Author: Mark Connolly

Executive Director at Cycling Guide Foundation. Co-founder & co-chair of @Fluxible. Co-champion of @uxWaterloo. Husband & father & brother & son • Player of stringed instruments…
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Ten thoughts on what matters at a startup: Respect

Why does respect matter at a startup?

At Primal Fusion, we talk about having respect for each other, our customers and users, our competitors, shareholder investments, and the opportunity we have to build something meaningful. Beyond the obvious truth that respect is something that we all deserve, these people and things are important to us at Primal Fusion and it just makes good business sense to be respectful of them.

For example, I periodically respond to user issues in both email and on our public presence on GetSatisfaction.com. Knowledgeable responses are a requirement, but respect is the key to successful interactions here. I’ll let others judge whether I’m delivering, but it’s certainly a goal that I aim for.

In the end, respectful interactions with people are just easier and more productive.

You do need to know where you stand, though, and realize that on occasion you’ll encounter a situation where you just can’t get alignment on an issue. You need to be able to respectfully agree to disagree.

This is one in a short series of posts called Ten Thoughts on what matters at a startup. The thoughts started life as a presentation I made at VeloCity residence at the University of Waterloo. While they’re far from definitive, and aren’t a top ten, they’ve mattered to me in my software startup experience.

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Welcome to Wozerloo

Steve Wozniak speaking at Communitech event in Waterloo

Well, today’s Communitech breakfast with Steve Wozniak and David Flynn was a great success by just about any measure. Woz was an engaging raconteur who was speaking to a crowd that was in large measure there to see the legend in person. His passion for users of technology products seems genuine. Flynn was a smooth and articulate speaker who walked us through their company’s product offering in some detail and with a great deal of clarity. 700+ people attended, apparently the largest attendance for a Communitech event by far.

Communitech’s president Iain Klugman wrote, in a tweet, after the event:

Spoke to the Woz afterwards #communitech — he was blown away — was expecting 50-100 people — not over 700. says he’s coming back

All in all, a fine day in Wozerloo.

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Making art in a button factory

An exterior view of the yellow-brick Button Factory building in Waterloo

I’ve written previously about needing to find summer activities for my three sons, and the great ESQ program at the University of Waterloo. Another terrific option for us has been the summer programming offered at the Waterloo Community Arts Centre (WCAC), otherwise known as the Button Factory. Each summer’s sessions are built on a particular arts-related theme. This summer the theme has been Raiders of the Lost Art, and my two oldest sons have thoroughly enjoyed their hands-on view into art throughout history.

There are many other events and activities at WCAC during the year, but it’s these summer day camps that my family enjoys the most.

In short, fun and learning while making stuff, and it’s walking distance from our home! That really can’t be beat.

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Woz speaking in town next week

Steve Wozniak, probably best known as co-founder of Apple, is coming to Waterloo Region. He’ll be speaking at a Communitech breakfast on August 17. He’s currently Chief Scientist at Fusion-io, and will be joined at the breakfast by David Flynn, the company’s CTO. It really feels superfluous for me to write much more about this, other than to say the event has generated a lot of buzz in town and that a large number of people are looking forward to hearing ‘Woz’ speak. I’m definitely one of them.

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Kitchener’s queen of parks

My sons enjoying playground equipment at Victoria Park

I’ve mentioned Kitchener’s Victoria Park in a previous post about cycling the Iron Horse Trail. It’s a wonderful city park with much to recommend it. I’ve spent more time there since having children than I did previously, as it’s a great place to have fun with my family. The playground area in particular is something that my sons enjoy. Truth be told, their joyful abandon as my two oldest make their leaps in the accompanying picture is the reason for this post.

There’s more to Victoria Park as well: a fine water playground, gardens, a small lake, and picnic areas. In addition, there are the various events and festivals that the park plays host to over the course of a year. Finally, it’s in downtown Kitchener, making it readily accessible to anyone.

There may well be greater or better-known parks in the world, but Victoria Park is a small treasure that makes living and working in Waterloo that much better.

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Ten thoughts on what matters at a startup: Communication

Why does communication matter at a startup?

Resources are often constrained at a startup, meaning that there isn’t a lot of room for waste. Effective communication means that everyone understands what they are doing and why, and they don’t waste time doing the wrong thing. First, though, you need a shared clarity of vision to ensure that everyone knows what the right things are at your startup.

At Primal Fusion we take communication seriously, and have several ways in which we make it a part of our culture. For example, we hold a short company-wide meeting every Monday to share news about various activities and achievements.

More formally, we use Scrum to drive our software development. That means maintaining a backlog of work to be done on a product as well as holding daily “standup” meetings in which each team member answers three questions: “What did you do since the last standup?”, “Is there anything blocking you?”, and “What are you going to do today?”.

Clear communication all around means that issues are visible sooner, meaning you can more quickly and effectively course-correct. That goes a long way towards making the company a success.

Of course, communication is important anywhere, not just at a startup and not just in your work life. But you already knew that!

This is one in a short series of posts called Ten Thoughts on what matters at a startup. The thoughts started life as a presentation I made at VeloCity residence at the University of Waterloo. While they’re far from definitive, and aren’t a top ten, they’ve mattered to me in my software startup experience.

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Young Engineers and Scientists on a Quest

A banner at ESQ camp: ‘The World of Innovation’

Every summer my wife and I need to find interesting ways to keep our three sons busy while school is out. Typically we sign them up for a mix of day-long activities, looking to balance location, cost, availability, and our boys’ interests.

One winning option is the University of Waterloo’s Engineering Science Quest. In their words:

Engineering Science Quest (ESQ) is a not-for-profit program that operates with the goal of exposing children, in the Kitchener-Waterloo region and beyond, to the worlds of Engineering, Science and Technology through a variety of fun engaging hands on activities. ESQ is offered in conjunction with the University of Waterloo’s Faculties of Engineering and Science.

The budding engineers and scientists are grouped by the grade that they are about to go into at school, and each week of ESQ has a theme around which are built activities that draw on various science and engineering disciplines. For example, my seven-year-old was excited about showing me a little model that he built which shows how a lung works! That he was as excited by this as he was by doing archery at another day camp earlier in the summer is a testament to the programming and staff at ESQ.

I may not get to experience it directly, but ESQ is one of the great things about living in Waterloo.

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Six demos and a BBQ

People watching a software product demo at VeloCity

I went to an end-of-term Demo Night at the University of Waterloo’s VeloCity Residence last night. The evening started with a nice barbecue and an opportunity to mingle and talk with students and other visitors. There was then a program of six presentations by student teams that included two complete and functioning products as well as some product concept presentations, and even a great overview on the subtleties of creating applications for the iPhone. The discussions after each presentation were engaging and instructive. At the end of the night the crowd favourites were the guys from giftah.com, who I had previously seen at StartupCampWaterloo, and who seem to have found a winning proposition in their business.

The folks who run VeloCity are building something special here.

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How fast can VeloCity students demo?

I’ve written previously about a presentation that I made at the University of Waterloo’s VeloCity Residence (which, by the way, led to my Ten Thoughts series of posts). VeloCity is a great idea that seems to be thriving.

For the end of their third term VeloCity is holding a Demo Night on Monday July 27. Here’s what they have planned:

As the end of our third term approaches, we’ve decided to try something a little different to showcase the projects that our VeloCity students have been working on.

We would like to invite you to join us for Demo Night at the VeloCity Residence. Drop by to listen to pitches from 6 of our teams, view demos of their projects, and interact with and provide feedback to the students. Afterwards, join us for refreshments and a BBQ to celebrate the end of the Spring term at VeloCity.

We hope that you’re able to join us in this casual celebration of the accomplishments of our Spring-term students.

Have a look here for all the details.