Who are the faces behind a company? How did the company get started? These are common question you may have about startups you see and hear about. If you don't get a chance to personally meet the founders, you're unlikely to ever know their story. That's where we're starting Founder Fridays. 

 
Each week, we'll profile a different startup (with ties to Boston) through a simple interview that highlights some of the simple questions that make all the difference for a startup like, "How did you meet your co-founders?" and "What was the best advice you ever received?"
 
This week, we have Ashish Kundra from myzamana, who has created a dating site for the South Asian community.

Some of the most misused and misunderstood terms in technology today are Web 2.0, the cloud, Agile, NoSQL, and HTML5. Today, I'd like to describe where NoSQL came from and how it applies to internet startups in Boston.

NoSQL Summer

The first thing to know is that there is a bi-weekly NoSQL reading group every other Thursday at the Microsoft NERD Center. The next event is July 29th. We read the academic research papers on different techniques, eat dinner together, and discuss the papers, whiteboarding with a gorgeous view of Boston.## SQL

Developed in the 70s and relying heavily on mathematical theory to work efficiently, SQL is a language for talking to relational databases. SQL databases have worked so well that they've become the de facto standard for storing data, particularly on the web. You've no doubt interacted with thousands of web applications that used a SQL database.

As I've been watching the world of entrepreneurship around me, I'm always looking for patterns and trends.  One I particularly focus on is leadership. As I've looked at some of the greatest companies and business leaders in the world, I've noticed that most of them have exceptionally strong personalities and dominate their company.  I don't have all the answers, so instead today I'd like to explore the patterns I've found and I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts on this.

Have you ever noticed that girls always seem to travel in groups at night?  Or that smaller guys at the bar always seems to act tougher when “their boys” are around?  Not so much a coincidence.  People are very much a product of their community (or “tribe” as Seth Godin might point out).  In fact this concept of “community” is a very powerful one.  It’s a pretty democratic idea when you think about it.  Community is what empowers petitions and protests to be such powerful tools.  Community is the power of people.

In fact, social media and web 2.0 websites have only made this idea of tribes even more powerful.  Why else would there be well over 40 pages of open “Community Manager” Jobs?  Why would I do what I do at Grasshopper Group and Jason do what he does for oneforty?  Because it works…and businesses need to care about their community now more than ever.  Here are a few reasons why if you don’t have a community manger…you need to hire one:

It's another great week in the startup scene with exciting events featuring Paul English of Kayak talking about Hiring to Cirque de Soleil performers at a street party. There are over 30 different Boston startup entrepreneur networking events and office hours this week. Check out the show and notes below to find out all about them and all the other great happenings in the community this week. And don't forget to check out the Greenhorn Connect Calendar for all your Boston startup entrepreneur networking events and office hours needs.

Who are the faces behind a company? How did the company get started? These are common question you may have about startups you see and hear about. If you don't get a chance to personally meet the founders, you're unlikely to ever know their story. That's where we're starting Founder Fridays. 

 
Each week, we'll profile a different startup (with ties to Boston) through a simple interview that highlights some of the simple questions that make all the difference for a startup like, "How did you meet your co-founders?" and "What was the best advice you ever received?"
 
This week, we have Ben Dolgoff from Peekaboo Mobile, who have created a highly localized smart phone coupon system for local businesses.

Yesterday, I covered Part I of the results of a survey I put out last week to ask students and young entrepreneurs the tough questions:  "What are the challenges to engaging more young people?" and "What are your ideas for improving the ecosytem?" and a lot more. (You can see the survey here).  In total, 21 students from 9 different universities responded to the survey.  I am blown away with the amount of detail and thoughtfulness they put into their answers. I'd like to now share the 2nd half of the results with all of you here:

 Last week, I put out a call for students and young entrepreneurs to take a survey to help answer the questions of "What are the challenges to engaging more young people?" and "What are your ideas for improving the ecosytem?" and a lot more. (You can see the survey here).  In total, 21 students from 9 different universities responded to the survey.  I am blown away with the amount of detail and thoughtfulness they put into their answers. I'd like to now share the results with all of you here:

Last semester, I set out to write my senior thesis for American Studies.  I’d been inspired by a song from the Broadway musical Avenue Q, in which snarky puppets sang about the joys of schadenfreude, or “German for happiness at the misfortune of others.”  Avenue Q’s fuzzy characters honed in on everyday examples of schadenfreude, like “football players getting tackled...CEO’s getting shackled.”  When I heard this song, I came to realize that schadenfreude wasn’t just found in such mundane experiences as seeing someone miss the train, but that it was actually a far more widespread cultural phenomenon and a key component within the realm of social media.

 The weather is hot outside, but there's plenty of cool events in the entrepreneur scene this week. There are over 35 different Boston startup entrepreneur networking events and office hours this week. Check out the show and notes below to find out all about them and all the other great happenings in the community this week. And don't forget to check out the Greenhorn Connect Calendar for all your Boston startup entrepreneur networking events and office hours needs.