But we’re done with it.

Starting now, Vayu is a product company. We’re not taking on new client work. Everything we build from here is ours; small, focused products that we own, operate, and stand behind.

This isn’t a pivot born out of panic. We’ve been heading here for a long time.

The agency trap

The agency model is seductive for engineers who want to start a business. You already have the skills. Clients will pay you to use them. Revenue starts quickly. It feels like entrepreneurship.

And it is, for a while. You learn to sell, to scope, to manage expectations, to ship under pressure.

But the agency model has a ceiling, and we hit it a long time ago.

Here’s the pattern: you win a project. You staff it. You deliver. The client is happy. Then either they need more work (and you’re locked in) or they don’t (and you’re scrambling for the next thing). Your best people are always on someone else’s roadmap. Your own ideas sit in a backlog that never gets prioritised because there’s always a paying client who needs something yesterday.

The economics are brutal too. You sell hours. There are only so many hours. To grow revenue you hire more people, which grows costs at roughly the same rate. Margins stay thin. You’re running hard to stay in place.

We’ve watched this play out over and over; not just at Vayu, but across dozens of agencies we know. The ones that break out almost always do it by building a product on the side that eventually becomes the main thing.

We’ve always had one foot in products

If you’ve been following Vayu since the early days, you know we’ve never been a pure agency. We had conx.co, a takeoff platform for the construction industry that was acquired by Houzz. We had Pasa Trade, an ambitious e-commerce application for the developing world that fell flat. We had side projects and prototypes and “we’ll get to it next quarter” ideas stacked up like dirty dishes.

The pattern was always the same: start something promising, get excited, then shelve it because a client engagement needed all hands. The agency always won because the agency always paid the bills.

That tension defined us for years. We talked about being a product company. We put it on our website. But we were still fundamentally selling time.

What changed

Clients are more sophisticated now. Many can handle their own engineering, or they’d rather buy a product than hire a team to build something custom. There’s less room in the middle for agencies like us.

At the same time, a small team with cloud infrastructure and AI-assisted development can now ship what used to take a department. We’ve seen it firsthand. The gap between “we could build that” and “we shipped that” has never been smaller.

And we got honest with ourselves. We looked at the last thirteen years and asked: what are we actually good at? Not “what do clients pay us for” but “what do we do well when nobody’s watching?” And the answer was always building our own stuff. We’re better when we own the whole problem. We make sharper decisions when we don’t have to justify every trade-off to someone who hasn’t read the code.

What this means in practice

We’re not trying to build the next unicorn. If you’ve met us, you already know that. Cockroach, not unicorn. Small, resilient, hard to kill.

We’re building focused tools that solve specific problems well. Not platforms. Not ecosystems. Tools.

We own the full stack; from idea through to production, support, and iteration. No handoffs. No “here’s your deliverable, good luck.” We don’t need 50 people for this. We need a tight team that ships fast and talks to users. The agency world teaches you to spec everything upfront. Products reward the opposite; get something in front of people and learn.

What the agency years taught us

When someone is paying you by the hour, you don’t get to endlessly refactor or chase architectural perfection. You ship on time. Full stop.

Construction has always been our heartland; conx.co came out of years spent deep in that industry, and we’ve built estimating, takeoff, and project management tools for the sector longer than anything else. But the agency model pulled us across a dozen other domains too: care management software at ShiftCare, marketplace features at Camplify, digital publishing systems for Universal Magazines, industrial media platforms for Westwick-Farrow. Aged care, outdoor hospitality, consumer publishing, B2B trade media - each with its own domain language, regulatory landscape, and definition of “good enough.” You learn to spot a bad abstraction from a mile away, and you learn that most problems are the same problem wearing a different hat; but the hat matters more than engineers like to admit.

The agency also forced us to sell. Engineers love to believe that great products sell themselves. They don’t. You have to figure out what people actually need (not what they say they need) and explain why they should pay for it. That stuff doesn’t go away just because you’re building your own thing.

Client deadlines, scope creep, production outages at 2am for software you didn’t architect. We know what kind of team we are because we’ve been through it.

The agency model has one massive advantage: predictable revenue. Someone signs a contract, you do the work, you get paid. Products don’t work like that. You build something, put it out there, and hope people care enough to pay for it.

We’re walking away from a proven revenue model to bet on ourselves. Honestly, it’s mostly terrifying. But the alternative is another thirteen years of selling time, and we’ve done that.

We’ll be writing more about what we’re building and what we learn along the way. That’s always been the promise of this blog, even when we were too busy with client work to keep it.

If you’ve worked with us as a client over the years; thank you. Genuinely. You gave us the runway to get here.

Last month brought the release of Ruby on Rails 6.0. Looking back on the past 12 months of Ruby / Ruby on Rails development it’s clear that DHH was right in saying that ‘Ruby isn’t dying, it’s maturing’

From the wikipedia entry, Ruby on Rails, or Rails as it’s better known, is a server-side web application framework written in Ruby under the MIT License. Rails is a model–view–controller (MVC) framework, providing default structures for a database, a web service, and web pages. It encourages and facilitates the use of web standards such as JSON or XML for data transfer, HTML, CSS and JavaScript for user interfacing.

In addition to MVC, Rails emphasizes the use of other well-known software engineering patterns and paradigms, including convention over configuration (CoC), don’t repeat yourself (DRY), and the active record pattern.[4]

Rails 5 brought us lovely goodies like:

• Active Storage, a modern approach of uploading files straight to the cloud.
• Redis cache-store
• HTTP/2 Early Hints
• Credentials, a new and secure way to store secrets

Rails 6 brings some wonderful additions to the framework such as

• Action Mailbox- a new way to serve to route incoming emails to controller-like mailboxes for processing in Rails
• Action Text- the Trix editor now is automatically in the framework
• Parallel Testing - allows you to parallelize your test using forks or threads (We’ve been doing this for years through parallel_tests)
• Action Cable Testing

These release notes cover only the major changes, so be sure to checkout out various bug fixes and changes and read through the change logs or list of commits on Github at the official Rails repo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_on_Rails

https://edgeguides.rubyonrails.org/6_0_release_notes.html

https://github.com/rails/rails/commits/6-0-stable

Ruby has gone through a heap of significant changes the past 12 months. It shows no sign of going by the wayside however seems to be growing and evolving. A new version of Ruby was released just in August 2019 and gave a heap of performance improvements. JIT implementation of a JIT (Just-In-Time) compiler (heaps of future improvements to be made here) was released last December. Ruby has improved performance up to 1.7x, apart from the 5–10% performance improvements from Ruby 2.5.0. Not too shabby really.

• Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) push service - Chrome/Chromium Browser
• Mozilla Push Service - Firefox Browsers

So from integration point of view, there are two ways to do it:

1) Vendor locked push servers:

The first option will be signing up to push service providers’ platforms and implementing push API calls from your application server to these services with the protocol they use to implement push service on their respective browsers.

Google Cloud Messaging (new version: Firebase Cloud Messaging) push service uses GCM/FCM protocol to implement push service to Chrome/Chromium browsers. Mozilla Push Service uses push service URL to push to Firefox browsers.

To implement this way, you need to subscribe and setup keys at all the push servers you want to send push notifications from your application server. This is vendor locked solution and needs multiple configurations at different push services.

2) Web Push Protocol:

Web Push Protocol is a standard protocol where sender authentication can done with VAPID (Voluntary Application Server Identification), which essentially is a public/private key pair hosted in your application server that authenticates push notifications to different subscription endpoints (client browser can belong to any vendor - Chrome/Firefox). Chrome and Firefox Browsers support Web Push Protocol based push-notifications with VAPID keys.

How to do it?

The user has to approve subscription (‘Allow’ when asked) to push notifications in order to receive push notifications on application owner’s demand.

Subscription (user’s browser -> app server):</strong>

Send notification (app server -> subscription endpoint):

Once the subscription is confirmed from the user and the subscriptionJSON (push endpoint, encryption public key and encryption authentication key) stored in application’s database, this JSON object can be extracted anytime to send push notification to the client.

Implementing push notification with VAPID not only eliminates hassle of configuring multiple push server configurations but also makes it easier to manage and control user's push subscriptions.

References:

• https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-webpush-protocol-12
• https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2016/07/web-push-interop-wins
  
• https://thihara.github.io/Web-Push/ “

Improve typing speed. I want to increase my typing speed and decrease the errors that I make while I am typing, so that there will be less typos in my work. I am going to take typing test regularly using Klavaro and http://play.typeracer.com/ 

Practice and be proficient in Ruby language. I planned to develop some pet projects on different Rails app with different features

Take an online course (Programming or non programming). I will search a suitable course in EDX or Coursera and use 2hr of evening time.

Write blogs about things that I have learned. I will be writing at least 1 blog with new topics in 1 month. 

Improve communication skills and improve my English. I will go to events like meetups and meet new people.

Bibek

Understand distributed computing model along with background jobs and learn how they are important/implemented. I am planning to achieve this goal by watching youtube videos of how bitcoin has implemented this feature. Likewise I will be looking into the documentation of sidekiq in rails. I will probably have built concept of them in first 3 months.

Learn at least one JS framework and one functional language available. For this I am planning to go through react tutorials from codeschool.com and go through documentation of elixir language. And most probably build a dummy app using both language by first quarter of year. 

Try to understand more about Ruby language. I have also planned to challenge myself by building some prototype apps (most probably every month throughout the year) using rails to sharpen my knowledge. And most importantly, implement TDD.

Contribute to open source community. To achieve this I will be looking for some of the projects from codetriage.com and contribute. I will probably start with a project from February and work during spare time.

Get familiar with devops work and API. I want to know how applications are handled during production environment and how different apps talk to each other.

Build a portfolio site and host in github.io. After that publish a first blog and continue throughout the year. I am most likely to blog after hosting the site, which I have planned to get it done in January.

Learn to communicate well by attending different meetups and building the network with different developers.   

Most probably hit a gym AGAINNN. Most of the people join gym on 1st of jan and then stop going after that. It’s a shame, but I too fall on that category. But this time I want to keep myself fit by joining gym with dedication and perseverance. I am looking to join gym by February.

Jonathan

Learn the Nepalese language.  I want to be able to improve to the point that I can have a decent conversation around technology, startups and life in general in Nepal.

Explore new markets.  One of our products, conxjobs.com, is going to be expanding on new markets in Ireland, UK and USA.  Drastically different regulations exist in each of these countries in the construction industry.

Learn how to focus.  For far too many years I have put off re-launching Pasa Trade.  The first quarter of the year, this will be achieved!

Elixir is a language that has really caught my eye over the past few years.  The similarities to the ruby DSL has made it extremely attractive.  I want to build a number  new throwaway prototype apps using both elixir and phoenix.

Learn to take better care of myself.  Since 2007 my fitness has sorely lapsed.  90kg to 114kg and now currently sitting around 102kg.  The past 18 months have allowed me to focus on diet but now my focus will be on regular daily exercise.  My goal for 2017 is to reach 95kg.

Read 20 books in the year around business practices, technology and sci-fi.  Currently i’m reading High-Rise, a 1975 novel by J. G. Ballard. The story depicts a luxury high-rise building as its affluent residents gradually descend into violent chaos.  A number of biographies and methodologies have grabbed my attention, stay tuned for my reading list of 2017.

Prativa

In 2017, the main focus of mine would be learning  Ruby and getting familiar with it and the best way to accomplish my goal would be doing Ruby more and more.

Secondly, I want to learn front-end development which includes learning HTML, CSS, Javascript. And I'm going to do it by going through online web tutorials like those w3schools provides. I would be visiting as many websites as it takes me to build my creativity in designing and also I want to be more socially active in 2017.

Sandeep

docker: learn about what? Why? When? about containers, start from basic CRUD app on docker then move towards Migrating existing rails app to containers(docker) as dedicated specific purpose containers communicating between the containers as API calls

Read up docker documentation and set-up a basic ruby image in docker registry

add rails and relevant layers to the image and deploy a simple CRUD blog app into EC2 by the end of January.

Plan for grad school: research and prepare to apply for grad school. 

jan/feb weekends: research on cost / major / requirements for CS degree for someone coming from electrical background 

prepare and take required pre-requisite tests if any (GRE, etc) within second quarter - 2017

blogging: fill up at least 1 blog each month, (dedicate few hours on last weekend each month for writing/publishing). 

Start writing notes and saving them anytime i find useful ( be it in the browser typehere.co, checking in into git /tmp on any project i work on, etc)

Paste in and compile relevant notes into a single document in google drive 

Edit/organize those notes and publish every month

Trekking: manaslu circuit / tsum valley , rara, dolpo region

research and decide on trekking route post winter feb/march (week long trek).

first trek of the year after winter around feb-end/march/april (probably rara region, never been much on far-west nepal)

 What is iOS?

 iOS, originally iPhone OS is Apple’s proprietary mobile operating system and it is only distributed exclusively for Apple products such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Based on the Macintosh OS X, iOS was first introduced back in January of 2007 alongside the original iPhone.

Known for its sleek and simple design, iOS uses multi-touch gestures, which is based on the concept of direct manipulation Interface. Its control elements consist of switches, buttons and sliders. Moreover, interaction with the operating system includes gestures such as swipe, tap, and pinch all of which have specific definitions in the context of the iOS and its multi-touch interface.

 What is android?

Android is the operating system developed by Google. It was initially released on September 23, 2008. It is commonly installed on a variety of tablets and smartphones. Android phones are highly customisable and can be altered to meet your preferences and needs which can completely change the look of your device's interface. It provides the ability to change the default launcher, and hence the appearance and externally visible behaviour of Android. These appearance changes include a no dock or multi-page dock, and many more changes to fundamental features such as themes and the wallpaper of the user interface

Android's user interface is also mainly based on the concept of direct manipulation similar to that of iOS. It uses touch gestures that correspond to real-time actions, such as pinching, swiping and tapping to manipulate on-screen objects, along with a virtual keyboard to input texts.

Hybrid

Apache Cordova

Apache Cordova, initially known, as Phonegap is an open-source mobile application development framework. Originally created by Nitombi, Adobe Systems is now the licensed owner of it.

Instead of relying on platform-specific APIs like those in Android, iOS, or Windows Phone, Apache Cordova provides software programmers with the opportunity to build applications for mobile devices using programming languages such as HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. The resulting applications developed on Apache Cordova are hybrid, i.e. that they are not truly native mobile application as opposed to those in iOS and Android not are they purely Web-based as it enables wrapping up of JavaScript, CSS, and HTML code depending upon the platform of the device and extends the features of JavaScript and HTML to work with the device.

Apache Cordova can be a very useful tool for mobile application developers who want to extend their application across more than one platform, without having to re-implement it with each platform's language. Also, they can mix native application components with a WebView that can access device-level APIs and can also help to develop a plugin interface between WebView and the native components.

Framework7

Framework7 is a free and open source mobile application and web app development framework. It easily helps create Android and iOS applications with Javascript, CSS and HTML. It focuses more on iOS and Google material design to provide with simplicity and the best experience.

Designed inspired by the official Google Material design specification, Framework7 Material theme brings pixel-perfect material features like visual design, interactions, colours, and effects. But what makes Framework7 stand out is that unlike other framework, Framework7 it is very easy if you want to create iOS apps as it doesn't force you to write custom tags that will be converted by JavaScript to something else and describe all your content in JavaScript. It just requires you to use simple HTML and it still gives you exactly the same thing that you expect to.

Framework7 comes with a bunch of ready to use UI elements and widgets like action sheet side panels, popup, popover, media lists, modals, list views, form elements, tabs, layout grid, etc and most of it doesn’t require Javascript.

Moreover, popular apps such as Series Seven, Sprint Social, Monday delights were also made using Framework7.

Ionic

With over 875,000 mobile apps built, Ionic is one of the world’s leading mobile app developing framework. It is a free and complete open-source SDK. Ionic offers a library of mobile-optimized CSS, HTML and Java Script components, gestures, and tools for building highly interactive apps.

With minimal, zero jQuery, DOM manipulation and hardware-accelerated transitions, Ionic is built to have an amazing performance and on the latest mobile devices. It also utilizes Angular in order to create a powerful SDK, which is suitable if you want to develop rich and robust applications. One such component provided by the angular is its collection repeats which allows users to scroll through a list of thousands of items without any performance hits. Another such of its component includes scroll-view that creates a scrollable container with which users can interact using a native-influenced system.

“We think hackers are most productive when they can spend most of their time hacking. Our goal is to create an environment where you can focus exclusively on getting an initial version built.”

With a community over 1600 founders and an added value of over $30 billion, Y combinator has become one of the biggest and the most commercially successful startup seed accelerator. Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Trevor Blackwell and Robert Morris initially founded it in 2005 and since then it has funded over 800 startups.

Based in Silicon Valley, Y combinator is said to be one of the most selective seed accelerator with the acceptance rate of just 2%. It has funded startups such as Airbnb, Dropbox, Reddit, 9gag and many more.

By investing of $120k, on each startup, Y combinator receives 7% equity stake. Their program lasts for 3 months during which they work intensively with the startups, refining them and aiming to get their company in best possible shape to attract investors.

Brandery

“Our philosophy is that if your start-up is consumer focused, you must be brand focused. That belief is at the core of The Brandery and why we launched our program in Cincinnati, Ohio”

Brandery is another renowned start-up seed accelerator, which focuses mainly on branding, marketing and design. They have a group of inspirational and elite mentors, which include industry experts, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, legal support, and technologists who help uncover meaningful consumer insights, which will help create your own start-up as a true brand. In addition, it provides each start-up with $50k, a year of free office space, and over $200k in additional benefits in exchange for 6% of the company’s equity stake.

Brandery accelerator is a 4-month program, which is run for a year for 10-12 companies.  The startups here have access to some of the biggest companies in the world, including Procter & Gamble, dunnhumby, and Kroger and they are also paired with world-class creative agencies around the world.

Techstars

“Techstars is much more than a 3 month mentorship-driven accelerator program. Techstar is for life-our global ecosystem of founders, mentors, investors, and cooperate partners work together to create a network of support that lasts throughout your entrepreneurial journey”

Founded in Corolado, United States in 2006 by David Cohen, Brad Feld, David Brown, and Jared Polis. Currently with the help of over 2000 mentors, Techstars is one of the leading accelerator programs. It is a competing accelerator of Y combinator and is often compared to it.

Less than 1% of the companies that apply to Techstars are accepted, making it highly selective. The start-ups that get accepted in Techstars cooperate accelerator programs get an opportunity, which is rather difficult to access as they get to work closely with Fortune 500 executives and employees.

In exchange for 6% common stock, the companies that get accepted into Techstars receive $18,000, access to the TechStars network, and a three-month program. According to the Handshakin Video Series^, mentorship is one of the highest values of joining Techstars.

Muru-D

“Muru-D gives start-ups access to a valuable mentor network of serial entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and savvy angel investors. Our mentors support our start-ups by providing introductions, strategic and technical advice as well as advisory support and investment to help their businesses grow.”

With its programs located in Sydney, Singapore and Brisbane, Muru-D is a starter accelerator and has successfully helped companies develop stronger entrepreneurs.  Their program has accelerated 34 companies and impacted for than 100 entrepreneurs.

Muru-D offeres start-ups with a full time team of diverse network of passionate and highly skilled mentors who help you become ‘investor ready’.

Muru-D offers Up to $200,000 cash depending on their program but they belive that ffincancial investment without great suppert will not be as impactful, thus they offer range of services including legal advice and assitance during the program, expert consulting from highly sort after pricing experts and regular office hours from a range of other business services.

In addition, Muru-D also offers 4 overseas trips to USA, China and UK. Their trips, which are about 7-14 days in length, have been prepared to deliver an extraordinary amount of value to your business as well as significant personal professional development.

Startmate

 “Startmate will help you focus by offering the support of a mentor network that has built online businesses before. We will help you attract and win your first customers and create as many early stage financing options as we can.”

Based in both Sydney and San Francisco, what makes Startmate different from other start-up accelerator is that unlike other accelerators, Startmate’s 30 mentors invest their own money into the start-ups: $50,000 initially in each of the eight companies for 7.5% stake and then it offers a further $100,000 after working with the teams.

Startmate, alongside Ycombinator and Techstars was ranked as one of the top five accelerators in the world by Naval Ravikant, co-founder of AngelList.

A total of 37 companies have graduated from Startmate, including Nexus notes which is an online marketplace for student notes, Bug heard; World’s simplest bug tracker for the web and many more.

Startmate is a 5 month program that will not only help you focus by offering the support of a mentor network that has built online businesses before but it will also help you attract and win your first customers.

Moreover, Startmate also offers to increase your network with a trip to Silicon Valley that introduces you to as many useful people through the networks of Startmate mentors and fans.

Rockstart Impact is the very first accelerator in Nepal. It is a 100-day program designed specifically for Nepali entrepreneurs. Their mentors include various influential serial entrepreneurs, experts and investors from both Netherlands and Nepal.  Rockstart has a wide network that includes 200+ local and international investors and its ultimate goal is to “strengthen the entrepreneur's capabilities and vision on how to grow their business. Not only the business has to grow. The entrepreneur needs to evolve as well.”

Biruwa Ventures, another one of Nepal’s most recognized firms for incubators that has been operational for the past 4 years. It provides new entrepreneurs with an office space and with the help of experts it helps aspiring entrepreneurs to make connections with mentors and receive business advice so that they can avoid making common mistakes that inexperienced entrepreneurs usually make. It is a great way to learn new things in order to grow your business and establish the kind of market you want for the product and service you aspiring to provide.  With the help of incubators and accelerators, a budding startup can easily find themselves the right resources and support.

Another business accelerator, initiated by Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum (NYEF) in partnership with Centre for Creation of Economic Wealth (CCEW) at the University of Oklahoma seeks to “add a lot of value to these companies by providing them the necessary tools to analyse their overall growth strategy.” This not only helps the company develop their skills but also makes them more attractive to investors everywhere.

Likewise, the joint initiative of UNICEF, Idea studio launched its new business incubation center at the Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM). Idea studio with the help of KUSOM aims to aspire Nepali entrepreneurs to stay here in Nepal and invest their skills and ideas here with their promising theoretical and technical knowledge that will help participants to implement and work on their innovative ideas.

Every year, a large number of Nepalese go abroad in hope for better employment opportunities contributing to the countries brain-drain. The emerging accelerators and incubators can hopefully help establish and guide the young entrepreneurs and help them to make the most out of their innovation here in Nepal.

Facebook links:

• https://www.facebook.com/rockstart.impact
  
• https://www.facebook.com/biruwaventures
  
• https://www.facebook.com/NyefNepaleseYoungEntrepreneursForumBiratnagar
  
• https://www.facebook.com/IdeaStudioNepal

Accelerators and incubators offer various opportunities for early startups.  Deciding whether or not you should pursue business through one depends on how confident you are about running your business. 

Although both Accelerators and Incubators are companies that help new startup businesses to grow and develop through proper mentorship and guidance in order for them to succeed, there are few distinctive differences between Accelerator and Incubators that every startup should know as it might be quite confusing at times.

The startup incubator

The startup incubator is an unstructured program. It usually provides a physical office workspace for start-ups in their program and doesn’t have a specific goal or timeframe. Due to which this is less intensive and there is less time pressure. In addition, a startup incubator helps you build a company taking little or no equity in your company.

The startup incubator gives you full control over your business and helps you to prepare to go into a more competitive accelerator program.

The startup accelerator

Unlike the startup incubator, within a short period of time, the startup accelerator provides a structured curriculum. It guides and helps businesses to rapidly grow and helps them to achieve a specific goal.

The startup incubator is an intensive 3-4 month program. It is largely a mentor driven business network where everyone can apply. And although it is highly selective it helps you to develop the ability to fundraise and attract a large investment.

Accelerators can take 6-8% of your company’s equity stake. Its ultimate goal is to provide you with ample resources and peer support and help your business grow fast and rapidly, increasing the value of your company.  Y Combinator, Brandery, and Techstars are some of the most well known accelerators.

'What’s holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur?'

1. “I’m waiting for the perfect time.”

Jason says: "There’s no such thing as a “perfect” time to start a business. Waiting for it will leave you on indefinite hiatus."

Jonathan says: "Fuck that, go back to your cubicle and pray for a miracle, it'll never happen unless you really want it to. You need to work fucking hard at this game and just waiting for the perfect moment that will never come means that you just won't be able to cut it. Start on your idea now, work on it when you're not at your day job, live, breath and sleep thinking about your idea."

2. “I’m waiting for the perfect idea.”

Jason says: "if your idea has flaws, take comfort – there’s no such thing as a perfect idea. So, make up for those flaws with new strengths."

Jonathan says: "Ideas are like assholes, everyone has at least one. The idea you have has been thought of by about at least 2000 people. It's all about who executes it the best. Start working on it now!"

3. “It will take too long to become profitable.”

Jason says: "Delayed gratification – the personality trait that causes people to forego smaller short-term pleasures in favor of larger, long-term ones – has been hailed by renowned physicist and author Michio Kaku as the "hallmark of human intelligence." If you've got what it takes to be successful, you understand and practice delayed gratification. And success will never feel too far away."

Jonathan says: "Nothing is ever an overnight success. You shouldn't quit to work on your startup until you have profit & revenue, that is unless you have rich family members who are willing to throw their hard earned cash on the idea that you thought of yesterday. Bootstrap the shit out of it and work hard!"

4. “I like my current job.”

Jason says: "Sticking with the job you know can be comforting, but you’ll never know what lies beyond unless you go for it."

Jonathan says: "Stick with your job, many jobs are awesome. If you're young you definitely need some experience under your belt before you tackle running a business. Only quit when your business is actually making money!"

5. “I don’t like change.”

Jason says: "Change can be hard, and even scary at times, but it’s necessary if you want to be fulfilled."

Jonathan says: "Don't start a company! No really, don't fucking do it. Change happens every day when you run a business, the unexpected is just around the corner and you need to adapt to survive."

6. “I’m afraid I’ll fail.”

Jason says: "The fear of failure holds many potential entrepreneurs back, but that risk will always be present, and even failure doesn’t mean the end. Successful entrepreneurs thrive in failure."

Jonathan says: "Fail at least 5 times before breakfast. This isn't the social network where we all succeed and have millions in stock options, you are guaranteed to fail at least once in the early stages. Fail often, fail fast, learn and move on quickly!"

7. “I’ll make mistakes.”

Jason says: "If you’re afraid you’ll make an error once you become an entrepreneur, stop worrying -- of course you’ll make an error. You’ll make countless errors. It isn’t about not making mistakes, it’s about making up for the mistakes you do make."

Jonathan says: "Of course you'll make many mistakes. Wait what? I'm actually agreeing with Jason. Sound advice. Everyone fucks up, just forgive and learn from it."

8. “It will be too difficult to learn everything I’ll need to know.”

Jason says: "Sometimes a little extra effort is all you need to develop the necessary skills for entrepreneurship."

Jonathan says: "If you find that you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. No-one knows everything, I for example know sweet-fuck-all about getting VC funding. Hire the best and brightest people you can find, they can sort it out for you, that's why you hire the best people after all."

9. “I don’t want to risk my money.”

Jason says: "The financial stress of entrepreneurship is daunting, but there are grants, loans and lines of credit available to ease that burden."

Jonathan says: "Or just tap a VC for that sweet VC cash....no really....you don't want to risk your own cash then you will never enjoy the rewards of your business...but your VC will, only if you actually succeed in doing whatever BS you told them you would do."

10. “I don’t know anyone who can help me.”

Jason says: "Attend networking events, be social and meet people. Your energy and enthusiasm will be contagious if it’s evident and legitimate, and you’ll find people who will be happy to help you."

Jonathan says: "There is this wonderful thing called the Internet, Twitter is now mainstream, IRC even exists...if you are in a city then join a meetup.com event, if in Sydney get your ass to Fishburners and work out of there for a few weeks, you'll soon make friends unless you have strong BO, bad breath and have urges to hit on the opposite sex every chance you get...even still, there are people like you who might want to do business with you and could actually follow your vision.

11. “I’m afraid of an unstructured environment.”

Jason says: "There’s a lot more freedom in entrepreneurship, but also a lot more ambiguity."

Jonathan says: "Freedom? That's a crock! If you don't plan your days, you'll get no-where. If you don't work smart, you'll get to the top of the Techcrunch Deadpool list, not somewhere you really want to be. Track your tasks, outsource some of the shitty stuff and just keep moving forward every single day."

12. “I don’t have what it takes.”

Jason says: Confidence is the first step to achieving anything. There’s no one type of person that can be successful as an entrepreneur; anyone can, with enough dedication.

Jonathan says: "Everyone can start a business, not everyone can succeed. That's nothing to be ashamed of, it's just the odds are really against you. If you don't try then you'll never know, so get the fuck off of whatever startup blog you're on and get started."

13. “Entrepreneurship is like playing the lottery.”

Jason says: "You can’t just strike it rich, but you also aren’t bound by terrible odds if you work hard, work smart and persist with a burning desire for success."

Jonathan says: "Don't be a unicorn, be a cockroach! Do you know many lottery winners in your personal life? No? Then what does it matter? Entrepreneurship is starting a small business. Be one of those businesses that will last for generations, not just the lifetime of an iPhone application."

14. “I don’t have enough time.”

Jason: "It takes time to start a business, but if you’re serious about it, you’ll make time no matter how many other commitments you have."

Jonathan: "My business is like my wife, except much less attractive and way less smart. You need to pay a lot of attention to your business, much like you need to do to your partner....if you don't then, well...."

15. “I’m nothing compared to the big name entrepreneurs.”

Jason says: "The celebrity entrepreneurs of the world seem glamorous and brilliant, but you don’t have to be. You just have to work hard and be passionate."

Jonathan says: "Rockstar entrepreneurs have been working at their business for a lot longer than you have and they have great PR people. You haven't even fucking started. They surround themselves with the best and brightest so that they can focus on things that matter to them. Don't even start the comparison, compare yourself with the person you see in the mirror, aim to be a better person, a better business owner, healthier and smarter. Start small with incremental steps but dream big!"

16. “I’m not a good leader.”

Jason says: "Leadership is a role you grow into over time."

Jonathan says: "No-one is born a leader, it's a skill-set you can learn if you work at it. Know your product, understand your customer and believe that you can give a better experience than any of your competitors. Your team will follow your belief and vision..."

17. “I don’t like working with others.”

Jason says: "You’ll pick the people you work with, so you can build the ideal team."

Jonathan says: "Then do the best you can on your own. Start small and grow to whatever size you feel comfortable with. Some people are so stinky that remote work is the best way forward for them, look at some of the biggest distributed remote teams, you'll see what I mean."

18. “I don’t know what to do.”

Jason says: "If you don’t know where to go, start talking to people who do. Read publications, articles and ebooks about how to start a business. You might not know right now exactly what to do, but figuring it out isn’t hard."

Jonathan says: "It's not the right time to start your own business then. Get out and talk to people in the space that you want to be in, offer to buy coffee or to work for free to learn from them. Perhaps you should join a startup to experience what startup culture could be like and if it's a good fit. Consume ALL the media, get up to date on latest trends, acquisitions and just learn! It'll benefit whatever your current position is and you'll get to meet new people."

19. “Starting a business requires a ton of money.”

Jason says: "You can start on a shoestring budget, if you know how to minimize your expenses."

Jonathan says: "Bootstrap! Minimize drug use, extra curricular activities, don't splash out on expensive desks and chairs and just be super frugal! It has never been cheaper to start a business."

20. I’m afraid of life on “hard mode.”

Jason says: "Entrepreneurship isn’t easy, but easy isn’t always good, either. Usually, the right path forward is the more difficult one."

Jonathan says: "Perhaps your mom should be your first employee? She could make your bed, do your dishes and make life easier in general? Let your dad do all that hard 'sales' stuff! Grow a damm spine and get to work already, there are people who are wannabe business owners, who talk about it all the time but never do anything...do you want to be one of them?"

21. “I need more formal education.”

Jason says: "You don’t need any formal education to start a business -- though you will need to constantly improve your skills and knowledge over time.

Jonathan says: "Stop fooling yourself, just get to fucking work! You could have launched a business in the time you read this article."

22. “I need approval from others.”

Jason says: "If your parents or spouse or coworkers think you’re crazy, you’re in good company. Most innovators are seen as crazy when they first start."

Jonathan says: "If your spouse is not on board this idea then you should stop. Seriously, this is not easy and you'll need their support. Everyone else, well, listen to their advice, get to work and prove them wrong."

23. “I need other things to fall in place before I can begin.”

Jason says: "You may not have everything, but you probably never will. Start with what you have."

Jonathan says: "Start small, finish a single task, then another, then another. There is rarely a perfect environment to start a business but right now is pretty close to it."

24. “If I fail, I’ll be ruined.”

Jason says: "Things couldn’t possibly turn out as bad as you imagine. Usually, things aren’t nearly as bad nor as good as you think they are."

Jonathan says: "If you don't start then you could have succeeded beyond your wildest dreams. There is no guarantee you won't fail, but don't risk it all if others depend on you! Be sensible and pragmatic, have a plan of what you need to achieve to consider it a success and if it doesn't look like working then don't be afraid to back away or PIVOT!."

25. “It’s too late.”

Jason says: "It’s never too late to get started, if you’re passionate and willing to work."

Jonathan says: "If you've convinced yourself of this, then don't start! I'm not one to convince people to take a leap off a cliff. The startup journey is hard, you will fail every day, you could lose everything, reputation, money....respect. If you don't start then you'll never know what could have been. But if you fail and gave it your best shot, then at least you could look at yourself in a mirror!"

This was my first meetup in Kathmandu and first Ruby meetup ever. The meetup venue was a small conference room for about 20 - 25 people. All the seats were taken as more people turned up than the organizers had expected.

There was a short briefing by one of the organizers who introduced us to the speakers and the topics they would be talking about.

The topics for the day were:

• Test Driven Development (TDD) Basics - Ganesh Kunwar
• Tech in France and meeting developers in Asia - Ludwine Probst

The first talk was by Ludwine Probst, data engineer from France. She talked about how she got into software development and talked about her project on travelling to Asia and meeting different regional tech communities along the way.

After a short 10 minutes break, there was another talk session on TDD Basics by Ganesh. He opened up with a question to the audience "How many of us sleep peacefully at night after working long hours writing the code?". As not many hands were up as a response, he started off with the advantages of TDD over traditional Design-Implement-Test architecture. Then, he talked about few gems for TDD (rspec, capybara, factorygirl) and demoed some examples on how to write specs for a feature before starting on its implementaion.

It was a good experience overall to meet developers from the growing community of ruby/rails users in Nepal. However, there were a lot of eager participants on the meetup and the venue was little overcrowded and it would have been better if there were few more talk sessions.