What was the problem that you aimed to solve with Little Talkers?
“Little Talkers aims to make it easy for parents, caretakers or family members to record, store, view and share their children’s first words and expressions.”
— Nada Jaksic Pivcevic, Founder of Little Talkers
How does little talkers app solve that pain point?
“Little Talkers has a simple interface which makes it easy for anyone to start recording a child within seconds of starting the app. It then stores the word, location, date, and any other information that the user wishes to enter into its database, which can later be viewed in the app’s dictionary view. A phrase can be shared with others, and the entire dictionary can be exported to a file for easy viewing or printing.”
— Nada Jaksic Pivcevic, Founder of Little Talkers
What’s next for little talkers?
“Improved sharing, ability to sync data to cloud and possibly ability to follow friends. I would also like to come up with a convenient way to export and bundle all the data for those users whose kids have grown up and they no longer need to input data through the app.”
— Nada Jaksic Pivcevic, Founder of Little Talkers
We are proud to announce that our incubating company MongoSluice, will be included in this year’s Phorum Philly event. MongoSluice streams MongoDB to any RDBMS. Simply point MongoSluice to a MongoDB collection and any RDBMS data store and hit enter: watch data stream from MongoSluice to SQL — all data types preserved.
Phorum’s website: “Phorum is a technology conference, for business and technology executives, which focuses on how enterprises can maximize the business value of specific technologies. Phorum 2015 features leading industry experts, business executives, and cutting-edge technologists who will examine how emerging technologies such as big data, mobility and cloud strategies factor into the integration of systems, technical support and global security policies.”
What was the problem or pain point that you and your team were hoping to solve?
“We noticed how challenging it can be to live sustainably, especially in an urban setting, and we wanted to help people live more sustainably.”
— Jason Cox, CTO of Milkcrate
How does MilkCrate actively approach solving this problem?
“We are a digital hub of data that helps people live sustainably. Right now, this is mostly sustainable businesses in the Philadelphia metro area. Very soon, this will include products, services, tips, events, and news. As we grow we will find more and more ways to help people live sustainably.”
— Jason Cox, CTO of MilkCrate
Whats your vision for the future of MilkCrate?
“I’d love to see us make a marketplace to help small businesses provide services or sell products through MilkCrate. Many of the sustainable companies I do business with track everything through spreadsheets and pdf files. Even the somewhat large companies. We could build something that both makes their lives easier and expands what MilkCrate can offer.”
— Jason Cox, CTO of MilkCrate
Kip Wetzel claims he’s just a “dirty hippie” despite the fact he’s probably the most dapper person in the room.
Fifteen years ago, he abandoned an Andersen Consulting gig to embark on an odyssey, hiking the 2,600 mile Pacific Crest Trail with 2 of his buddies. Lessons he learned on that trek continue to illuminate his work in technology innovation as VP of Social Media Strategy at Capital One. Today, he shares 10 of those lessons.
Lesson 1: Be Bold “We hear that from everyone, for big companies and startups. You have to be willing to blaze a trail.”
He says boldness can be offensive or defensive. “Sometimes you’ll be leaning in to get your ‘thing’ moving forward in an offensive way. Other times, you’ll be on the defensive, selling that thing to a bigger company.”
Lesson 2: Embody Your Vision “If you don’t live what you’re building, it’s going to show through.”
“I left Andersen Consulting, the biggest consulting company in the world. I convinced them this trip was the right thing for me to do, and they gave me a job when I got back.” He even shaved his impressive PCT beard for them.
Somewhere in the thick of seeking out the next water source on their trek, Kip and his pals took a picture of themselves at the 1200 mile mark. “It took me 15 years to realize the enormity of that moment. We were halfway.”
Kip believes it’s important to seek perspective on what you’ve accomplished. “We’ll retweet something at 11 p.m. to make sure people will come the next day to hear you speak. But we don’t celebrate our victories enough.”
Lesson 4: When You Think You’ve Got it Tough, Step Back and Look Around “Maybe someone in the world has it harder than anyone else. But it’s easy to get caught up in our own challenges.”
Kip came across a story about hikers who did the same trail he did. Except they did it in the dead of winter. “They had to walk the same 30 miles to the next water source as we did, but then they had to cut a whole in the ice and extract the water. In a company, there’s always going to be some other organization who’s working harder and relying on you to get your job done.”
Lesson 5: KISS
Sometimes there is value in keeping it simple. “We were prepared. We did our research. Ultimately, though, we walked. For 6 months of my life, I put one foot in front of the other.”
“When your work days are rough, boil down what it is you need to do. Our jobs are hard, but can you boil down the simplicity of what you’re doing to get to the next deliverable. And apply humility to your day.”
Lesson 6: A Bear is Going to Shit in Your Water at Some Point “You have to adjust to adverse circumstances.”
Kip and his buddies reached the location of one of the water sources on their journey. The water was located at the bottom of very steep switchback. “When we got there, we heard sounds. We thought ‘oh, this is going to be fun,’ meeting other people, drinking chamomile tea. When we got down there, though, a black bear was shitting in the water.”
It’s the same in business. “You have to adjust to adverse circumstances. You ration, you evaluate, you think. How will you respond?”
Lesson 7: Plan Spontaneity
Somewhere on their trip, Kip and company stopped to ingest famously enormous pancakes. “Each one is 24 ounces. I ate 2.” It wasn’t a planned stop, but it was an important detour. “It’s like planning when you need to take your team out for a beer because it’s St. Paddy’s Day.”
Lesson 8: Without a Team, You’re Nothing “Avoid a bozo explosion.”
Kip finds it crucial to surround yourself with people smarter than yourself, in order to avoid what Guy Kawasaki calls “the bozo explosion.” “I can’t think of a single instance, except maybe in a decathlon event, where the individual is greater than the sum of its parts.” In his PCT team, Kip was completely inept at map reading. But he had other strengths.
They picked up a guy named Hersh in the Sierras who ended up hiking with them for awhile. “The face of your team will change. Based on the growth and maturity of the product, you team will—and should—change.”
Lesson 9: Balance the Journey with the Destination “We are in an era of where we talk a lot about the journey.”
“We talk a lot about the journey, but we might lose focus on the destination if we get too caught up in the journey. It’s a balance.”
Lesson 10: Hike Your Own Hike “Be inspired by people around you, but ultimately, you have to do it in the way that you need to do to be successful.”
“There are a million opinions, about hiking the trail or running a company. You have to do it in a way that you know you can be successful.”
Jesse Piersol has been a champion of Walnut St. Labs since the beginning, but was only recently in serious need of accounting help. Her previous experience w/ Office Hours precipitated her undying desire to participate in many of our events, including her recent Startup Meetup blog entries and event coordination for Indie Film Nite.
“I started a small business at the beginning of summer, and now it’s tax time. It was a bit overwhelming to figure out what all I needed to do. I scheduled time with Kathy Wileczek through the Office Hours program, and she got me sorted out and empowered to do it on my own. As a bonus, she needs some public speaking help, so I have a chance to return the favor.”
— Jesse Piersol, Founder of 16 Lloyd Productions
Founded in 2013, 16 Lloyd Productions focuses on original narrative and documentary film projects with a meaningful connection to the community which inspires them. 16 Lloyd combines the unique, nimble talent and resources available in southeastern Pennsylvania with the power of our neighboring metropolitan centers. Keeping projects local gives them an authentic visual style, and supports the communities in which we live.
