A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
AUGUST 30, 2010
Rob Walling generously allowed me to reprint this excerpt from his new book, "Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup" available in paperback and Kindle from Amazon and in PDF and ePub from StartupBook.net. Rob is one of the most successful "micropreneurs" — creators of small, cash-generating startups frequently sold for cash.
Both Sides of the Table
AUGUST 30, 2010
This post was originally published in a shorter (more sensible) format in the Wall Street Journal online. If you’re short on time click on the WSJ link and read the 990 word version there. Otherwise, grab a cup ‘o coffee … Clicking on any graph below will take you to that article. One year ago I predicted that in 2010/11 the economy, far from being on the path of permanent recovery was on a temporary resurgence and there was a strong possibility of a “double dip” recession.
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Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
My introduction to startups really came when I first worked in IBM with Philip Donald Estridge back in 1981. Known as Don Estridge, he led development of the original IBM Personal Computer, and thus is known as "father of the IBM PC" He’s gone now, but I still remember him fondly. He and Bill Lowe somehow managed to convince then CEO Frank Cary to give them a dozen engineers, a small budget, and a few months, to set up a small skunk-works called Entry Level Systems in Boca Raton, Flori
ReadWriteStart
SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
If you're capable of seeing past the old stones of Paris and the picturesque rural villages, you'll realize that France is every bit as technologically advanced as any other Western country - more so in some areas. Not only does the country have a higher percentage of homes with high-speed Internet than the U.S. (plus it's faster and costs half as much ), it ranks first in the world for number of blogs per Internet user, and has a formidable market of Internet consumers who spent €5.5 billi
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
Feld Thoughts
AUGUST 30, 2010
We’ve shifted into a new zone in the world of software patent stupidity. A few weeks ago, Oracle sued Google over a series of Java-related patents they got when they acquired Sun. Last week, Paul Allen sued 11 major software companies , including Google, over four patents that were granted to his now defunct Interval Research think tank. Much of the early commentary has already been said.
mashable.com
AUGUST 31, 2010
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Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
ReadWriteStart
SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
Last week, we looked at one of the latest reports from the investment research firm CB Insights , tracking the top venture capital firms across the U.S. in terms of their deal activity. According to that report, over the past year the top 30 firms participated in 663 unique deals (almost a quarter of all deals) with amounting to almost $9 billion in investment.
crowdSPRING Blog
AUGUST 31, 2010
In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice.
mashable.com
AUGUST 31, 2010
Top Topics Twitter YouTube Facebook iPhone Google Video Google Buzz Social media Music Business Advertise Network Blippr iPhone App Mashable France MashDeck Twitter App Mobile Site Social Media Events Twitter Guide Book Facebook Guide Book Partners App Development WordPress Experts MaxCDN Content Delivery Dynect Managed DNS Rackspace Hosting Intridea About Us Submit a Tip!
Ben's Blog
AUGUST 29, 2010
“Some say that I’m they favorite. But I aint hearing none of that. I’m about my team ho. Young money running back”. —Drake. “Stay in your place. While I sit here and rule. I’m king of a cow. And I’m king of a mule”. —Yertle the Turtle. In my last post, I mentioned that you should strive to hire people with the right kind of ambition. Surprisingly to me, I received a large number of responses from readers questioning whether or not this was good advice.
Growthink Blog
AUGUST 29, 2010
Almost completely shrouded in the anemic U.S. stock market performance and the drumbeat of negativity that passes as business reporting these days has been the massive growth in U.S. service exports – increasingly from U.S. startups and small businesses. By way of anecdote, from the time Dave Lavinsky and I founded Growthink in 1999 through 2008, more than 95% of our firm’s clients and investors were U.S. – based.
Both Sides of the Table
AUGUST 30, 2010
Seth Levine of Foundry Group addresses this important topic this morning on his blog with a post, “ Has Convertible Debt Won ?&# Seth was basing this on a Tweet by Paul Graham that said&#. “Convertible notes have won. Every investment so far in this YC batch (and there have been a lot) has been done on a convertible note.&#. I have to say that I didn’t take the question to mean that convertible debt had won for the entire market, but either way it’s clear that convertible
Steve Blank
AUGUST 30, 2010
My two daughters are now in college and have put their toes in the working-world with summer jobs. As they’ve grown older, they’ve heard their parent’s advice about women in the workforce. This post is not advice nor is it a recommendation of what you should do. It’s simply my interpretation of what I observed watching my daughters grow up. Our circumstances were unique, times have changed, and your conclusions and opinions will most certainly differ.
deal architect
SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
I find myself in Toronto every few years and my image of the city has been one of a financial services capital, a baseball town, and a well-run large city – someone called it “New York run by the Swiss”.
Pascal's View
AUGUST 28, 2010
Everybody agrees that, without meaningful job growth, America will not emerge from its current deep economic funk. There is plenty of debate, however, over what drives that job creation engine in our country. I’ve recently read several interesting reports that touch on parts of the American job growth conundrum but do not tie them together. Pooling some compelling statistics from these various sources, I believe that the following conclusions are correct and interrelated : (1) Job growth
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
The Web. Open, democratic, leveling, freeing information from closed networks. The wisdom of the crowds. Or so it seems. I originally came from the entreprise software world (for 10 years) and before that I was in mobile & telecoms (8 years) so the last three years of immersing myself in consumer Internet, digital media & advertisings has been very eye opening.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
I gave a talk last night to the Silicon Valley Product Management Association. It’s a San Francisco Bay Area forum for networking, jobs and education for over 500 Product Management professionals. This is one of the Silicon Valley organizations that remind you why this is a company-town whose main industry is entrepreneurship, (and a great example of an industry cluster.).
deal architect
AUGUST 30, 2010
Mark DeSantis in the section of “consumerization of technology” in his radio interview with me commented about someone he knew at the Pentagon, (which traditionally has had early access to emerging technology) who increasingly walks the halls of the retailer, Tags: Industry Commentary.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
The universal challenge of every startup founder is to get everything done that needs to get done, and still have a life. Even outside of business, everyone wants to accomplish more, while working less. I’ve been a student of these techniques for some time, but recently I saw a great summary that seems to pull all the key principles together. Stever Robbins, known on the Internet as the Get-It-Done Guy, just published his book “ 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More ,” which outlines his strategies.
Software By Rob
AUGUST 30, 2010
Software by Rob Passionate about Startups and MicroISVs Lessons Learned by a Serial Entrepreneur home about press micropreneurs archives ← What the Beatles Can Teach Us About Starting a Company Lesser Known Traits of Successful Founders → Guest Post on A Smart Bear: Virtual Assistants and Outsourcing Micropreneurship , Startups If youre trying grow your startup youve come to the right place.
entrepreMusings
SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
Time heals all wounds or so they say. Time certainly does makes the wound look different and allows it to close up a bit, but the wound is still there to remind us of something. In the world of high-tech entrepreneurship, people sometimes refer to those wounds as ‘scar tissue’ or ‘battle wounds.’ It means you’ve been through a lot, learned a lot, and in some cases they are looked upon as honored badges of experience here in the US.
deal architect
SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
Rob Day, an investor with Black Coral Capital, wrote this morning on Greentechmedia “…after I posted a pretty critical take today on a book I'd just read, it was a new experience to have the author (Vinnie Mirchandani, "The New.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
Most people think innovation is all about ideas, when in fact it is more about delivery, people, and process. Entrepreneurs looking to innovate need to understand the execution challenge if they expect their startup to carve out a profitable niche in the marketplace, and keep innovating to build and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. Everyone thinks they know how to make innovation happen, but I can’t find much real research on the subject.
SoCal CTO
SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
I’ve updated my earlier post on Networking Events Los Angeles with some great suggestions from Lorin Cha who I just met through LinkedIn. Here were the new ones: LeanLA Startup Circle Meetup I’ve gone to a couple of these. Often the presentations are pretty basic because of a fair number of newbies in the audience. However, there are some great folks who have lots of experience also attending so the networking and discussion is generally pretty great.
Feld Thoughts
SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
Amy and I created a tradition about a decade ago we call “four minutes in the morning.&# We try to – fully clothed – spend four minutes together every morning 100% focused on each other. I’m an early bird – usually getting up around 5am regardless of the time zone I’m in (except on the weekends – then I sleep until I wake up – sometimes 1pm.
deal architect
AUGUST 30, 2010
This continues a series of columns from practitioners I respect. The category "Real Deal" describes them well. This time it is Martin Geddes, profiled in my book in the chapter on telcos. He is a thought leader on business models. Tags: Telecommunications.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 31, 2010
By Adam Hoeksema According to a report distributed by the Angel Capital Education Foundation , total startup funding from venture capital funds, state funds, and angel investors totals approximately $20.8 billion annually. Surprisingly, friends and family contributed nearly three times the amount of capital to thousands of startups each year. With approximately $60 billion in startup funding coming from friends and family, entrepreneurs must consider this as an option as they seek to launch new
ReadWriteStart
SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
Montreal-based entrepreneur and blogger Ben Yoskovitz knows a thing or two about hiring employees at startups. Yoskovitz formerly founded his own company, Standout Jobs - a tool designed to improve hiring and recruiting techniques for small businesses on the Web. Needless to say, the hiring and performance tracking of employees at the SMB level is a topic of interest for Yoskovitz.
Feld Thoughts
SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
Following is a post on super angels I wrote yesterday for PEHub. In the beginning, there were angel investors. And it was good. As individual angel investors made more and more investments, they became super angels. One day a super angel woke up and thought to himself, “Gosh, I could do a lot more investments if I had a fund.” And so the super angels became micro-VCs (or “institutionalized super angels”).
deal architect
AUGUST 29, 2010
from the innovation blog The math behind Paul the octupus Ubiquitous USB? Frenchy: a life of techno-thrill and caution The Adidas Jabulani FIFA soccer ball. Tags: Innovative Business Uses of Technology.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 28, 2010
By Ernst Gemassmer Most of us view weekly staff meetings today with a degree of trepidation and frustration. Without clear expectations, two-way communication, and effective execution, they are too often a waste of time for all participants. Many have suggested that it is time re-engineer this process, or eliminate the meetings entirely. In an old survey on staff meeting obstacles conducted by GroupSystems , I found the following not-so-surprising statistics for the average 50 minute staff meeti
ReadWriteStart
SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
College hiring is projected to rebound in time for the Class of 2011 to feel its effects, according to a new survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Employers who took part in NACE's survey say they're anticipating hiring 13.5% more new college grades from the Class of 2011 than they did from the Class of 2010.
Feld Thoughts
AUGUST 29, 2010
Entrepreneurial communities grow up around smart people. Whenever someone in state or local government asks me what they can do to accelerate entrepreneurship, I always tell them to put as much money and energy as they can into education. If you build a broad base of smart, inquisitive, curious people that are long term members of your community (e.g. they don’t move somewhere else), you’ll be delighted with the results over a long period of time (think 20+ years).
crowdSPRING Blog
AUGUST 30, 2010
I have a couple of kids and, although they are getting older now and moving towards their own adult lives, I learn from them every day. Watching them grow, learn, and develop into individuals has taught me many lessons, including how to be a better entrepreneur. It is valuable to step back and consider ways in which we can all do and be better and lessons we can draw from children and their unique approach to living, their fresh attitudes about others, and their ongoing joy in making their way t
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 30, 2010
The first question most people seem to ask when contemplating a new startup is where they will get the money. That’s certainly a valid question, but all the money in the world won’t make your business a success if you hate what you are doing, and you aren’t prepared to do the job. I suggest that there are several other questions even more important than the money one.
ReadWriteStart
AUGUST 31, 2010
You could have the greatest idea for a startup in the world. You could even have the best team working together to build a great product. That's all fine and dandy, but for first-time entrepreneurs, if you don't have traction, you're not going anywhere. Traction means having a measurable set of customers or users that serves to prove to a potential investor that your startup is "going places.
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