SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2007

Part of the discussion around this is the talk about the founder who only got $83M (as compared to $3xxM for the other founders) who bailed out early and choose to go back to school. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? The poor guy. What a bad $200M decision.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

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%). Gaming founders know this challenge well. What will it take for founders to win in consumer? Speed is also critical.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review B2C Generative AI IPO 78

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

It is a platform to help brands building viral marketing campaigns. ShoeDazzle has Kim Kardashian as a co-founder / company as a spokesperson as well as Brian Lee who was a co-founder at Legal Zoom. Sort of a sophisticated and targeted co-reg – even though I’m guessing they hate that term.

Venture Capital 270

Venture Capital Cofounder Spain San Diego 270

The Next Web

DECEMBER 4, 2013

Initially, your staff (even if that’s just you and a co-founder) will be your greatest asset in locating and connecting with your audience. With an innovative product in the consumer payment space, the company had viral-ready content. Take good care of them, and organic, viral sharing may welcome your product to the marketplace.

Social Media 158

Social Media Media Viral Startup 158

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Such was my recent meeting with Seth Sternberg, founder & CEO of Meebo. And I’d recommend them to any talented startup founders out there.&#. Meebo gained traction because there’s was viral component when users wanted to tell their friend. And there you have it. Not a chance. Series A round. I totally agree.

Connecticut 286

Connecticut Cofounder Silicon Valley Web 286

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

San Francisco 256

San Francisco Valuation Los Angeles Technical Review 256

The Next Web

DECEMBER 19, 2013

Ryan Hoover is the co-creator of Product Hunt , creator of Startup Edition , and instructor at Tradecraft. Several followers offered me a job and introductions to other founders. It’s a Long-Term Investment - It’s highly unlikely your first, second, third, or 50th post will “go viral.” Can we all agree resumes are crummy?

Stealth 167

Stealth Cofounder Social Media Viral 167

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2009

In a previous post , I covered the three main drivers of growth: Paid, Sticky, and Viral. Let’s look at a viral growth company, like Facebook. If you are building a large, viral, ad-support consumer internet property, you just want to go big! They’re off to cross the chasm. As soon as possible!&#

Customer 156

Customer San Francisco Viral Lean 156

Hunter Walker

MAY 17, 2024

“Admirer from outside of the cap table” is how I approached Kieran Snyder , Cofounder of Textio. I was publishing quite a bit of original research about bias in workplace documents like performance reviews and job posts, a bunch of it went viral, and I got to know a lot of people who eventually became Textio customers.

Cofounder 132

Cofounder Founder Technical Review Seattle 132

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2015

That’s why investors acknowledge that two co-founders are often better than one -- with one focusing on the technical solution, and the other focusing on defining and building the business model. The founder had simply not done the work to validate a price and customer segment. These two jobs need to be done in parallel.

Business Model 120

Business Model Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review 120

The Next Web

AUGUST 19, 2013

He is the co-­founder and CEO of Quote Roller and PandaDoc. However, figuring out the way your startup should make money could be challenging, especially for us left­-brained founders. Well, then you’ve got to go viral. Well, then you’ve got to go viral. Users invite new users by sharing folders and files.

Belarus 137

Belarus Viral Channel Startup 137

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 4, 2019

by Josh Fechter , co-founder and CEO of Squibler. Josh Fechter is the co-founder and CEO of Squibler. Why keep employees engaged? Engagement isn’t just about putting on a good face for your customers and business partners. He’s written five books and thousands of blog posts.

Employee 147

Employee Technology Cofounder Viral 147

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

From there, I became the first non-founder employee at an e-commerce startup called BITSource, which was the first electronic software distributor delivering electronic volume software licenses to corporations. Tell me a bit about the Founder's Institute. You mention social / viral aspects at both Google Photos and United Online.

Management 150

Management Product Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 150

The Next Web

DECEMBER 2, 2013

Founder Kevin Systrom launched Instagram with 25,000 beta users on October 6, 2010; two years later, the app continues to see massive growth, recently reporting 150 million active users. Ben Schippers is the co-founder of HappyFunCorp , a Web development company that has built sites for TeePublic , Of A Kind , Postography and Yeah TV! “If

Cost 168

Cost San Francisco New York City Ruby 168

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

5 great viral marketing campaigns (and what small businesses can learn from them!) - crowdSPRING Blog , September 13, 2010 At crowdSPRING we talk a great deal about how we can leverage our limited marketing resources to drive traffic and revenues and build strong community. How To Pick A Co-Founder , by Naval Ravikant (Venture Hacks).

Technology 191

Technology Product San Francisco CTO Hire 191

The Next Web

DECEMBER 12, 2013

But now that we’ve entered a mobile, social era, commerce companies have to find engaging ways to keep customers involved and coming back to get the most bang for their buck,” says Manish Chandra , founder and CEO of Poshmark. “So So many commerce startups get it wrong – focusing on customers before community.”.

Mobile 136

Mobile Silicon Valley Viral Technical Review 136

mashable.com

AUGUST 20, 2011

“There’s simply no budget for [an office], as I bootstrap the company,&# says Paul Molluzzo, founder of Baby Goes Mobile , a web app that lets parents create a private baby book they can view and update from their mobile phones. Sign in with Facebook or Twitter to get started! instead of having to travel home. .&#

Cofounder 81

Cofounder San Francisco Social Media Startup 81

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 5, 2018

As part of The Startup Magazine founders interviews, we sat down with Lee Thompson and Radha Vyas, the co-founders of Flash Pack , a lifestyle travel company specialising in adventure trips for solo travelers in their 30’s – 40’s. . Flash Pack’s co-founders and husband and wife team, Radha Vyas & Lee Thompson.

Flash 127

Flash Founder Cofounder Angel Investor 127

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

If its part of a viral loop, its probably trying to get them to invite more friends (on average). It was actually my co-founder Will Harvey who taught me to present this data in the simple format weve discussed in this post. But in my experience this is not useful most of the time. Take a look and let me know what you think.

San Francisco 166

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Continuous Deployment 166

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 7, 2008

I too would be concerned about false negatives, but perhaps this strategy could be integrated into a broader market research strategy that included user engagement, viral marketing, etc which would all be quantifiable under the Google analytics. A very interesting strategy. Im defiantly going to give it a shot on my next project!

Demand 167

Demand San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167

mashable.com

OCTOBER 16, 2010

All of this is according to Paul Graham, co-founder of the early-stage investment fund Ycombinator. The result is that many venture capital firms are now making smaller angel investments in an attempt to get close with startup founders that are likely to raise bigger funding rounds later on. Work from Anywhere: 9 Handy Portable.

Angel Investor 84

Angel Investor Venture Capital Social Media Technical Review 84

mashable.com

OCTOBER 16, 2010

All of this is according to Paul Graham, co-founder of the early-stage investment fund Ycombinator. The result is that many venture capital firms are now making smaller angel investments in an attempt to get close with startup founders that are likely to raise bigger funding rounds later on. Work from Anywhere: 9 Handy Portable.

Angel Investor 83

Angel Investor Venture Capital Social Media Technical Review 83

ConversionXL

APRIL 4, 2017

Virality and Referral. Virality is the key lever of many of the most famous growth examples: Dropbox, Uber, Facebook, Hotmail. If, for every customer you acquire, you can acquire 1-10 more with viral loops , you can spend a lot more on acquiring that first customer, right? If you sell shoes, would virality work for you?

Channel 118

Channel Marketing Viral SEO 118

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Mike Arsenault and his two co-founders—all with technical backgrounds—built their MVP while working full time for other SaaS companies. “We An engineer by training, Founder and CEO Larry Gadea built the MVP of Envoy’s first product, Visitors, by himself using only free versions of software. “I spent $20k on their MVP.

Sweat Equity 78

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 78

Up and Running

JULY 10, 2017

I talked to Adam Hempenstall, founder and CEO at BetterProposals , who has been using freemium for three years for his SaaS product: “Honestly, I think it was a mistake. You’re not going to go viral Dropbox style, so having a freemium model doesn’t really work. Let’s face it—everyone likes free stuff. Youtube ads. $1

Startup 110

Startup Non-Compete Viral Software Review 110

Altgate

JUNE 1, 2009

  The criteria for inclusion on this list is rough but basically boils down to the primary author of the blog has to be a founder or C-level executive at an entrepreneurial organization and write relatively frequently about entrepreneurial stuff.  .  So with that in mind, I created a list of entrepreneur blogs. 

Cofounder 59

Cofounder Entrepreneur Technical Review Venture Capital 59

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

It should be even more important to the founders themselves, because it demonstrates that their business hypothesis is grounded in reality. These founders have not managed, to borrow a phrase from Steve Blank , to create a scalable and repeatable sales process. More on that in a moment. They are close to breakeven.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

Airbnb founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia had difficulty securing funding, so they launched a mini project to build some funds and catch investors' attention. Using this capital , the founders launched and enjoyed exponential growth in their first year, with 10K users and thousands of listings. Photo Credit: Jack Underwood.

Entrepreneur 127

Entrepreneur Bankruptcy Southern California South Africa 127

crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2010

So I considered resources that I use on a regular basis, that provide real value to me in my own life as a startup co-Founder and that I think others will benefit from. 5 great viral marketing campaigns (and what small businesses can learn from them!). A great blog for entrepreneurs should be like a wonderful novel.

Entrepreneur 91

Entrepreneur Redemption New York Cofounder 91

David Teten

OCTOBER 3, 2013

This is something Tackk’s co-founder and lead designer Dan Klammer does with most of Tackk’s interface designs…and it really helps him get a sense of how the design fits within the totality of the experience.

Design 114

Design Venture Capital Startup HTML 114

crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

Speaking of tattoos – Interview with @micah , CEO & co-founder of Graphic.ly – [link]. There, I Said It: Screw Viral Videos – [link]. Be Gracious When It’s Time to Give In – [link]. Old and New School Angel Investing Philosophies Clash in Chicago – [link]. How do colors affect purchases?

Social Media 91

Social Media Small Business Design Media 91

Start Up Blog

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

A tiny cohort of startup founders who shared ideas on tech before it was trendy. The Stranger from Romania – Raul Oaida – was my co-conspirator in creating the world’s first ever drivable lego car. This became a global viral sensation. And I’m calling it now – it will be a global viral sensation.

Romania 62

Romania Viral Cofounder Australia 62

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 12, 2008

vs. sustainable: Compare this to the renewable strategies, like viral marketing, SEO, widgets, and ads, which can scale into 10s of millions of users but are primarily centered around tough, non-user centric work. Problem is, you inevitably become yesterday’s old news. No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

Audience 119

Audience San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean 119

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

It has been awesome, flattering, and humbling to see that post went viral and has been seen by so many thousands of people — mainly aspiring entrepreneurs — and has been translated into many languages. Have amazing co-founders who are better at what they do than you could ever be. I’m a deeply emotional person.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

mashable.com

OCTOBER 27, 2010

I've also recently created a private email discussion list for technology company founders at FounderList.com to network, share, and learn from each other. More Business Resources from Mashable: - Social Media Marketing 101: In-House Team, Agency or Consultant? - What will you find here?

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Social Media Technical Review Social Network 94

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 8, 2008

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. The visionary’s lament The Superbowl ad test Lo, my 57692 subscribers, who are you? Take a look and let me know what you think.

Software Review 136

Software Review San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 136

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

On Facebook, viral distribution has proved decisive. Those companies who have learned to build apps that optimize the viral loop dominate in every category where they compete. So far, I dont see any apps that have much in the way of viral distribution. We're leading the charge in enabling viral distribution for iPhone apps.

Distribution 74

Distribution San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 74