Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 1, 2011
Recommendation Slicing. The Internet has a problem. It’s one you know well. The signal-to-noise ratio is getting out of hand. In non-geek speak this means that there is so much information out there now it’s hard to separate the good stuff from the rest. We all now visit UGC sites to learn about products & services before we use them.
Feld Thoughts
FEBRUARY 1, 2011
On Monday I was at the White House to help announce the Startup America Partnership. As part of this, TechStars announced the TechStars Network , an affiliation of TechStars-like programs across the country along with our commitment to the Startup America Partnership to help 5000 experienced mentors work with 6000 entrepreneurs to create 25,000 new jobs by 2015.
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ReadWriteStart
FEBRUARY 3, 2011
For this week's One Million by One Million roundtable, we partnered with the Indian Angel Network (IAN). India, as you all know, is a rising power in the entrepreneurship firmament, and the country's entrepreneurs are making a long-awaited switch from pure outsourcing and labor arbitrage to now venturing into building Internet companies, cloud businesses, and, as you will see in today's presenters, some very cool hybrid businesses that leverage India's cheap labor pool and, when combined with so
Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak
FEBRUARY 3, 2011
Outsourcing! Such a beautiful word. It’s the magical word that can almost eliminate you from your business and make life so much easier that you’ll be sleeping on a bed of roses with money falling from the sky. When I thought about outsourcing, I thought about uncle Scrooge from the cartoon “Ducktales&# from back in the day, doing his daily swim through his money (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re either too young or too old – just kidding
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
Both Sides of the Table
JANUARY 31, 2011
This post originally appeared on TechCrunch. One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? Aren’t you ever tempted to go back and do it again?”. The obvious answer is yes. When it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood. I guess it’s kind of like crack (not that I know from experience).
thebarefootvc
FEBRUARY 1, 2011
When I looked at my inbox this morning, I had emails from six organizations I have advised/worked with over the past couple of years (including Astia and Techstars ) announcing their partnership with the White House’s Startup America initiative. And, lest I for a moment forgot that I am living the American dream, thanks to parents who left a life that they loved to give me an even better one, it was once again etched in my mind.
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Steve Blank
JANUARY 31, 2011
Out of the mouths babes. Maybe because it’s a company town and everyone in Silicon Valley has a family connection to entrepreneurship. Or maybe I just encountered the most entrepreneurial 12 year olds every assembled under one roof. Or maybe we’re now teaching entrepreneurial thinking in middle schools. Either way I had an astounding evening as one of the judges at the Girls Middle School 7th grade Entrepreneurial night. 12 Year Olds Writing Business Plans.
deal architect
FEBRUARY 3, 2011
I am fortunate to be invited to a wide range of industry events. But as in farming, have found “crop rotation” is important. This week I went to Lotusphere – I was last there almost 20 years ago while at.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 2, 2011
I’m a big fan of the old adage "There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers." We have all heard questions that begin, "This may be a dumb question, but …" used effectively by smart people who are not afraid of risking ridicule by challenging a questionable assertion from an intimidating speaker. Most people in business seem to expect their leaders just to give orders.
Software By Rob
FEBRUARY 2, 2011
“Marketing sources have a half-life.&#. I read this quote a few weeks ago. I don’t recall where it’s from, but it put into words a concept I’ve had in my head for ages but haven’t been able to communicate. The concept centers around the idea that traffic sources decay over time. Some decay faster than others, but they all die out eventually if you don’t invest time to maintain them.
Genuine VC
FEBRUARY 3, 2011
Much of the VC blogosphere commentary about startups covers venture and angel financing with advice focused on company founders. But most people in the startup game aren’t VCs nor are they founders (yet)… but rather they’re employees of startups. While the most frequent topic people informally ask me about is acquiring funding for a new venture, the second most frequent topic people ask are questions about joining an existing startup as an employee: “How do I think about
deal architect
FEBRUARY 2, 2011
I spent a little over a day at IBM”s Lotusphere event in Orlando this week and the most interesting session for me was a one-on-one with Doug Heintzman, Director of Lotus Strategy. He painted several “what if” scenarios. Imagine if.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 29, 2011
You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. There are no “overrides” – for example, businesses don’t thrive just because they offer the latest technology, or because everyone wants to be “green, or because their goal is to reduce world hunger.
SoCal CTO
JANUARY 31, 2011
As I discussed in Matching Algorithm , I end up talking to a lot of startups who want to become the eHarmony of careers, eHarmony of clothes, eHarmony of jobs, eHarmony of tutoring, eHarmony of services, eHarmony of investments, etc. This comes up a lot and if you are thinking about one of these kinds of startups, definitely take a look at Matching Algorithm.
Genuine VC
FEBRUARY 3, 2011
Once you’ve figured out whether you want to find a very early stage startup or a late stage one (the topic of my first post in this series ), the real hard work begins. There’s a sea of information, both in the blogosphere and residing in the heads of everyone your informal network, which an individual job-seeker needs to wade through to find strong startup and the right role in it.
deal architect
JANUARY 31, 2011
Outsourcers will generally offer up disaster recovery/business continuity clauses in application/people based contracts that are derived from data center/machine based contracts. You can move processing from one affected location to another far easier than you can move teams. The situation.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 30, 2011
After you have heard a few startup success stories, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, you may be tempted to invest some money yourself, maybe by pooling your funds with other investors who claim to have a great track record. My advice is to leave the investing in startups to the professionals (or friends and fools). First of all, despite a few visible blowout successes, the odds of a payback from investing in startups is very low (that’s why VCs look for 10X returns to cover failures).
SoCal CTO
FEBRUARY 2, 2011
A lot of my time is spent helping early-stage companies get to proof points so that they can raise capital. They might have some seed money and are thinking or raising a Series A based on success of an early release (MVP). Because of this, I've always tried to stay up-to-speed on how early-stage investors look at valuation of companies. What are they really looking for?
Feld Thoughts
JANUARY 29, 2011
I feel strongly that the one of the important elements of building a sustainable entrepreneurial community over a long period of time is for the entire existing entrepreneurial community to be extremely welcoming to young college graduates. For the folks with a knee jerk reaction to call me ageist, please note that I said “one of the important elements …&#.
deal architect
FEBRUARY 2, 2011
On the innovation blog Cross-country with just one fueling stop! Meet ARM: The “new” kid in chips “How Aha! Really Happens” Disney: Technology to optimize guest lines.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 31, 2011
These days, I’m hearing more and more about Location-Based Services (LBS) as the next big opportunity for startups. So far, it’s just another mobile phone app that tells people where there friends are (Foursquare and Facebook Places), but it’s poised to be a lot more. Internet marketers see it as a better way to target consumers, and even retarget them to close a sale.
SoCal CTO
JANUARY 31, 2011
As I discussed in Matching Algorithm , I end up talking to a lot of startups who want to become the eHarmony of careers, eHarmony of clothes, eHarmony of jobs, eHarmony of tutoring, eHarmony of services, eHarmony of investments, etc. This comes up a lot and if you are thinking about one of these kinds of startups, definitely take a look at Matching Algorithm.
Scalable Startup
FEBRUARY 1, 2011
I had dinner recently with a former colleague and good friend, let’s call him Al, who has recently transitioned from CTO to CEO of an early stage company he founded; he’s struggling with every aspect of his new job. Al was originally the de-facto leader through his first funding round, then at the urging of many around him recruited an experienced CEO to “take it to the next level”.
deal architect
JANUARY 30, 2011
On the New Florence blog Companies leading way in mobile payments The “personalized shower” 2011 edition “The New American Home” Conversation Mode in Google Translate on Android.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 3, 2011
Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. This one had better grab their attention, or they won’t look further. You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary.
Feld Thoughts
JANUARY 30, 2011
I had never heard of the organization called Downtown Boulder, Inc. until I was asked to keynote at the annual meeting which I did a few weeks ago where I talked about “entrepreneurial communities and why Boulder is such an awesome one.&# I got plenty of positive feedback and met a number of owners of businesses – most of them retail – based in downtown Boulder.
ReadWriteStart
FEBRUARY 2, 2011
We've written before about the importance of having a Web presence for your startup, even if you aren't prepared to launch. But a team at this weekend's Startup Weekend in Philadelphia has taken this idea one step further, designing a product that will help startups build viral launch pages: LaunchRock. LaunchRock is one of those incredibly simple but incredibly awesome ideas.
crowdSPRING Blog
JANUARY 31, 2011
One of the least expensive and most effective ways that small businesses can grow is through the strategic application of public relations. PR can be executed on a modest budget, and the awareness and word-of-mouth that can be attained is priceless for a small company. PR is typically a mix of social media, community participation, public speaking opportunities (including appearances at trade shows and conferences), bylined articles or media commentary, and long-term relationships with reporters
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 1, 2011
If you are just plain tired of working so hard, or your startup is not getting the traction you expected, should you shut down cleanly, or just file for bankruptcy and walk away? For those who think that bankruptcy is the easy way out, think again. Bankruptcy should always be the absolutely last resort. The “advantage” of filing for bankruptcy, of course, is that it gets creditors permanently off your back, with no continuing lawsuits, based on funds derived from selling all assets.
Feld Thoughts
FEBRUARY 4, 2011
On Tuesday, I spent the day at TechStars New York. After spending Monday in Washington DC for the launch of the TechStars Network, it was really fun to spend the day and go deep with the first TechStars NY class. By the time I got to NY on Monday night I was exhausted. My day started at 5am with email, followed by a run, a few conference calls, and then the big announcement at the White House.
Rembrandt Communications
JANUARY 31, 2011
Small Business Public Relations – What Is It? When many entrepreneurs think of public relations (PR), they think about sending out a press release. But PR is so much more… It entails all of the communications you have with the media, customers, employees, partners, etc. Why Do You Need It? By communicating with your customers [.].
Life Beyond Code
FEBRUARY 3, 2011
Today, I am pleased to announce one of my pet projects – Sparktastic! Sparktastic is a series of limited edition prints whose goal is only one thing – to inspire you and your team. I have close to 25 of them on the site right now and will soon be releasing another 20 of them throughout February. A sample limited edition print is below. It’s called “ Doors &# and it’s really about what and where to focus.
VC Cafe
FEBRUARY 1, 2011
Outbrain bought the content recommendation system Surphace from AOL for an undisclosed sum. Surphace is a reincarnation of Sphere, a startup founded by Martin Remy and Steve Nieker in 2006 as a related content plugin and was later acquired by AOL in April 2008 for a rumored sum of $25 million. In October 2009, AOL re-branded the service to Surphace and launched a self served solution for related content called S4.
This is going to be BIG.
FEBRUARY 4, 2011
I was out at Strata, the O'Reilly "making data work" conference. I think that the only VCs there were myself and the IA Ventures team--a stark contrast to some of the other mainstream tech conferences that are pretty densely populated with investor types. What is striking me to me is how many times I was been asked "What are you doing here?". Seems that in the absence of a pitch competition or some kind of immediately obvious venture investment opportunity, people aren't used to seeing VCs.
The Startup Lawyer
FEBRUARY 4, 2011
Great news — your startup just got accepted to an incubator! But before your startup signs up and cashes that $[XX,000] check, your startup’s co-founders should sit down and evaluate the incubator’s offer. The following are some issues to consider and actions to take before accepting an incubator’s offer: (1) Calculate Valuation and Determine Value.
Gregg Fraley, Author of Jack's Notebook
FEBRUARY 2, 2011
I’m busy these days writing a manual for my new company, Kiln. Writing a technical document is a mixed blessing. It feels like you’re doing something that will provide value, that feels good, and — it’s often slow going. The manual is for a new innovation process which we’re calling FuseTrail. More about that in future [.].
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