Joining HubSpot

I am pleased to announce that I'm joining HubSpot.  It's a Cambridge, MA startup building an Internet Marketing platform.   GroupSharp will converted to their software platform, and will become the basis of the CRM system integrated with the platform.

GroupSharp Launch!

After three weeks of having people use ZipApp, I decided to change the name and web site and relaunch as GroupSharp. In other news, I've graduated from college. I'm now dedicating myself to GroupSharp full time. The feedback so far has been great. As long as I keep learning more about what people want and keep improving the product, GroupSharp will be a success.

Presenting ZipApp

Tomorrow I will be presenting the project I've been working on since June at the New York Tech Meetup. It's called Zipapp, and it turns your Excel or Access database into a web app. I'm launching it a bit prematurely, so there are still a few bugs here and there. But I really want to have it launched before the meetup so that everyone can try it out afterwards.

More China Photos

Here are some more photos from my China travels. Huangshan city was a gorgeous city of about 30,000 people. Finally a I can see a pure blue sky in China. They don't call Huangshan Mountain the most beautiful mountain in China for nothing. There's actually a cable car going up Huangshan mountain. But it's cheaper to pay workers to make the steep 10km long climb to the top loaded with 5 gallons of kerosene than it is to transport supplies with the cable cars. These are the friends I made during my stop over in Xuancheng (see the three most ridiculous hours of my entire life). We have finished bathing at the spa. This is the main road leading away from the train station in Xuancheng. Rice paddies as seen out the window of my train. The view of Shanghai from the famous Bund. The Shanghai skyline This is the view from my hotel in downtown Nanjing. Like most of China, it's a work in progress.

Last Night in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is so ridiculously modern. The subway system is a marvel of the world. It's not that there is anything that stands out about it, it's just that every detail is perfect. It is completely clean. You can get from any point in the station while outside the paid area or from within. They have sliding glass doors that open and allow you to enter the subway, preventing that nervousness that you get when you standing three feet away from falling into the tracks and instant death. They have the Octopus proximity cards for paying fare. The cars all have maps of the subway routes above the doors, with electronic dots telling the next station and which side the doors will open. Plus there are the constant reminders by voices everywhere, "Please mind the gap while boardin", "Please hold the handrail while riding the escalator." etc. This is a city that has advanced far enough that it has time worry about these things. For my last night I journeyed into central and rode the tram up Victoria Peak. I took one last look at the skyscrapers of Hong Kong spread out below me. The buildings are so modern, the streets so orderly, I can only wonder if this is what China will look like thirty years from now. Only time will tell.