ReadWriteWeb

Jeremy Ashkenas is the developer of CoffeeScript, a programming languages that compiles to JavaScript. Imagine JavaScript but with all the whitespace goodness of Python or Ruby.

Ashkenas works for DocumentCloud, a Knight Foundation funded organization, producing several open source projects including backbone.js and Underscore.js. He is a two-time winner of the Apps for America contest for his applications Know Thy Congressman and Quakespotter. He also created Ruby-Processing.

Bitcoin is an open source, peer-to-peer electronic currency created by Satoshi Nakamoto and maintained by a small team of developers. As part of what's turning into an ongoing series on the distributed Web, I talked to contributor Gavin Andresen about how the software works. This is a technical overview. If you're interested in an economic or political look at the software, you can read the Wikipedia entry or Niklas Blanchard's essay on the project.

Today sees our first full interview here at ReadWriteHack, with Richard Clark, a web developer from New Zealand. Richard is a coder who runs a one-man business designing and implementing code, networks and systems for clients at every scale, from tiny silicon valley startups to national corporates and government departments.

He has designed and built web applications for problems as diverse as energy network modeling, social media, stock market tracking, video processing and intelligence analysis.

We caught up with Richard to ask a few questions about his web development career.

Ever wondered what goes on inside the brain of a venture capitalist? What kinds of companies do they look for? What most impresses them about entrepreneurs? Where do they see the industry heading? Certainly these are all things that any early stage startup or first time entrepreneur would find value in knowing from a VC - especially one with several years of experience in a particular industry. Today I had the opportunity to pick the brain of Matt Fates, a partner at Boston's Ascent Venture Partners, a firm focusing on early stage investments. Here's what he had to say about these questions.

Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned veteran of the job interview process, when it comes to interviewing for a startup, there are a few tips you may need to help you land the gig. Startups are not like your every-day business, they are a unique form of company that requires equally unique interview tactics. Talent services company Sutra HR has made a name for themselves in India for helping startups find the right hires, and recently they wrote about ways to survive a startup interview.

A month ago, Adam Duffy and Sean McCullough were diligently preparing for the acquisition of their Tulsa Oklahoma-based company Ping.fm. ReadWriteWeb covered the Seesmic deal in early January and since then the duo has moved to San Francisco to help get their product inline with the twitter client. ReadWriteWeb caught up with McCullough to find out what's changed since the acquisition and what early-stage entrepreneurs can learn.

Douglas Rushkoff — author, documentarian, and teacher — is a man on a mission. As a step towards getting "people to see the software-like code lying underneath how they interact," his latest book, Life, Inc., explores the nature of money, our economic system, and how a corporate mindset has shaped who we are as people in modern society.

As a media theorist who's written about some of the most influential ideas of the digital age, Rushkoff is second to none. In Life Inc., he describes not just corporations, but how we all can change to an "open source economy" that favors decentralized value creation over banking and central currency. We spoke with him to ask more about what this new economy would look like and how the Web is involved.

John Hagel, perhaps best known for his book The Only Sustainable Edge, has been one of the leading strategic thinkers for decades. Recently, as Co-Chair of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, he unveiled the Shift Index. This is a fascinating way to look at the economy and goes well beyond the traditional GDP and employment measures. Have a strong cup of coffee before reading or listening to this interview. This is important for enterprises as they think about the big picture related to social media, changing demographics, and increased global competition. It is also valuable for enterprise software vendors as they seek to articulate the value of their products to these clients.

MIT Alumni, technologist, venture capitalist, marathon runner, Colorado dweller, thinker, blogger, and all around super human, Brad Feld (LinkedIn, Twitter) has made a huge impact on startups. With posts on his personal blog, Feld Thoughts, and on Ask The VC (a must read for anyone interested in venture funding) Feld has played a major roll in lifting the curtain on the traditionally mysterious venture process. We recently caught up with him for a quick interview.

"...someone is going to build a billion-dollar company around the implicit social graph. And I'm betting on Skydeck." Jason Devitt

Welcome to the second installment of our new People in Tech series. In this post we interview Jason Devitt, CEO/Co-Founder of Skydeck. It's a mobile web startup built on the premise that "you ought to be able to manage your cell phone records the same way that you manage your email." The second big idea of Skydeck is that your true social network is hidden in your communication records. Read on for more insights...