blog | April - 2017

The struggle definitely is real, when you think about founder and their burdens. In the beginning phase it is possible, that the CEO fills the role of the social media strategist, builds the website and masters the marketing next to his main tasks. The big bucks just needs to be saved. Not only what the hiring of workers concerns, but also the purchase of necessary software and other tools. 

Cause there are a variety of aides, that you don’t have to pay one cent for, the latter problem can easily be fixed. So you don’t have to find the needle in a haystack, hy collected recommendable tools for you, that young entrepreneurs like to use.

Jump-start

Google for entrepreneurs: If someone knows the struggle, it’s Google. Did you know that their first office was in a garage? To simplify the beginning for other founders they built Startup-Hubs in some cities, called “Campus”, that provide space for learning and a good contact point to exchange with like-minded people. Moreover you also get a lot of information and instructions online on how Google Tools can help you in recruiting, design, marketing or backend development. 

Safe and share files

WeTransfer: Very practical for sharing big files and a good alternative for those, who don't want to spend money on dropbox each month or don't want to sacrifice memory space. All for free. Unless you want to send 20GB at one go and safe 100GB. Then you’ll need to pay 12€ a month. But hey, that’s just one Domino Cheeseburger Pizza less. 

Create a legal document

Foundersbox: The platform Foundersbox offers help for legal and tax issues as well as on the subject of finance. Here you can also create personalised documents like the founding document and employment contract. Foundersbox can’t replace individual legal advice. However, you can be sure, that the provided information make sense, cause the portal is operated by an business law firm.

Social media monitoring

Hootsuite: One of the best free tools on the market, guaranteed. You can manage three accounts at once and plan contend weekly or monthly.  If your only follower will still be your mom or if you gain follower daily, can be tracked with Hootsuite. Besides, there are also free courses and webinars, that really are worth looking into. Big names like Sony music, Virgin or the University of Cambridge use this social media help. So? Any questions? 

Organising projects

Pivotal Tracker: Provital Tracker combines agile project management with collaboration functions to simplify the information exchange for the team. The Tool provides features lie file sharing, task management and velocity tracking. There’s an API for external usage.

Homepage building set

Weebly: You’re 404 when it comes to design and code? Weekly makes it easy to set up an website. And easy is not at all a bad thing in this case! Basic structures, so called “building sets” with over 100 templates for websites, blogs, and shops are provided by weebly. If you want it a bit more individual, you can make changes for a small sum. 

Business intelligence

Exasol: This efficient in-memory-database gets the best out of your data. Known companies like Zalando and Xing don’t favour this tool for no reason. Big data volume can be analysed in real-time and directly in the database so frontend tool reports and visualisation are created fasted than usual.

And? Was there anything good for you? We know that the big offer of tools can be overcharging, but if you try out one of the tools above, nothing can go wrong!

Have fun giving them a shot!

At our hy events we invite developers to connect, eat good food and just have fun. True to the motto: devs who eat together stay together, right? 

At October 20th of last year we tried the Playstation VR. But to be honest, more than that we just talked. About projects, problems or phantasies of the programming world.

Sven wrote a pretty cool blogpost about the day.

https://medium.com/@svenbolz/jeder-sollte-programmieren-ddd5c63aaf4

More events with cool topics, innovate Program and of course good food will follow!

At November 25th 2015 the first event took place in hy’s four walls. And we wouldn’t be hy if that didn't happen with a big bang. 

Started off by the allianz work committee chairman Udo Bringe and cooked for by zwo live-cooking chefs.

Devs and skilled team leads took part. In addition the guys of Drive honoured us with there appearance. 

For those of you who don't know Drivo: It is an app that helps you become a clever driver. It analyses your style of driving and makes sure you are more secure and aware on the street. 

( drivo.me, drivo-telematics.com)

The startup Jaano from hamburg was there too. Sadly they currently can’t get funded anymore but their idea really convinced us. For 19ct per minute you can rent a scooter and drive through the city. Jaano also isn't tied to a station which makes everything super easy. 
 

All in all it was a pretty successful evening that we wont forget for sure!

Can you relate? : You search for hours for the right program that brings you the function you desperately need, but that program doesn't exist? Maybe you alp habe the dream of making an own app or website? And well, nothing against good chances on the job market, right?

The reasons that could lead you on the stony but exciting path to becoming a software developer are as different as day and night. It’s just important that you take that path, because what is more fulfilling in a job than to see your ideas implemented? 

“The first step is always the hardest” people like to say. But it doesn't have to be like that. How you can start best and what platforms you can use on the way will be answered in 3…2…1…

1. Interactive courses

Codecademy: 

The probably most know platform Codecademy combines two important aspects in its panel: The text editor and the implementation on the website. As student, you can see what happens to the code right away. Nothing against the good old Youtube videos, but Codecademy definitely steps up the game.

more: Khan Academy, Dash, Code avengers

2. Apps

SoloLearn: You really underestimate how much time you waste whilst on the train/bus or waiting for someone. You’re not doing anything so why not be productive and learn to code with apps like SoloLearn?

more: Lan, Javvy, Udacity, Encode

3. University courses

Udacity: An online university, that offers so-called “nanodegrees”. Course graduates receive an accredited certificate and support whilst job-hunting in the digital world. 

more: Udemy, Alison, Coursera, edC, Iversity

4. Video-Tutorials

Youtube: Next to all these fee-based platforms, that impart learning material using video, there’s still Youtube! Surprise! Who knew? The channel “DrapsTV” was especially good, cause it has playlists with tutorials to topics like Python, Octave and HTML5. 

more: Codeschool, Coursmos, Treehouse, Video2Brain, Skillshare

Now you have the perfect base to finally start! But sadly I can’t help you with learning itself. Who really wants to learn how to code, needs to get used to comb through forums, books and codes. Stay strong, cause it’s definitely worth the feeling of happiness when you can finally implement you idea. 

To be completely honest, we don't have any influence on what cards life deals out. What we have influence on though, is what we do with the cards. The same applies to the tasks that are assigned by the employer. They might look like much and stress is inevitable. The most professional people, and also the nerds at school, who we secretly were envious of, have one thing in common: they master the art of working productively.

Pull the plug on infinite to-do lists, unanswered E-mails and long hours. “Work smarter, not harder” is our motto! But how? Explaned in six easy Tipps.

Getting up on the right side of the bed

Productivity starts with the second you open your eyes in the morning. People who start there day stressful, tend to stay unproductive throughout the day. Don’t set your alarm 5 minutes before the bus leaves, but take your time to properly wake up. Maybe working out in the morning is the perfect thing for you to do? If that doesn’t work for you, try meditating for 10 minutes every day with the Headspace App (hy approved). Create a routine for yourself, to prepare your mind and your body for the day. 

Sleep more

Let’s be honest, we know it all. “I’ll just check facebook really quick” can easily lead to an hour of senseless scrolling. Something of that sort usually happens at night, when we should be asleep already. Make sure you sleep at least 7, best 9 hours a day. You’ll notice how much more happy, productive and less prone for illnesses you are. Try it, Sleep works wonders!

Allot time 

Ever heard of the Comodoro-Method? No? It’s a system for arranging time for work and pauses in the intervals 50 - 10 or 25 - 5 - 25 - 5. After 100 minutes of work you should have a bigger break of about 30 minutes. This is how you stay focussed and know how much time a certain task will take.  And don't deceive yourself, amply with the pauses. 

Planning

Create a to-do list with deadline, that is realistic. Be as precise as possible and assign priorities to every task. It is very tempting to pay attention to an upcoming idea but it’s better to write it down than to work on it immediately. We can recommend a great new tool for project management: “Agganty”. 

Social media + emails

As hard as it sounds, but try not to check any emails in the first hour of working. Social media is also a really big productivity killer. You loose yourself quickly in the digital world and boom - times over and you haven't accomplished anything! Switch your mobile phone to silent, so you don’t get distracted. 

No Man

Things can easily get too much, when you undertake more than you can handle. Sometimes you just have to say no. If you do that, you can give the tasks you have to fulfil 110%.