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Repo and the Store

Hello u.osu.edu fans.  How’ve ya been?  How’ve I been- busy!  Its been nuts as usual in the land of commercialization and the fall storm is headed our way.  This means students, events, techs, startups, deals oh my.  And lots of things are going on.  All of which is mostly good.

I figure I should note something on here’s the state of the pipeline for Dan, as of 8/6/2015?  Well the pipeline is still about 60% healthcare related.  Lotta potential and more players on the medical side of the IP dance.  But the other side, everything non-medical is forming up as well.

We in a time where companies we helped kick out 1-2 years ago are going thru their valley of death as well.  They’re being tested beyond the MVP, they’ve netted some capital, and rolling into momentum, getting customers, hearing customers and pivoting via customers wants and needs.  This is life for a startup, you live and die by customer/market adoption.  These companies are especially in tune for the moment, they are max warp!!

On my wall is the board.  My board dictates- deals (things to be), shaping (things that need to tell their story better), parked (things that are stuck for one reason or another), proto (things being made), playground (things that are bonus to other things but notable efforts), people (people in play or in union with me), vault (things that can go into the vault).

What is the software vault anyways?

When I arrived at Ohio State in 2011, the university didn’t do so much with software.  It was largely kinda ignored or well complicated to view from an IP perspective.  Its not typically patented, so it has that notion of no value, though as a software person, I believe otherwise.  Luckily the university leadership felt the same way and was open to software IP minded thinking.  As such we pondered up some big ideas to help our software IP strategy at Ohio State.  Two main ideas surfaced- 1, storage/accounting of software IP, 2, a store to sell it.

The Repo

The first project was to build our own university GitHub, a place where programmers keep their code.  Its important for the university to have its own repository for what it creates.  This was initially a bit of daunting project, but we at TCO we’re alone- other departments on campus also had eyes on this idea as well.  A central repo for all faculty and staff at the university could address alot of issues- organization, collaboration, IP protection, and more.  One of the key things I kept seeing was that at many times (and likely still true today) there are 4 or more different parties on campus all building the same wheel at the same time with no idea either person exists.  You could say, so what.  But from an efficiency stand point, thats kind crazy.  Imagine how much money we could save if we used the first wheel someone made, tweaked it of course vs $$$ for another wheel that is the same wheel.  The repo addresses this idea.  It also is FREE for faculty, staff, departments.  It gives us visibility, on who’s making what, and we can see more .  It took about 9 months or more to realize but its there and its growth and adoption rate is increasing every day.  code.osu.edu go check it out!

The Store

With the repo in place the next effort TCO took on was the the store, we call it the Buckeye Software Vault.  Early on in 2011-2012 we really dug deep into what software we had at the university in terms of IP.  Software believe it or not, is everywhere.  And from an intellectual property point of view its really everywhere.  Take u.osu.edu for example, that was created by employees of the university, in a sense it is university IP.  Now it doesn’t mean we can sell it right away nor does it mean it should be sold, but if we said is u.osu.edu a thing, we’d all agree it is, if we said, does it have merit or matter, again we’d agree, if we said does it have value for users, we’d agree there, if we said was it designed, architected with a direction or focus in mind, again, agree.  Now it does sit on open source however and a wordpress framework but I would bet you without a doubt that another university would likely find it useful to leverage in their own institution,and as such that itself is licensing and hence commercialization.  We often view commercialization with an intent to profit, and yes thats ideal but not always the case.  Free academic use licensing happens all the time- by design really. You want to share the things you’ve made, especially with your colleagues and academic peers.  But you also want clarity in that sharing- meaning they too will uphold your vision of what that is, TCO helps you convey that vision via terms and makes them essentially part of the deal.

Ok so back to the store.  Again there is alot of software things at the university that fall in between being something that can stand on its own and deliver licensing value and or does not equate the effort of a full on startup wrapped around it.  Normally this kind of IP is not even recognized as IP- which to me is a mistake. Code is not always pretty either, it doesn’t always have an interface, it doesn’t always tell you a story of what it is, but an algorithm to show you how safely land on Mars to the interface of an APP to the workflow that saves you 40 hours of labor doing something manually, all has value.  The question is more so do you believe it has value and are you willing to ask to the sale?   What if there was another way?   What if we had a vending machine of stuff people could view and buy or take for free- the store is that front.  Its a market place of software, content related IP the university has made.

Its really about empowerment as well.  We empower the university to monetize what it thinks may or may not be monetizable.  This is the heart of chance and the web 2.0 approach to the internet today.  You have to try.  And creating software is happening everywhere.  A few years ago the OCIO did a survey and found some 660 programmers on campus across the 15 colleges, departments, units etc.  That number didn’t include grad students i figure.  We’re likely up to some 1500+ people that every day make something in code.

The store front is to showcase those creations in one unified front.  And its purpose is to simple gather, and show- not all of it is for sale at a price, much of it is free.  The store has an added bonus in that its also a test area.  We can see what the traction is for something and then if it goes well thats a solid indicator that the university should really think about doubling down on that idea and doing more, stretching the potential return back to the creators, department and or college unit.

Now it is growing, we shooting for 5-15 new things in the store every quarter and I hope for that to occur even faster.  It should really given that software is everywhere here.  U.OSU.EDU should be “package” on there as well really, it should state the intent of what this site is all about, and of course be sold for X determined by the department that created if they so choose, or be free and provide other universities our IP/design shared.

Like many university efforts, the store is an “effort” it will change in time but its premise remains the same, there is IP all around us.  IP is a door to sponsored research, its a means of communicating value, creating alignment, championing ideas and celebrating our creations.  Free or for sale, thats the particulars we ramble into every day.  Licensed to a big company, or the basis of a future company to be- all possible, even your own company the university helps you make- yep even that too.  A huge range of possibility is before us all.  Of course with limitations but doable.

I’m proud of the Repo and the Store efforts.  Two big projects that many felt we’re impossible, but the university is a canvas of opportunity.  Big ideas can happen when people rally around them and make them real.  Its one of the things that attracts me most to the university- its appetite for possibility is endless.  Major props to all those at Arts & Sciences Tech, OCIO, ODEE, B&F, Communications and all the supportive units that chimed in on these “dude yer crazy” ideas and helped them be realized.  And mad props to the core TCO team that enabled the breathing room to go for it.  Time will tell along with anything but so far so good.

 

 

Making Stuff Matters

 

I’ve been busy lately.

Busy closing the gap- making conversations matter, turning them into manifestations of future visions, road maps to be, while at the same time helping champion crazy ideas, skunk work projects that my gut says will be hugely fun and awesome, all the while participating with the team and making deals happen.

I know its working because my brain has been on fire lately with ideas, strategy, prototypes and goodness.

taste? of course..

Working on..

– software store, going well, working on intake for that

– deals done recently, kinect telehealth rehab startup, foreign language assistance edu startup, mouse lab management on an ipad startup,

– deals in the making, greenhouse management software, more healthcare EMR tools, seriously kickass wound management platform, more and more software, cyber security, math education, oncology tools, UAV for AG, etc

– prototypes, a few patient experience/satisfaction apps, dermatology inventory management platform, outbreak simulation tools, patient discharge app,

– student developers are rocking along side our main dev Paul, who is leading/managing well

– new design intern is KICKING ASS and that is great!! storyboard/ideations are happening VERY fast, me like!

– special projects, best part of the job really, DREAM and help envision next

inspired by?

– lately inspired by new conversations with Pelotonia, James Cancer Center folks, healthcare is evolving at a RAPID pace, so much goodness to come!

– inspired with the level output on storyboards to prototypes, feeling good about them helping the “deal” side of things

– special projects, DAFNi in particular which I’ll ramble about some day

– events/judging/speaking, a few engagements lined up, across the board from the usual startup to wellness events, to other

– music, tunes have been in my head lately, along with rich visual dreams

– new engagements with College of Arts & Sciences, finding some great momentum there

– working up the HACK scene across campus, more on that soon

– thinking, tweeting, CREATING, and writing alot

what’s next?

– continued momentum, double downing on the SPEED of connective goodness

– special projects become more and more SWEET with every iteration of code

– sharing the kudos/inspiration with my team and SHOP devs

– ramping up the tale of success and FAILs so we can collectively learn how to rock on

– working on the intake for software ideas, sure I have “enough” to work on, but I know i don’t see 70% of whats happening on campus, you see something that you think COULD be next, tell me, we have a mission people, make this university BAD ASS!

 

 

 

Tasty Reads: OREILLY RADAR, 4 Short Links

fourshortlinks_logo_web

 

Deep down, i’m pretty much an hard core geek.  Sure I can manage party scenarios and wonder BS my way through conversations, nod to the obvious, wonder to the ooohs and ahhhs of every day conversation but basically, I’m still a geek.   I like a lot of stuff.  Addicted to newness if that makes any sense.

Tim O’Reilly is basically one of the cornerstones of the web, he’s a force, a old world force of the web, and he always finds some of the coolest weirdest bits of stuff out there.  So I gobble them up.  4 short links, every day, some are like super hard to understand, others are spot on, some are super useful.

Its pretty geek material, but if you like to think about where the web is going, great place to sit in and spin a bit.  4 Short Links

Speed Theory

Everyday I meet people with ideas both inside the university as faculty and staff to students and general connected community members.

I find all these folks approach ideas differently as well. Faculty ideas are rightly so, typically connected to research, hard funding, theory, validated theory, validated theory with data, academic in origin yet on to something potentially viable for commercialization.

Staff ideas tend to be solutions. Presented with problems, we invent. Solutions are born, then used, then really really used, then other folks want them, market materializes, the potential for commercialization appears obvious, though much of it is niche at glance.

Student ideas are grand, often clones of ideas already in play in the general market. Some are really vast, others tight knit and small.

Community ideas, well range from experienced focused folks, 2nd and 3rd time doers, to 1st time wonders seeking the exact manual not to make any mistakes.

Lately I’ve been thinking about the varied aspects of ideas and I keep coming back to the same beat of the drum that got me into this whole space in the first place- momentum. Its a simple mechanism, all ideas need to move beyond the talkie talk talk and on to something. SPEED is your friend, though for many it scares the heck out of them. Seemingly, and myself included, SPEED is something thats hard to grasp, and even harder to enable. I push myself down the stairs at times to get momentum. I accept that I will likely mess this up and just go. Without this self kicking, I dunno how i would of got to where I am today.

3 tales..

This afternoon I met a student who had a familar ask, I need help with my big idea. Everyone is inventing today. He wanted advice on how to get momentum on his idea. He saw development as something he lacked and so understandably, he tabled the ideas momentum until he could find development. Problem is everyone is looking for developers these days. Single greatest need I see every day is doers and hustlers. I lack both on the startup side of things on campus. Never can find enough doers to make stuff, and never can find enough risk takers to bet on the odds and build a company. This guy appeared to be the hustler but he was in a place many hustlers get stuck in, he was waiting. We talked about his ideas, the first one leveraged the masses, could net traction but to me dies on the fact he’s leveraging property (music) that he didn’t own the rights to. Just being the middle man these days doesn’t obscure you from responsibility. While the idea was technically doable, it wasn’t truly scalable due to the legal snafu’s that would likely trip him and his investors up as they would grow. In the end, the core aspect of the business wasn’t to provide a unique and better experience, it was to move music he didn’t own. It was an idea he could clearly build, but to me, would be failure in time. Build it doesn’t mean you can Scale it, and Scale it doesn’t mean you can Leverage it. SPEED applied to this problem is to quickly assess and move on. My hope is that he does. I did suggest that because you need developers for anything, he should either develop or learn to tell stories and net user engagement first thru prototyping and then get developers. The other issue is that he has no money. A common theme. To get past this, he either has to do a smaller more enabled idea that he can do and snowball to money or he has to give up half of his idea to those that could enable him.

A similar story for a Faculty member with a big idea hits a note and speaks to SPEED. Many ideas especially big ones in healthcare require LEAPING, you need to leap to A narrative that works. That narrative is a story, a website, a pitch, a hustle, a conversation and more. We have a very exciting technology that needs a champion. Asking for a champion is hard. Luring one into the fold while seemingly more work is easier. How do you do that? You make it a big deal. It is a big deal really, patents, cures, smart clinical thinking software, its a good story, the right story- now just get busy and tell it. SPEED in this case makes many people a bit uneasy. We all look for the right story, the right narrative, when in reality, every day without a narrative is 10x worse then a day with a narrative thats not so shiny. This one is tougher. More decision makers at the table. Perceptions, man, perceptions really undo the fabric of modern day hustle. But in the end SPEED again will triumph.

Staff inventors are some of the most enabled people on campus. They don’t come across focused on a paper, or publication, know full well that what they’re working on is likely unpatentable, and many assume that free is the best option to go with. Free is actually a great thing commericalization. Its how you apply free and use free to your advantage that matters. What I love about staff ideas is that they’re done. 75% of them are totally complete and not in vacuum, they’re working, breathing, operating on campus, fulfilling a need, addressing a problem, many built with scale in mind, with free in mind, on free open source thinking. Staff = SPEED to me. Here, on this technology in question, a kiosk system, SPEED is enabled. Momentum is knocking at their door, customers are arriving and we’re a bit surprised.

So when we break this down, the student idea had the most grand premise, but was purely concept, could be nuritured no doubt but many hurdles. SPEED required? Lots.

The faculty idea had best protection, best value to big impact. SPEED required, mid-high. While the research spawned the idea, and was taken to code and processed with patent protection, the narrative and lead to take to market was standing in the way of momentum. More SPEED needed. More risk needed, larger gamble required. But good indicators that with narrative, SPEED likely to be enabled.

The staff idea had most SPEED enabled. Momentum was there. Most validated idea of the three. But value is mixed. SPEED’s role is now to leverage momentum, package it and in some way convince inventors they’re on to something bigger. Its a bit of reverse than the faculty idea that would love the staff’s idea momentum.

So keep thinking SPEED people, figure out what you can do today to move that big idea to the next gate and DO IT.

Beware the Power of Dan and Paper

I love tools.  I like short cuts, accelerators, work arounds, gizmos, hacks, self hacks, super hacks, tricks, and cheats.  I’m a chronic sign up, look and leave of productivity tools.  I’m always trying every prototyping tool I find too.  Team management tools, yep, love them.  Get things done tools?  Yep, those too.

Is there one tool that rules them all?  Yes.  Paper.

Lately I’ve been into 11×17 copier paper and one fine point black pen.  How do I organize you ask?  I don’t really, other than I get things done and i throw paper away.  Anything sketched gets sucked into a computer to be realized via indesign or mockups.  I prefer to work fast, really fast with paper and pen over any tool I can find online.

With a pen and paper there is no interface, no notifications, no tabs, no cumbersome “understand our methodology” no nudges like “you’ve been suckin all your life but now with our 3 2 1 2 8 formula you’ll be chewin skittles on a sunday..’.  No my friends, paper and pen is the ultimate tool, the interface is your brain, your scribbling, your ordering process and more.

Moleskins are good too but the problem with moleskins is that i end up tearing pages out and then the books fall apart.  I like to throw away the papers that don’t matter any more- ideas realized or not, thoughts processed or tossed, saving everything sucks- my brain needs a break.  It wants to create and then destroy.

I feel great when toss paper with scribbles and do’s x’d out in the trash.

Paper is versatile too.

It can be folded, molded, mashed, trashed and still retain info.  Pretty handy huh?

Any rules with pen and paper?  Well a few…

  1. No Lines, EVER
  2. all white
  3. varied thickness, too thick and you’ll be too intimidated to freely scribble fearing you’re wasting precious paper, too flimsy and the ink will seep through
  4. 11×17 preferred, 8.5×11 is ok but lame, go big please
  5. landscape orientation rules, go fatty, go wide and enjoy the space
  6. todo lists start with “Doing” in the upper right most corner
  7. list items are numbered, short and concise, should be actionable and not paralyzing
  8. you can use colored post it squares for added clarity between multiple pages, but don’t over do it
  9. stapling pages is welcome, good for sketches/storyboard flows
  10. doodle as much as you can, save your doodles because they’re moments caught in time, fun to look at later

So yes you can have 100 or so varied online tools, mobile apps etc.  I do, asana, clear, etc etc.. but paper and pen rules 98% of my existence.

  

Tasty Reads: MobileHealth News

One space that I’m insanely passionate about is mobile health.  Ever since the early seeds of the quantified self movement, mixed with the agonizing experience of seeing loved ones go through the health system and seeing the massive wave of disruption, hacking and the audacity to do movement, health care has been a tasty prime target to disrupt.  Its big, slow, and big and well slow.  Its massive really.  It impacts everyone on the planet and so much of it is so old school, so fearful of change that well, blowing it up and starting over with todays latest tech and tomorrows future thinking is just irresitble to me.

NUKE the site from orbit and start over, thats a developer phrase for the most part but health care, your time for massive disruption is at hand.  Many resist this trend, and actually if you invest in the startup space, you know this trend is banking faster and faster every fricking day.  Its amazing to see the disruption.

One of my favorite reads around this space is Mobile Health News.  Read, attend a conference, but more so participate, come to TCO and let us leverage our university might and disrupt, build new big ideas and new revenues for our great buckeye born innovation!!!  We’re doing it now, come join in!

NudgePad is an IDE in your browser

I’m always on the hunt for fast site building tools.  I actually don’t program at all, I like to think of it as orchestrating.  Know the scene, know the tech, know the dev tools, know the API’s, know the stakeholders and what they want and close the gap thru prototypical (is that even a word?) thinking and execution.  Thus we have the suite of tasty shorts, tools and techniques to help package university ip into stories, embodied constructs that cause people to see the big idea, believe and get into “lets make a deal”, like thinking.

Things that help people think about code without coding, those things i love.

I saw a video on nudgepad and was like “bingo, dude we could use that”.  Even better if I can get a researcher, faculty or staff member empowered to make.  Its amazing the change you see in people when “how” turns into “dude i can do this”, mountains step aside and people get enabled, and when that happens, look out, because conversations turn on end and momentum occurs.

So don’t know how to code?  Stop accepting weak excuses and get enabled, try  Nudgepad!

NudgePad is an IDE in your browser.

Playing with Plotagon

I’m always looking for fast and easy tools that allow me to express myself, either through purposeful means or purely for the heck of it.  Often time to make strange and funny videos for friends, family and the interweb.

The other day I came across Plotagon.

This app feels a bit like a rigid game where the sets and characters are fixed.  I’ve seen these before but not with this much flexibility to simply write a script and the software acts it out for ya.  Its fun to mess with, try it.  You can act out lots of varied scenarios with playful dialog, and laugh at the canned emotes and campy output.  But hey its fast, easy and well, done.  Do it.  Play!