A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 11, 2010

Ask a technical founder about his startup, and he'll proudly describe his stunning software — simple, compelling, useful, fun. Great," I always exclaim, sharing the thrill of modern software development, "so how will people find out about this brilliant website?". We're going to get reviews on blogs.".

Software Review 261

Software Review Technical Review Viral Software Developers 261

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

And do I fit as a Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO ? Consider what Ryan Waggoner tells us How to Find a Technical Cofounder : When I was doing freelance development, I had about one pitch per week for an equity-only opportunity. Go to tech (or other relevant industry) events. Go to user groups.

Technical Cofounder 241

Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Equity Sweat Equity 241

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until real revenue flows. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until revenue starts to flow. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

VC Cafe

MARCH 16, 2025

Mention that you do “Consumer tech” as a startup founder and you’d be limiting your funding options to one third of the venture capital funds (in Israel that figure is probably closer to 10%). Until now, consumer tech was perceived as a risky binary investment. But don’t just take it from me.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review B2C Generative AI IPO 78

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 25, 2011

As a maven of the Macintosh API and still willing to admit it, I landed lots of small contracting jobs fixing up code that other developers wouldn’t touch. These are folks with big requirements — tens of millions of monthly page-views, traffic spikes, custom code, perfect up-time, and 24/7 support.

Java 311

Java Software Review Technical Review Salary 311

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until revenue starts to flow. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until revenue starts to flow. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 12, 2010

Between this blog and reviewing applications to Capital Factory I see hundreds of pitches a year. That's what you sound like when you claim that getting a software patent will protect you from competition. Software patents are especially useless for small, bootstrapped startups. Except in certain industries (e.g.

Intellectual Property 319

Intellectual Property Bootstrapping Software Review Open Source 319

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

I work in technology where the dress code is relaxed, but an executive woman my age can wear neither a hoodie nor a stuffy suit.). The technology is finally catching up to the need, and the next few years will bring big changes. I love being a pioneer, and I love tech – I even have a patent! If so, how?

Technical Review 158

Technical Review Software Review Illinois Due Diligence 158

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Defining the right business model requires the same diligence as designing the right product, but the approach and skills required are different.

Technical Review 220

Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review Business Model 220

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until revenue starts to flow. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 24, 2015

By bootstrapping, bartering, reducing overheads (rental and manpower), and leveraging technology (especially the web), one can start one’s own business almost on a dime without being beholden to creditors or venture capitalists. Software Developer: From “App developer” to “We provide technology solutions to take your headaches away”.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Software Review South Carolina Startup 100

The Next Web

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Andrew is the co-founder and CTO of Parse.ly , a technology startup that provides big data insights to the web’s best publishers. Startups die due to a variety of causes. I have witnessed startup failures that were due to predictable co-founder conflicts. Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Andrew Montalenti.

Cofounder 155

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 155

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until revenue starts to flow. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Occam's Razor

DECEMBER 3, 2008

3) I am simply assuming you are good at tools and some technical stuff and some business stuff. The first and perhaps most important thing to realize that you have to make two very important very critical very life impacting choices: Choice 1: Business or Technical. Tech Demo God (usually at a Vendor). Motivating them.

Technical Review 115

Technical Review Analytics Salary Fractional CTO 115

Version One Ventures

FEBRUARY 11, 2020

Given the current public struggle of tech-enabled services, marketplaces, hardware and DTC companies, enterprise SaaS also feels like VC’s most favourite investment category right now. And with “age” often come sub-optimal products, tech debt, inflexible business models, etc. Buying cloud applications has become the norm.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Vertical Software Review Bootstrapping 150

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 29, 2013

Most commonly, that’s uncertainty about whether you can build the product at all (what MBAs call “technical risk”) or whether anybody will use or buy it (“market risk”). For example, when your company adds ano ther blade to its disposal razors , the product’s technical development, marketing and sales will follow relatively predictable paths.

Lean 165

Lean Technical Review Startup Software Review 165

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 31, 2011

If you’re Oracle with 47 product lines in 100 countries and 20 languages with distributed teams of tech writers is this the best tool? If you know the tech support guy is taking flack for a messy FAQ page, it’s “Organize your FAQ page in 15 minutes.” If you have only six FAQ entries, should you buy his tool?

Customer 279

Customer Software Review SEM Technical Review 279

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 25, 2023

This presents a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to launch their own businesses and capitalize on the latest technology. 7- Making and selling website themes Photo Credit: Sean Stevens If you know how to code, especially front-end development, you can use your skills to make money by making and selling website themes online.

Software Review 127

Software Review Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur 127

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until real revenue flows. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2015

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Defining the right business model requires the same diligence as designing the right product, but the approach and skills required are different.

Business Model 120

Business Model Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review 120

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 20, 2024

Online Reviews If you have a great site then you can link this to online reviews. You can also use it as a way to generate more reviews, which is great, to say the least. You can also send them discount codes if they happen to leave you a positive review, which encourages them to come back to you time and time again.

Small Business 166

Small Business Software Review Campaign Technical Review 166

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until real revenue flows. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

Rob Go

DECEMBER 28, 2011

It got me thinking about this past year, specifically around consumer tech in Boston. So I thought I’d jot down some of the highlights I have seen from my vantage point in this 2011 Boston Consumer Web Year in Review. Zipcar: Ok, not exactly consumer web/software, but a great consumer tech company nonetheless.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Boston Software Review IPO 54

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. It's now been about three years since I joined the fray as an entrepreneur and tech blogger. So what are you waiting for?

France 163

France Technical Review Incubator Early Stage 163

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2022

If you’re in startup mode and have limited working capital to cover your operating expenses , you may be bootstrapping your way through the early days. This typically includes reviewing financial reports, overseeing budgets, managing overall financial planning, and more. When is the right time to hire an executive team?

CTO Hire 163

CTO Hire Fractional CTO CTO Hiring 163

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 24, 2012

Welcome back to Smart Bear Live, the call-in show with Jason Cohen, sponsored by Software Promotions. I’m not sure that’s the right name for what you do, because what you do is more of a consumer proposition, and I think the word sync is very technical, and a very technocratic kind of IT sync up my crap kind of stuff.

Silicon Valley 204

Silicon Valley Software Review Internet Technical Review 204

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

At Treehouse, we’re trying to make technology education affordable and accessible to everyone on Earth, and doing that means that we’ll be working for a really long time and will likely always have more to do. If your product is getting good reviews and people are willing to pay for it, you’ve got something.”. Don’t listen.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Founder Startup Bootstrapping 164

Version One Ventures

APRIL 30, 2013

As a result, most venture capitalists are reluctant to touch hardware projects, opting for the lower costs and smaller risks of software. This means the overall costs of launching a hardware product are coming down considerably, yet hardware is still costlier (and thus riskier) than software. Focus on VCs who have done hardware before.

Venture Capital 128

Venture Capital Software Review Incubator Startup 128

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 10, 2011

Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree – [link]. Good post about the pitfalls of code refactoring for startups – [link]. Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree – [link]. Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree – [link].

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Media 94

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 27, 2014

This was a company that had successfully bootstrapped itself to real revenues, employees and cashflow and I thought it deserved the structure of a going concern, not a flier. They got that way due in large part to a very public founder friendly stance. It ain''t all coding, selling, and raising money, people. I certainly have.

Term Sheet 156

Term Sheet Founder Cofounder Software Review 156

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Since the term “cloud computing” was coined in 1996—at least as we have come to understand its meaning—the software as a service industry has exploded. If you use software like LivePlan, you can create this initial “lean plan” in under an hour and then spend your time where it really matters—on validating your idea.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 23, 2014

Tech Start-Ups: Take the Money and Build | by @tullman – crowdspring.co/1jvoIEu. Helpful insight for bootstrapping entrepreneurs … how we built besnappy for 317000 – crowdspring.co/1o7tpX4. 29 Tips for Entrepreneurs & Women in Tech | Tech Cocktail – crowdspring.co/1oj9QIU. – crowdspring.co/1j2mWos.

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 11, 2021

Every waking day, we are having tremendous changes in regulations and technology which greatly affects the way businesses operate. But, thanks to today's digital platforms and technical infrastructure, it's becoming more typical to be able to create a billion-dollar business in less than a decade. 8- More digital. It isn't knowledge.

Entrepreneur 127

Entrepreneur Technical Review Social Media Bootstrapping 127

online.wsj.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

Loading… Tech. Computer Software. » More. » More. Loading… New York. » More. » More. Loading… Business. » More. » More. » More. » More. Loading… Markets. » More. » More. Loading… Market Data. » More. » More. Media & Marketing.

Venture Capital 107

Venture Capital Software Review Rhode Island North Dakota 107

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Next, Umakant Soni discussed Vimagino.com , a software for Web-based Q&A support to engage customers better on sites that are trying to draw people in and convert them into customers. Now, the Web self-service software market is very crowded with major players like RightNow already deeply entrenched. Vimagino.com. PowerStores.in.

India 114

India Silicon Valley Incubator Bootstrapping 114