YoungUpstarts

JUNE 23, 2011

Rustin Banks is today the CEO of BlogFrog , a web-based platform that turns blogs into interest-based communities. Banks was an old hand at online communities, after all – at age 12, he’d host computer Bulletin Board Systems right out of his parent’s closet. Facilitating Blog Interaction.

Community 162

Community United States Colorado Social Media 162

The Next Web

AUGUST 19, 2013

Being an engineer, I built myself a kind of algorithm that helps determine an early-­stage startup’s sales channels, and that’s what I’m sharing with you today. Well, then you’ve got to go viral. Well, then you’ve got to go viral. In the startup community, it’s all about the network you’ve built.

Belarus 137

Belarus Viral Channel Startup 137

Duct Tape Marketing

DECEMBER 28, 2023

And it's the same thing for individuals because at that early stage of a business, when you don't yet have a product, even sometimes when you don't yet have customers, you don't yet have traction and sales, how are you going to judge it? These are the kind of decisions we wanted to help people with at that early stage.

Framework 70

Framework Cofounder Early Stage IPO 70

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

To learn more about this space, I suggest join an online community I co-founded, PEVCTech. . Data companies focused on early-stage startups include Aingel , fundsUP , Preseries , PredictLeads , and Sploda. The Pocket Negotiator is very early-stage attempt to aid in the negotiating process itself.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 7, 2014

The simplest and most important dashboard for early stage startups - crowdspring.co/1gMgfqV. Top 50 Startups To Work For After College | Business 2 Community – crowdspring.co/1kJbIIh. 7 Things Marketers Can Learn From 2,616 Viral Headlines. Don’t fear competition. Employee Retention - crowdspring.co/1f2fAz5.

Social Media 98

Social Media Small Business Design Media 98

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

There is no sector of the economy that isn’t being transformed by the online community that is now voraciously consuming media, applications, communications and buying global products. Look at the rapid adoption of Groupon, LivingSocial or Instagram as proof of how rapidly businesses can grow through viral means.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

mashable.com

JUNE 11, 2013

simply arent crucial to success or failure, and for an early stage startup that means they were wastes of time — you could have done 10x more with that same amount of time and resources." — Jonathan Wegener , Founder, Timehop and ExitStrategy. Assuming Virality. "A Services dont spontaneously go viral.

Cofounder 111

Cofounder Technical Review Startup Software Review 111

VC Cafe

JULY 15, 2021

So while ads can be an effective way to grow, spending on user acquisition before figuring out monetisation is a sure way to shorten runway for early stage startups. are trying to automate the process of content creation with GPT-3, but in the early days, there’s no substitution to creating your own voice.

Mobile 190

Mobile Social Media Distribution PR 190

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 19, 2023

And it's the same thing for individuals because at that early stage of a business, when you don't yet have a product, even sometimes when you don't yet have, um, customers, you don't yet have traction in sales, how are you gonna judge it? These are the kind of decisions we wanted to help people with at that early stage.

Audio 86

Audio Cofounder Framework Early Stage 86

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

In another we decended into a debate about our 5 year forecasts (I built the models so fielded most of these questions), and it became clear they probably weren’t the best fit for our Series A round (this group is no longer in the early-stage VC business). And a third firm “pressure tested” (i.e. link] leehower.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

If you’re working with an open source project, for example, it’s important that you have a definitive business model to drive revenue — though not at the cost of alienating your community of core contributors. They may also contribute code to the community that comprises the backbone of their technology.

France 77

France Marketing Social Media Startup 77

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

We are the leader in the professional domain with viral growth. For early stage companies, it’s important to show that you’re on path, that you have prospects, and that you can get to your vision. Here, we argue that we have a viral product that creates a network that possesses network effects.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 9, 2018

” If your company isn’t ready to run its own online community, there are many other ways to bring customers into the fold. By capitalizing on the social aspect of discovering, buying and using beauty products, smart brands connect with the beauty community. They’re at the forefront of the digital branding revolution.

Marketing 90

Marketing Social Media Cofounder Design 90

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

No doubt early-stage companies can be started on a shoestring by low-paid entrepreneurs, but when financing a scalable, sustainable product, a free application server won’t make much of a difference. In fact, it’s barely even the beginning for most companies in their seed stage financings.

Startup 79

Startup Social Media RSS Social Network 79

mashable.com

OCTOBER 5, 2012

Naming can be one of the most difficult challenges in the early stages of a startup. viral video. viral videos. Mashable’s 20 million unique visitors and 6 million social media followers have become one of the most engaged online news communities. Social Good. Social Media. social networking. television.

Naming 84

Naming Startup Social Media RSS 84

mashable.com

MARCH 24, 2011

Mashable | The Social Media Guide Viral Topics Twitter YouTube Facebook iPhone Google Video About Mashable Company About Us Advertise Submit News Contact Us Announcements Resources Guidebooks Lists How To Trending Mashable Awards Subscriptions Partners W3 EDGE Rackspace Concentric Sky Dynect DNS Intridea Welcome to Mashable! Have an account?

Programming 86

Programming Startup Technical Review Software Review 86

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

Surely--but then I realize how difficult it is to be an early stage VC in NYC. If you're a junior VC, you're not going to have the best investment filter, nor the most experience--but you can definitely be a leader in your community and build a great network of potential hires and partners. What did I do?

Venture Capital 110

Venture Capital PR Hiring Networking 110

The Startup Toolkit

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Vision for B2C, virality-driven community. In an early stage deal, you check the numbers to avoid getting exploited, but you make your decision based on the investors. Highly experienced, top-tier angels. Vision for B2B, sales-driven technology. Requires team relocation. Conveniently local. What’s the dilution?

Term Sheet 31

Term Sheet Dilution Participating Preferred B2C 31

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

I strongly believe that the first few hires of a startup should belong to the growth department, whether they’re marketers, community managers, or salespeople (selling your product is the best way to learn how to improve it). Jun-15: Community Manager (growth team). 1x hacker in charge of product/development.

Revenue 60

Revenue Acquisition Channel Campaign 60

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

He says, “Spending a few thousand on a domain could make a big difference long term, and give you the credibility and advantage over the competition, especially in the very beginning and early stages of the business.”. You can also spend some time participating in relevant online communities. 4 Reasons to Brand Your Business.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

We’re co-leading the $6 million investment with Roger Ehrenberg at IA Ventures in NY and one of the most respected early-stage investors in the country in “big data&# companies. Viral – One of the most important value drivers of any social network is the degree to which it makes content go viral. is hot right now.

Viral 307

Viral Las Vegas Tunisia Syndicate 307

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 15, 2020

Robert believes in "the powerful idea of self-reliance and this idea that you should know how to take care of yourself, and your family, and your community." It really started to get the attention of the scientific community. A common test would be a viral entry or a viral attachment assay. I still want to do that.

Technical Review 68

Technical Review Software Review Finance Technology 68

The Startup Toolkit

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Vision for B2C, virality-driven community. In an early stage deal, you check the numbers to avoid getting exploited, but you make your decision based on the investors. Highly experienced, top-tier angels. Vision for B2B, sales-driven technology. Requires team relocation. Conveniently local. What’s the dilution?

Term Sheet 20

Term Sheet Dilution Participating Preferred B2C 20

Occam's Razor

MAY 2, 2017

I have a massive bias against the current click-bait, let’s go viral , “hot story of the moment” traffic. There are lots of micro-outcomes, in this case given most Pharma companies are still in the early stages of savvy, I choose something close to making money, Doctor Lookups. It is not hard to pick New Subscriptions.

Metrics 141

Metrics Acquisition eCommerce Analytics 141

mashable.com

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Not to mention, early-stage startups usually only employ a few people focused on product and development. For example, here is how a few of my favorite startups describe themselves: “ Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover and book unique spaces around the world online or from an iPhone.”

PR 103

PR Startup Social Media Technical Review 103

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

And for those in the coveted in-crowd, Silicon Valley, San Francisco and the greater tech community become a world of opportunity where you’re only limited by the quality of your idea and the caliber of your friends. The “haves&# possess money, power, influence, or the right friends with those qualities. What will you find here?

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

Reid Hoffman

MAY 21, 2020

Even as reports of a new viral outbreak in China started popping up during the first weeks of 2020, most people were slow to pay sufficient attention to the developing threat. In addition, Bill supported the Seattle Flu Study, which launched in 2019 to learn how the flu and other respiratory illnesses spread through local communities.

Non-Compete 62

Non-Compete China Global Government 62

Rob Go

JULY 11, 2013

I was asked recently how NextView evaluates such early stage companies for investment. Here are a couple examples from our portfolio: Vertical Communities: One of the exciting attributes of GrabCAD in the early days was its rapidly growing, engaged community of mechanical engineers.

Distribution 66

Distribution Vertical Viral B2B 66

A Crowded Space

AUGUST 4, 2011

Pretty much as any early employee will do, I did everything from sales to running product, to operations, and community and customer service, and then really spent the bulk of my time there in marketing and business development. I mean, that’s specifically the area that we focus on.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Venture Capital San Francisco Boston 60

Hunter Walker

APRIL 27, 2014

We founded Homebrew to be the type of fund we would have wanted to raise money from – early stage partner of conviction, leading financing rounds with great co-investors, leaning in to actually help when you need it. We think there can be value to remaining hungry and capital efficient early on.

LP 97

LP Cofounder Term Sheet Valuation 97

sharkseo.com

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

While those initial links will be very useful in sending traffic your way in the early stage, they can be massive useful later by allowing search engines to find your site and gain authority and link value. Aaron Wall, SEO Book Add a free feature which is accessible, useful, and spreads virally.

Bootstrapping 49

Bootstrapping SEO Startup Widget 49

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 24, 2011

I feel like the bar has been raised so much in the last five years in the start up community and I’ve been busy working for a distinctly non-start up company. Do you feel like the more users you have it helps accelerate, is there some kind of, maybe not necessarily viral, but that people just tell their friends at all.

Cofounder 208

Cofounder Technical Review Software Review Differentiation 208

Cracking the Code

DECEMBER 11, 2015

This model relies on grass root marketing of the targeted community, combined with smart online tactics (e.g., For this type of model, I would like to understand how the number of inbounds is scaling with the activities and how much virality there is in the model as the word spreads out in the community SMB door to door sales (e.g.,

San Francisco 48

San Francisco Churn Rate Silicon Valley Engineer 48

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 10, 2010

When you’re talking hiring for startups, the two are actually pretty similar—because joining a super early stage startup is essentially like getting married. So, if you just drop into the tech community out of nowhere, with a new startup, don’t expect everyone to jump on board right away. #4 Hiring is hard. So is dating.

Hiring 105

Hiring Venture Capital DC Angel Investor 105

Ben's Blog

MAY 15, 2020

Finally, we’ll zoom out and assess the big picture: how various categories of company may be impacted long-term, how this crisis compares to 2008 (and what that means for early-stage founders), and the industries and business models that are now prime for growth.

Founder 36

Founder Conversion Technical Review Cash Position 36

Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 26, 2021

Even relatively early stage boards should be thinking about diversity, because they face particular challenges on this issue. And because white, East Asian, and South Asian men are so overrepresented in the VC community right now, your investor board members might be limited in how much they contribute to diversity.

Startup 36

Startup Equity Early Stage Green 36

Occam's Razor

APRIL 8, 2013

If it's the number of invites sent, it's virality. Circle of Friends was a social community built atop Facebook that launched in 2007. None of the metrics they used to measure the health of their communities was where they wanted it to be. You're choosing only one metric because you want to optimize it.

Metrics 156

Metrics Analytics Lean Churn Rate 156