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BUSINESS OF SOFTWARE BLOG | THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012 Some of the words that made Business of Software 2011 worthwhile for us… You have given me what I need to finally get my startup moving. “. We have been searching for a conference or association that supports the startup commercialization and growth of software business. Putting on a conference is hard work (we know, not as hard as running a software business!) ” Thank you. Nice work!!!”. Epic”. -
8 Clues that Your Business Honeymoon May be Over challenge any startup to show me they have avoided all of these: One of the founders isn’t delivering. You never dreamed that customers would be slow to accept an unproven product from an unknown startup in the middle of an economic downturn. As I asserted earlier, virtually every new startup experiences these problems. -
How to Score a Job at a Tech Start-up Go to meet-ups such as Graham Lawlor's Ultra Light Startups in New York City, which attract entrepreneurs, investors, and wannabe start-up employees. Can you handle long hours, low pay, and impossibly high expectations? The start-up life might be for you. Here's how to break in. I've seen both sides of this equation. So do the research. -
ALTGATE | THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012 Fear vs. Greed at Facebook On the one hand, founders fear that they will be forced to shut down their startup if they run out of money, which leads them to rush to raise new capital. Dilution is the progressive shrinking of each executive’s equity percentage as the startup raises each round of financing.) This is a repost of an article written by Prof. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012 Invesdor Launches Equity-Crowdfunding Platform That Skips The Paperwork An ambitious new equity-crowdfunding player for Finland and Sweden-based startups has opened up publicly today. On the business model side of things, Invesdor charges a 5% success fee to startups after a successful round has been completed. Invesdor focuses on seed rounds under €100 000, with the minimum investment only €20.
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BUSINESS OF SOFTWARE BLOG | THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012 Balsamiq’s Peldi – BoS Talk 2012 – Coding is the easiest part! If you think your ability to code up a new web app in the course of a week-end is your ticket to startup success, think again. Update on Peldi’s talk for Business of Software 2012. Expect lots of actionable tips and tricks and a sprinkle of Peldi humor. Coding is the easiest part! ”, moments. We hope you will be able to join us. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012 #17 - Taneli Tikka He's been part of many startups, but also built some of his own companies and also bankrupted a few. In addition to this we also discussed a little how the startup environment has changed in the 10+ years from the perspectives of investors and entrepreneurs. Show notes: Taneli Tikka on LinkedIn. tanelitikka. Dopplr. IRC-Galleria. -
BOTH SIDES OF THE TABLE | WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 It’s Morning in Venture Capital have been close to the tech & startup sectors for more than 20 years and I can’t think of a period in which I felt more optimistic about the innovation and value creation I see in front of us. The number of startups being created has increased by an order of magnitude. This article originally ran on PEHub. Thank you, Aaron Sorkin! -
LIGHTSPEED | WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 Congratulations to the Stanford BASES Final Winners Entrepreneur startupsYesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to join the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students, known as BASES , as a judge for its end of the year finale in which student-run start-ups compete for $150K in prizes. This was my third year as a judge. -
CHARLIECRYSTLE.COM | WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 What Building Eden Taught Me About Leading So how does this apply to startups? Or tech startups? Back in February I got the crazy radical idea of starting community gardens here in the hometown, the center of the best farming soil in the anywhere ever. Well, shit, Russ, you bastard. But it turns out that's sometimes true. start things that I don't finish. do finish some things. -
CROWDSPRING BLOG | WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 What Small Businesses Can Learn From The World’s Best Brands For example, we wrote about five common lessons small businesses and startups can learn from the world’s best Brands , the 10 key learnings from PSFK’s Good Brands Report 2009, and the lessons for small businesses and startups from Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2011 report. Most Valuable Brand In The World: Google. -
10 Concrete Steps to Assure Business Innovation Continuous innovation is required to survive in all businesses, beginning with a startup, and increasing in importance as your business matures. In a startup, that needs to be the founder or CEO, and that person has to be regularly and personally involved. entrepreneur startup risk innovation businessBrands. Ownership. -
READWRITESTART | WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 Generational Issues Can Bedevil Startups Sometimes running a startup is like watching a soap opera on TV. StartupsEven if your new company has only a few employees, their pesonal melodramas can be amplified by long hours in close quarters. And that can be especially true for younger workers. This certainly isn’t a new issue. Generational Disconnects. she says. -
FRESH INC.: THE STAFF BLOG | WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 The Making of a CEO: Leading Change Even if your startup is working, entrepreneurs are assumed to be at the vanguard of change. How do you become a real CEO, instead of a CEO-by-default? Part two of a five-part series. Change. Adjustments. Course corrections. Innovation. This is what entrepreneurship is supposed to be all about. If your start-up isn’t working, change it. -
How Basecamp Can Salvage Your Work (Or, How Basecamp Can Keep You from Going Berserk) Business Entrepreneurship Productivity entrepreneur entrepreneurs small business startupsWe’ve all been there – an important project is due soon, and you just can’t seem to find the email between you and your partner, a prospective buyer, or your development team. Getting everyone to buy into a project management tool can be tricky. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 Instadashapp Mashes Up Pinterest With The Missing Istagr.am Dashboard Sure, there are a lot of services out there trying to do the same thing, but at the Sthlm Startup Hack , Arno Smit and Spotify iOS developer Magnus Johansson put together a nice product, called Instadashapp , by drawing from elements of Pinterest. This includes the newsfeed, popular images, locations, search comments, and the liking features. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 AaltoES Throwing "Founders' Week" With Lineup Of Silicon Valley Guests Aalto University's Entrepreneurship Societ y is throwing a Founders' Week: a week of talks, workshops and encounters with the aim to bolster the entrepreneurial spirit and startup culture in Finland's growing ecosystem. Differences in Venture Capital – Europe and the US, Helsinki as the startup hub of Europe?, -
READWRITESTART | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 Could You – Should You – Fund Your Startup With Credit Cards? When it comes to financing a brand-new startup, most founders find themselves stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. While some lucky startups attract angel investors or have access to money from friends and family, the vast majority are on their own, at least at first. StartupsBeware Revolving Credit Charges. -
STARTUP HOUSTON | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 StartupTexas – Houston Happy Hour May 31st Startup Texas is our region’s lifeline to the Startup America Partnership ( [link] ). Come celebrate the arrival of Startup Texas at a happy hour for the startup community! Startup Texas connects entrepreneurial hotbeds across the state, from Dallas to Austin to El Paso. Events Houston Startup Happy Hour -
GROWTHOLOGY | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 Startup Act 2.0 Announced In 2011, the Kauffman Foundation presented a proposal of ideas we called the Startup Act that offered policy reforms to make it easier for new firms to start and grow. Some of these ideas informed the development of the Startup Act legislation brought forth by Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) unveiled the Startup Act 2.0. Policy -
Quick Funny Disruptive Game Changing Paradigm Shift Video In my post here yesterday I questioned the value of the phrases “game changing” and “disruptive” for what every startup promises investors and few really offer. And she tries to deal in that real world, not in the theoretical or academic or high end world in which every startup requires funding by outside investors. -
47 HATS | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 So what’s Silicon Valley like? I was chatting with Alvin of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this morning on my site – he’s a law student thinking about doing a startup. Want more sales for your startup? He wanted to know: what’s Silicon Valley is like? Other answer – lots of tech jobs available, great weather, new stuff all the time. from: 47 Hats. -
SOCAL CTO | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 Los Angeles Startup Events I recently posted about the Increase in Early-Stage Startup Activity in Los Angeles. In that post, I mentioned how one of the signals is the big increase in number of startup events and the number of attendees at those events. Of course, given the size of this list and having kids, I really can't attend a lot of these. -
FELD THOUGHTS | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 Getting The Compensation Conversation Right In my last post, I provided a few tips for job candidates when interviewing at a startup. Chris Moody , president and COO of Gnip, is back with a guest post in his Moody on Management series. Following are Chris’ thoughts on negotiating compensation with a prospective employee. Enjoy and comment freely! Love, Chris”. -
ONSTARTUPS | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 Freemium Pricing for SaaS: Optimizing Paid Conversion Upgrades The following is a guest post by Rishi Shah, Co-Founder of Digioh and 500 Startups Mentor. Looking for other startup fanatics? Join his newsletter and get his eBook "10 Paying Customers in 10 Days" for free. I've been building a new product and I'm almost ready to launch it. Here is what I know I want: A free plan. The $14.95 price. - How to Survive Your Startup's First Year
The bottom line about a startup's first year is that it's very scary. These are extreme versions of fear, of course, but they still make the first year of a startup very difficult pyschologically. Startups do not go well with families. startup idea is like a ball of clay that you have to sculpt. People don't wear Prada. -
The mid-market briar patch The startup graveyards are littered with companies who tried to target this seemingly alluring market segment — customers small enough to be intelligent and nimble, young enough to embrace new technology, yet big enough to spend real money to alleviate real pain. Uh oh. It sounds like it’s best of both worlds. Why is it like this? -
7 Reasons for Entrepreneurs to ‘First Know Thyself’ When you are running a startup, having a better sense of who you are and what you want can help you push away things that are not really important, and urge you to go after the things that are really in your heart. Startup businesses are very demanding. know yourself entrepreneur startup businessEdmondson Bell, Ph. -
READWRITESTART | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 The Next Billion-Dollar Startup Will Address a Basic Human Need Blank is a true startup veteran. He’s the author of “ Four Steps to the Epiphany ” and “ The Startup Owner’s Manual.” He’s been around Silicon Valley since it was mostly fruit orchards and has founded or worked with eight tech startups, four of which went public. And the hugely successful startups have gone a step further. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 It's Ok For Founders To Cash In, But There Shouldn't Be Any Reason To Hide It This publication is all for growth entrepreneurship and we feel that the more discussion around these topics we have, with the right attitude and manner of course, the better off the Northern European startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem will be. It's one of the best things that has happened to the Finnish startup ecosystem in a long time. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 Restaurant Day A Nice Addition To Startup Culture It's the little things that add up to a regional culture of entrepreneurship. Restaurant Day's goal is to spread food culture, but I believe it also serves as the spark that makes people realize there's value in providing the market with something unique. It gets people beyond the idea of starting a restaurant, into the doing. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 BetterDoctor Brings Logic And Simplicity To Finding A New Doctor Tulla threw a lot of logic my way that may justify apps for many more startups out there. It's no secret the U.S. healthcare system is a mess. The lack of transparency is likely why the system has bloated up to a $2.7 trillion industry, and finding the right doctor for yourself is no easy process. It's not easy to match the right people up. -
CHRIS DIXON | MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012 Four types of mobile apps One entry strategy for a startup is to replace a core utility. startupsIf you are a founder trying to create a new mobile app or an investor trying decide whether an app has enduring value, it is helpful to separate the ways that people use apps into four categories. The most popular time wasters are games. -
AUSTIN STARTUP | MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012 Startup Showdown A Welcome Addition To ATC’s Second CEO Summit The second day of ATC’s CEO Summit wrapped up last Friday with the Startup Showdown, featuring Baytan Labs, MapMyFitness, Convergence Wireless, VivoGig, and Toopher. -
MARK BIRCH | MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012 Quit Kindergarten, Usher in Telepathy 2.0, and Other Disturbances of the Interwebs Over the past several months, my startup, Telepathos, has been harnessing the power of the human mind to advance the newest communication channel, telepathy! Hey, if it was good enough for Moses, why not a modern day tech startup? It is yet again time for some Memebusters , Internet style. Why not go big and setup a Hacker Mansion ! -
SOCAL CTO | MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012 Startup CTO Speaking So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO for more than 30 startups. Select Startup CTO Speaking Topics Ten Lessons from Working on 30+ Startups Over the Past 15 Years Tony looks back over his experience working with startups and extracts elements that have led to success or failure. -
Do You Have What Investors Want? Nothing in startups is fully believable. What do investors want? I’ve read more than 100 business plans in the last two months. Entrepreneurs are overwhelmingly predictable on this point. Investors want disruptive. Investors want game changing. . But not just saying it. Being able to believe it. Two of every three plans says it. -
START UP BLOG | MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012 The truth about secrets Startup blog maths: Sharing > Secrets. entrepreneurship collaboration entreprenuership Ideas sahring secrets startupsSecrets kills us. They eat at our souls and disrupt our emotions in a negative way. We very rarely feel good about secrets because by nature we are social creatures that rely and need each other to survive. -
AUSTIN STARTUP | MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012 I Choose Austin He founded his first startup in 1996 in his college dormitory and now teaches a class at the University of Texas for student entrepreneurs. Joshua Baer helps people quit their jobs and become entrepreneurs. He's currently the CEO of OtherInbox and Director of Capital Factory. -
READWRITESTART | MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012 Why Every Startup Founder Needs a Mentor - And How to Find One Why does founding a startup sometimes feel like the loneliest journey on the planet? Surrounding yourself with “yes men” is a stupid startup move. We went everywhere and asked questions of anyone that would listen,” says Covington about the startup of their social community website. StartupsNo "Yes Men". Don’t scoff. -
Startups Are All About the Execution, So Tell Me How Execution is making things happen, and for startups it usually means making change happen, which is even more difficult. Recently, I finished a new book on this subject, “ The 4 Disciplines of Execution ,” by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling, which seems to talk to startups as well as the corporate world it was written for. -
STEVE BLANK | MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012 Why Facebook is Killing Silicon Valley The irony is that as good as some of these nascent startups are in material science, sensors, robotics, medical devices, life sciences, etc., For the first time, startups can today think about a Total Available Market in the billions of users (smart phones, tablets, PC’s, etc.) Kennedy, September 1962. Innovation. and put U.S. -
FELD THOUGHTS | MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012 Lean Startup Machine Boulder I judged Lean Startup Machine Boulder yesterday afternoon. I’m a huge Eric Ries / Lean Startup fan and believe that the methodology can be quickly taught. It’s not a coding / hacking weekend – it’s an applied process of the Lean Startup Methodology. -
Business of Software – where entrepreneurship is catching apparently… So much so that after last year’s conference I was compelled to call a few old friends and colleagues and put together a startup of my own. Magazine aside, however I can say with some authority that this startup is something that I wouldn’t have ever attempted if not for my past with the Business of Software. Particularly Wilson. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | MONDAY, MAY 21, 2012 Win A Free Ticket To Arctic15 At ArcticEvening Copenhagen Just like in our Tallinn and Stockholm events, we want to reach out to our community again by giving a chance to win a free ticket to Arctic15 , the awesome startup and growth entrepreneurship conference we're putting together for October. Today there's a new way to launch a startup - by building your team in the cloud. Sponsors. -
CROWDSPRING BLOG | SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012 Small Business and Startup Tips: Analyze This (a Data Primer) Related posts: Small business and startup tips: track your own customer service data. Small business and startup tips: training day! Startup tips: 5 great tools for freelancers (and small businesses). Our awesome Customer Service Master, Bianca, came to me last week with a simple request: “Let me have more responsibility.” -
START UP BLOG | SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012 What is evaporating? entrepreneurship change management entrepreneurs Ideas marketing startups technologyWe are trained to look for and focus on everything that is new. What technologies are emerging and how are we using them? What we are not so good at doing, is observing the things which are only noticeable by their increasing absence. - One Year Later
Startups are not all fun. Last week I celebrated my first full year at Half Off Depot. It has been a pretty amazing first year. Some of the stuff we have accomplished, purposely partially masked through statistics. We raised $7 million via venture capital and $1.5 via venture debt. Subscribers have grown by 450%. Made two asset acquisitions. -
FELD THOUGHTS | SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012 Do More Faster Top 12 Tips At RailsConf 2012 David and I wrote a book last year called Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup and this is his riff to a room full of developers about some of his top tips. He starts out with the assertion that “developers are the new investors” - how could you not be interested in hearing more about that? -
6 Key Attributes of a Winning Business Culture Your values as you create a startup are the key to creating an enviable culture that attracts more customers, according to Ann Rhoades, in her book “ Built on Values.” believe in a startup culture that strongly transmits the values of integrity, customer focus, and results. They drive the market, rather than the other way around. -
FELD THOUGHTS | SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012 Never Give Up, Never Surrender About five years and a couple of startups ago, I mercilessly tracked him down and he was good enough to meet and hear the pitch for the startup I was with at the time. That startup died, but I stayed in contact with Brad and we’ve chatted many times since then. First – an overview on what I’m working on now. -
You Can’t Be the Victim as an Entrepreneur victim entrepreneur startup executive employee businessPeople with a victim mentality should never be entrepreneurs. We all know the role of starting and running a business is unpredictable, and has a high risk of failure. For people with a victim mentality, this fear of failure alone will almost certainly make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. -
JOEL.IS | SATURDAY, MAY 19, 2012 What online gaming taught me about startups Whilst researching for the Achieving overnight success: Kevin Systrom piece I published two weeks ago, I was excited to see that one of Systrom’s earliest recollections of something that impacted his journey with startups was that he played Doom II a lot: “That was how I got into it actually. gaming startupswas a real geek. - The Darwinian Evolution of Startup Hubs
So the development of NYC as a startup hub is very much on my mind. And so I thought I'd post about the development of startup hubs. This theory, which I like the call The Darwinian Evolution of Startup Hubs, is not new and I certainly didn't come up with it. That was not meant to be a comprehensive history. -
CHRIS DIXON | FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 The default state of a startup is failure The default state of the world is to stay the way it is, which means the default state of a startup is failure. startupsIf you are starting a company and wondering why nothing good seems to happen unless you force it to happen, that’s because the world wants to stay the way it is. This doesn’t mean you’ll fail. -
READWRITESTART | FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 Will Crowdfunding Crowd Out Venture Capital? For startups, it’s now a realistic option to traditional sources like first-tier VCs. There are vehicles on the way that will help casual investors allocate a piece of their paycheck to startup ventures the same way they deduct now for a 401(k). For startups, that might seem a positive trend. It could happen. Going Mainstream. -
STARTUP HOUSTON | FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 Thomas Knoll – Building Communities (a Houston Lean Startup Circle recap) Last night’s Houston Lean Startup Circle meetup was a great success. One key takeaway that tied the concepts of Lean Startups back in to community development was his assertion that customer development *is* community building. Houston Lean Startup CircleThe meeting was held at the ChaiONE offices. -
BEN'S BLOG | FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 Is Now the Time to Hire MBAs? Conventional wisdom among smart technology entrepreneurs says not to hire people with Masters in Business Administration (MBAs) into startups. Aaron Patzer, founder of Mint, expressed the sentiment well when he said: “ When valuing a startup, add $500k for every engineer, and subtract $250k for every MBA.” So, what happened? -
READWRITESTART | FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 7 Ways to Motivate Your Startup Team — Without Giving Away Equity Startup entrepreneurs live, eat and breathe their companies. Employees at a growing tech startup don’t get much time off, so when you do hit some downtime, let your team take advantage of it. In the early stages of a startup, it does often help to all be in a room together, but when the project doesn’t call for that, be flexible. -
TAFFY WILLIAMS | FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 Even a Blind Squirrel Can Find Nuts was eager to obtain an opportunity where I could make a difference and get involved in a startup. This is true for a startup or a job search. Startups are stalled and the entrepreneur has no idea of next steps. You can also find him in the group Startup Group on Linkedin. entrepreneur Startup advice -
ARCTICSTARTUP | FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 F-F-F-Friday Wrap Up This isn't startup related, but I ran across Tom Fries of The Arctic Institute's Arctic This Week loaded with political, economic, and foreign policy news. Also on the 23rd is a Lean Startup Meetup in Helsinki. 15-16 of June is the European Startup Contest organized in Bilbao. It's Friday! Updated on Mondays. Foodie.fm Events. -
Interesting Idea for a Hybrid Crowdfunding Solution The JOBS act loosened restrictions on who is allowed to invest in startups, and it is now waiting for regulations to make it real. This is interesting: what if some crowdfunding sites limit the investing to so-called “accredited investors” as defined by the SEC. just read David Rose’s take on this at Quora. Why not? -
ADAM.HEROKU.COM | FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 How To Scale a Development Team Some startups, on reaching this stage, declare “we’ve got to grow up and act like a real company now” and immediately try to switch to heavy-handed tactics. I’ve been told that many promising startups have been killed by failing to weather the transition between these stages. a tornado of razorblades. Cohesion. -
CROWDSPRING BLOG | FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 Twitter Link Roundup #131 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Work harder on yourself than you do on your startup – [link]. Startup Swingers: Swapping Founders to Generate Fresh Ideas – [link]. Examples – [link]. -
7 Ways to Gauge Your Commitment to Your Startup There are no middle roads to real commitment, and if you are not ready to fully commit to all the rigors of a startup, you are better off sticking with your current role. If you are annoyed rather than exhilarated at the long or unpredictable schedule at your startup, you are involved but not committed. Exhibits surging raw ambition. -
FELD THOUGHTS | FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 Monthly Financials, Quarterly Board Meetings, Continuous Communications I’ve been writing about boards of directors some lately – both changing my behavior as well as thinking out loud as I explore reinventing how boards work for the book “Startup Boards” that I’m working on with Mahendra Ramsinghani. But for now, I’ll give you three specific things to change. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 Metrify To Provide Scalable Insights & Actions For Games One of the main drivers behind the hype of the Finnish startup ecosystem is Kristo Ovaska, who either founded or helped co-found Startup Sauna, Aalto Venture Garage, and Aalto Entrepreneurship Soceity among others. In the recent months he's been promoting his new startup, Metrify , and we decided to find out what it's all about. -
BOTH SIDES OF THE TABLE | THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 What to do About that Chip on Your Shoulder? Startup AdviceI’m fond of saying that I look for entrepreneurs that have a chip on their shoulder. That they have something to prove. That they’re not afraid to stick their noses up to the establishment. have always felt this way. It’s something I kind of seek out. I’m ok with founders who have “father issues.” -
START UP BLOG | THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 Meet Alistair entrepreneurship attitude business change Cool corporate dress entrepreneurs startupsMeet Alistair Leathwood. Alistair is the Managing Director of a large research firm. Research is a typically conservative industry, which for good reason is filled with conservative individuals. Alistair is also one of these people. -
STARTUPCFO | THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 M & A: The VC Perspective It was a great event capped off with a key note by Mr. Lean Startup himself – Eric Ries. Exiting Resources Angels Dan Martell Eric Ries exits lean startup M & A PwC Venture CapitalI was in Toronto this week to speak along with Dan Martell on M & A at PwC’s Vision to Reality Conference. Here are the slides. -
47 HATS | THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 Results I like to hear about… By the way, Edwin has some advice for other startups : if you’re building a web service, do what it takes to get it into the Google Web Store. Want more sales for your startup? Two bits of feedback that were the kind of results I like to hear: “Thank you for the help you provided earlier with the 2 MicroConsults. -
READWRITESTART | THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 The Most Sought-After Silicon Valley Startups for Engineers On LinkedIn's blog today is a post about the top 10 most sought-after engineering startups in Silicon Valley. If you're trying to hire engineers for your own startup, these companies are your competition. And no, Facebook and Google didn't make the cut because this was a list of companies with fewer than 500 employees. Analysis -
GROWTHOLOGY | THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 Attribution of Job Creation d rather use tax policy get these investors off the sidelines by making permanent the Obama proposal to exempt equity investments in startups held for at least five years (as opposed to having the government directly take equity stakes in or even guarantee the loans of new ventures). Regardless, he is not in favor of the current tax system. -
STARTUP HOUSTON | THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 Entrepreneur Events: OpenCoffee Since then, OpenCoffee has become a mainstay in Houston startup networking. About this event: OpenCoffee is a friendly and highly caffeinated atmosphere of sharp businesspeople, scrappy startups, and curious newcomers. Today’s OpenCoffee brought new and familiar faces to CoffeeGroundz. Wise words for sure. -
Tinychat: Nothing Tiny About It Anymore Business Entrepreneurship Internet Review Social Media Websites entrepreneur Online startups TinychatFrom its start in 2009, Tinychat has grown beyond most expectations. The Internet chat service that allows users to talk with up to eleven other people at a time now has over 20 million registered users, up from only one million two years ago. -
Failure Is an Option--Take It Editor’s note: This post is part of a series featuring excerpts from the recently published book, The Startup Owner’s Manual , written by serial entrepreneurs-turned-educators Steve Blank and Bob Dorf. Startups are different. The best startup founders don’t hesitate to make the change. But how do you test? -
READWRITESTART | THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 The Pros and Cons of IT Outsourcing: Globally, Nationally and Locally Outsourcing is pretty much de rigueur for modern startups looking to conserve capital. But making outsourcing work for your startup isn’t always easy. One of the first steps is figuring out where to outsource. There are a lot of choices. The first major decision is geographical. Here’s a quick overview: Outsourcing Internationally. - Keep a Grand Vision but Execute With a Laser Focus
It’s great to dream big, but your startup needs a laser focus in the beginning to get market and investor attention. Here are the common sense reasons why a laser focus is more likely to lead to startup business success: Time to market is critical. grand vision entrepreneur startup investor laser focus businessCan you? -
BUSINESS OF SOFTWARE BLOG | THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 Should you come to Business of Software if you are a small, bootstrapped business? You will find people who are incredibly willing to help a single founder/startup – everyone started out at some point and it is wonderful that so many people are willing to “give something back.” The essence of the question though is, ‘Should bootstrapped businesses come to BoS?’ ’ “Mark. Thanks. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 Oulu, Finland Selects Butterfly Ventures For New €35 Million Early Stage Startup Fund The city of Oulu, Finland has selected Butterfly Ventures to manage the Northern Startup Fund, which will be established in Oulu. Butterfly Ventures will be expected to boost the regional startup ecosystem through knowledge and networks, as well as by bringing in the Techstars style acceleration model. -
UP AND RUNNING | THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 Creative Fundraising for Startups Although we didn’t join any of the accelerators, the interviews and process was rewarding because it made us think about our startup venture in very productive ways. When courting investors, make it a priority to get in bed with investors who can also add strategic value to your startup or organization. This isn’t the case at all. -
LIFE BEYOND CODE | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 Lessons from Facebook IPO that Startups Can Use The profound lessons that startups can learn from Facebook IPO. wish Facebook all the success and while it is inspiring (for me) to watch its phenomenal growth, I am not in the fantasy land to decode and discover the secret sauce that made Facebook happen AND apply it one of the startups I am involved with. Have a great day. - JOBS Act Helps Make Section 3(b) a Viable Fundraising Alternative
On April 5, 2012, President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the "JOBS Act") into law. This legislation is dedicated, among other things, to making it easier for small companies to gain access to capital. -
GROWTHOLOGY | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 The Growth of Tech Startups in NYC Last week, the Center for an Urban Future published a terrifically interesting report on the technology startup scene in New York City. The CUF team exhaustively catalogued the location and growth of tech startups in NYC, as well as venture and angel investing. Kudos to CUF them for excellent work. . Cities Entrepreneurs -
TAFFY WILLIAMS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 Angel Education is Sometimes Required Angels are qualified investors willing to take a risk and invest their money in an early stage company or startup. One common place to use a convertible note is when the valuation is difficult to define and agree on; e.g., at startup. In many cases, there are no tangible assets in startup companies. -
READWRITESTART | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 Startup Swingers: Swapping Founders to Generate Fresh Ideas It may sound lurid and gross, but it’s the cool new thing for startup founders. We’re talking about Founder Swap , a June 1 event in New York where teams from six different startups will get together, trade partners for a day and go home with an injection of fresh ideas. We want to get startups pregnant with new ideas.”. Event -
47 HATS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 6 reasons to use Asana to build your startup. So you want to successfully build your startup and that means building systems that get all sorts of work done. And here’s 6 reasons you should check it out especially for managing all the work you need to define, track and complete if you want to build a remarkable startup. Reason two: Takes the friction out of your startup. -
MARK BIRCH | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 “Minimum Viable Personality” by @FAKEGRIMLOCK As I. As I look at more products from tech startups, this picture from a guest post on AVC from last year comes to mind. tech startups bacon bread passion consumer web mobile FAKEGRIMLOCK“ Minimum Viable Personality ” by @FAKEGRIMLOCK. The product is bread when people are looking for bacon. Need proof? -
GENUINE VC | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 The Startup Offsite When was the last time all of your startup’s management team came together to take a step back from day-to-day minutiae and think big picture? I think it’s actually incredibly valuable for startups to occasionally, and regularly, have offsite planning sessions. In a startup it’s always about executing. That’s their job. -
FRESH INC.: THE STAFF BLOG | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 Creativity for Entrepreneurs: 4 Tips But what else can you do to make sure your startup is run like a city – and not like a big company We spoke to Jonah Lehrer, author of the bestselling Imagine: How Creativity Works, to learn how entrepreneurs can be more innovative. But just one ‘aha’ isn’t going to do it. Stop brainstorming. That’s right. -
VENTURE CHRONICLES | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 Sapphire 2012 I have been in Orlando for the Sapphire event and while I missed day 1 I did take in the full experience yesterday. With no particular narrative here is a summary of thoughts I collected. Sapphire is huge, the main pavilion is easily 3-4x the size of Dreamforce and the energy is studious and focused. And all mobile. over to fill the gap?). -
BEYONDVC | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 Startups and Intellectual Property (IP) Do startups really think patents are going to make or break their business? So what is my and BOLDstart's stance on IP and startups. Hopefully that gives you a good perspective on our view on IP, patents, and startups. Entrepreneurship Venture Capital entrepreneurship intellectual property IP startups venture capital -
CROWDSPRING BLOG | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 Small Business Pinterest Starter Guide Small business and startup tips: 5 traps of business branding. Why Every Small Business And Startup Must Understand Social Currency. Are you wondering how you can leverage Pinterest for your small business? Pinterest is currently one of the hotest websites. But is Pinterest right for your small business? Probably not. -
BUSINESS OF SOFTWARE BLOG | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 Peldi (@balsamiq), Balsamiq at Business of Software 2011: Interview with John Nese of Soda Pop Stop. programmer turned entrepreneur, Peldi lives to learn new skills and to share what he learns, be it via his blog, giving public or mentoring other software startups. Giacomo ‘Peldi’ Guilizzoni is the founder and CEO of Balsamiq, makers of Balsamiq Mockups, the instantly-useful, forever-loveable wireframing software. a case.” mean…. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 Tekes Tempo The Right Pace For Tellyo One company funded through Tekes Tempo this year has been Tellyo , a Startup Sauna Fall 2011 participant that is turning your phone into a personal remote controller that works with existing TVs. Tellyo is now working out of the Aalto Venture Garage, after liking the environment after Startup Sauna. Hear it from startups. -
Know the Right Resources for Your Startup Stage It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined before from a funding perspective. Their real value is your access to senior advisors with experience, and other startups in the same stage. entrepreneur idea investor early funding startup stages growthEarly or embryonic stage. -
TAFFY WILLIAMS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 OutSourcing Clinical Trial Presentation entrepreneur biotechnology healthcare Startup clinical trials -
READWRITESTART | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 9 Ways to Convince Your Parents to Support Your Startup - Not Just Financially But it’s not always easy to explain to Mom and Dad why, instead of getting a “real job,” you’re putting everything on the line to create a new technology startup. It can be done, though, and these youthful startup veterans explain how: Tip #1: Don’t get too full of yourself. StartupsTip #2: Do your homework. -
Get Leadership Right from the Start In my experience the hardest mountain to climb is that of a startup. Business Entrepreneurship Personal Development entrepreneur entrepreneurs small business startups young entrepreneurAs a child I can still remember the musical strains of Broadway plays wafting through our home. Why is that important? It takes something more. ALAN E. -
ARCTICSTARTUP | WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 Jukka Hassinen On Why He Joined DealDash Since DealDash’s platform is written in PHP, bringing a seasoned PHP expert like Jukka was an important strategic move for the startup. He’s been working with software development most of his life, first in his own startup, Brain Alliance and later at Soprano Plc, the company that acquired his startup. | |