Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

Fred Wilson wrote two posts in 2010 that were very influential with the startup community. The titles were: Mobile First, Web Second. Mobile First, Web Second (continued). If you’re in the minority that never read them – you should. I know that they really impacted an entire cohort of startups because every company that was coming to pitch me businesses was (is) saying, “I’m a ‘mobile first’ company.” Part of the beauty of blogging that in two sittings F

Web 334

Web Mobile Software Review San Francisco 334

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 16, 2012

Twitter isn’t just a fun way to keep in touch with friends and follow your favorite celebrities; it’s also an incredibly valuable tool for marketing, branding, customer service, and business education. These days, few big businesses operate without a Twitter presence, and more and more business gurus, CEOs, and teachers are flocking to the site to share their expertise and inspiration with young professionals like yourself.

Social Media 206

Social Media PR Media Hosting 206

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 29, 2012

Just about every weekend someplace on the planet a peculiar series of meetups is happening called Startup Weekend. The idea is to bring together a group of people, many of whom have never set eyes on each other before, to form new ventures, many of which are tech-related. So far the model seems to be working: each weekend on average has produced two or three companies.

St. Louis 135

St. Louis Kansas City Norway Kansas 135

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

Given that 2011 is already behind us, I’d like to take a brief time-out from the usual legal and financial wonkery to wish you and your loved ones a Happy New Year. Many thanks to David Rose , Ilana Grossman , Justin Stanwix , and the whole Gust team for making the Gust Blog such a valuable platform and resource for entrepreneurs and angel investors.

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

Speaker: Nick Noreña, Innovation Coach and Advisor, Kromatic

Every startup and innovation project exists within an ecosystem that either helps or hurts that project. As innovation managers, we need to keep a pulse of that ecosystem and make sure we're helping those innovation projects we're managing every step of the way. In this webinar, Nick Noreña will walk through an Innovation Ecosystem Model that he and his team at Kromatic have developed to help investors, heads of product, teachers, and executives understand how they can best support innovation in

Startup

crowdSPRING Blog

JANUARY 5, 2012

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account , I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

Social Media 92

Social Media Small Business Design Media 92

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 13, 2012

I woke up this morning to a post from Fred Wilson titled The Academy For Software Engineering. In it Fred announced a new initiative in New York City called The Academy For Software Engineering. Fred, and his friend Mike Zamansky (a teacher at Stuyvesant High School) helped create this with the support of Mayor Bloomberg’s office and Fred and his wife Joanne are providing initial financial support for the project.

Leadership 130

Leadership New York City Software Engineering New York 130

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 25, 2012

While you’re undoubtedly learning a lot from your MBA courses at college, it never hurts to supplement your education with a little outside reading material. There are numerous great books out there on business, entrepreneurship, leadership, and other topics of interest to MBA students that can be immensely valuable to anyone looking to build their knowledge and prepare for a career in business.

Merger 206

Merger Leadership Design Management 206

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 26, 2012

Today's roundtable was co-hosted with the Jacksonville Startup Weekend. For the uninitiated, Startup Weekends are 54-hour events where entrepreneurs come together to pitch ideas, form teams, and learn best practices. This past weekend, the Jacksonville entrepreneurship community hosted their own version of this exciting program. 150 people came together, and 17 businesses were formed.

Jacksonville 114

Jacksonville Florida PPC Programming 114

Diego Basch

JANUARY 28, 2012

Some people believe that carrying out a large software project is like building a bridge. You look at your past projects and use the data to estimate the time and resources needed. This view has been debunked decades ago; this analogy was frequently seen as an aspiration for the future when I did my Master in Software Engineering at Carnegie Mellon in the late nineties.

Software Developers 78

Software Developers Software Development Software Developer 78

crowdSPRING Blog

JANUARY 15, 2012

We write often about small businesses and startups and lean approaches to marketing and other business functions. Mid- to large-size companies can also benefit from the lean methodology and one way to do so is by actively leveraging crowds of workers: designers , software engineers , testers , writers , customer support people , customers, market researchers , and dozens of other groups via the Internet.

Software Review 89

Software Review Technical Review Social Media Community 89

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 31, 2012

I believe that science fiction is reality catching up to the future. Others say that science fact is the science fiction of the past. Regardless, the gap between science fact and science fiction is fascinating to me, especially as it applies to computers. My partners and I spend time at CES each year along with a bunch of the founders from different companies we’ve invested in due to our human computer interaction theme.

Technical Review 127

Technical Review Cofounder Video Cloud 127

Growthink Blog

JANUARY 3, 2012

Every year for the past decade I have heard the same thing, regardless of whether the economy is doing well or poorly. And what I hear is entrepreneurs saying that it's so hard to raise money. Importantly, whether times are good or bad, the process of raising money is pretty much the same. And whether times are good or bad, the challenge of raising money is still the same.

Bootstrapping 108

Bootstrapping Venture Capital Finance Business Plan 108

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 12, 2012

by Vickie Milazzo, author of “ Wicked Success Is Inside Every Woman “. We all know men overwhelmingly populate the higher echelons of the business world. And most of us agree on the reasons why: sexism, a history of repression, the “Mommy track,” and so forth. But a new study conducted by researchers from several business schools, including Columbia University Business School, suggests there might be another reason for the shortage of women in high-level positions: we just don’t exaggerate enoug

Salary 179

Salary Matching Sales America 179

Ben's Blog

JANUARY 19, 2012

When you base your life on credit. and your loving days are done. checks you signed with love and kisses. later come back signed insufficient funds. —Funkadelic, Can You Get to That. Thanks to Ward Cunningham, the metaphor technical debt is now a well-understood concept. While you may be able to borrow time by writing quick and dirty code, you will eventually have to pay it back—with interest.

Management 78

Management Technical Review Software Review Engineer 78

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 16, 2012

5 Ways to Get Your Customers to Create Content For You This content from: Duct Tape Marketing. You’ve heard enough about the need to produce content that I’m guessing you’re probably blogging away and curating, aggregating and filtering all manner of content. But there’s one type of content that you may not be focused on and I happen to think it’s some of the most potent to be had – and that’s customer generated content.

Customer 72

Customer Nashville Software Review Video 72

crowdSPRING Blog

JANUARY 2, 2012

A few weeks ago I wrote about New Year ‘s resolutions for small businesses , but the other day I realized I had left one out. This one is not an action item, nor an intellectual exercise. It is at once very simple, but also incredibly difficult, especially when under pressure to get a new business off the ground to improve performance in an existing one.

Small Business 108

Small Business Startup Differentiation Lean 108

Software By Rob

JANUARY 25, 2012

Photo by psiaki. Based on the title of this post you might be thinking I have mad stacks of money in the bank. That I’ve had a few “exits” and instead of hunkering down and writing code for 6 months I opted to talk to a few of my buddies at the yacht club and purchase a primed and growing social network for somewhere in the mid-seven figures.

Acquisition 63

Acquisition Software Review Fresno Algorithm 63

Growthink Blog

JANUARY 19, 2012

When I was a kid I played ping pong quite a bit. We had a ping pong table in my basement and I would play a lot with my dad, my brother and my friends. I was always a good athlete, and have pretty good hand-eye coordination. So that, combined with a lot of practice, made me pretty good. In fact, I actually won a bunch of local ping pong tournaments at my school and the town recreation center.

Leadership 91

Leadership Entrepreneur China Hiring 91

deal architect

JANUARY 8, 2012

This continues a series of columns from practitioners I respect. The category "Real Deal" describes them well. This time it is Stan Swete, CTO and VP of Product Strategy at Workday. Besides being one of the best technologists in the.

Product 372

Product 372

Ben's Blog

JANUARY 31, 2012

Man, have you ever really wondered. Like why are we here? What the meaning of all this? —Outkast, Church. Since Marc and I founded Andreessen Horowitz three years ago, we have raised $2.7 billion. That statement begs a few questions. The two most obvious are: Why did such a new venture capital firm raise so much money? How did such a new venture capital firm raise so much money?

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Portfolio Cofounder Networking 78

Rob Go

JANUARY 18, 2012

In a prior post about what it’s like to be a VC I made the claim that even if an investor has operating experience, that experience gets stale after a few years. This led to the following question in my comments: “You mention that operational skills begin to decline 2 years into the job. If this is true, then it follows that VC GPs can only add limited operational value.” I have lots of thoughts on this, so I thought I’d expand with a full post.

Operations 50

Operations Technical Review Investment Bankers Cofounder 50

crowdSPRING Blog

JANUARY 22, 2012

Last week I posted the first part of this article on crowdsourcing strategies. In the post, I discussed some of the big-picture issues that I believe should be considered carefully when planning a crowdsourced project. Best practices for crowdsourcing require managers to first determine the best venue for their project, effective management of the process, careful quality control, executing a well-planned recruiting strategy, active engagement of the intended audience, express ’training

Lean 86

Lean Social Media Technical Review Audience 86

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2012

Over the holiday I became aware of a new tech blog that aims to have deep insights into the next generation of technology, which they call The Hypernet. Why should you care? Well, it is established by some of the industries more successful investors – Mike Maples and Roger McNamee. My favorite post was this one (image above) in which they talked about their 10 hypothesis for technology investing.

Technology 280

Technology Marketing 280

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 10, 2012

Almost no startup founder values her time properly. Consultants know exactly what their time is worth: their hourly rate. As they say, it’s how much “the market will bear.” When a consultant intentionally doesn’t work for an hour — whether to be with family or to work on a new startup — they’re clearly giving up an hour of potential earnings.

Founder 291

Founder CPA Startup Early Stage 291

deal architect

JANUARY 13, 2012

In 2005, the year in which I launched my innovation blog, New Florence, I had 65 posts there. This year, at the pace January has started, I will have that many by the 3rd week of February! And my books.

Technology 310

Technology 310

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

An "elevator pitch" is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. Everybody knows about these, but few people seem to deliver a good one. A good elevator pitch is not just for an elevator discussion.

Elevator Pitch 283

Elevator Pitch Startup Differentiation Distribution 283

Jeff Hilimire

JANUARY 9, 2012

I’ve been a laptop guy for, well, as long as I can remember. I think probably everyone reading this is. The thought of not having a laptop is likely something that seems almost impossible to most of you, I’m guessing. And I was the same way a month ago. It’s important to note that my experience won’t be the same for those of you that are programmers or designers where you need complex software to do your job.

Software Review 52

Software Review Email Software Design 52

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 3, 2012

The benefits of microfinance have been debated since the ’70s when the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh began making tiny loans to impoverished small business owners. In 2006, Muhammad Yunus, the bank’s founder and “the father of microfinance,” won the Nobel Peace Prize. Since that time, at least one study has shown the practice does little to empower women in oppressed cultures or improve quality of life for poor people.

Colombia 256

Colombia Kenya San Diego Cuba 256

Genuine VC

JANUARY 31, 2012

There are plenty of places throughout the blogosphere which talk about the typical VC meeting, delivering both advice and tips. (In that corpus, a while ago I blogged about seven mistakes that entrepreneurs often make during a pitch session.) Along those lines, I think the proverbial 12-slide deck helps provide structure to a conversation where a multitude of information needs to be communicated in a short (often an hour or less) period.

Forecast 215

Forecast Framework Conversion Founder 215

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 31, 2012

The skin between my second and third finger on my left hand has been dry and flaky since middle school; no one knows why. I have a scraggly patch of hair on my right calf from when I scraped off a swath of skin in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. (I made the catch for the score. My wife asked “Was it worth it?”) We all have scars. The interesting ones aren’t physical, and are more subtly revealed.

Bootstrapping 230

Bootstrapping Java Revenue Hosting 230

deal architect

JANUARY 4, 2012

My friend Dennis Howlett has written a post with that title. WTF you may say – different markets, different species. Not really. My next book focuses on the “technology elite”. There are user organizations, consumer tech companies, enterprise tech companies.

Technology 292

Technology Marketing Software 292

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2012

Entrepreneurs are all about firsts, and the most important is you making a great first impression – on investors, customers, new team members, and strategic partners. Poor first impressions can be avoided, but I’m amazed at the number of unnecessary mistakes I see at those critical first introductions, presentations, and meetings. The key message here is “preparation.

Angel Investor 269

Angel Investor Affiliate .Net Entrepreneur 269

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

Raising money is hard. And when you’re relatively new to the process it’s easy to be confused by the process. There is all sorts of advice on the Internet about how to raise capital. Of course much of it is conflicting. I’ve raised money as a “hot company” and I’ve raised capital when no one would return my phone calls.

Developer 366

Developer Silicon Valley PR Las Vegas 366

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 26, 2012

By Marsha Friedman, CEO of EMSI Public Relations and author of Celebritize Yourself. I remember when the Internet first gained prominence and it became apparent that having a website was essential for any commercial enterprise. Back then, web designers were not plentiful and few people thought to hire a professional to create a site. They felt that ANY web presence was better than none at all and they found people they knew who were “into the whole Internet thing”to help them.

Social Media 181

Social Media Media Public Relations Marketing 181

Genuine VC

JANUARY 23, 2012

At NextView Ventures, we have a number of companies in our portfolio which are “marketplace” businesses, where buyers and sellers meet to exchange a good or service. And along the way we’ve met with or observed a larger number of seed-stage startups attempting to start them. All of these companies face the challenge of the marketplace cold-start problem : simultaneously attracting both sellers and buyers to generate enough liquidity so that meaningful transactions can result.

Engineer 201

Engineer Vertical Portfolio Seed Stage 201

Small Business Force

JANUARY 9, 2012

Choosing to be an entrepreneur means you believed enough in yourself and your business concept to risk the security of a regular job, a regular paycheck. It gave you the opportunity to "live life on the fault line," as your business got launched and haltingly began to generate revenue, and maybe even some positive cash flow. Every major step forward was a small victory to be celebrated.

Small Business 36

Small Business Dividend Development Team Review Security 36