Welcome back! In this weekâs newsletter, youâll find tools & products we â¤ď¸, news to consume and reflections from the summerâ
Mobile app beta testing is super exclusiveâtesters pride themselves on having first-look access, devs build mostly in private and some apps never even make it to the app store. These days, some apps are invite-only long after their stint on Testflight (like Clubhouse). The narrative is changing as âbuilding in publicâ becomes more normal and newcomers open up their tests to a wider user base. Feedback is good right?
Previously, Testflight was meant for app devs to test/troubleshoot software projects with a small group of usersânow some folks are wary of TestFlight an investment hunting ground for up-and-coming products, others have FOMO đ. Thankfully, thereâs a solution!
Airport âď¸ is an app store for TestFlight apps. Itâs a free, open directory to browse apps for testing on TestFlight. Finally!
Take a look at how Jordan built it here.
Proof of Concept & Moving Forward
12 weeks flew by. If youâve followed our journey thus far, you may have seen some the software products coming out of our final showcase (stream linked in tweet below). Our mission this summer was to connect motivated students with high-quality, high-impact companies and projects, but it turned into much more.
After more than 50,000 slack messages, 1,000 Trello cards, 2500+ commits, and 8 MVPs/products, 90% of our interns said theyâd be interested in programming during the year!
While we arenât running a formal fall Practicum program, weâll be running intermittent hackathons and putting on remote events to keep folks building, meeting new friends from around the US & Canada, and working on their portfolios.
If thereâs one big takeaway from this summer, itâs that remote learning can take on many forms, and not all are bad! In our program, students worked on projects that gave them real-world experience they can add to their portfolio, gained new contacts and friendships that (hopefully) last much longer than this summer and found (career) mentorship from technical mentors and speakers.
Last week, we linked an article about potential futures of work and education. Not to be skipped over are fellowship (+learning) programs offering an alternative to typical education in a specific field. OnDeck has raised $3M to build a modern institution for educating future founders and Awesome People is launching a freelance talent accelerator for tech + startup professionals w/ 5+ years of experience. Our friends at Urspace launched the Urspace Labs Fellowship this summer, a program for students somewhere between a bootcamp and an accelerator. They had a similar result! Stay tuned đ
What are you doing this fall?
Iâve met students at Stanford, WashU, Harvard, Princeton, Emory and more who are taking time off from school to work or build side projects. For many, the opportunity cost of attending zoom this fall seems high⌠if that sounds familiar, itâs probably because you are (or know of) a student who talked about it. If youâre looking to meet new people (low-commitment) and fit the description of the first sentence, check this out:
Starting 9/5 (bi-)weekly virtual happy hour for gap-year students.
Everyone is welcome! Hang out. Chat. Network. Share experiences.
Respond to this email or @ me for more info!
Tech Trends & Startups Weâre Watching
Bitkraft Ventures raises $165M fund to invest in esports/gaming, among other global gaming funds
Ghost kitchens are making use of under-utilized real estate, could reach $1T in revenue by 2030
Fractal ($20K, Pre-Seed) đť - personal cloud computers to replace laptops and make devices connect to the same virtual private cloud
Athlane ($3.45M, Seed) đšď¸ - esports brand management platform to optimize inbound sponsorship deals or negotiate terms
Noteworth ($8.42M, Seed) đ - healthcare delivery platform for physicians and healthcare providers to enhance the quality and efficacy of care
NoCode Tools of The Week
Universe - build a visually appealing website from your phone
Landbot - create chatbots to engage leads, capture data and personalize client journeys in real-time
Kodika - build responsive iOS apps with drag and drop tools
Our Light Bulbs đĄ
-For your consumer curiosities and DTC desires, check out The Snaxshot!
-âWhatâs Next in Gamingâ: Games, Cloud Computing and Online Communities with Andrew Chen
-Elon Musk announced plans to unveil a live demo of Neuralink today, in what will be a massive gain for brain-machine interfaces and potential for new assistive techs
-TikTok sued the Trump Administration, and CEO Kevin Mayer stepped down this week
-TONS of companies filed IPO S-1 and 1-As this week, including Asana and Unity
Thing of the week
Airportâ>Flight. Hereâs what it looks like to fly during COVID.
As the âsummerâ comes to a close and students start heading back to campus, general travel has resumed even though COVID hasnât gotten much better. In most places (like California), itâs actually gotten worse. Vox released an article a few weeks ago about states pulling back on their plans to reopen, yet we still see 500,000+ people traveling each day, as per TSA.
If you have to travel, be safe.
Thatâs it for this week :)
If you missed the last newsletter, find it here! đ°
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