SoCal CTO
MAY 13, 2014
'Bob Dorf just published a post Where are the Hackers? Solving the Founder-Tech Gap that came out of some fun conversations that Bob and I have been having. A large part of this conversation is what kinds of advisors startups should be looking for. A little while ago, I suggested that Every Web/Mobile Startup Should Have a Technical Advisor. The conversation with Bob was about what the composition of advisors should look like.
This is going to be BIG.
MAY 12, 2014
'Two years ago I started a fund. For the fund to be viable, it had to be at least $5 million, but somewhere in the neighborhood of $8-10 million would have been perfect. Thankfully, that''s what I raised--$8.3 million. So how does it work? How does one make money raising a venture fund of this size? Not easily, let me tell you. The benefit comes in the upside, and it''s very back end weighted.
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YoungUpstarts
MAY 13, 2014
'by Joshua Conran , senior partner at Deksia . Niche businesses almost always originate from an identifiable need in the marketplace. They recognize an underserved segment of the population — whether that’s expectant mothers, pet owners, or cheese lovers — then develop a product or service to meet the specific needs of that customer base. Marc Lore and Vinit Bharara did just that with Diapers.com.
Up and Running
MAY 16, 2014
'According to Small Business Administration research , only half of new businesses survive for the first five years and only one-third of new businesses are able to survive for 10 years. The inverse is compelling as we can conclude that if only 50% of new businesses survive for the first five years, then the other 50% fail in the first five years. We can also conclude that about 65% of new businesses don’t make it to the ten-year mark.
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
crowdSPRING Blog
MAY 16, 2014
'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!
Feld Thoughts
MAY 13, 2014
'Jane Miller’s launch party for her first book (and FG Press ‘s second title) Sleep Your Way To The Top And Other Myths About Business Success is happening in Boulder this coming Tuesday, 5/20 at eTown Hall. Profits benefit the CU Leeds Professional Mentoring Program. Around the Foundry Group offices we’ve been referring to Sleep Your Way To The Top as “Sheryl Sandberg meets Chelsea Handler.
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Up and Running
MAY 15, 2014
'I’ve worked with a lot of amazing people on my startup, PopInShop. Building a business out of nothing definitely takes the proverbial village, and surrounding yourself with the right people at the right time is crucial for hitting milestones. So how do you know when you are working with the right people—or, more importantly, with the wrong people? When it comes to this topic, I’ve sought counsel from mentors, fellow entrepreneurs, and numerous resources available online.
Growthink Blog
MAY 14, 2014
'All of a sudden, it is boom time again for venture capital funds, with over $10.3 billion in fresh capital raised by 578 funds in the 1st quarter, up 36% from 2012. And high profile exits on deals like Nest , WhatsApp , and Occulus - where fund investors saw returns in excess of 20x their original investments - have caught the public''s fancy as to the power of startup and emerging company investing.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 11, 2014
'Mother’s Day. The one day a year where we recognize this all important figure in our lives who shapes our childhood providing unconditional love through our successes and failures with encouragement and support through our struggles. I’ve written about my own mom before and the role she played in shaping my life but of course you never quite appreciate the full contributions of Mom until you’re much older.
YoungUpstarts
MAY 13, 2014
'By Ben Carpenter, author of “ The Bigs: The Secrets Nobody Tells Students and Young Professionals About How to Find a Great Job, Do a Great Job, Be a Leader, Start a Business, Stay Out of Trouble, and Live A Happy Life “. You’ve fretted about your child’s future from kindergarten on. You’ve zoom-focused on homework and grades, worried that he wouldn’t have the study skills and discipline to make it once he got out from under your thumb, and (of course!
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 16, 2014
'I’ve always said that startups are all about execution. Sometimes I encounter self-proclaimed entrepreneurs who have been “thinking” about a concept for many years, and haven’t started yet. Some of these may be visionaries, but none are real entrepreneurs - yet. Elon Musk has built several innovative companies, including SpaceX and Tesla Motors, and is worth about $12 billion.
deal architect
MAY 13, 2014
'I have heard Zach Nelson, CEO of NetSuite present for years now. He is nothing if not persistent. He has often talked about CRM without integration to transaction processing systems is clearly inadequate. As omnichannel becomes a burning topic in.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 10, 2014
'Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a few brands & media properties that I truly love and for which I have huge loyalty. Virgin America. Uber. USAA. Jon Stewart. Fareed Zakaria. David Brooks. And NPR. NPR has been a part of my life for 25 years. As a news junkie and seeker of information, I’m that guy who always has his car tuned to KPCC everyday to get my daily dose of NPR.
YoungUpstarts
MAY 14, 2014
'by Julie Miller and Brian Bedford, co-authors of “ Culture Without Accountability: WTF? What’s The Fix? “ We all know what it’s like to be promised, “I’ll get back to you on that question,” only to never hear another word. Likewise, we’ve all dealt with colleagues who draft off of others’ achievements, salespeople who don’t stand behind their products when the crap hits the fan, and bosses who pass the buck far more often than they stop it.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 10, 2014
'When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Rather than quitting, there are always alternatives, like pivoting the business model or merging with new partners for support. Either could improve the statistic that most startups fail within the first five years.
Agile VC
MAY 15, 2014
'We’re launching a series of platform initiatives here at NextView in 2014. Today we’re pleased to announce the first in a series of Growth Guides. What’s a Growth Guide? Well our focus here at NextView is helping exceptional seed stage companies get things off to the best possible start. Simply put these Growth Guides are a step-by-step playbook which cover a specific need that seed stage companies may face in their first 12-24 months.
Rembrandt Communications
MAY 14, 2014
'Think about their needs when it comes to SEO content strategy and public relations Recently, I was interviewed on “Black Hollywood Live’s Phenomenal Women” program. It was a lot of fun, and one of the key issues that came up is providing solutions to customers. With this in mind, what are you doing to provide […].
YoungUpstarts
MAY 13, 2014
'by Melissa Thompson, CEO of TalkSession. The “World’s Toughest Job” online job advertisement (above) led to a viral video compilation of the 24 applicants interviews. The candidates vied for a position described to offer 135-hour workweeks, no vacations, no breaks no pay, and required degrees in medicine, the culinary arts and finance.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 12, 2014
'Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. They usually explain it by insisting that they are driven to follow their passion, need to be their own boss, want to get rich quick, or want to change the world. I now believe that the roots of the difference may go back more than 10,000 years, when hunting and farming became two different lifestyles.
Feld Thoughts
MAY 14, 2014
'The FCC is proposing new rules to allow Internet providers to discriminate based on content to provide separate and unequal connection speeds. This effectively creates “fast” and “slow” lanes for the Internet which means that website owners and entrepreneurs may be forced to pay an arbitrary fee to ISPs like Comcast and Time Warner if they want their visitors to be able to access their website at regular speeds – or at all.
Gust
MAY 11, 2014
'In the US, many entrepreneurs see grants as “free money,” since they are not loans and don’t have to be repaid. A grant is not an equity investment, so the entrepreneur doesn’t have to give up a stake in the company either. Typically they can be used to fund product development and commercialization that would otherwise require outside investors. A good place to start looking is the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which is a lifeline for high-tech startups.
YoungUpstarts
MAY 15, 2014
'Before the Internet age, it took a big crisis to damage a personal or company brand. Today, thanks to the advent of social media, even minor slip-ups can spin out of control. An off-the-cuff comment can be rebranded as “offensive” and, in a matter of hours, overshadow the reputation that you’ve worked for years to build. The best way to protect your individual or company brand is to create a reputation management strategy before something happens.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 11, 2014
'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.
Feld Thoughts
MAY 16, 2014
'As Boulder Startup Week 2014 comes to an end, I have been reflecting on the power of startup communities today. When I wrote Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City , I made some assertions about how to build startup communities and what the impact of them would be on society. As I sit here at the end of a week pondering everything that is going on in the world around startup communities, I believe I have vastly underestimated their potential impact.
The Next Web
MAY 11, 2014
'Vik Singh is CEO and co-founder of Infer, a provider of data-powered business applications, with customers such as Tableau, SurveyMonkey, Zendesk, New Relic, AdRoll, Box, and Cloudera. The first product manager (PM) is a crucial unicorn hire that no startup should compromise on. The reason is simple – your PM is responsible for managing your team’s most precious resource: time.
YoungUpstarts
MAY 15, 2014
'For many people, visiting a thrift store is like going on a treasure hunt. Fascinating items occupy these stores’ shelves, all waiting to be snatched up by a frugal shopper. More Americans find their budgets simply don’t stretch as far as they once did, and many of them have turned to thrift stores for everyday shopping. Many businesses in the United States continue to struggle, but thrift stores across the nation are booming.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 14, 2014
'Sponsored by VISA Business Running a small business as an entrepreneur is a never-ending challenge of new products, customers, competitors, and an unpredictable economy. This week is National Small Business Week in the US, so it’s a good time to celebrate your successes, and allow the rest of us to acknowledge your dedication and innovations. Too many entrepreneurs never find the time to reflect on the positives of their lifestyle, or even take a break.
Feld Thoughts
MAY 12, 2014
'Whenever a company gets acquired or goes public, there is often a fancy closing dinner. It’s usually at a nice restaurant in a private room. The wine is expensive and the toasts are many. The people in the room are the founders of the company, the executives, the board members, other major investors, the lawyers who worked on the deal, and the investment bankers – if any were involved.
The Next Web
MAY 15, 2014
'Andrej Kiska is an Associate at Credo Ventures. “All these investors claim that there are not enough opportunities out there to invest in, yet when I send them my business plan, I don’t even get a response.” Considering that venture capital investors get tens of thousands of business plans, investor decks and other pitches annually, it is hardly surprising that not all of them get an investment.
YoungUpstarts
MAY 13, 2014
'by Julian Pencilliah, author of “ The Jetstream of Success ”. No matter how well our lives may be going, many of us seem to be at our wit’s end when it comes to attaining that next level of success, but there is a solution to this challenge. Whether we want to improve our relationships, spiritual development, emotional well-being, health or monetary ambitions, we so often find that we’re our own greatest enemies.
Gust
MAY 15, 2014
'Thousands of entrepreneurs continue to create new startup profiles on Gust each month. Take a look below to see which industries, countries, and company stages had the most activity in Q1.
VC Cafe
MAY 13, 2014
'Just back from a week of beer, black wardrobes and David Hoselhoff ads- yes, it was Web Week in Berlin. Again and again (after a few drinks, of course) my European friends confided the same perception about Israeli startups: wonderful technologies, horrendous marketing. Danish entrepreneur and Skype funder Morten Lund said it best “any cabdriver in LA is better at marketing (than Israeli founders).
The Next Web
MAY 13, 2014
'Ted Muething is a PR and marketing consultant at Jones-Dilworth Inc., a boutique agency in Austin focused on bringing early-stage technologies to market. Every day we vote with our dollars how we want the world to be. By deciding what to buy, and what not to by, we shape strategies in the boardroom and control the fate of large corporations. Tech companies know this well, and it’s why they fight desperately to predict what the next big trend to sweep the industry will be.
YoungUpstarts
MAY 15, 2014
'by Emily Egbert , co-founder of HitUp. Employees are gold diggers. Or at least that’s what many employers think: They’re only into you for your money. You see the sparkle in their eyes on payday, and that excitement is amplified when you give them a bonus. But the paycheck itself could be a lot less important to them than you realize. Research shows that people are more creative and work harder when they’re motivated by “the interest, enjoyment, satisfaction and challenge inherent in the wor
Up and Running
MAY 12, 2014
'Photo: Getty Images. What do Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg all have in common? In addition to being some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, all three are introverts. This may come as a surprise. After all, aren’t introverted people shy, quiet, and even anti-social? Most people wouldn’t assume introverts are the type to thrive in the fast-paced, aggressive business world.
Gust
MAY 14, 2014
'All investments by angels (and everyone else) in a company are made according to detailed legal documents that specify everything about the relationship among the various parties, the terms of the value exchange and the various rights and responsibilities of everyone involved. The paperwork can range from 5-10 pages for a pretty straightforward convertible note, up to 120 pages or more for a full Series A round.
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