diff --git a/resources/start b/resources/start
index 45626176..5abb5f64 100755
--- a/resources/start
+++ b/resources/start
@@ -124,5 +124,8 @@ sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:check RAILS_ENV=production
 # start the nginx server
 /etc/init.d/nginx start
 
+# kickstart the rails application
+wget "http://${SERVER_URL}" -O /dev/null
+
 # watch the access logs
 tail -F /var/log/nginx/${SERVER_URL}_access.log