Joining the lean startup movement

Lean Startup is the new movement, theory, school of thought, learning model, mantra, trend to follow for those in startup world. At least it started from pains suffered when the founder worked on a startup launch and after 9 months of hard core coding found out that.. no one gives a damn about it.

Following the buzz and after reading some articles and watching few talks, I was convinced it’s worth finding more. And that is where the reason for living in London strikes – everyone is dropping by at some point. So did the hero of Lean Startup, Eric Ries. Accidentally, via one of the usually useless newsletters, I discovered that Eric was doing a free public lecture at London School of Economics, bless them for the great series they have. You can check them out here.

As evidence above shows, I managed not to only to visit a crowded talk at the LSE, with a great setup and atmosphere but I managed to run into Eric himself, who was waiting on the halway. Have to admit, I really felt like a 16 year old seeing my beloved singer (just for a second). The next second I felt the endless possibilities of connected world and a strong push to work even harder to rock the startup world while changing the world via collaborative effort, so thanks to Eric for the inspiration!

Now I’m waiting for the book to arrive, you can expect a review soon.

Sunday in Hackney

When I brought myself & my dresses to live in London, looking for a place to live was the hardest task. Got my first job in a week & worked in Pret A Manager for a month – this helped me to pay first bills and survive few months without income.

Let’s come back to the search for place to live. When staying at friends house, we were hoping to rent a studio flat somewhere in Nottinghill – dreamers!!! It was just too expensive or the studios were ridiculously small.. And than we were suggested to move to a semi – squated house in Hackney next to Victoria park but after checking the crime rates we refused instantly – “Hackney, never!”

So we’ve chosen the safe side – North West London. Though West Hapstead is a nice and a bit posh area we didn’t feel any city wibe. Living in a flat with no lounge, garden was tiring as well. Finding another place to live became our curse & almost year long mission.

And we thought there’s no hope left, I met my current flat mate, Sinead & moved to a quirky loft in … Hackney! Yes, the ‘never’one. After more than two months spent here, have to admit that Hackney is London’s most arty / breathless / variegated / urban / stylish / unpredictable area. All kinds of people under one roof.

The best time to fall in Love with Hackney is Sunday. You have the canal for amazing walks. Hackney Lido which makes you feel on holiday. London Fields Pub on The Park for tasty vegetarian Sunday Roasts. Broadway Market street for coffee shops where they write a name on your cup. And the last but not least – Columbia road flower market for chavy type sellers & good prices. Bought an amazing levander for 3pouns, can’t wait for the blossoms!

Lesson of the year is – never say never. Lesson of the lifetime is be open, all the neccessary decisions are made when smiling 😉