Will Little @wclittle Subscribe

Managing Director 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 the podcast I host, Ventures.

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 Will Little

Sep 2, 2015
Startups

How to compose a co-founder team

The number one reason why investors write checks to fund an early-stage startup is because of the team; most specifically, because of the CEO. Your startup will look very different in the not-so-distant future, so the insane people who give you money are really betting on you.
Will Little

Jul 23, 2015
Startups

How to generate startup ideas

Ok, so you spend time looking at the green grass and mythical creatures over in startup fairytale land. Awesome. Now what?
Will Little

Jul 6, 2015
Startups

How to create, grow, and fund a tech startup: an operational framework

Throughout the course of co-founding, advising, and investing in startups over the past couple of decades, my partners/advisors and I at Prota Ventures have developed the following practical operations framework to help founders through the early stages of startup life.
Will Little

Dec 22, 2014
Software Development

Clarifying the 5+ roles of a “Front-End Web Developer”

Anyone who has looked for a job in this area understands there is widespread confusion about who does what when it comes to designing user experiences (UX) and building user interfaces (UI) in a web browser.
Will Little

Dec 7, 2014
Software Development Ruby on Rails

How to build a simple email sign up form with Ruby on Rails

Continuing our Introduction to Web & Mobile Development tutorial series, here we'll learn how to build a simple email sign up feature. Unless you have strong business reasons to require users to only sign up via an Oauth provider such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc., it's best to at least allow your users to sign up directly with an email address.
Will Little

Jul 12, 2014
Software Development JavaScript

How to merge HTML, CSS, and JavaScript into your Rails app

Continuing forward in our introduction to web and mobile development tutorial series, here we'll learn how to merge into our Rails app the basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that our UI designer (Tim) quickly built for us.
Will Little

Dec 22, 2013
Software Development Ruby on Rails

How to setup a Rails app for Test-Driven- and Behavior-Driven Development with Rspec and Capybara

Continuing forward in our introduction to web and mobile development tutorial series, here we'll learn how to prep our Rails app to begin writing code in a Test-Driven Development (TDD) and Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) paradigm.
Will Little

Jun 16, 2013
Software Development Ruby on Rails

How to design and prep a Ruby on Rails model architecture

Moving along in our web and mobile development series, here we'll discuss the process of prepping Ruby on Rails models before receiving HTML views, CSS, and initial JavaScript files (i.e. the “cutups”) from your designer to merge in to your app.
Will Little

May 11, 2013
Startups Software Development Visual Design

How to work with a visual designer to efficiently build mockups for your app

Next up in our intro to web and mobile development series, here we'll discuss how to move from wireframes to more detailed images of your user interface (i.e. the “mockups”). This may sound obvious, but the actual creation of mockups should be reserved for the most talented visual designer on your team. If you don't have a legit person for this, recruit one before attempting to move forward here (seriously).
Will Little

Apr 5, 2013
Startups Software Development Visual Design

How to build and iterate wireframes for modern app development

Moving forward in our web and mobile development introduction series, here we'll briefly walk through the process of building wireframes based on the UI Spec and UX Flow Chart we put together previously. Wireframe construction usually goes faster if the designer is the one doing the work, but regardless it should be a collaborative process with the entire founding team of your startup.
Will Little

Mar 18, 2013
Startups Software Development

How to create a user experience flow chart (UX Flow Chart)

Next up in our web and mobile development tutorial series, here we'll examine the process of moving from a User Interface Spec to the construction of a flow chart that describes the detailed user experience (UX) through the app. This is where the engineer(s) and creative(s) must work closely together to decide what kind of software tools can best support the intended interfaces and click/swipe behavior, down to every last tab, tooltip, lightbox, icon, etc…
Will Little

Feb 8, 2013
Startups Visual Design

How to create a user interface specifications document (UI Spec)

Continuing forward in our web and mobile development tutorial series, here we'll take a look at what to do next after you have created an Overview Spec and before you create a UI Flow Chart. Coming up with the UI Spec is an essential step for the product lead (usually the same person as the CEO/project lead in a small startup), as it forces them to visualize a rough draft of the app and put it in writing for the team to kick around.
Will Little

Jan 23, 2013
Startups Visual Design

How to work with a visual designer to quickly produce a logo

Moving forward in our web and mobile development tutorial series, here we'll take a break from writing code and get back to the branding and visual design aspects of our app that we'll be building step-by-step together. Specifically, we'll look at the process of coming up with a suitable logo for launch (i.e. it always changes later, so relax and trust your designer).
Will Little

Jan 2, 2013
Software Development JavaScript

Step-by-step “Hello World” examples in JSON, Eco, and Backbone.js

Moving along from Part 2 of this 3-part “Hello World” mini-series within our our web and mobile development tutorials, here we'll walk through JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), embedded CoffeeScript (Eco), and Backbone.js. If you have not yet completed steps 1–7 from Part 1 and steps 8–10 from Part 2, you should go back and do so now. If you have, great, let's continue:
Will Little

Jan 1, 2013
Software Development Ruby on Rails

Step-by-step “Hello World” examples in Ruby, SQL, and Ruby on Rails

Continuing forward from Part 1 of this 3-part “Hello World” mini-series within our web and mobile development tutorials, here we'll walk through Ruby, Standard Query Language (SQL), and Ruby on Rails. If you have not yet completed steps 1–7 from Part 1, click here to go back and do so now. If you have, great, let's continue.