Lounging

Today before lunch I left my flat.

I had some hommous, tabuleh and falafel downtown and then I sat in a couple of parks listening to some pod casts. I also had some ice cream.

Obviously.

Oh yeah, that's because this morning I finally sorted out what to do with the iPhone version of the app and was able to submit it to the Apple app store for review.

I even tested it in Test Flight and what I uploaded works.

I hope Apple accepts it and allows it to be published.

After several hours of world class lounging I met up with the Crazy Chicken, reviewed the investors' pitch and costs spreadsheet and then had an excellent curry.

Despite my ethnicity it seems I may be a bit sunburnt.

Worthwhile

It's nearly always worthwhile, if not immediately obvious.

This evening I battled through a storm (which never was) and went to an AWS user group.

The talks didn't really do it for me but at the end I talked to the organiser (who I know) and he reminded me of AWS Activate - VCs partnered with AWS Activate can have their businesses use AWS at a reduced price. But it is also a great source of potential VCs. He also said he'd put me in contact with the head of Activate.

Finally

Certain sounds do it for certain people. For some, it's the sound of a child's laughter. For others it's the sound of their partner reaching climax. For me it's the sound of my app receiving a PN on the iPhone.

I have the app working again on the iPhone.

Turns out a configuration change I had made hadn't been properly replicated.

There are still some other problems but I think they are solvable.

Take-aways from the lean startup event on traction

This evening's event focussed on traction and the main speaker talked about his fintech startup.

Ironically - because of financial regulations - they couldn't start with an MVP.

Key takeaways were:

• Find investors who think like founders - so don't accept money from just anyone or someone who demands a detailed business plan.
• Focus on your immediate target customer
• Hire on a continuous basis - avoid contractors  - a bit contentious here though it was pointed out that it is often cheaper
• Focus on the product - say no to most feature requests
• Don't scale - again keep to the focus on target customers.

Bit of progress

Yesterday we visited a restaurant to whom we spoke some while ago.

At the time they seemed not very interested but recently they approached the Crazy Chicken and asked about the app.

Right now it is appropriate to put a few exclamation marks.

Here we go:

!!!!!!!

So we met them yesterday and I have already onboarded them.

The restaurant is round the corner from the Crazy Chicken so we (or she) can easily gain feedback.

As well as on boarding them I have also added them to our CRM tool.

Still haven't got the app working on iPhone yet though.

Bewildered

For well over a week I have been battling to get the app working on an iPhone (it works on Android and is actually published on the Google Play store).

But with iOS it is soooo hard and confusing.

And it's not just me.

This is a goddamn adminstration topic - getting the IDs, certifications and profile right which Apple requires.

Looking at forums I know others have had problems.

I am visiting a relative but am still looking into it.

Today Appery.io gave me some advice (it took me a while to work out what I was doing so I could articulate it to them). Their advice was, however, a bit too close to "we don't know either" (to be fair, Appery.io's support is great and always helpful. I have no complaint about this response).

And now Outlook 2016 has crashed on my Surface.

Ooops

Earlier in the week I established distinct test accounts.

Today I received a quick call from the Crazy Chicken asking if I meant to send messages to live accounts.

I kinda was working too fast.