Archive for the ‘ My Experience ’ Category

For the New Kids on the Bay Area Block

I’ve been in the Bay Area for the past 5 years, and prior to that I moved here from India when I was two, so in sum I’ve lived here a little over 9 years (yes I’m counting childhood because I claim to be precocious).  I’m not too savvy when it comes to SF, because [ READ MORE ]

Charming Los Gatos

Tired of the peninsula and SF startup scene and eager to meet new clients in other parts of the Bay Area, I left rainy Palo Alto, and high-tailed it down 85-S and then 17-S to work in Los Gatos, and was pleasantly greeted by blue skies.  Los Gatos downtown is a neighborhood that despite being [ READ MORE ]

Timeline: Mint.com – 2009

This is the last installment of the Mint.com Timeline.   As many of you already know Mint was acquired by competitor Intuit in September of 2009.  Mint will continue to live on as a product that helps its users do more with their money.  I myself have enjoyed the experience tremendously,  2009 was indeed an [ READ MORE ]

The Traitorous Eight or Silicon Valley’s Trend Setters?

Its easy to focus on the current hot shots of Silicon Valley and their success stories.  But its also important to take a moment to remember those who paved the way for innovation and inspiration.  The men above were known as the “Traitorous Eight”, because they left William Shockley’s Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Palo Alto, [ READ MORE ]

My Favorite 4-Letter Words

A few months ago a friend from France stayed with me.  English was her third language, and she identified nuances in my manner of speaking that I  hadn’t ever thought about it.  There are words that I use consistently that I hadn’t even realized I use. Here are the 4-letter words I use daily: Code Yoga Food Love F@c& I’ve also been [ READ MORE ]

Timeline: Mint.com – 2008

At the start of 2008 the primary goals for Mint.com were to deliver a complete personal finance solution, increase customer acquisition, and grow its revenue.  What this meant in terms of features was that we would put out an investments tab, increase or PR efforts to have Mint known as a name brand in every [ READ MORE ]

Timeline: Mint.com – Winter 2007

The fall and winter months of 2007 were filled with Mint riding the wave of a successful launch at TechCrunch.  It catapults the small startup of less than 15 people into the rankings of personal finance products.  Competitors and investors start to take an increased interest in Mint.  The PR campaign led by Atomic PR [ READ MORE ]

Timeline: Mint.com – Summer 2007

The launch date for Mint still had not been set, and it had slipped first from March 2007 to tax time, and then again to the summer.  The slip was fortuitous.  Prior to launch Mint’s primary concern was security, handling user’s financial data is a sensitive matter, the secondary concern was distribution.  Unlike social network [ READ MORE ]

Timeline: Mint.com – Spring 2007

2007 began slowly, but started to pick up as the year progressed.  Originally, Aaron Patzer wanted to launch Mint.com before tax time, because he envisioned that at the start of the year users are very keen on making New Years resolutions, especially those that deal with finances, ultimately leading up to tax time.  Although Mint [ READ MORE ]

Timeline: Mint.com – 2006

2006 was a year of firsts for Mint.com aka myMint.com.  It was the year Mint Software Inc. was officially incorporated, it received its seed round of funding, and formed the initial members of the Mint family.  And it was the year I officially joined Mint as “#2″. January 2006 – Aaron starts meeting with people who [ READ MORE ]