship videos... Jam sessions to create parody startups. Go!

created Aug. 15, 2015, 1:16 a.m.
0
created Aug. 15, 2015, 6:34 p.m.
0

When buying a house in Silicon Valley

Things to consider when buying a house in Silicon Valley http://www.topchart.io/lists/things-to-consider-when-buying-a-house-in-silicon-valley

Best real estate agents to work with in Silicon Valley http://www.topchart.io/lists/best-real-estate-agents-to-work-with-in-silicon-valley

Best loan officers to work with in Silicon Valley http://www.topchart.io/lists/best-loan-officers-to-work-with-in-silicon-valley

created Aug. 19, 2015, 7:19 p.m.
0

Brainstorm suggestions for coders in Brazil to immigrate to US.

created Sept. 3, 2015, 3:02 p.m.
0
created Oct. 1, 2015, 5:03 a.m.
0

Numbers do matter. We are now close to 2500 "active" members on ssg. At a little over 2000, we had the most famous angel investor join us. Now at near 2500, we are seeing some more really cool stuff happen: like a joke magically turning into a web app in 48 hours from developers and designers from Europe and Canada. All virtual. All online. It's not that all 2500 members need to be engaged every day as they are all working on their own startups but when ideas are presented, some from tribe take on the challenge and things get done. Very fast.

created Nov. 15, 2015, 7:11 p.m.
0
created Nov. 21, 2015, 8:53 p.m.
0

One of the benefits of running Startup Study Group (SSG) is meetings rising stars. This past week, I had the pleasure of meeting with Mike Seidle and Rick Wehrle of WorkHere, one of two startups I find interesting in the job market space -- the other one being Gigster. This sector is of personal interest so I was able to ask nuanced questions.

Some things I learned from this meeting which other founders should note:

  • They knew the market. They were able to speak to any questions I had about the product and how it addressed smallest details.
  • They had a plan.
  • They have customers.
  • Their technology stack made sense for the market they were addressing.
  • High energy level, can do attitudes tempered with understanding potential pitfalls.
  • Positive attitude.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things but I should highlight that Mike is an active contributor to #developers and #investors channels on SSG and one of the members I really want to see succeed. You can find him on Twitter and SSG Slack at @indymike.

If you are interested in joining SSG, see http://bit.ly/joinssg. We are 3K+ member community of startup founders and investors and consistently rank on top 10 most active slack communities on hamsterpad.com. You can follow me on Twitter and SSG at @charlesjo.

created Feb. 21, 2016, 7 p.m.
0

On ideas, feedback, suggestions: thanks really but if you're sending me garbage, I'll let you know it is. It's my feedback to you.

created March 25, 2016, 6:53 p.m.
0

Startup Study Group is the largest startup slack community. Join us instantly for free. Invites http://bit.ly/joinssg + info http://bit.ly/coolssg

created July 15, 2016, 1:13 p.m.
0

Links to monitors to use with Macs.

created Oct. 9, 2016, 6:07 p.m.

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