Let me tell you a story… Two years ago, I embarked on this great adventure starting a company, raising high my Python sword and slashing all the challenges that I would face during my journey.

This feeling that warms you up when someone finds your code so useful that they will pay money for it is amazing.

Starting a company is much more than that though; it’s the opportunity to talk to people and to use your empathy to figure out what they really want; it’s the opportunity to decide all by yourself what kind of crazy new software development methodologies you’re going to use; it’s the opportunity to write code that is 100% tested — or not waste anytime on those stinking tests that only slow you down; it’s the opportunity to take the the phone and to learn the hard way how to close a sale (a skill that will serve you well for years to come in many aspects of your life, from negotiating a business deal to dating).

Starting a company is stressful, yes, but it’s a lot of fun. Founder Fuel is an exciting local initiative that gives an average of $20k to new startups and helps them grow by nurturing them with skilled mentoring and a very influential network of contacts.

In the four months of the program, the companies are are expected to grow from essentially nothing into usable and marketable products.

The first round of startups presented their products last Tuesday during the demo day, and it was very exciting to see how far many of those went during such a short time.

The second round is now open to applications, and you have until January 7th to submityour startup idea. In the first round, not a single startup had a strong Python presence.

Will we see more Python companies this time?

Let’s try to make it happen!