So my friend Derek and I have this really cool event that we run called the Startup Grind. It has been great to watch it blossom into a vibrant, well attended meetup over the past couple of months. The other day we sat down and talked about ways that we could add even more value to what we think is the best free startup event in silicon valley. One thing we wanted to try out was to see if there was some sort of technology solution that we could come up with to make the networking at our event even easier and more valuable. Thus the concept of the Startup Grind app was born. First concept to App Store submission was exactly three weeks to the day. Now that you can get it in your hands, let me give you a tour of it’s main features.

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Apple gets a lot of flack over its curated app distribution model. No matter what your opinion on the subject is there is no doubt that for Apple’s model to have any sort of success it needs to be the only commercially realistic distribution avenue on the platform. This leads many people to jailbreak their devices for a variety of different reasons. Lets examine just the motivation of wanting to personally use non-App Store approved apps. The argument is then almost always framed as a dichotomy. I can jailbreak and get access to apps that Apple cannot or will not approve but risk damaging the device, violating warranty/support expectation, losing the ability to directly update to the latest OS version and introducing instability. Or I could keep my device in a stock configuration that will ensure stability and a clean upgrade path but miss out on some truly awesome and useful jailbroken apps out there. People don’t often remember that there is actually a third way to load apps onto your iOS device that has its own set of unique pros and cons. Apple fully supports loading apps on stock devices outside of the App Store through its developer program.

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Testing out some new explosive weapons in the editor.

So after a month and a half of heavy development I am almost ready to unveil my game to the world and start alpha testing! There are just a few things that need to happen first though, the most important of which is that I need to find a name for this thing!

This game is a creative 3D physics game in which players take turns trying to destroy each other’s fortresses with different weapons and strategies. Players need to be clever in their choice and use of weapons, strike a balance between spending and saving resources, and have a pinch of luck to succeed. Players can even take their game to the next level by creating their own castle designs and pitting them against their friends.

Thematically I have been thinking that I want it to have a light-hearted, silly and fun tone to it but also have tons of big explosions and loud weapons.

So what should such a game be called? (pick up to 5)
Got an idea for name? Let me know in the comments!

UPDATE: Voting is now closed. I have decided to go with Cannonade! Thanks for your input everybody!

[poll id=”2″]

Interested in startups or startup culture?  If you live in or around the Bay Area you should come to a monthly event that my friend Derek and I started a couple months ago called The Startup Grind.  The event is held on the last Thursday of every month (except when holidays conflict) at 7:00 at the Vaporware Labs office in Mountain View.  It has two main purposes.  The first is to hear talks and presentations by experienced entrepreneurs, VCs and others involved in startup culture or business.  The second is to network and chat with other people just like you who may be in the thick of starting a company, provide services to entrepreneurs or just like to discuss cool projects with interesting people.

The Startup Grind Meetup is free and there is always pizza and drinks (although if you are so inclined you can make a donation for the pizza).  The next meetup is exactly one week from today and will feature a talk by the CEO of Smule, Jeff Smith.  And in February we have Jason Calacanis on the schedule to speak. All are welcome so feel free to drop on by!  When Derek and I started the event it was just a couple of friends brainstorming interesting ideas.  Now as of the latest count we have 126 committed to attending the next meetup!  It has grown faster than either of us would have guessed and it looks to have a really bright future!

For today only you can purchase Language Aid for half price (US$10) through a promotion at MacZOT! To take advantage of the promotion pricing, buy your copy of Language Aid through MacZOT and once the promotion is over you will receive an email with an application attached to it that will configure your computer for Language Aid registration. All you have to do is run the application and then click the “Register” button in the Language Aid preference pane. It will be fun to see how the promotion turns out.

I havn’t really done very much marketing of my products. Mostly because I want to spend most of my time in actual product development. However, my thoughts sometimes turn to promotion and marketing and how to do it better. Lately I have observed that many products are advertised on what they DON’T have. A product is promoted as not having certain bad things rather than emphasizing that it has these other good things. Thus is the way of business, politics and many other areas of society as of late.

I have decided to think of a few catchy anti-features for Language Aid that are surely going to send sales through the roof. Here are just a few that I have come up with as I have been sitting here:

Who needs boring feature lists detailing what a product DOES have. When people see the substantial list of what Language Aid doesn’t have, I am sure they will think twice before passing up purchasing such a great program! Perhaps now I have found my true calling…