Wow the topics look pretty solid. I've never met Dr. Srinivasan but his credentials look impressive.
What I like most about the topics are that they are focused on what is needed from the tech side when starting a company.
In fact I would argue that a technical cofounder should be able to offer pros/cons and at least a few suggestions for each of these topics. Being semi opinionated about these types of topics is sometimes what separates a senior engineer from a junior one. (But not blindly opinionated).
For examples:
- VMs - Big leader is VMWare followed by a host of others. Almost any cloud service will be based around some form of virtualization such as Xen. Most startups use VMs because it is cheaper than buying regular hardware.
- IAAS/PAAS - Talk a bit about Amazon EC2 for infrastructure services. Jump into stuff like Heroku and why it is different than EC2.
- Text Editors - Pick whatever one you like. Don't be afraid to learn a new one if it helps your productivity.
- Frameworks - Use one. Don't write your own unless your startup is predicated on selling a framework to developers.
Sometimes a view of the entire landscape puts everything into perspective enough that it's much easier to go deeper on your own into the areas that you need the most.
What I like most about the topics are that they are focused on what is needed from the tech side when starting a company.
In fact I would argue that a technical cofounder should be able to offer pros/cons and at least a few suggestions for each of these topics. Being semi opinionated about these types of topics is sometimes what separates a senior engineer from a junior one. (But not blindly opinionated).
For examples:
- VMs - Big leader is VMWare followed by a host of others. Almost any cloud service will be based around some form of virtualization such as Xen. Most startups use VMs because it is cheaper than buying regular hardware.
- IAAS/PAAS - Talk a bit about Amazon EC2 for infrastructure services. Jump into stuff like Heroku and why it is different than EC2.
- Text Editors - Pick whatever one you like. Don't be afraid to learn a new one if it helps your productivity.
- Frameworks - Use one. Don't write your own unless your startup is predicated on selling a framework to developers.
Etc...etc.