The Zapier Blog

JULY 1, 2025

From each node, you then repeat the process, drilling deeper into the different concepts. "BBQs" Mind mapping is a creative way to brainstorm and find connections between different ideas. While it can be done as a group, it's often a solo practice. It's a weird hybrid approach, but it works for me.)

collaboration 105

collaboration support education creativity 105

Startup Grind

AUGUST 13, 2018

Ann Miura-Ko has been called “ the most powerful woman in startups ” by Forbes and is a lecturer in entrepreneurship at Stanford. The child of a rocket scientist at NASA, Ann is a Palo Alto native and has been steeped in technology startups from when she was a teenager. Pitch your startup for an opportunity to meet with Floodgate.

VC 111

VC entrepreneurship pitching strategy 111

The Zapier Blog

JUNE 8, 2025

At first glance, Jasper and ChatGPT seem similar—they're both generative AI tools that can create content in a split second. But there's a big difference here: ChatGPT is an AI chatbot that's flexible enough to handle just about any task you throw at it, while Jasper is a specialized AI marketing tool.

data analysis 59

data analysis support creativity collaboration 59

The Zapier Blog

JUNE 12, 2025

While LLMs can provide me with code for just about any situation, using established tools can save me from a lot of headaches later on. One example: backend-as-a-service (BaaS) platforms like Supabase and Firebase let me focus on solving problems instead of getting lost in server configurations and database management. favorited items).

enablement 52

enablement support development collaboration 52

The Zapier Blog

JUNE 30, 2025

With Zapier, you can build automated workflows (we call them Zaps) that connect Softr to your other tools in minutes, safely and securely. With Zapier, you can build automated workflows (we call them Zaps) that connect Softr to your other tools in minutes, safely and securely. Softr is a super flexible no-code app builder. The result?

creativity 52

creativity support communities development 52

The Zapier Blog

APRIL 4, 2023

From AI-powered image generation to natural language tasks (like generating or summarizing text), AI tools are disrupting the workforce. With it, you can generate images from text using a pre-trained model, fine-tune models to generate images with your own data, and edit existing images using AI.

media 64

media communities creativity disruption 64

The Zapier Blog

APRIL 13, 2023

See, unlike Stable Diffusion and DALL·E 2 , you can't install Midjourney on your own computer or use a nicely designed web app. There is a reason that Midjourney uses Discord—even if it seems a little convoluted from the outside. Midjourney is one my favorite AI image generators —and I've used a lot of them.

communities 98

communities creativity development support 98

Haystack

MAY 19, 2018

Social networks were not much of a thing, email was about work, telco’s charged for texting and we had feature phones which were definitely not computers. The marine layer of fog that draped Dolores Park shielded us from the world. I’ll likely finish this tonight after putting the kids to sleep.

coworking 60

coworking transportation networking energy 60

The Zapier Blog

JUNE 10, 2025

I used to work at a children's shoe store, and we kept all our customer information on index cards (.yeah). So when a customer came into the store asking about their previous shoe size, naturally, we had lost their information and couldn't help them. But which one should you go with? user/month* Premium: $57.50/user/month*

support 52

support SaaS communities development 52

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2011

The bain of any Windows user is how long it takes for their computers to load. Not only is the little magnifying glass and little draggable two sticks a tremendous pain in the ass to use, but the text on some websites, like Meetup, can't be highlighted. When I first bought my iPad about two weeks ago, I took quite a bit of ribbing.

financing 261

financing finance enablement technology 261

Angel Capital Association

JULY 23, 2020

By: Lance Cottrell, North Bay Angels Editors Note - The following article shares points from one investor to founders. In this blog, I will share with you my five-step process for building a killer pitch. ACA wants to know – does your group have similar expectations? These steps are a process, not a recipe. What is the business?

pitching 65

pitching angel investing investing investment 65

Smart Hustle Magazine

JUNE 17, 2021

We believe that everybody has God given talents and experiences that they can use, knowledge that they can pour out of their head from their lips and their fingertips into some kind of product that they can go out there and serve the world. Many people want are looking to earn a living for their families. Ramon Ray: I love that.

communities 102

communities entrepreneurs energy investing 102

The Zapier Blog

JUNE 23, 2025

But even with Copper, you might still have to manually copy leads from forms, update contact records, or notify teammates when a deal's status changes. But even with Copper, you might still have to manually copy leads from forms, update contact records, or notify teammates when a deal's status changes. Here's how.

opportunity 52

opportunity 52

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 19, 2011

Fred Wilson recently posted a great video on his blog with the CEO of Forrester Research, George Colony. Colony’s presentation is intriguing (and worth a watch if you have a few minutes) because I love to see when informed people make arguments that are different than you ordinarily hear (and different from my own views).

networking 355

networking frameworks development innovation 355

The Zapier Blog

JUNE 26, 2025

ElevenLabs keeps popping up on my feeds both from content creators in my network and from vibe coders embedding it into their work. Meet your new AI teammates Try Zapier Agents So I spent time testing everything from creating dragon voices to building interview agents. But it's more than just text-to-speech here.

enablement 40

enablement networking support technology 40

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 21, 2011

“People still want calls …&#. My background was 8 years of telecoms & mobile and 8 years of cloud computing & SaaS – so these two themes were a given. Two big themes have emerged in my head in the past 3 years: offline / online integration and mobile computing. Or can they?

media 329

media disruption VC construction 329

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

His father came from Romania. Not just because meeting Clayton was influential in shaping my thinking about markets but also because Derek Andersen (who founded Startup Grind) is such an awesome host and runs a very informative events. Last month they turned the tables on me. Here is the link to the video interview.

startup 337

startup entrepreneurs consulting board 337

The Zapier Blog

JUNE 19, 2025

Today you can make calls using FaceTime, Messenger, WhatsApp, or dozens of other call apps, and virtual phone systems do the same for your office number. Instead of deploying yards of copper wires spooled out to attached office phones to make and receive calls, virtual calls are made using a broadband internet connection.

mix-use 98

mix-use support collaboration media 98

The Zapier Blog

JUNE 16, 2025

Last year, I got a security alert that someone tried to log in to one of my accounts from halfway across the world. For example, if you've never visited Boston and someone is trying to access your account from there, your app might flag this and notify you to confirm it's really you trying to log in. How does 2FA work?

enablement 52

enablement support networking media 52

Smart Hustle Magazine

MAY 3, 2022

Are you running in circles trying to field phone calls, read emails, send your texts in time, and record videos for your podcast all while answering the call of a crying toddler hitting the moon because their applesauce isn’t the right color? Making phone calls. It’s time for a virtual assistant! Managing email accounts.

advice 108

advice entrepreneurs energy ventures 108

The Zapier Blog

JUNE 29, 2025

It not only secures your device's connections and your online identity, but it also lets you browse the web from another location and access content that may not be available where you live. month if you pay for 2 years upfront) Starts from $15.45/month month if you pay for 2 years upfront) Starts from $15.45/month

networking 52

networking disruption support 52

Tomasz Tunguz

JUNE 4, 2013

I’ve never measured how many words each day I type but I imagine it’s probably a few thousand each week between my laptop and my mobile phone and across emails and blog posts. In the past week, I’ve been suffering from some carpal tunnel pain particularly as I’ve been coding more. And no one can deny the toll this takes on our wrists.

startup 40

startup 40

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

It’s apropos because there is so much noise these days with email, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, web shows, etc. But aside from choosing the time of day to focus on signal vs. noise, Brad’s post got me thinking about another question – what is signal and what is noise? I enjoy that. Are these signal or noise?

peer-to-peer 287

peer-to-peer VC entrepreneurs board 287

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2010

I recently wrote a post about avoiding the “ Deferred Life Plan &# and some related thoughts about personal productivity that came from Tim Ferriss’s book, The Four Hour Workweek. Unfortunately my wife reads my blog and she’d log in and add comments to dispel this rumor (she keeps me honest.

advice 280

advice entrepreneurs networking innovation 280

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

Twitter’s significance stems from the fact that it is a real time, open, asymmetric, social, viral referral network that is often location aware and provides both explicit and implicit interests and preferences. Think of DataSift as turning the fire-hose into a cost-effective and manageable tap of running water. What does that mean?

peer-to-peer 307

peer-to-peer development networking investing 307

OurCrowd

AUGUST 21, 2019

Quantum computers are one of the hottest buzzwords today. Developed by governments including the United States, Russia, and China and companies like IBM, Google, Microsoft, and Alibaba, quantum computers may offer computing power that far exceeds anything we have seen to date. Quantum computers use qubits.

networking 58

networking enablement innovation technology 58

Y Combinator

MAY 29, 2019

00:45 – Where did the idea come from? 4:00 – From project to company. 19:00 – Data examples from their blog. 20:30 – Post: Fashion retailers have nothing to fear (yet) from the rise of Stitch Fix. 29:00 – Finding good data scientists who work from first principles.

investing 63

investing investment VC pitching 63

Derek Sivers

JANUARY 28, 2019

If digital, use only plain text. Don’t use the cloud, unless you’re also going to download it weekly and back it up in plain text outside that cloud. This is important because years from now you might be looking back, wondering if you were as happy or as sad as you remember during this time. Companies shut down. AppDevelopment.

health 58

health financing finance entrepreneurs 58

Tomasz Tunguz

AUGUST 17, 2017

One of my partners recently switched from an iPhone to an Essential phone and was stunned by the accuracy of the voice interface Google offers. This blog post is dictated and edited entirely by voice. If I make a mistake, I can say “insert semicolon after dictated” and the computer will insert the; after the word dictated.

enablement 74

enablement technology 74

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

If you follow the tech media you would be subject to a lot of narrative biases that are completely off base – and this includes the value of email and phone calls. Tech news keeps proclaiming “phone calls are dead,” which is useful except that the data suggests the exact opposite. Calls are changing but not dying.

SaaS 339

SaaS VC real estate board 339

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2010

I call it the entrepreneur thesis. It’s what I call the “entrepreneur thesis.” He invested $8 million in a company in the computer networking space. Steven knew that from a fund perspective he wasn’t going to earn the amount of money that a typical VC might look for since we were selling early. I have a philosophy.

entrepreneurs 321

entrepreneurs VC capital investing 321

Y Combinator

MAY 15, 2019

Chris Best is the cofounder and CEO of Substack. Substack makes it simple for a writer to start a paid newsletter. They were in the Winter 2018 batch of YC. You can check them out at Substack.com. Jonathan Gill is the cofounder and CEO of Backtracks. Backtracks is a podcast analytics and hosting platform. You can check them out at Backtracks.fm.

culture 63

culture education mix-use media 63

TechCrunch

AUGUST 12, 2022

DALL-E 2, OpenAI’s powerful text-to-image AI system, can create photos in the style of cartoonists, 19th century daguerreotypists, stop-motion animators and more. But it has an important, artificial limitation: a filter that prevents it from creating images depicting public figures and content deemed too toxic.

startup 107

startup mix-use communities media 107