This is Makeshift

Insightful chat to put in your ears.

By CBM 1) The HBR IdeaCast: A weekly audio podcast, bringing you the analysis and advice of the leading minds in management. (Recommended by TIME's Callie Schweitzer) Subscribe on iTunes.  2) Nerdist Podcast: Chris Hardwick interviewing astronauts, actors and musicians like Metallica with his two nerdy friends Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. (Recommended by 3460 Miles' Erica Berger) Listen here.  3) AMAZEBALLS: For the most badass lovers of the Internet. Codez, Internet of Things, ALL THE BUZZWORDS!!!!!1!!1!one. Brought to you by Makeshift's own @ntlk and her friend @hyper_linda. Subscribe here.

4) Design Matters with Debbie Millman: The podcast focuses on design thinking including graphic arts and industrial design, but also conceptual design (like cities, societies, etc). Millman's amazing interview skills allow her to pull fascinating tidbits out of her guests. (Recommended by SparkCamp's Amy Webb) Listen here.  5) On Being with Krista Tippett: We all need a bit of headspace in our lives. This podcast covers big questions at the center of human life, from the boldest science of the human brain to the most ancient traditions of the human spirit. (Recommended by Togethera's Sokratis Papafloratos) Listen here.  6) The Needle and The Mouse: It's tech-plus-fashion, and it's super-entertaining—it's from the (married!) duo Lauren Sherman, who writes about fashion for the likes of Fashionista, The Business of Fashion, and AdAge, and Dan Frommer, the tech whiz behind Splat F. (Recommended by Of a Kind's Erica Cerulo) Listen here.  7) RadioLab: Perhaps one of the most-loved podcasts on the Internet, Radiolab is where science meets culture and information sounds like music. Each episode of Radiolab is an investigation -- a patchwork of people, sounds, stories and experiences centered around One Big Idea. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, Radiolab is produced by WNYC public radio. Listen here.  8) Product People: Simply put, Product People is a podcast about great products and the people who make them. It's a favorite in the Makeshift office. Listen here. 

9) NextMarket Insights: Founded by Michael Wolf, the former VP of Research for GigaOM, this podcast series features interviews with entrepreneurs, investors and founders of new digital businesses like Mark Cuban, Chis Dixon, and Secret Labs' Chris Walker. (Recommended by TIME's Callie Schweitzer) Listen here. 10) 99% Invisible: Design is everywhere in our lives, perhaps most importantly in the places where we've just stopped noticing. 99% Invisible is a weekly exploration of the process and power of design and architecture. From award winning producer Roman Mars and KALW in San Francisco. Listen here.  *BONUS!* The Makeshift ShedCast: That's right. We're introducing our very first podcast from our forthcoming series "ShedCast". In our first episode, I interview @Stef on the first days of Makeshift and how the team's process of hacking, making and creating has changed in the past 10 months. 

Listen to @Stef: The Makeshift Story #ShedCast

From Our Blogs

What’s Your Writing Process? An Interview with Dan Rowinski, Mobile Editor of ReadWrite.com

Why Hack? An Interview with Dom Christie

4 European Tech Events You Should Attend this Autumn

What We're Reading

The Digital Physical by Craig Mod

Which of the 5 Types of Data Science Does Your Startup Need?

The Making of Medium  

What We're Listening To

Nneka – Shining Star - Joe Goddard Remix Radio Edit

Gold Panda – Half of Where You Live

Fredrika Stahl – Rocket Trip To Mars

What’s Your Name? Dom Christie 

What’s Your Twitter Handle? @domchristie 

What’s your job title + a short bio?

Designer / developer at Pigment. I write thoughts and post photos on http://domchristie.co.uk, and share code on github.com/domchristie.

What are you currently building?

A London bus countdown web app, a typeface comparison tool, a page that displays recent Last.fm scrobbles, and a MIDI control surface for monome. 

Why do you hack?

I usually get an idea when I come across something that is monotonous, inefficient, or not as easy as it should be. Sometimes it's just for the satisfaction of transforming data or creating something. I always find that I learn something new, which is a bonus.

What’s inspiring you right now?

The Slow Movement, Dieter Rams, Edward Tufte, Ember.js

What’s your best and/or most favourite hack ever?

I'd probably say that the London bus app is my favourite hack, mainly because I use it everyday. I was frustrated about how inefficiently TfL's countdown boards displayed their data, and had an idea to fix it. It turned out that the data wasn't too hard to get hold of, so I made an app out of it.

Finally - What is the ultimate coding tune?

Right now, Xtal by Aphex Twin gets me in the mood, but anything on http://musicforprogramming.net/ works pretty well for me.

An Interview by CBM One year ago, designer and developer Lewis Flude joined a company because of its incredible team.   

The months dragged out while Lewis realized he wasn’t passionate about the idea he was building. He felt limited. He wasn’t learning. So he started looking for a new gig.

“I didn't want to openly say "I’m looking for a new job," says Lewis. “I felt really awkward about it. I still had loyalty to the company and I didn't want to shake things up and ruin the team’s morale. But there was an imbalance between my loyalty and my emotional investment in the company. And the logical part of my mind was saying, ‘Now is a the time to move on.’”

So we asked Lewis to try out Hire My Friend. He signed up and tapped his personal network to help him find a new opportunity, and is now one of the most endorsed profiles on the Hire My Friend platform. 

Lewis received 8-9 job requests after one week on Hire My Friend. He accepted 5. (He says the other 4 requests were too impersonal.) He interviewed with 3 companies. He was offered 2 positions. He took one.

Lewis is now attempting to make a dent in the universe as Product Lead at PublicBeta, a community of entrepreneurs sharing advice, expertise and support that’s edging close to profitability with just under a hundred paying users and two employees.

“It’s great to see what other opportunities are out there if you're not passionate about your current work. But the real benefit of using Hire My Friend is that it gave me some headspace around my current situation and helped me to realize that there are other fantastic companies out there who needed my skills. Before I even started my new job, I was ecstatic to find how on point the company’s values were with my own.PublicBeta is literally my dream job.”

We can't promise that every story will end like Lewis's. But you'll never get what you don't ask for, and Hire My Friend lets you do just that without your boss finding out. So, isn't it time you found your dream job too?

Sign Up For Hire My Friend

From Our Blogs

What's Your Writing Process? An Interview with Neil Murray

Why Hack? An Interview with Andrew McDonough, Co-founder and CTO at Tribesports

The Five Killer Non-Financial Reports to Help Your Startup Grow

What We're Reading

We're Creating a Culture of Distraction

Why I Joined the Darkside

Betaworks Openbeta v2  

What We're Listening To

Daft Punk – TRON: Legacy

Woods – Bend Beyond

Rhye – Woman  

  What's Your Name? Andrew McDonough

What’s Your Twitter Handle? @andrewmcdonough

What’s your job title + a short bio?

Co-founder and CTO, Tribesports. 12 years professional web development. Programming for 26 years... since age 8. Degree in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge.

What are you currently building?

Tribesports, the social network, and Tribesports Performance Wear, the world's first community-powered sports brand.

Why do you hack?

I like to make things. I like to solve problems. Programming makes it possible to bring my ideas to life!

What’s inspiring you right now?

Kickstarter.

Finally - What is the ultimate coding tune?

Julio Bashmore - Battle For Middle You

At Makeshift, we're hackers, we're designers; we're data wranglers and product people. We are also a team of writers, frequently publishing our thoughts in the media and on platforms like Medium. 

Content is at the heart of everything we do, and every product we create. We're often asked by our friends who are new to the startup scene, how do you get started writing?

The first step is to get started reading. If you want to write about tech, @CBM put together a list of recommendations to jumpstart your keyboard skills and get your head in the game. 

The obvious choices are the tech blogs like: The Next Web, Read Write Web, TechCrunch, The Verge, Lifehacker, Tech City News (for London-based news) and The Guardian Technology.

We tap Fast Co Exist when we're looking to see articles like this.

Paul Graham is the JC of tech startups. He offers great advice and unique insights.

And on the East Coast, there's Fred Wilson, Founder of Union Square Ventures and blogger at AVC

Signal vs. Noise, a publication about the web by 37signals since 1999.

It'sNiceThat, championing creativity across the art & design world.

SayMedia: The essential website for keeping up with media news.

Help Me Write blog. 

NotCot:  A collection of great design sites in one place. We use it for quick design inspiration.

Two epic communities: Hacker News  + Reddit Technology: These UGC powered sites are jungles. However, if you're willing to dig, you will be rewarded.

The Help Me Write blog, is just like it sounds!

We love email newsletters like Startup Digest: A weekly digest sent to your inbox. Use it to stay up-to-date on anything and everything  startup related.

And The Albion Almanac: Sign up for this newsletter and find yourself looking forward to its arrival every Friday. It is is an excellent curation of weekly news from tech to business.

And the Protein Newsletter: This weekly read is the smaller, cooler version of whatever Vice is trying to be. Sign up for their newsletter and check their website daily. If you’re in London, check out the coffee shop in the bottom of their office. 

Which sources do you love that we miss? Let us know in the comments! Can't keep track of all these great outlets? We've got a tool for that. Check out RumbleRoll (still in Private Alpha!).

Need a little help getting started writing? That's why we built Help Me Write!

What’s Your Name? Samuel Cox

What’s Your Twitter Handle? @samuelcox 

What’s your job title + a short bio?

Creative Technologist. Exploring the digital/physical through hardware hacking, coding & making. 

What are you currently building?

Exploring (building) a few connected devices that utilise BLE to communicate to devices. A few examples: A water bottle the encourages you to drink more. An app to control your bike lock that's more secure and more convenient (no keys are needed to unlock it, just the proximity of your iPhone.

  Why do you hack?

Anything fits inside the digital/physical space. That could range from Kinect to an Arduino controlled object. Scope's pretty large.

What’s inspiring you right now?

The ability to make stuff with a low barrier to entry. The fact that I can dream up something in the morning, 3D design/print it in a day and have a working physical prototype when I go bed. Democratised technologies that enable inspires me right now.

What’s your best and/or most favourite hack ever?

A few years ago I had a free weekend, and I decided to make my cat a new basket... with a difference. It was made out of an old shelled eMac. It recognised when he entered and played the startup chime. RGB LED inside the eMac displayed colours and tweeted a random phrase + the time spent inside when he left. It was a small fun project that caught the attention of people online and inspired people to make their own version.

  Finally - What is the ultimate coding tune?

Tunes that I can't understand the vocals i.e. Sigur Ros and Jónsi. Helps me focus ;)