Published latest aggregated blog posts

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 {
-  "title": "Coping with Failures during Long Running Actions",
-  "link": "https://jbossts.blogspot.com/2024/09/coping-with-failures-during-long.html",
+  "title": "The Best Startup Book I Read in 2024: Falling in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution",
+  "link": "http://www.ofbizian.com/2024/10/the-best-startup-book-i-read-in-2024.html",
   "author": [
     {
-      "name": "Michael Musgrove",
+      "name": "Unknown",
       "avatar": null
     }
   ],
-  "date": "2024-09-30T18:44:00.003Z",
-  "feed_title": "Narayana team blog",
-  "content": "In this brief note I want to draw attention to some of the features in the LRA protocol that can help service writers manage failures. LRA is a transaction protocol that provides certain desirable properties for building reliable systems such as Atomicity, (eventual) Consistency and Durability. Providing this level of assurance is non trivial but the protocol provides a simple model that can help participants to easily play their part in enabling such systems.  LRA is not just for orchestrating services, it is as equally as important for managing failures. Apart from the I have not seen many posts, articles etc covering this important topic, and it is this deficit that I’d like to address in some posts. I had wanted to kick off with an article and demonstration of participant failover but I hit an while writing the demo which we need to release the fix for before I can showcase that. So instead, in this post I’ll just bring to the readers attention one or two, but by no means all, of the main features that service writers can use to help them to create more reliable microservices, a preview if you like, before going into more depth in a subsequent post.  Some remarkable items to consider include:   1. Failing participants must be restarted. There is an option to change the     callbacks on restart, any of the endpoints can be changed, even passing over     responsibility for, say, the compensation to some other microservice.     Likewise, failing coordinators must be restarted if progress of LRAs is to     be made.  2. There is an annotation on participants that the coordinator can use to     monitor participant progress and to enable participants to fully participate     in the recovery protocol, in particular there is support for non-idempotent     compensate endpoints; if there is an @Status endpoint and the compensate     endpoint has previously returned a status code, then it will periodically     poll the status endpoint until the participant reports that it has reached     an end state. The annotation is used by the coordinator to inform the     participant that it is free to clean up.  3. There are state transitions which participants use to notify the coordinator     of failures (FailedToCompensate and FailedToComplete) and of transitory     states (Compensating and Completing).  4. Managing timeouts, although the actions supported by the protocol are long     running careful choice of time limits for actions can bound failure windows     and reduce the need for complicated recover procedures.  5. And of course there is support for nested Long Running Actions which is a     jewel in the toolkit for building reliable distributed systems.  That’s all for now - I’ve deliberately kept the ideas brief and high level so that they can be explored in greater depth later."
+  "date": "2024-10-03T11:46:00.003Z",
+  "feed_title": "OFBizian",
+  "feed_avatar": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/279246bd111a7c211134179eddb94afa?s=50",
+  "content": "  Why do some startups thrive while others disappear? There are many reasons, but one of the common mistakes is the inability to focus at and navigate the critical phases of a startup: Product-Market Fit (PMF), establishing a Business Model (BM), and scaling for Growth. Each phase brings unique challenges and requires a sharp focus.  The best resource I found on this aspect of startups is . This book breaks down the nuances of each phase, helping you to make educated decisions that increase your startup’s chances of success. By the end of it, you’ll have an understanding what you need to do to steer your startup from idea to scalable business with more confidence learnt from the shoulders of a successful serial startup founder. Below are my notes with the key phases for early B2B startups.       PMF: FINDING VALUE FOR USERS  Product-Market Fit is the foundation of any successful startup. Without it, even the most groundbreaking ideas will fail to gain traction—and eventually die. It’s really that simple.  What is PMF?   * Validation: Achieving PMF means proving that your product solves a real    problem for a specific group of users. It’s not about intuition or gut    feelings; this is measured through data only.  * User Retention: One of the strongest indicators of PMF is whether your users    continue to return. Ideally, you should aim for at least 30% of them to    regularly engage with your product—this shows they find ongoing value in your    product.      * Conversion and Feedback: Another critical aspect is understanding why some    users drop off after their first interaction is critical. Reaching out to    these users for feedback will help you to refine your product meets their    needs (or confirm they are not your target audience).  The Importance of Metrics  Your ability to succeed in this phase largely depends on the metrics you track:    * Retention Rate: If your users aren’t coming back, it’s a clear sign you    haven’t nailed PMF. Consider this metric your North Star.      * Cohort Analysis: The next level here is to track how different groups of    users engage with your product over time. This will help you uncover patterns    that signal whether you're moving in the right direction.   * User Feedback: Don’t hesitate to connect with users who didn't return. Their    insights are most valuable for pinpointing areas that need improvement and    for fine-tuning your offering.  When to Move On  Knowing when to move beyond the PMF stage is as important as finding it. You’ll know you’re ready to advance to next phase when you have a core group of loyal, repeatedly coming users, and your product consistently delivers value. What is the key sign? When your first customer returns for a renewal - this is a clear indicator that you’re solving a real problem.         BUSINESS MODEL: TURNING VALUE INTO REVENUE  How do you ensure your startup’s long-term survival? It comes down to building a sustainable business model. Once you’ve reached PMF, your next challenge is figuring out how to monetize the value you’re providing.  What is a Business Model?   * Value Capture: Your business model is how you transform the value your    product delivers into revenue. A good rule of thumb is to aim for capturing    between 10-25% of the value your product generates. If you’re far below this    range, you may struggle to sustain your business.        Market Considerations: It’s also important to ensure the market you’re    targeting is big enough to support your revenue ambitions. Even the best    product can hit a ceiling if the market is too small.  Key Metrics and Strategies   * Revenue per User: This metric tracks how much revenue each customer brings    in. Monitoring this will help you understand whether your pricing is working.  * Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) vs. Lifetime Value (LTV): Your business model    needs to ensure that the lifetime value of a customer far exceeds the cost of    acquiring them. Ideally, your LTV should be at least three times your    CAC—this ratio is critical for long-term profitability.  * Sales Cycle Length: The shorter your sales cycles, the more efficient your    business model is likely to be. Long sales cycles might indicate that your    value proposition needs refining, or that it isn’t compelling enough to    customers.  When to Move On  Crafting a solid business model is about more than just generating revenue—it’s about ensuring your startup can scale and succeed in the long run. Make sure you’re capturing enough value, and that your revenue streams align with your customers’ needs and behaviors.  You’ll know you’re ready to transition into the Growth phase when you’ve successfully figured out how to monetize your product, your sales cycles are streamlined, and you can predict your revenue with consistency. At this point, your focus should shift toward expanding your customer base, all while keeping a close eye on the balance between CAC and LTV.         GROWTH: SCALING YOUR STARTUP TO NEW HEIGHTS         During growth phase, the focus shifts from building and validating to expanding and optimizing. This phase is about ramping up user acquisition, maximizing retention, and ensuring that your business model can handle rapid expansion without faltering.  Key Metrics for Growth   * Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): As you scale, it's crucial to keep a close    eye on CAC. If your acquisition costs start to climb faster than the revenue    each new customer brings in, it’s a signal that your growth strategy might    need rethinking.  * Churn Rate: Minimizing churn is just as important. High churn rates are a    warning that your product isn’t delivering consistent value, and that can    undermine even the most aggressive growth plans.  Strategies for Sustainable Growth  To scale effectively, focus on these strategies:   * Optimize User Acquisition: Whether you’re leveraging viral loops or paid    channels, acquiring users efficiently is vital. Make sure that your marketing    spend is generating a healthy return.   * Enhance User Retention: Growth isn’t just about adding new users; it’s about    keeping them. Invest in features and improvements that encourage long-term    engagement.   * Leverage Data: Use data analytics to track user behavior and continuously    fine-tune your growth strategy. By understanding which channels bring in your    most valuable users, you can allocate resources more effectively.  When to Push for Aggressive Growth        Deciding when to push for aggressive growth depends on how stable your business model is and whether you can scale user acquisition and retention effectively. If your CAC is low, your retention rates are high, and you feel confident that scaling won’t compromise product quality or user experience, then it’s time to hit the gas.   SUMMARY  What’s the ultimate goal for any startup? It’s to create sustainable value, and that requires mastering the transition through each key phase.   * PMF: Focus on validating that your product solves a real problem, and watch    for solid user retention.  * Business Model: Ensure that you’re capturing enough value.  * Growth: Scale by balancing acquisition and retention.  Focus is everything. Moving too early or too slowly through these phases can be costly. Validate each step, stay data-driven, and adjust your strategy as needed. If you like this summary, follow me on for similar resources, and go read the full .   "
 }

src/content/posts-aggregator/10.json

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 {
-  "title": "Keycloak Realm Configuration Management Tools Survey Results",
-  "link": "https://www.keycloak.org/2024/09/realm-config-management-tools-survey-results",
+  "title": "Quarkus Newsletter #48 - September",
+  "link": "https://quarkus.io/blog/quarkus-newsletter-48/",
   "author": [
     {
-      "name": "Thomas Darimont",
+      "name": "James Cobb",
       "avatar": null
     }
   ],
-  "date": "2024-09-11T00:00:00.000Z",
-  "feed_title": "Keycloak Blog",
-  "feed_avatar": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/87fe00619f08c241da8dfb23d907ffa2?s=50",
-  "content": "Three months ago, the to gather insights on realm configuration tooling within our community. The number of responses overwhelmed us! With a total of 433 (!) submissions, it highlighted the diverse range of options our community uses for configuring realms.  Thank You for your valuable feedback!   POPULAR TOOLS IN USE  The survey revealed a variety of tools employed by the community for realm configuration, including:   *    *    * Self-developed Realm Configuration Management   *    *    *    *    *    * Custom Operator for Realm Import/Update and Client Provisioning   *    *    *    *    *    TOOL USAGE DISTRIBUTION  From the submissions, we observed the following distribution of tool usage among respondents:   1. Terraform Keycloak Provider ~51% of the votes   2. Keycloak-Config-CLI ~16% of the votes   3. Self-developed Realm Configuration Management ~7% of the votes   4. Keycloak JSON Realm Import/Export ~6% of the votes   5. Keycloak Admin CLI ~4% of the votes  These top five tools accounted for 84% of all responses.   AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT  While each tool has its strengths and weaknesses, the survey highlighted several common challenges:   * Using the Admin API can be awkward and inconsistent, for example, with    references using IDs versus aliases.   * Recognizing changes in the configuration, such as when new roles are added to    service accounts via the Admin UI, can be challenging or impossible.   * Many tools depend heavily on the Keycloak version used and are often not    compatible with new releases.   * Managing components that are automatically created by Keycloak, like service    accounts, is challenging with existing configuration tools.   * Lack of support for configuration linting, validation and code completion   WHAT’S NEXT?  Based on the feedback, here are some key lessons learned and the next steps:   * Tool Compatibility: We aim at improving compatibility with newer Keycloak    releases to ensure seamless integration.   * Admin API Enhancements: We’ll address inconsistencies and usability issues in    the Admin API to streamline configuration tasks.   * Ease Change Management: Enhance tools and APIs to improve the recognition and    change management of realm configurations.  We are committed to addressing these areas and working closely with the community to enhance the realm configuration experience in Keycloak. Your continued feedback and support are invaluable as we move forward. Stay tuned for updates and improvements!  If you have any further questions or suggestions about this blog post, please join the related .  Thank you very much for your support!"
+  "date": "2024-09-12T00:00:00.000Z",
+  "feed_title": "Quarkus",
+  "content": "\"Harnessing Automatic Setup and Integration with Quarkus Dev Services for Efficient Development\" by Ivelin Yanev to see the simplicity and power of Quarkus to encourage experimentation, quicker iterations, and ultimately a faster development cycle. Learn how to to make the Quarkus build goal cacheable with minimal modifications to the Maven build configuration, reusing outputs from previous builds to save time in Jérôme Prinet’s article \"Accelerate your Quarkus Maven builds with Develocity Build Cache\". Read \"Implementing a Quarkus REST API using PostgreSQL as Database\" by Ivan Franchin as a step-by-step guide on how to implement the Movie API, a Quarkus application that uses PostgreSQL as database Explore how to create a dummy REST API in Quarkus and demonstrate various methods to consume it using different clients by reading \"How to Consume REST API in Quarkus\" by Alexandru Borza. Learn how to get the most out of your serialization performance in \"Leveraging Quarkus build-time metaprogramming capabilities to improve Jackson’s serialization performance\" by Mario Fusco. Learn about the creation of the Quarkus JDiameter extension in Eddie Carpenter’s blog post, \"Revolutionizing Telecom Microservice - Modernizing JDiameter with Quarkus\".  You will also see the latest Quarkus Insights episodes, top tweets/discussions and upcoming Quarkus attended events.  Check out !  Want to get newsletters in your inbox? using the on page form."
 }