31 December 2012

Death is the default for startups - your little idea means nothing

Here's a little tough love--

Death is the default for startups, and your little idea means nothing
Memeburn
By Matthew Buckland: Publisher Death is the default for startups, reckons Amazon Web Services Technology Evangelist Simone Brunozzi. Apart from having a really cool Twitter handle @Simon, Brunozzi has founded a few startups himself, so speaks with some ...


Happy New Year!

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28 December 2012

Former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson at new startup

Former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson is on the trail to redemption at new startup - San Jose Mercury News: "But Thompson didn't just take his $7 million in walking-away money and retire; he's now running a tiny startup called ShopRunner, and spends his time schlepping around the country lobbying online retailers to sign up for his Amazon-like shipping services. In his first interview with this newspaper since being booted from Yahoo, Thompson said he's not trying to prove anything -- he's just "fascinated" by the challenge of whether he can grow a 60-person company into something big. Two-year-old ShopRunner offers what Thompson called "Amazon Prime for everybody else." Users, who pay a $79 yearly membership fee, get perks like two-click shopping and free two-day delivery from dozens of online retailers, ranging from Toys R Us and Anne Klein to smaller merchants. . . ."


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26 December 2012

Achieving success through accidental entrepreneurship

Achieving success through ‘accidental entrepreneurship’ | VentureBeat: "Being personally invested in solving a problem rather than solely growing the bank account imbues “accidental entrepreneurs” with a tenacity that other business leaders may lack.  It’s inevitable that all businesses will encounter roadblocks along the way, but when you’re committed to solving a problem, you’re more apt to meet new challenges with enthusiasm. A company centered on a personal desire to enact some sort of change also has implications for future business innovations. No matter how successful a company may be at solving problem X, it’s only a matter of time before a new problem emerges. I predict we’ll continue to see many more “accidental entrepreneurs” given how technology is changing how fledgling businesses communicate with potential customers and investors. Today, someone can identify the need for a niche product and use Facebook and Twitter to instantly connect with a target audience, as well as raise money through crowd funding . . . "


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24 December 2012

What entrepreneurs can learn from artists

What entrepreneurs can learn from artists - Fortune Management: "Andy Warhol knew it all along: "Good business is the best art." And lately, a number of business thinkers and leaders have begun to embrace the arts, not as an escapist notion, a parallel world after office hours, or a creative asset, but as an integral part of business -- from the management team to operations to customer service. John Maeda, the president of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and author of the bookRedesigning Leadership, predicts that artists will emerge as the new business leaders and cites RISD graduates Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky, co-founders of Airbnb, as prominent examples. The author William Deresiewicz heralds reading as the most important task of any leader. John Coleman makes a compelling case for the role of poetry in business. Intel (INTC) named pop musician will.i.am as director of creative innovation. The World Economic Forum has been inviting arts and cultural leaders to its events for several years and this year added the 'Role of the Arts' to its Network of Global Agenda Councils. Indeed, the "art" of business has become more important as the "science" grows ubiquitous. As Big Data and sophisticated analytical tools allow us to make our processes more efficient, intuition and creativity are fast becoming the only differentiating factors among competitors. Like any "soft asset," these qualities cannot be exploited, only explored. And like artists, innovators must cultivate creative habits to see the world afresh and create something new. . . ."


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21 December 2012

Non-Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting Startups

The Non-Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting in Startups - Forbes: "A few weeks ago I spoke to thirty undergrads interested in entrepreneurship. While the questions varied, one theme was consistent: Where do I start? It’s something I hadn’t thought about in a while and provoked me to generate the following list of resources organized by type. The sections are organized by time and monetary cost, with Twitter being the least costly and events being the most costly. . . . "

Richard Branson on Being Richard Branson | Entrepreneur.com: "Entrepreneur: Small-business owners around the world look up to you. Is it hard for you to remember those early struggles, connect with them, and give relevant advice? Branson: No, I remember them vividly. It's far more difficult being a small-business owner starting a business than it is for me with thousands of people working for us and 400 companies. Building a business from scratch is 24 hours, 7 days a week, divorces, it's difficult to hold your family life together, it's bloody hard work and only one word really matters -- and that's surviving. One of the best bits of advice I can give is, early on, when you're building a new business, try to find somebody to run it on a day-to-day basis to free yourself up to look at the bigger picture. But obviously you've got to get over the first hump."

Rebuilding the Web We Lost - Anil Dash: "Another essential step for breaking out of the current tech industry's predictable patterns will be for entrepreneurs and creators to educate themselves about the true history of the tech industry and its products. Our business tends to follow a few simple, repeating cycles, like moving from centralization to decentralization and back, or from interoperable communications to silos and back. But as we've discussed, you can't trust the tech press to teach you about the tech industry, so you'll have to know your shit. Fortunately, a lot of us old-timers are still around, and still answer our emails sometimes, so it's possible to just ask. Imagine if Instagram had simply asked the folks who used to work at Flickr, "Did you ever change your terms of service? What freaked people out?" And even better, we can blog our own progress, because if you didn't blog it, it didn't happen. In that way, we form our own community of practice, our own new peer review process for what we learn about making the web work the right way. . . ."

LONDON: UK retailer Comet shutting down, 6,900 jobs lost - Business Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com: "As in many parts of the world, retailers have struggled to respond to the host of retailers online, including Amazon.com, that often offer big discounts. In Britain, retailers have also struggled in the face of a nine-month recession that only ended in the third quarter of 2012, largely because of a summer boon related to London's hosting of the 2012 Olympic Games. Most forecasters think the British recovery will be patchy over the months and years to come as the country's main trading partners in Europe struggle in the face of a debt crisis and the government continues to cut costs and raise taxes in order to get the public finances back into shape. . . . "


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19 December 2012

Investors and entrepreneurs at AVCC Miami

Miami in spotlight at AVCC, other entrepreneurship events - Business - MiamiHerald.com: "Entrepreneurs and investors shared advice, made connections and talked about deals at the Americas Venture Capital Conference and other Innovate MIA events."Entrepreneurs from around the world took the stage during this packed week of entrepreneurship events in Miami: Florida International University’s Americas Venture Capital Conference (known as AVCC), HackDay, Wayra’s Global DemoDay and Endeavor’s International Selection Panel. The events, all part of the first Innovate MIA week, also put the spotlight on Miami as it continues to try to develop into a technology hub for the Americas. “While I like art, I absolutely love what is happening today... The time has come to become a tech hub in Miami,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez, who kicked off the venture capital conference on Thursday. He told the audience of 450 investors and entrepreneurs about the county’s $1 million investment in the Launch Pad Tech Accelerator in downtown Miami. “I have no doubt that this gathering today will produce new ideas and new business ventures that will put our community on a fast track to becoming a center for innovative, tech-driven entrepreneurship,” Gimenez said. . . ." read more here
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/14/3142734/miami-in-spotlight-at-vc-confab.html#storylink=cpy


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17 December 2012

Startup beats Best Buy in Court

Sometimes the "little guy" wins--but startups beware--

The defunct startup that beat Best Buy in court - The Term Sheet: Fortune's deals blog Term Sheet: "Best Buy found liable of stealing corporate secrets, in a case funded by venture capitalists - . . . Fast forward a few months and many more meetings in Minneapolis. Best Buy abruptly tells Techforward that it is not moving forward with them – but rather, they are moving forward themselves. They launch a Super Bowl commercial staring Ozzy Osbourne and Justin Bieber to promote their program. And Best Buy goes on to generate over $140 million in revenues through this program. Now imagine the scene in the Techforward board room. Although the company had been providing services for other retailers (like Radio Shack and Dell), the company had invested well over a year's effort to get the Best Buy deal underway. And Best Buy's last minute actions posed a fatal blow. Techforward sued Best Buy – but it would take a very long time before the case made it through trial. And since Techforward had invested so much money working on the Best Buy deal, the cash position of the company was not looking good. The board ultimately had to make a horrible choice – they sold Techforward's assets to a third party. BUT – they did not sell the lawsuit. . . . after 18 months in court, a nine-person jury found Best Buy liable for misappropriation of TechForward's trade secrets and breach of contract, and returned a verdict of $22 million in favor of TechForward. And the jury also found by clear and convincing evidence that Best Buy did so willfully and maliciously, so the judge awarded an additional $5 million in punitive damages. . . ."


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14 December 2012

Venture industry shifting - boutique firms launched

Venture capitalism is changing--

With venture industry shifting, some high-profile investors launch their own boutique funds - SiliconValley.com: "An ongoing, once-in-a-generation shift in the venture capital industry is consolidating more money into fewer hands but creating new opportunities for some Silicon Valley startups. As pension funds and university endowments, unhappy with a decade of relatively flat returns, make fewer bets on venture, the number of big firms continues to shrink: From more than 800 nationwide in the wake of the dot-com bubble to roughly half that today. Yet recently, a small but growing handful of VC veterans have launched their own boutique firms. Some industry experts call it a hopeful sign for better days ahead. . . . "


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12 December 2012

UN passes resolution "Entrepreneurship for Development"

Surprising, but welcome, to see the UN embracing entrepreneurship--

U.N. General Assembly passes Israeli-proposed resolution | JTA - Jewish & Israel News: "The resolution calls on governments to foster entrepreneurship and include all interested parties, according to Globes. The resolution also says that forming partnerships between the private and public sectors also creates jobs and promotes investment, and advances economic growth in a country. . . "

UN document

" . . . Entrepreneurship is a powerful engine that can propel the global agenda forward. It is a major tool for reducing poverty, improving social conditions and confronting environmental challenges. It empowers people and generates solutions that help communities overcome old problems with new ways of thinking. It is an important driver of economic development, job creation and expanding opportunities for women and youth. Indeed, eight years ago, the Commission on Private Sector Development of the United Nations Development Program stated in a report that, "It is about realizing that the poor entrepreneurs are as important a part of the private sector as the multinational corporation. ... It is about unleashing the power of the local entrepreneur to reduce poverty in their communities and nations." But the benefits of entrepreneurship go beyond pure economics. As individuals become more self-sufficient and empowered, they are more likely to seek higher levels of education and better living conditions for themselves and their children. As President Paul Kagame of Rwanda put it, "entrepreneurship is the surest way for a nation to meet its goals and to develop prosperity for the greatest number of people."" (Beverly Schwartz in CNN.com)


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10 December 2012

What's It Like To Be Startup Founder?

What's it like? Read the full article (excerpt below):

What Is It Like To Be A Startup Founder? - Forbes: " . . . You wake up in the middle of the night and start fixing it. At the end of it, you don’t feel any resentment that you have lost your sleep, just sheer tiredness and a sense of mild satisfaction. While monetary aspects are not important, you are constantly trying to plot ways to make your baby really worthy for all the stakeholders involved. You want this baby to be something you can proudly call upon. While you are jealously guarding your baby, you are also getting the kid a lot of good company. The team grows bigger. The baby slowly grows up, and you start realizing that it no longer listens to some of your commands. You realize that you cannot keep micromanaging, and you let the kid evolve with a life of its own. You still act like the guide and the mentor, but you stay away from micromanaging. Someday, the baby grows so big that you can no longer hold it. It wants to go places, and you are no longer its main friend. So, you get external management or get your baby acquired. That is the teary part of your entrepreneurial day, but you also know that you have succeeded. You know how many people long to have a kid who grew so perfect and now gets a life of its own...."

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07 December 2012

Lack of investors hampers Tech City

Lack of investors hampers Tech City - Telegraph: "A detailed study of technology start-ups found that London has the strongest “cluster” in Europe, but ranks just seventh in a global league behind Silicon Valley in California, Tel Aviv in Israel and a number of other US cities. Data supplied by 50,000 start-ups around the world to Telefónica Digital and the Startup Genome, a research project, revealed that London firms raise 81pc less later-stage venture capital than their counterparts in Silicon Valley. The researchers said this was down to a lack of venture capital funds as well as of so-called “super angels”, wealthy individuals who make significant equity investments in young companies. The study also found that London start-ups tackle smaller markets than their American peers, are less likely to work full time on their start-up until they have “proved” their business model and are more focused on peripheral activities such as consulting. Rajeeb Day, founder of London-based recruitment start-up Enternships.com, said: “A lot more needs to be done to improve access to early stage financing. Generally investors [here] are more risk averse, require far more validation and are less generous with valuations compared to those in the Valley.” However, the researchers identified London as the “European capital of innovation”, with job creation per start-up as high as firms in Silicon Valley . . . The challenge is that there is no Sand Hill Road [the heart of the US investment industry] in Europe. We need to have a critical mass of venture firms to build a more robust start-up ecosystem.”. . . The research said Silicon Valley remains the world’s largest and most influential start-up “ecosystem”, but added that clusters of new businesses in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East are now beginning to “challenge [its] domination”. The ranking, which is based on factors including revenues, a business model analysis, experience of the founders and market information, was as follows:
1. Silicon Valley
2. Tel Aviv
3. Los Angeles
4. Seattle
5. New York City
6. Boston
7. London
8. Toronto
9. Vancouver
10. Chicago
11. Paris
12. Sydney
13. Sao Paulo
14. Moscow
15. Berlin
16. Waterloo (Canada)
17. Singapore
18. Melbourne
19. Bangalore
20. Santiago



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05 December 2012

Seed stage investing

You can learn a lot just by reading the text of VC/angel/investor websites:

OATV"WHO WE ARE - Seed Stage Investor - Seed stage investing sits between angels (who tend to commit $10k to $100k per company) and traditional venture capital ($3-$5M Series A investing along with the occasional Series B-D round). We view seed stage investing as the space between the two. Seed rounds can range from between $250k up to $2M. There are some traditional venture funds who do seed investing, but we believe it’s a distinctively different form of capital which is more complex than simply tacking it onto an existing investment strategy. As a class, seed investments are decidedly neither fully baked companies nor are they back of the napkin ideas. Seed stage companies typically have a product or prototype in search of a market. As seed investors, our focus is to help founders find clarity around their product and market in the most cash efficient way possible. This is a critical stage of development and one that can easily be misguided should a company raise too much or too little capital. At OATV, we believe a seed round should give a company around 18 months of cash runway with no revenue. The larger the seed round, the longer the runway - which is why we tend to favor larger seed rounds between $1M and $2M. We think 18 months of experimentation, while tweaking and testing assumptions, allows entrepreneurs to de-risk their opportunity - putting them in a position to accelerate with a larger round of funding, find an acquisition partner, or achieve profitability and not require any further funding. This experimentation and optionality is core to our investment strategy and why we believe seed investing is a stand-alone asset class fully distinguishable from angels or other types of more traditional venture capital financing. It’s all we do at OATV."




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03 December 2012

How To Innovate Like A Startup

How To Innovate Like A Startup - Global-cio - Executive insights/interviews - Informationweek: "What makes you a startup is that you're trying to create something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. So we're in a situation where we're not building something that's not fundamentally the same as what we've built before. It's something new. It's something that serves new customers that we've never served before. It's a new kind of product that's never been built before. It's taking a technology from one market and moving it to another . . "



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30 November 2012

Dismantle the sales department and double sales


Video: Noetica - Telegraph: "Online business is actually driving greater numbers of customers to contact centres – and those centres are very often supported by Noetica’s software, the simplified IT processes that enable them to interact effectively with their customers. As the founder and CEO of Noetica, Danny Singer, tells the Telegraph Business Club, Noetica has seen its business double, based on its reputation as an industry specialist, but also – intriguingly – following a decision to dismantle its sales department and let the management and project delivery teams be the company’s ambassadors.
Company Name: Noetica
Location: London
Number of employees: 20
Turnover: £1.5m
Founded: 1997"

The key here is that management and "project delivery teams" understood their role as company "ambassadors" selling the company's products/services.

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26 November 2012

Stockholm startup ecosystem

Why Stockholm as a start-up center? Location, education, infrastructure, government support, and long, dark and cold winters!--

Why tiny Stockholm has the most stunning startup ecosystem since Tel Aviv: " . . . And yet, because of its size, relative affluence, and technological advancement, Sweden does make for a useful first market for homegrown Internet companies. A common expansion plan starts in Sweden, moves out to the rest of the Nordic countries, zips over to Germany, the UK, and the rest of Europe, and then, all going exceedingly well, winds up in the US. Stockholm enjoys numerous other advantages, including a widely developed broadband network pushed out by the government in the 1990s, giving most residents the sorts of download speeds that could only encourage rampant piracy, and hence the arrival of enterprises such as Kazaa and thePirate Bay. It’s not surprising that Spotify started in Sweden, where piracy was so rampant as to be utterly normalized. . . Those fast Internet connections, however, coupled with a government-instigated PC-lending program that put computers in the hands of even the lower classes from an early stage helped cultivate a high-tech, early-adopter society. Plus, Swedish winters are long, dark, and cold, which encourages people to stay inside and noodle away at creative endeavors, such as programming or gaming."




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Starting a Business--think internet first

The internet alone is a great business incubator:

Martha Lane Fox: ‘Steal from Google’ and put online first to build sustainable recovery - Telegraph: Speaking at the Telegraph’s Festival of Business in Manchester, Ms Lane Fox urged companies to “steal from Google”, with its web-first philosophy. “If you’re considering a new aspect of your business or changing an existing process, think internet first,” she said. “If you were starting your company now, you would put the internet first. That’s what will make businesses robust into the future.”. . . In her government role pushing for wider internet access in the UK, Ms Lane Fox said getting more people online would “unleash entrepreneurialism and increase skills.” “Anyone can start a business” because the barriers are lower when you start online, she said. “A kid can build an app in a bedroom and become a success.” Talking about setting up lastminute.com, Ms Lane Fox said that while she and her business partners got many things wrong, what they got right “was a relentless focus on the customer.” “Being online puts you in touch with your customer to quite an alarming degree,” she said. . . . "



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23 November 2012

Network Centric

You can learn a lot by reading the website info for angels, VC, and other investing firms--here's an example--

OATV: "Network-Centric
We’re interested in finding and funding the very best companies that originate in our network. That network centers around the relationships and events of O’Reilly Media. We have never funded a company more than one person removed from our network. We value the context and connectedness this network provides. We think it gives us an edge in both spotting investments and in being able to size up the people behind them quickly. So who is in that network? First and foremost, people with a direct connection to Tim O’Reilly, Mark Jacobsen, or Bryce Roberts. Also, O’Reilly editors, authors and Radar team members at O’Reilly Media. We also include Foo Camp attendees and individuals who’ve spoken at O’Reilly Conferences. If you can’t answer to the affirmative on any of the above, getting an introduction from someone who is otherwise connected to us is the best way to make it onto our collective radars."




22 November 2012

Startups learn lesson - ‘Dropbox effect’ is a myth

Startups learn a painful lesson: The ‘Dropbox effect’ is a myth | VentureBeat: "Do a search for “Dropbox problem” or “Dropbox effect” and you’ll find thousands of articles. I agree that Dropbox has inspired more enterprise founders to experiment with freemium models or to build intuitive products, but it is not proof that a consumer-focused company can simply change focus to the enterprise without having to reengineer its technology from the ground up. You can’t just ‘pivot’ to the enterprise. “Dropbox’s message is that business users want products that are simple and sexy,” said Ray Wang, the principal analyst and CEO of Constellation Research. That may be true, but according to Wang, to meet the needs of IT, you have to “do a lot more.” . . "




19 November 2012

What Startups Can Learn From Brands on Viddy

5 Things Startups Can Learn From Brands on Viddy: "Viddy, the social video-sharing platform known for its 15-second time cap, has a slogan on its website: Capture Life in the Moment. Countless brands are seizing this opportunity, capturing aspects of their day-to-day operations in order to drive engagement with fans and followers. Due to Viddy’s success (in May, Viddy completed a $30 million Series B funding round, valuing the company at more than $300 million) and the success in brands extending their social reach, the video platform may be a good addition to any startup’s media plan."




14 November 2012

Berlin startup scene gets nod from Google

startup news review:

Berlin startup scene gets nod from Google
Boston.com
''Google's investment in the startup scene here is a clear signal,'' said lawyer Andre Egger, who specializes in financing for technology and entertainment companies. Egger noted that the city, whose unofficial motto is ''poor, but sexy,'' gained a bad ...

And Now We're At The Point Where Startups Are Running Out Of Cash
Business Insider
Unable to convince investors to give them millions more, startup founders are being forced to throw in the towel. Some are softly landing at larger companies for an offer of employment and options but next to no cash; others are closing up shop completely.

Business Insider

Visa, startup iZettle settle mobile payments issue
Computerworld
IDG News Service - Mobile card payments startup iZettle has settled its payments dispute with Visa Europe and can now accept Visa payments in Norway, Finland and Denmark, the company announced on Tuesday. To accept Visa, iZettle had to add a new ...

Startup Riot breaks out in Portland
Bizjournals.com (blog)
Founded in Atlanta in 2008 by serial entrepreneur Sanjay Parekh, Startup Riot has since extended to Seattle in 2011 and now to Portland. The event brings early-stage businesses and investors together for a day of pitching, concept demonstrations and, ...

Stealth startup Quik.io hits the ground with iPad content streaming app
ZDNet
Stealth startup Quik.io hits the ground with iPad content streaming app. Summary: Astartup by three former Cisco veterans has been in stealth mode for over a year developing an iPad app that aims at making streaming content to an iPad a simple operation.

ZDNet

Startup Must-Reads — Tuesday, Nov.13
Wall Street Journal
Here's how the startup's founders chose who to go with. Entrepreneur.com. Payless raises: Money is everyone's first choice as a reward for a job well done, but for astartup looking to stretch its funds, it's not always easy to hand out raises that are ...

Wall Street Journal

Fitness startup Retrofit adds $8 million in funding
Chicago Tribune
Local fitness startup Retrofit has raised $8 million in a new funding round, bringing its total investment to $10.7 million. The company, which is based in Skokie but moving to Chicago early next year, crafts 12-month weight loss programs for customers ...

The 86-Year-Old Startup Guru
Forbes
He can also tell you everything you need to know about hiring people, pitching big companies for sales, and creating a healthy culture at your startup. As it turns out, the things we value at contemporary tech startups—values that many of us assume ...

Startup CogniMem demos new road to computing
EE Times
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- CogniMem Technologies Inc. aims to demonstrate at Supercomputing 2012 the scalability of its non Von Neumann approach to computing based on pattern recognition. The startupwill demo a system using 40,000 of its silicon processing ...

Startup Weekend Boosts Profiles of New Entrepreneurs — and Host Cities
Mashable
It's the final stage of a 54-hour competition to create a startup from scratch. Nearly 300 lanyard-clad entrepreneurs squeeze together on rows of plastic chairs to watch fellow hopefuls pitch their way to the top. Under the intense scrutiny of ...

Loyalty Rewards Startup LocalBonus Launches An iPhone App ...
By Ryan Lawler
The new LocalBonus app provides an easy sign-up process, allowing users to simply take a picture of their credit card to begin receiving rewards. The app also..
TechCrunch

News app editor Lauren Rabaino brings a startup mentality to the ...
By David Holmes
Rabaino is no outsider to the startup mentality, having worked as a designer at two journalistic startups prior to joining the Seattle Times as homepage producer in June 2011. Even before taking up the mantle of news app editor, Rabaino ...
PandoDaily

Winklevoss Twins Hukk $750000 at Online Shopping Startup Hukkster
By Josh Wolford
They put $1 miilion into a four-year old startup called SumZero that just happens to have been co-founded by Divya Narendra. Yes, that Divya Narendra that was a part of the now famous lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook.
WebProNews

Boulder travel journal startup Everlater acquired by MapQuest/AOL
By Andy Vuong
Boulder travel journal startup Everlater acquired by MapQuest/AOL : Insight on all things tech and telecom, with an emphasis on developments that matter most to Colorado and the West. Colorado.
TechKnow Bytes

Wireless monitoring startup EarlySense secures $15M ...
By Jonah Comstock
Wireless monitoring startup EarlySense secures $15M. By: Jonah Comstock | Nov 12, 2012. Tags: EarlySense | home health monitoring | Pitango Venture Capital | remote wireless monitoring | wireless remote patient monitoring |. EarlySense ...
mobihealthnews

Startup America's Veterans Working Group Launches to Capture ...
12, 2012– The Startup America Partnership today announced the formation of the Veterans Working Group, an initiative that highlights the best practices for ...

The $500 Startup | Tweaky
There are a lot of great startup ideas out there that can be validated using two things we know very well: WordPress and Tweaky.com. Tweaky itself got a lot of ...



13 November 2012

Gen Y entrepreneurs want Obama to focus on education and Internet freedom:

Gen Y entrepreneurs want Obama to focus on education and Internet freedom: "“I believe education will be one of the first mandates for Obama at the second term—education at all levels,” Jack Myers, author of Hooked Up: A New Generation’s Surprising Take on Sex, Politics, and Saving the World, told the Upstart Business Journal. “I think he will also address the debt that college students are facing and their inability to pay back that debt.”"

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12 November 2012

London Startup Weekend (video)



London Startup Weekend: day two as it happened All the action from day two of the Telegraph-hosted Startup Weekend as it happened.

London Startup Weekend: day two
Telegraph.co.uk
But while some participants took the opportunity to get some rest at after the first day of the Telegraph-hosted Startup Weekend, the team working on a loyalty card app coded into the night. 13.01 The Mayor of London (also a Telegraph columnist), Boris ...

The Truest Startup Advice You'll Ever Read, From Founders Who Have Actually ...
Business Insider
"If you are thinking of starting a non-transactional consumer startup, be aware that you are entering what is perhaps the most competitive sector in tech in the last decade….ten million users is the new one million users." -- Chris Dixon, Partner of ...

Business Insider

What Square's rise means for the startup ecosystem
CNET
Square is different than any other startup that has come before it, and its growing influence and size will inevitably lead to a change in the way entrepreneurs run their companies and venture capitalists invest. There's no doubt that Square is on the ...

On the Job: You're never too old for a startup
USA TODAY
On the Job: You're never too old for a startup. Anita Bruzzese, GannettShare. Comments. Even an old-hat idea like a barbershop can benefit from the fresh, fun input of an entrepreneur with experience. 111112onthejob-barbershop. Sometimes an old hand ...

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11 November 2012

What matters most to startups (video)


What matters most to startups (CNBC video) - the founders of warby parker say the things that matter most are immigration reform and health care costs . . .  first is that no matter what business you are in, you're in a talent war. every start-up in america is having trouble hiring software engineers, developers and encoders. we need more. there is a lot being educated in the u.s. but they are having trouble getting green cards and visas to stay in the country. we need reform to hire the people we need to grow the business. we are growing quickly but could be hiring more people if we have more engineers. the second thing is health care costs. for us over the last few years they have increased. we think they will start to stabilize. for us, you know, we are a little over a hundred people. generally we have a younger population. i think most other companies so our health care costs should be low. . .

URL:http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000126900




The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Mediocre Entrepreneurs | TechCrunch: " . . . . persistence is not the self-help cliche “Keep going until you hit the finish line!”. The key slogan is, “Keep failing until you accidentally no longer fail.” That’s persistence." - James Altucher

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