A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 22, 2017

No video, no filters, no social networking, no commenting and no storage — simple, yet Lovable and Complete, as evidenced by its massive adoption. Later they added lots of stuff — video, filters, timelines, even video cameras inside sunglasses. It’s OK for products to become more complex.

Customer 336

Customer Video Engineer Social Network 336

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 31, 2017

The initial product launched into a mode that was immediately ready for video and then for sharing. Simply copying the “pick a template” screen from Microsoft and Apple Office products is unlikely to create joy. One of the things Snapchat gets right is their use of novel user interface. Zero extra icons to click or things to type out.

Design 191

Design Customer Product Video 191

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 26, 2010

For more details, including the application process and a great 3-minute video which includes interviews from the 2009 companies, see the CapitalFactory home page. Even if you're not looking to raise money, it's a great experience and personal networking event. Last year the keynote speaker was Mike Maples.

Seed Stage 211

Seed Stage Startup PR Programming 211

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 23, 2013

If customers can be found with paid advertising, if they can sign up without talking to a sales person, if they can learn the product through in-product tutorials, great documentation, and how-to videos, if they can import their data without assistance, if they can demonstrate value to the purse-string-holders without a sales person writing the presentation (..)

Business Model 335

Business Model .Net Revenue IPO 335

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

How a smart bear built a company so he could sell it (Video). Some of this stuff you might have heard, but between them these articles were retweeted over 1000 times so apparently it needed to be said!

Angel Investor 161

Angel Investor New York City RSS Viral 161

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 9, 2012

Here’s some tactics for blogging that I stumbled into, and my Ignite Austin presentation (5 minute video) about the broader lessons I learned. (Talk about the social media echo chamber!) Of course, that worked. At 1000 subscribers I should have felt like a success — when viewed from 51 it sure seemed like it would feel that way.

New York 248

New York Ruby Social Media RSS 248

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 20, 2012

changing the market from videos to art but keeping the website structure, the pricing structure, the delivery structure, etc., We crave and seek similarities and patterns and connections. We describe companies that way, e.g. “We’re Netflix for art” — implying a symmetry in target market (i.e. Or not.)

San Jose 233

San Jose Bootstrapping Hosting Engineer 233

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 3, 2011

I’m sure he won’t mind me revealing this little nugget, seeing as this is the same Noah who does topless video interviews and will show you his underwear if asked, though I’m not sure why anyone asks, except that they know he’ll do it, and someone so willing might have something worth looking at.

Metrics 273

Metrics Startup Revenue Engineer 273

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

Mark Cuban (billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks ) has a similar story, as he discusses in this video : "I went seven years — literally seven years — without a single vacation. I didn't take a day off — I didn't go anywhere — I didn't do squat." [ starting @ the 4:07 mark ].

Entrepreneur 246

Entrepreneur San Francisco North Carolina Cofounder 246

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 11, 2010

Most were on paper and video; 20 were invited to pitch in person. I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. Interesting patterns emerged: Everyone makes the same classes of error. Those who avoided just one of those errors stood out in the crowd.

Elevator Pitch 325

Elevator Pitch RSS Startup Software Review 325

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

DECEMBER 5, 2010

The goal was to create a non-boring resource for entrepreneurs centered around a combination of video interviews (RISE.the web show) with successful entrepreneurs, big thinkers and "doers" (as opposed to people that just talk about doing) as well as blog posts, videos and other goodies. Maximizing Online Video. Entrepreneurship.

Community 261

Community Audience Video Social Media 261

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 24, 2012

We don’t invest in video. I think video distribution in the future is going to look more like the Gilt Groupe than it is going to look like NBC. I started looking at YouTube networks about two and a half years ago. Every VC I met in Silicon Valley was saying, “We don’t invest in content.

Silicon Valley 204

Silicon Valley Software Review Internet Technical Review 204

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

DECEMBER 4, 2012

You can find our video and details here: URL If you share our vision, help us spreading the word. Hello Jason, I am starting a business and I’ve decided to video document the steps I take along the way. We’ve just started a crowdfunding campaign, and already passed 10% in a single day. Thank you!

Internet 270

Internet Email Engineer Web 270

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 30, 2010

The term VA has grown to describe any remote contract worker, including people who help with audio editing, video editing, bookkeeping, webmaster tasks, link building, and so on. The main exceptions are my audio and video editors in the U.S. A VA can be domestic or international, as long as they have a computer and an email account.

Software Review 284

Software Review Startup Technical Review Hosting 284

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

I haven’t looked at the video yet, but I should be able to understand from the headline and get some kind of emotional reaction to the headline. Now the headline I don’t like, and the reason is anything like productive or simple or saves time, all these things, they’re very generic.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220