These days, we are in the middle of the developing of the new version of the Tucoola's Zone which will be launching in the next few months.
We already have tons of games for children.
We have finished define the up-to-date algorithm.
We finished planning and designing the new information center for parents.
And now, our developers are working hard on encoding it, and soon you will be able to enjoy it.
The days are full of work to verify that you will get the best service ever.
The night is full of thoughts about the things we need to add to our first commercial version.
So soon, you will be able to enjoy the Tucoola's Zone all over the world, and we believe that you will find it a required and helpful service that will be there to help us with our challenges with the children.
I believe that you will hear a lot of news from us in the next posts, and we hope that you will be happy as we are when you will find out who our partners are and where you will be able to enjoy the Tucoola's Zone.
We hope that you are expecting it as like we are :)
Showing posts with label parents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parents. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Startup Persons
You have probably noticed that we talk a lot about our life as "startup persons".
Well, It's really easy to explain.
We wake up in the morning, press the "power button" of the iPhone and read the new mails.
Then we run to the computer, and while we brush our teeth, we start to answer the mails.
After a few hours or so, we remember that we need to eat something (most of the time it will be Junk-food) – This part happens twice a day … (late noon / after noon and late night …).
Between the late afternoon and the evening we try to play with our children, enjoy the family and from time to time (2 minutes to 5 minutes), we re-checking emails on the iPhone :).
After making bath to the children, we have "only 2 mails" that we need to work on, and then it takes about 5 hours or so :).
In the late night, we go to sleep and wake up to the … mails.
We work like this all week, weekends, holidays, etc., and it's unbelievable – we are enjoying every moment – yes! The start-up passion is deep in our blood.
And it's time to confess – it's all about the partners in our life, that understand, help, support and love.
After all, how many people call their husband/wife and shout at him/her to "stay by the computer so you will clean your calendar from the missions of today"?
How many people can understand the ups and downs (that happen a lot …)? Etc., etc., etc.
So if you asked me for one advice about how to build a start-up, I'll tell you that it starts at home, with your partner for life - this is
the first building block.
So thanks to my dear wife for being there for me!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Congratulations!
This is what I call great weekend!
My wife gave birth last weekend, and now we have a new daughter in our family.
Handling with the second child is different from the beginning – The way and time we started to get organize (we packed our hospital bug on the day of the birth and not two months before), the knowledge of all the process (pain, hospital bureaucracy, my wife's best friend – Epidural, etc.).
Since the moment it started, we are thinking about our firstborn – who will be with him, what to tell him, does he understand and millions of other thoughts.
And then, she came! She is part of this world and her reality is different. She is part of an active, acting family with a daily routine that we can't change (because we need to be very careful with the firstborn).
And from the moment she got home, she is exposed to the constant noise of the computer, TV, noisy games, etc. I'm sure that she will have the ability to sleep when there is noise in the area J.
I still can't tell you how much harder it is, but based on all the feedbacks of the last year, it's going to be hard.
The one thing that never changes … is the love!
Our hurt seems to be so elastic – you think that you love someone so much and there is no room for more love in the room. But, from the moment we saw her, we doubled the capacity of our hearts, and now it belongs to both of our children who will do everything needed to love them, protect them and be there for them.
Congratulations!
My wife gave birth last weekend, and now we have a new daughter in our family.
Handling with the second child is different from the beginning – The way and time we started to get organize (we packed our hospital bug on the day of the birth and not two months before), the knowledge of all the process (pain, hospital bureaucracy, my wife's best friend – Epidural, etc.).
Since the moment it started, we are thinking about our firstborn – who will be with him, what to tell him, does he understand and millions of other thoughts.
And then, she came! She is part of this world and her reality is different. She is part of an active, acting family with a daily routine that we can't change (because we need to be very careful with the firstborn).
And from the moment she got home, she is exposed to the constant noise of the computer, TV, noisy games, etc. I'm sure that she will have the ability to sleep when there is noise in the area J.
I still can't tell you how much harder it is, but based on all the feedbacks of the last year, it's going to be hard.
The one thing that never changes … is the love!
Our hurt seems to be so elastic – you think that you love someone so much and there is no room for more love in the room. But, from the moment we saw her, we doubled the capacity of our hearts, and now it belongs to both of our children who will do everything needed to love them, protect them and be there for them.
Congratulations!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Game's Room
Yesterday, I had the chance to see all my nephews.
Like always, they run to the computer room in my parents' house to do what they always do – play.
As you can imagine, the big ones play while the young ones look and wait for their turn (which arrives after several rounds of the big ones … You can see the passion of the young ones to be a part of the games activity.
However, something in this situation is not right! Most of the portals offer plenty of games for children with no age filtering - this is what we (the parents) are trying to avoid.
The result is young children playing games that do not fit them – they contain violent and inappropriate content and sometimes difficult games that the young ones can't deal with.
So, this is part of what Tucoola is about – We are bringing the children the right games that fit their age and in addition that fits their level in the various skills. The bonus is the "connected games" tool, which exposes the children to content that helps them to improve their specific skills.
This is what we believe that young children need to find in the games arena in their first years – The years we can still direct them, influence them and help them manage in this world.
Like always, they run to the computer room in my parents' house to do what they always do – play.
As you can imagine, the big ones play while the young ones look and wait for their turn (which arrives after several rounds of the big ones … You can see the passion of the young ones to be a part of the games activity.
However, something in this situation is not right! Most of the portals offer plenty of games for children with no age filtering - this is what we (the parents) are trying to avoid.
The result is young children playing games that do not fit them – they contain violent and inappropriate content and sometimes difficult games that the young ones can't deal with.
So, this is part of what Tucoola is about – We are bringing the children the right games that fit their age and in addition that fits their level in the various skills. The bonus is the "connected games" tool, which exposes the children to content that helps them to improve their specific skills.
This is what we believe that young children need to find in the games arena in their first years – The years we can still direct them, influence them and help them manage in this world.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Fatherhood
It seems like all of us are parents.
Tucoola is a company that deals with children – you would think that this is the reason that we begin all our meetings talking about children...
I don't think so!
I think that it's quite simple – all of us have changed since the minute that this magic began.
The first few days, we were in shock!
The next few weeks, we were tired!
And then, it became our life - a new life!!!
Now that I have a kid and in the next few weeks a new baby girl, it seems like my life have prepared me to the moment I became a father.
Our influences begin from the good and bad things we saw at home, at our extended family, friends' houses, etc.
And then, one day, you grow up and you start to think about yourself as a parent – I'll do this and I'll do that, and then, your love of your life appears and – It happens, you have a baby .
In the beginning they don't do anything besides crying and sleeping.
After a few months they start to respond – the first smile is worth more than any smile you've received up till that moment.
And then they start walking, talking, developing and even bossing you around like no manager did before.
So let's go back to the beginning – we talk about them all day, because they are our life!
And from February 7th, 2008, I found a new life and a new purpose – Fatherhood !
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Fulfillment Issue
Most of Tucoola's team don't come from the games world.
In the beginning, I lost sleep over this. Now I understand that this was one of the best things that happened to us.
Like in all other segments, a fresh point of view can generate new ideas, new products and new business.
Tucoola has become the start-up that everyone says "how come no one thought about it before" – I always had a dream to have a start-up that "took pleasure" from this praise.
When you combine the fresh point of view and the "praises", you get Tucoola.
Our status, less than a year after we obtained our first investment, is unbelievable:
We successfully transformed our algorithm from the notebook (a real one :)) to the technology and Tucoola's servers.
We have immense success with the games developers that view us as the new generation of distributors and a new money maker.
We have colossal success with the distributors and the portals that acknowledge Tucoola's benefit to them – innovation, new target market and new revenue stream.
We succeeded with the experts that join our belief that we supply an innovative way of delivering information to parents regarding their children's development progress and provide tools to improve it.
In spite of these successes, there is still a lot to do and a lot to prove:
We are still working on the new version of the Tucoola's Zone (the one for launch).
We are still working in the content arena to find the best content & partners for our target market.
We are still working on a new fund round and it seems to be challenging even in a time like this and even for a (so called) mature start-up.
These days the company is just like the sentence that my mom heard from my teachers – "The kid has potential but he needs to fulfill it".
I hope that soon, all these teachers think that both of us (the company and me) are OK on the "fulfillment issue" :).
In the beginning, I lost sleep over this. Now I understand that this was one of the best things that happened to us.
Like in all other segments, a fresh point of view can generate new ideas, new products and new business.
Tucoola has become the start-up that everyone says "how come no one thought about it before" – I always had a dream to have a start-up that "took pleasure" from this praise.
When you combine the fresh point of view and the "praises", you get Tucoola.
Our status, less than a year after we obtained our first investment, is unbelievable:
We successfully transformed our algorithm from the notebook (a real one :)) to the technology and Tucoola's servers.
We have immense success with the games developers that view us as the new generation of distributors and a new money maker.
We have colossal success with the distributors and the portals that acknowledge Tucoola's benefit to them – innovation, new target market and new revenue stream.
We succeeded with the experts that join our belief that we supply an innovative way of delivering information to parents regarding their children's development progress and provide tools to improve it.
In spite of these successes, there is still a lot to do and a lot to prove:
We are still working on the new version of the Tucoola's Zone (the one for launch).
We are still working in the content arena to find the best content & partners for our target market.
We are still working on a new fund round and it seems to be challenging even in a time like this and even for a (so called) mature start-up.
These days the company is just like the sentence that my mom heard from my teachers – "The kid has potential but he needs to fulfill it".
I hope that soon, all these teachers think that both of us (the company and me) are OK on the "fulfillment issue" :).
Sunday, February 7, 2010
My life as a father
I'm a father of one and soon I'll be of two.
When my firstborn arrived my life have changed like I couldn't even imagine.
Like all parents, my wife and I enjoy receiving compliments like: "he is great", "he is very mature" and we smile a lot because people think that he's smart.
Like everyone, everyday I find myself thinking about my family, work, health, money and yes, about my son's development progress.
Yes, this is part of my new life as a parent. I have evacuated an area in my brain when my child was born and now it is dedicated to thinking about him.
At the end of the day, it's really simple! I just want to hear that he is OK and on the right track. This is what Tucoola is about.
A few days ago, I had a meeting with two senior lecturers.
I'm trying to meet with as many experts as I can from the academic world in order to present Tucoola and get some feedback.
We have a great advisory board with the best people from every field in the Academy world, but still, it's important for me to share our life work with more experts, get more feedback, obtain new ideas, etc.
After meeting dozens of experts, it's official! They think that Tucoola is a nature product of the technology development in our days. They don’t think that it's too mechanical, they aren't threatened by Tucoola's technology and they understand that we don't want to take anyone's place - We just want to use the tools that the technology has given us and use it to understand and help our children.
Everyone agrees that monitoring and measuring children while playing games using Tucoola platform is a great solution for the new generation.
We are all interested in learning about our children's development progress, especially monitoring each child's personal advancement from the beginning to the end (with our famous graph that presents the development).
My son will be 2 years old this week and it's seems that soon, as a father, I'll be able to enjoy Tucoola :)!
When my firstborn arrived my life have changed like I couldn't even imagine.
Like all parents, my wife and I enjoy receiving compliments like: "he is great", "he is very mature" and we smile a lot because people think that he's smart.
Like everyone, everyday I find myself thinking about my family, work, health, money and yes, about my son's development progress.
Yes, this is part of my new life as a parent. I have evacuated an area in my brain when my child was born and now it is dedicated to thinking about him.
At the end of the day, it's really simple! I just want to hear that he is OK and on the right track. This is what Tucoola is about.
A few days ago, I had a meeting with two senior lecturers.
I'm trying to meet with as many experts as I can from the academic world in order to present Tucoola and get some feedback.
We have a great advisory board with the best people from every field in the Academy world, but still, it's important for me to share our life work with more experts, get more feedback, obtain new ideas, etc.
After meeting dozens of experts, it's official! They think that Tucoola is a nature product of the technology development in our days. They don’t think that it's too mechanical, they aren't threatened by Tucoola's technology and they understand that we don't want to take anyone's place - We just want to use the tools that the technology has given us and use it to understand and help our children.
Everyone agrees that monitoring and measuring children while playing games using Tucoola platform is a great solution for the new generation.
We are all interested in learning about our children's development progress, especially monitoring each child's personal advancement from the beginning to the end (with our famous graph that presents the development).
My son will be 2 years old this week and it's seems that soon, as a father, I'll be able to enjoy Tucoola :)!
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