Skwibl - how to do startups and have time to relax?

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    This picture makes the post 20% nicer.

    Today I did a good job, managed to do a lot, solved several difficult problems.
    “Yes, it’s already 10 o’clock in the evening, but today it’s Friday and at home I will have rest and comfort,” I thought and woke up on Monday morning.
    It’s good to solve problems in a dream if you have a big beard and do chemistry, and here, the usual IT start-up is hard work, exhausting, requiring full dedication, and therefore a good rest.
    So how do you do startups and still have time to relax?
    There are a lot of photos under the cut (some were made in a dream)

    Let's start with how I got to such a life, because before I dreamed of beautiful nymphs, and now here is work, problems that still have to be solved!

    In the hot summer of 2011, I realized that I was tired of Java and began to look at something more interesting. NodeJs accidentally caught my eye (well, how by chance? All mathematicians are actually connected by a telepathic network, but only shhh!) And I liked it. I liked it so much that after playing enough I began to write on it a small piece for communicating online in real time. Web sockets were new then so it was bold, and most importantly interesting. The prototype from which we could communicate together via chat, watch movies, play simple toys and draw fools (this was the most fun).

    Friends and acquaintances used, played and praised, but the prototype would have remained a prototype if it had not been for my good acquaintance Tanya (well, as good, I want to triple it, and she will get rid of me =). Studying in Europe, Tanya heard a lot about incubators and accelerators and even managed to work in a startup. She convinced me to try to apply. In Kiev, the startup movement was just beginning, so we started with foreign incubators. However, due to communication problems (it often broke off and there was a lot of interference in general), we were not able to reach mutual understanding.
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    Incubator MEDIX PC-307

    It got to the point of absurdity - they asked us “can we come?”, I tore my shirt and remembering the lessons of Lydia Fedorovna shouted “Yes! “Of of Kors!”, But as it later turned out, some members of the commission thought that we would not be able to come (perhaps if Tanya would rip off her shirt, everything would be different =).

    Soon we learned about EastLabs , and there really everything was different (no, I didn’t have to tear my shirt =). It is simply much easier to communicate live, to see the reaction of listeners, to explain incomprehensible moments. And the commission turned out to be just wonderful.
    After several interviews, we were invited to become participants in the first business accelerator in Kiev!
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    Welcome to EastLabs

    at EastLabswe talked to a large number of mentors, each an expert in his field. Thanks to them, we were able to hone the idea and make it more suitable for the real world.

    Today Skwibl is a service for a designer to communicate with a customer. Everyone who has worked with designers knows how difficult it is sometimes to explain their vision. And it’s not very easy for designers to read tasks like “move the left button in the lower right corner by 20 pixels to the left”. It is much easier to work with visual material, instead of having to parse several paragraphs of text. Now you can upload images to Skwibl, and then mark edits, add comments and assignments directly to them! It is simple and natural. In a couple of clicks we bring our thoughts to the designer and no longer risk getting into the list of hellish clients. For us and our designers, this halved the number of iterations.
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    Skwibl - Mark edits directly on images!

    A startup is a big responsibility, and a lot of stress. A small team must solve many complex and often unfamiliar tasks. Therefore, it is very important to love what you do. Love on weekends, love without money, day and night until you meet a younger startup with a bigger budget =) No, seriously, you should enjoy what you do.

    If this does not work out for you, you are probably doing something wrong, because the accelerator with partners (and sympathizers) constantly provides an opportunity to recharge your mood and have a good rest. The main thing is not to miss such moments and notice them in time. If you still miss the most interesting, I will tell you what should be done.

    1. Chat with a successful person you trust.

    On the path of startup, you will constantly be overwhelmed by doubts - are we doing this, and is it necessary at all, can try something else? Do not hesitate - ask for advice from someone who has already somehow helped you. For me, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk became such a person, it was his workon quasi-integrable systems helped me become interested in supersymmetry and choose a topic for my dissertation. A conversation with him added confidence and helped me not to give up. By the way, Svyatoslav also sings wonderful!
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    A famous physicist, author of a robot on quasi-integrated systems - Svyatoslav Vakarchuk

    2. Do not forget about sports.

    Having gone headlong into programming, you can completely lose shape while sitting still. Therefore, it is very important to remember sports. Boxing champion Vladimir Klitschko helped us refresh our memories.
    Communication with Vladimir replaces good training, he is interested, asks complex questions, praises or doubts the answers. After this, you feel invigorated. Although you should not forget about the gym, still these people do not come every day =)
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    Boxing World Champion - Vladimir Klitschko

    3. Participate in contests.

    A good way to understand whether you are moving in the right direction is contests. It is fun, interesting and makes you think creatively.
    And even if you do not win, a place in the semifinals is also very nice.
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    Awarding of the winners of the international IT conference IDCEE 2012

    4. Learn something new.

    Concentrating on a startup and its problems, you sometimes cease to find a way out even of simple situations. In such cases, you should not go in cycles, you need to forget about everything for a while and discover something new. Do not hesitate, education is fun, especially if you are trained in the funniest incubator in Kiev (and Kiev region = P) Happy Farm. For me, Bob Dorf's lectures became a real rest and also gave answers to many questions that tormented me.
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    Co-author of the bestselling book The Startup Owner's Manual, Bob Dorf shares his experience of creating startups at the Happy Farm

    5 incubator . And most importantly, always be yourself.

    Whatever happens - ups, downs, successes or failures, always remain yourself. Joke, enjoy life, do not forget about love and everything will be fine with you!
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    The Skwibl team at the presentation of the Office 360

    Startup is a long road. We stand at the very beginning and still very much want to complete and implement. Now I am working on improving the performance on tablets, in the near future - means of rapid prototyping, collaboration on video and much more.

    We did the service primarily for people, and not for the sake of money, so we will offer everything that is now available on the site for free. Yes, we are going to monetize, but it will be possible to pay for additional functions that will really cost little money. Indeed, between capitalism and socialism there is always a place for beauty =)
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    We tried to make Skwibl useful, and I think we succeeded. We love what we do, and we do it precisely because we love. I hope you also love our service and can forgive us small flaws, but we, in turn, will try and get better. Try it and feel free to share your opinion.
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    With love, Skwibl team.

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