A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 4, 2011

This guest-post is from Joannes Vermorel, founder of Lokad which produces sales forecasts for off-line companies. He has a personal blog about cloud computing. Despite experts routinely claiming Email 1.0 will soon be replaced by their own Email 2.0 ; Email 1.0 is here to stay. Yet, when it comes to email management, most companies seems to adopt a somewhat broken posture: either they don’t advertise any public email or they advertise too many of them.

Email 267

Email Cofounder Technical Review Technical Cofounder 267

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2011

“Scope creep” (or feature creep) is an insidious disease that kills more good startups than any other, especially high-tech ones, and yet most founders (who may be the cause) never even see it happening. This term refers to the penchant to add just one more feature to the product or service before first delivery, just because you can. The instigators are all well-intentioned – executives talk to potential customers who “must have” a few more things; or the technical team edicts some “technically

Technical Review 241

Technical Review Startup Software Review Database 241

YoungUpstarts

JULY 27, 2011

by Ross Cohen, BeenVerified.com. I often compare running a start-up to being on a long journey across an enormous desert : you have no idea how long it will take to navigate it or who and what obstacles you will face along the way. In fact, the only thing you’ll be sure of is the direction you will be traveling in when you set forth, but even that path will most likely deviate as you go.

Software Review 241

Software Review New York City Cofounder Technical Review 241

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

Chris Dixon is one of my favorite people in tech and writes one of the few blogs I read religiously. If you don’t read it and you care about tech & entrepreneurship, you should. He’s thoughtful about markets, investors, products and is always very well reasoned in his arguments. I’ve also found him to not be dogmatic either. He and I once took different sides of an debate about whether “VC signaling&# in early-stage deals is a serious problem or not.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Cofounder API 281

Speaker: Nick Noreña, Innovation Coach and Advisor, Kromatic

Every startup and innovation project exists within an ecosystem that either helps or hurts that project. As innovation managers, we need to keep a pulse of that ecosystem and make sure we're helping those innovation projects we're managing every step of the way. In this webinar, Nick Noreña will walk through an Innovation Ecosystem Model that he and his team at Kromatic have developed to help investors, heads of product, teachers, and executives understand how they can best support innovation in

Startup

David Teten

JULY 29, 2011

A bit belatedly (due to a backlog of blog postings), I wanted to announce ff Venture Capital ‘s summer intern class. We’re actively recruiting interns for the fall. You’ve already heard from some of them, and you’ll be hearing more over the course of the summer. Franklin Bi. Franklin Bi became passionate about venture capital and entrepreneurship after he spent a summer in Silicon Valley, working on an information services startup focused on innovation management.

Software Review 133

Software Review Venture Capital New Jersey Silicon Valley 133

Occam's Razor

JULY 18, 2011

With all the sexiness oozing out of social media it might seem insane to write about email. It’s been relegated to the “OMG that cesspool of spam that no one cares about because everyone is using Google Wave and Facebook!”. Not true. Email remains an immensely credible and profitable channel, with an immense reach to boot. To not have it as an active part of your marketing portfolio is sub-optimal.

Metrics 138

Metrics Campaign Email Marketing 138

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2011

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t invest in non-profits. The simple reason is that it’s impossible to make money for investors when the goal of the company is to not make money. Yet I still get this question on a regular basis, so I’ll try to outline the considerations in common-sense terms. A non-profit organization is generally defined as an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals.

Angel Investor 238

Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy Equity 238

YoungUpstarts

JULY 15, 2011

Say you don’t have the time, energy or the knowledge to put together a website of your own. You could hire a digital agency, but costs can be prohibitive. Neither can you control the quality you get if you opt for a freelancer or use a crowd-sourcing service. Here’s another option, and it’s even free too: FreeCustomWebsite.com. Founded by 30-year old Greg Trimble, FreeCustomWebsite.com offers clients a customized website for free.

Customer 230

Customer Web Web Development Small Business 230

VC Adventure

JULY 5, 2011

One of the many things that makes Boulder a great city for start-ups is its incredibly collaborative environment (see posts on my love of Boulder here and here ). From the willingness of mentors to help out TechStars companies, to collaborative efforts around recruiting great talent to our city, I’m constantly amazed at how many people are working to make Boulder an amazing place for businesses to thrive.

Software Engineering 92

Software Engineering Software Developers Software Development Software 92

David Teten

JULY 25, 2011

This is a guest post from our intern Franklin Bi. On Friday morning, I witnessed another volley of shots being fired from New York City at Palo Alto during FinTech Innovation Lab ‘s Inaugural Investor Day. The Lab is a collaboration between the New York City Investment Fund and Accenture, with support from the New York banking community. The opportunity in NY is clearly heating up, both literally and figuratively, as investors turned out in 100+ degree weather to hear about emerging techno

Software Review 114

Software Review New York City Technical Review Due Diligence 114

ReadWriteStart

JULY 21, 2011

When we were trying to raise money for E.piphany, my last startup, I was negotiating with a venture capital firm called Infinity Capital. They really wanted to invest, but it was the beginning of the bubble, and I wanted (what was then) an absurd valuation. All we had were six slides, and I wanted a $10 million post-money valuation. But it was my eighth startup and my partner Ben was even more experienced.

Post-Money Valuation 122

Post-Money Valuation Valuation IPO Venture Capital 122

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 21, 2011

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account , I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Media 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2011

Some aspiring entrepreneurs are so desperate for funding, or naïve, that they ignore the obvious signs of scams and rip-offs on the Internet, praying for a windfall. One would think that with all the sad stories and tools published over the past twenty years, this problem would be behind us. But people are still begging for more technology or laws, often to protect them from themselves.

Technical Review 228

Technical Review Internet Startup Email 228

YoungUpstarts

JULY 5, 2011

Africa is not known to generate many technology talents – the country is far more prolific in its music, sport and art – but here’s one young African who intends to buck the trend. Mawuna Koutonin is the founder of London-based GoodBuzz , and his story is the stuff of dreams. Mawuna Koutonin was born in a small village in Togo, West Africa to a father of 36 children.

Togo 222

Togo Africa Advisory Board Campaign 222

VC Adventure

JULY 27, 2011

Before Foundry makes an investment we perform extensive due diligence. We meet with various company managers, talk to other people in industry to get their take, call current and prospective customers, exercise our own network of contacts to get background on the idea and team, perform reference checks on key management, etc. While this process varies, we’re always diligent before entering into what we view as a long term partnership with the company.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Cap Table Distribution 120

Up and Running

JULY 7, 2011

Image by ShashiBellamkonda via Flickr. Did you know that several companies and government agencies allot a certain number of projects/portion of their budget for contracts that can only go to woman-owned businesses? Those contracts include everything from military projects to public works and information technologies. When it comes to securing those choice contracts, the only eligible businesses are those that are certified as woman-owned.

Government 103

Government SBA Security Technical Review 103

VC Cafe

JULY 20, 2011

Mashable published a brilliant infographic on the connections between the large tech companies in the valley, including Google, Microsoft, Apple, Paypal, eBay and others. So whether someone was a Paypal Mafia member or a Xoogler, the conclusion is that they all end up filling their pockets and working for one of their neighbors in San Francisco, Mountain View or Palo Alto.

Technical Review 102

Technical Review San Francisco Internet Silicon Valley 102

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 1, 2011

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account , I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

Social Media 92

Social Media Small Business Design Media 92

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

JULY 14, 2011

Facebook Fan Page Generator Review (WordPress Plugin) A few months ago, I made the decision to start a Facebook Fan Page. Obviously, Facebook is a major player in the online space. It’s where over 700 Million people spend a bunch of time, and it’s the site that people spend the most amount of time on. Even more than the “Big G&# ( Google ).

Software Review 88

Software Review HTML Video Design 88

YoungUpstarts

JULY 14, 2011

Social Media World Forum (SMWF) Asia is back for its third edition! Organized by Bristol-based events company Six Degrees , this two-day conference and exhibition dedicated to all things social and digital media will take place in Singapore on 1st and 2nd September this year. It’ll be two full-on conference days featuring the familiar keynote addresses, brand case studies, workshops, topical question and answer sessions and debates, as well as an exhibition featuring some of the latest sol

Asia 188

Asia Social Media Singapore Media 188

OnlyOnce

JULY 28, 2011

Management by Chameleon. When I first became a manager, back in the MovieFone days, I had the good fortune to have an extreme case of “first time manager&# – I went from managing nobody to managing 1 person to managing something like 20 people inside 6 months. As a result, I feel like I learned a couple lessons more quickly than I might otherwise have learned them.

Management 79

Management Warrant Business Model Employee 79

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

Middle Men. Middle People? They exist in all forms of work and life. They’re essential in helping us get our jobs done because they specialize in something we do not. They do a routine task over-and-over again all year long that we do only periodically. Lawyers. Recruiters. Bankers. Real Estate professionals. PR firms. You name it. And yes, VC’s, too.

Term Sheet 319

Term Sheet PR Liquidation Preference Stock Options 319

VC Cafe

JULY 5, 2011

Video is a great way to get your startup some viral visibility. According to Cisco , by 2015, one million minutes of video – the equivalent of 674 days – will cross the internet every second (!) and as the YouTube blog pointed out more than 48 hours of video are uploaded YouTube site every minute. Amazing, no? Below are a few of the better examples of videos produced by Israeli startups and those that managed to get a plug in traditional media, reaching a huge potential audience. 1)

Video 90

Video Media Viral Startup 90

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 8, 2011

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account , I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

Social Media 89

Social Media South Korea Small Business Design 89

Steve Blank

JULY 25, 2011

Scientists and engineers as founders and startup CEOs is one of the least celebrated contributions of Silicon Valley. It might be its most important. ———-. ESL, the first company I worked for in Silicon Valley , was founded by a PhD in Math and six other scientists and engineers. Since it was my first job, I just took for granted that scientists and engineers started and ran companies.

Engineer 313

Engineer Silicon Valley United States Venture Capital 313

YoungUpstarts

JULY 6, 2011

by Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation.com. Over 50 percent of small businesses fail within the first five years of existence. Close to half of those who failed could have foreseen their failure. What this means beyond externalities, is there were factors these businesses could have worked on to prevent failure. Although there is never a guarantee a business will be successful after taking so and so steps, a business can always reduce its risks and give it the best opportunity to succeed.

Intellectual Property 244

Intellectual Property Non-Compete Technical Review Business Plan 244

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 25, 2011

This is a rough transcript of a talk I delivered recently at the start of Startup Weekend in Austin. Startup Weekend is a friendly competitive event in which teams of 3-5 build a startup from scratch over the course of a single intense weekend. It culminates with informal presentations to a panel of judges who declare a winner, but of course the competition is only an excuse to facilitate the true benefits: honing startup skills through experience, the thrill of pressure, and working side-by-sid

Startup 284

Startup Algorithm Design Salary 284

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2011

This article originally ran on TechCrunch. tl;dr version: If you’re an entrepreneur or VC or will be working in this industry - buy this. read it. live it. When I first started as a startup CEO in 1999 there were no guides on raising venture capital. There were no explanations for all of the confusing details outlined in a term sheet. Drag along rights?

Liquidation Preference 304

Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Cap Table Participating Preferred 304

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2011

If you have had some success in a business, I’m sure you bristle just like I do when someone says “You were just lucky…” I’m a strong believer that we all make our own luck, which means that the harder we work, the luckier we get. In reality, “hard work” is just a catch-all term for a list of principles that good entrepreneurs follow, allowing them to work smarter and improve their odds of success.

Entrepreneur 266

Entrepreneur Startup Networking Developer 266

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 28, 2011

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account , I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

Social Media 91

Social Media Small Business Design Media 91

Steve Blank

JULY 28, 2011

Silicon Valley was born in an era of applied experimentation driven by scientists and engineers. It wasn’t pure research, but rather a culture of taking sufficient risks to get products to market through learning, discovery, iteration and execution. This approach would shape Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial ethos: In startups, failure was treated as experience (until you ran out of money).

Engineer 287

Engineer Silicon Valley United States Intellectual Property 287

YoungUpstarts

JULY 13, 2011

by Michael Feuer, author of “ The Benevolent Dictator “. Have you ever said to yourself, How in the world did [insert name of powerful business executive] get to where he is? He’s not any smarter than I am! Well, chances are you’re right. That executive who made it big probably doesn’t have more powerful brain cells than you…but what he (or she!) probably does have are three non-glamorous but crucial qualities: focus, discipline, and follow-up.

Technical Cofounder 180

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Ohio Florida 180

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 18, 2011

ICANN recently announced the availability of new top-level domains (TLDs). So now in addition to.com and.org you can get www.startup or blackfly.chardonny.ironic. Just imagine: Slashdot.org could become slashdot.dot, making its full pronunciation &# eych tee tee pee colon slash slash slash dot dot dot.&#. A new TLD can be yours for only $185,000, but get 5% off with promo code “damnthatsalotofmoney05.&#.

Marketing 261

Marketing America Web Government 261

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2011

This article originally appeared on TechCrunch (this version is slightly different). Most web publishers measure where their traffic is coming from using an analytics package such as Google Analytics, Omniture or Core Metrics. These were good packages in the pre social media world at helping figure out who was driving your traffic. Today they’re wrong.

Analytics 292

Analytics Social Media Campaign Viral 292

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2011

I have a friend who runs a nationwide “traditional” business, and business has been down, like it has been for most people. I suggested that he add some social network marketing initiatives, and his answer was he is “too busy.” He is not alone, according to a recent study , which concludes that only 47% of companies use social media today for marketing, despite the fact that 78% of executives polled feel it’s critical for success.

Social Media 261

Social Media Media Marketing Social Network 261

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 17, 2011

Just like our larger brethren in the Fortune 100, lots of small businesses have training programs for their workers: lectures, classes, role-playing exercises, and motivational speaker sessions. However, most small businesses and startups ignore training programs altogether, or cobble together ad hoc strategies when on-boarding new hires. These differing approaches are sometimes stylistic, sometimes strategic, often driven by economics, and sometimes prompted by the company’s own culture.

Small Business 88

Small Business Software Review Technical Review Startup 88