Will Little @wclittle Subscribe

Partner at Prota Ventures.
I'm a bioengineer-turned-software-developer and venture builder/investor. Learn more about me professionally on LinkedIn, personally here, and check out my podcast, Ventures.

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 Will Little

Jul 28, 2020
Software Development Redux Ruby on Rails React React Native CSS

Learn to code with skills for business, product design, and collaboration: a curriculum for entrepreneurs

While there are plenty of amazing “learn to code” options out there, what’s often missing from their content is an integrated business curriculum for engineers building digital products, especially in a team setting. My goal with this curriculum is to teach from the ground-up a toolset for (1) rapidly prototyping software applications, (2) establishing an architecture that is ready to scale, and (3) integrating business and entrepreneurship fundamentals so that - as an engineer - you can be maximally effective to help drive revenue and customer satisfaction.

Most Recent
Will Little

Jan 27, 2021
Will's General Newsletter

HealthTech entrepreneurship, SARS-CoV-2 variants vs. vaccines, and taking back the Internet

In this newsletter I talk about this week's podcast, data from Moderna, and Web 3.0.
Will Little

Jan 26, 2021
Health Science Startups Ventures Podcast

HealthTech entrepreneurship, surviving cancer, and starting FertilityAnswers :: with Alice Crisci

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Alice Crisci (https://www.instagram.com/fertilityanswers_/) and I discuss her journey as a cancer survivor and entrepreneur in the medical/fertility space. While many people turn to “Dr. Google” when trying to find answers to their medical questions, Alice and her team have created a more sophisticated and personalized approach for finding answers to fertility-related questions. In addition to talking about MedAnswers and their first vertical, FertilityAnswers, Alice and I also talk about mental health for founders, how to validate an initial entrepreneurial idea, and how to think about smart resource allocations for effective go-to-market strategies.
Will Little

Jan 20, 2021
Software Development Will's General Newsletter Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship, Linting, and Automated System Testing

In this newsletter I write about the podcast from this week with Valerie Groth, and parts 9 and 10 of the technical founder training series.
Will Little

Jan 19, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast Social Entrepreneurship

From social work to social entrepreneurship and starting an inner-city boarding school :: The Ryan Banks Academy story, with Valerie Groth

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Valerie Groth (https://www.ryanbanksacademy.org/) and I discuss the Ryan Banks Academy story, her background in social work and in Chicago Public Schools, resiliency when starting a school and nonprofit, and life for students in a pandemic. With social entrepreneurship gaining increased attention globally, we dive into a number of topics in this conversation to help founders think about relevant issues to address with new ventures.
Will Little

Jan 17, 2021
Software Development Ruby on Rails

Automated system testing with Rspec in a Ruby on Rails app :: Full-stack web development "Hello World" tutorials for entrepreneurs: Part 10 of 10

This post is the final part of a 10-part series within a series that is designed to teach full-stack web development for entrepreneurs. Here we’ll introduce the topic of automated testing with Rspec within a Ruby on Rails app. We’ll work through writing “system tests” as an example, which allows us to mimic the behavior of manually clicking through a browser and filling things out. Our system tests will be used to ensure our previously developed forms in Rails, React, and Turbo won’t break with future code commits.
Will Little

Jan 17, 2021
Software Development Ruby on Rails JavaScript

Code Formatting and Linting in Ruby and JavaScript :: Full-stack web development "Hello World" tutorials for entrepreneurs: Part 9 of 10

This post is part 9 of a 10-part series within a series that is designed to teach full-stack web development for entrepreneurs. Here we’ll dive into the topics of automated code formatting and linting to maintain consistent code styles and help us catch bugs before they get committed to our code repository.
Will Little

Jan 13, 2021
Startups Will's General Newsletter

Listening to your community

In this newsletter I discuss the latest podcast episode of Ventures with Foxy Davison and discuss more in depth why it's important to architect systems to listen deeply to your customer/user communities.
Will Little

Jan 12, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast

Listening to your community, empowering the marginalized, and knowing when to step back :: with Foxy Davison

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Foxy Davison and I discuss her journey as a community advocate and venture-builder in Seattle’s Central District and beyond. Foxy has a remarkable ability to listen and serve, and we - as fellow entrepreneurs - have many things to learn from her about how to pay attention to our communities. In addition to hearing about her entrepreneurial pursuits, we also discuss how to focus and step back from opportunities that might otherwise seem important, and how to effectively develop an internal compass in order to say yes and no to the appropriate things.

Will Little

Jan 10, 2021
Software Development Ruby on Rails

How to upgrade Ruby versions for your Ruby on Rails app

Continuing our technical founder training series, in this short post we’ll walk through upgrading Ruby versions for our Rails app.

Will Little

Jan 6, 2021
Blockchains Will's General Newsletter

TikTok won Web 2.0

In this week's newsletter I discuss my podcast with Jed Collins and the need for ushering in the Web 3.0 era.
Will Little

Jan 5, 2021
Startups Ventures Podcast

Teaching financial literacy after the NFL and embracing TikTok for marketing :: with Jed Collins

In this episode of Ventures, my guest Jed Collins (https://www.tiktok.com/@fullbackoffinance) and I discuss the basics of financial literacy and Jed’s journey into the NFL and entrepreneurial venture thereafter. Of particular interest is not only Jed’s story and important content he is teaching young people, but also how he has been using TikTok as a marketing engine to grow his business.

Will Little

Dec 30, 2020
Will's General Newsletter

End of year podcast (a bit of a Random Show) and more updates on technical founder training

In this newsletter I talk about the latest podcast on cybersecurity, rapid antigen tests, the Enneagram, technical founder training, and approaching New Year's resolutions.

Will Little

Dec 30, 2020
COVID-19 Software Development Ventures Podcast Enneagram

Cybersecurity, Rapid Antigen Tests, Learning to Code, the Enneagram, and Meta-Level New Year’s Resolutions :: with Sol Cates

In this episode of Ventures, Sol Cates (https://twitter.com/solcates, cloud and cybersecurity expert at Thales) and I discuss advice for founders regarding technical infrastructure security. We also have a bit of a Random Show at the end of the year here as we discuss ways to combat COVID-19, provide technical founder training, practice self-discovery with the Enneagram, and think about New Year’s Resolutions.

Will Little

Dec 29, 2020
Software Development Ruby on Rails Hotwire StimulusReflex CableReady

Hotwire with Turbo Frames, Turbo Streams, StimulusReflex, and CableReady :: Full-stack web development "Hello World" tutorials for entrepreneurs: Part 8 of 10

This post is part 8 of a 10-part series within a series that is designed to teach full-stack web development for entrepreneurs. Here we’ll dive into the recently released Hotwire stack with Ruby on Rails and leverage Hotwire’s Turbo Frames and Turbo Streams. We’ll compare side-by-side how Turbo Frames can be used alongside StimulusReflex, and how CableReady can be used to expand upon the current feature set of Turbo Streams. In addition, since we already set up a comparable “Hello World” example in Redux/React in parts 5, 6, and 7 of this mini-series, we’ll demonstrate how “HTML over the wire” solutions like Hotwire and StimulusReflex/CableReady can potentially save startup founders a significant amount of time - compared to Redux/React - to achieve modern, reactive web experiences for users.

Will Little

Dec 29, 2020
Software Development Ruby on Rails

How to upgrade Ruby on Rails using Visual Studio Code's source control interface

This post is designed for those following along our Technical Founder Training series. Rails has a fantastic guide for upgrading versions, so in this post we are going to walk through it using Visual Studio Code, our code editor of choice in this series. Specifically, we’re going to use an example of upgrading from Rails 6.0 to Rails 6.1, which had a large number of feature updates. When upgrading Rails, it’s generally a good idea to update gems and Javascript libraries at the same time, so we’ll discuss examples of doing that as well.