Bootstrapping is generally applied to self-funding your startup. However, you can use the principle to apply to any facet of your life. Bootstrapping helps you identify and eliminate waste. It forces you to make hard decisions on what’s really important and what isn’t. Whether you’re starting a business, trying to get your finances in order or save for retirement. There are times when anyone will want to bootstrap. Read the rest of this entry »
At a secret part of the website, only found by searching for “esavers greyhound” on google, you can find cheap fares for greyhound to NYC.
Unfortunately, I can’t afford to fly like those damn consultants I hung out with the other night. Nor can I justify the price for the luxury bus from boston to new york. I also value my life, so I wont take Fung Wah. I’ll take Greyhound!
Amazon is making an infrastructure play that will rule the web.
Web 1.0 was all about buying 100 servers and having your own techs in data centers. How big was your rack? Companies today are moving to VPS providers like Slicehost. VPS have a fantastic role in providing hosting for your small to medium site (like this one). But what about if you want to build the next facebook? One of the presenters at Amazon’s AWS event “The Start-up Project” showed us this chart: Read the rest of this entry »
Unless you’re living under a rock, you know Skype. Skype lets you call other people free using your computer. Im going to show you some ways to use Skype in your startup to maximize your effectiveness. Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s face it, you don’t run a Boeing 747 on regular unleaded*. The damn thing wouldn’t fly! You don’t run an entrepreneur on McDonald’s either. You just can’t get the energy from a greasy burger, fries and soda to build a new company.
Eating Right
You can save money on office supplies, clothing, drinking, women, but don’t skimp on fresh food!
When at the supermarket, your best bet is to buy lots of fruits and vegetables and make your own meals. If you can’t cook (you should learn), try and stay away from the frozen food that is heavy in potatoes, pasta and other starchy carbs. Smart Ones has many options that skip the starch for green veggies. Also, try different things out to see how they make you feel. Personally, I feel better when I substitute rice for wheat. Accordingly, I prefer to eat rice cakes instead of bread. I substitute oatmeal instead of a wheat based cereal. Quinoa is another great alternative grain to have with meals. It’s higher in protein than wheat and has a balanced set of amino acids! Now that your belly is full, we’re moving on to jump-starting your mind.
Brain enhancing drugs
We all need to perk up and switch our brains on now and then. For an alternative to coffee, try Yerba Mate. Mate is a great alternative to coffee that doesn’t make your breath or pee strange. I usually drink it with honey and milk. My colleague Ryan seems to drink a lot of sugar free red bull, but that makes me feel a little too wired. If you do opt for coffee, I saw on the today show that unfiltered coffee (aka the expensive stuff) causes high cholesterol.
Eating out
This is the hard one to do well. Generally, it is hard to eat balanced on the cheap when eating out. Generally, I try and avoid eating out because of it. My budget for a meal out is generally $10 a head or less (which is also what I would be willing to spend on a good meal at home). Occasionally, we go out for a nice dinner. You can take a look at the places I like to go on my Yelp! profile. Also, to see where I head when Im too lazy to cook, check out my Cheap Eats list for boston!
*Speaking of flying, I just got in to London this morning and was met by my dad and good friend Shawn at the airport. We grabbed some breakfast at the airport and it was then proven to me that it is STILL possible to get bad food in England. It was one of these british chains - the name slips my memory. I got the traditional english breakfast - fried egg, bacon, sausage, tomato, mushrooms (It was terrible). So, the point is - do as I say, not as I do!
If you can stomach having an advertisement on the cover page, check out FaxZero to fax for free! The service allows you to send a fax to anyone in the united states or canada and even attach a PDF or Word document to send to the recipient.
On another note, if you need to combine two PDFs on your mac, check out this hint on how to do it using Automator
We’ve received good advice from many people on books we should be reading. Books are expensive, and this advice will save you money. It is rather obvious, but I wasn’t taking my own advice (I love amazon!).
Quote from good will hunting (said with Boston accent)
you dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a f***in’ education you coulda’ got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library.
Unless your startup is rolling in the dough, get a library card. The library has a wealth of books - especially in larger and academic cities like Boston. Use these resources to get the knowledge you lack without forking over dough.
I’ve been trying to figure out inexpensive telecommunications for the masses for a while now. I was an early adopter with Packet 8 because of their inexpensive calls to Europe, but was disappointed by call quality to Asia. When Vonage service was getting rave reviews and they seemed to be the leader, I switched there - they also had reasonably poor call quality to asia. In the interest of saving you reading the rest, I’ll skip to the end first! Here is the least expensive, full featured telecommunications package for a small business.
Skype: Skype In number, Skype Out credits, Headset: $50 - $100 + $3 - $15 per month
Grand Central Number: Free
Blackberry 8100: Free (after $50 rebate) + $75 per month
Im Colin Nederkoorn. I left my cushy job in sales to become a web entrepreneur. 
Bootstrapping is generally applied to self-funding your startup. However, you can use the principle to apply to any facet of your life. Bootstrapping helps you identify and eliminate waste. It forces you to make hard decisions on what’s really important and what isn’t. Whether you’re starting a business, trying to get your finances in order or save for retirement. There are times when anyone will want to bootstrap. Read the rest of this entry »
At a secret part of the website, only found by searching for “esavers greyhound” on google, you can find
Amazon is making an infrastructure play that will rule the web.
Unless you’re living under a rock, you know Skype. Skype lets you call other people free using your computer. Im going to show you some ways to use Skype in your startup to maximize your effectiveness. 