i'm (pierre francois) speaking at joel spolsky's business of software conference

This is going to be fun. I was pleased to learn that I was accepted as one of the 8 finalists to speak (perform?) during the Pecha Kucha portion of the 2008 Business of Software Conference in Boston.

I didn't know what Pecha Kucha meant either, so here's a synopsis:

The speaker gets 6 minutes and 40 seconds: no more, no less. You submit exactly 20 slides. Each one is shown for exactly 20 seconds and then flips automatically. At the end, even if you're almost done and just have one more thing, the mic cuts off and you sit down.

It seemed like just the thing for Pierre Francois, Web 2.0 guru. We haven't seen him since BarCamp Boston a couple years ago, but he's got a lot to say (in exactly 6 minutes and 40 seconds) about starting, running and selling a web 2.0 startup.

Thanks for the opportunity -- Pierre shalln't disappoint. He's genetically incapable of anything less than 110%.

flashback to a startup school presentation i gave back in 07

Kevin Hale of Wufoo (the form of choice for FeedbackFail) just published a slightly belated write-up of a presentation I gave back at Startup School 07. OK, so it's more than slightly belated, but I'll take it!

Read the article, check out the slides, or listen to the audio -- or do all three at the same time.

Thanks for the great review, Kevin. I must admit that I've been asked more than a few times since to give that presentation: The [Abridged] Story of Reddit.com (Or, how to build a popular website without ever being on TechCrunch.) But I think you've nailed the crux of it:

I think that if you’re not careful and that if you’re doing this solely for the money, that you’ll easily lose one of the few motivations that sustains anyone through anything difficult : love. [...] Don’t take yourself so seriously. A startup can and should be fun. It doesn’t have to be a 24/7 party in your pants fun, but you should at least be smiling a lot.

Great. Now no one is going to want to hear my presentation anymore ;)

communitynext and l.a. show me a great time, open bar, and put me on a panel with some lovely people

There I was, flanked by Paul Cloutier of JPG Magazine (I finally got a subscription today) and Veronica Belmont of Mahalo Daily, who's as charming as she is talented, with the Big Brother-like face of Brian Sugar of Sugar, Inc. ominously projected on a giant screen behind us. Patricia Handschiegel moderated the panel entitled “Print: Are Newspapers Becoming Extinct?”

Fortunately, it wasn't just a short "Yes" answer from the 3.5 of us. (Skip ahead to video #4 below to view the panel discussion)

Stickam was broadcasting the entire event live (Justin.tv, where were you guys?) and grabbed me before I left for a quick interview (below) that was frankly one of the best I've ever done. For no other reason than the dude asking the questions was a hardcore redditor. We didn't have any Barbara Walters moments, but I think it turned out OK despite how guilty I was feeling about holding my friends up before dinner.

(Embedded player removed because it kept auto-starting and making people sad - here's the link)

It was a good trip out to LA, a city with an unsettling dependence on automobiles and tanning beds. The CommunityNext folks did a great job putting the event together, open bar and all. Only in LA would the conference itself take place in a night club. During the event, I even got to praise auctomatic and take a jab at Mike Arrington all in one breath. Bonus points!

There should be another (slightly more inebriated) interview with the folks at TechZulu going online once they get through their hangovers, no doubt...