4/26/11

Good morning, All, and hope to see you tonight and it’s high time we were together in the same room, so to make sure you’re in the room, RSVP here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1553028149.

Or just show up! We do have a few things planned for the evening – or just come network, socialize and meet some people:

On Digital Media (http://odmcast.com/) will be there doing videos of your elevator pitches – or whatever you’d like. Want to do a short video for your website/beta launch? Go for it! Just talk to the camera, tell us what you’re doing and the video is yours to have or to submit or post wherever you’d like.

Also, CEO Coach and Pitch Doctor McAdory Lipscomb Jr. (mac@ceocoach.net) will be there to give you a few pointers on your pitch or video. Most technologists only talk about their solution but not their business! Working with 400+ startups including coaching the IPO road show for Live Person, Mac, a former venture capital firm operating partner (RRE, no less), Accenture partner and Cable TV Pioneer, has developed a template that will help you retain control of your own presentation.

Next, Murat Agtihonaglu will be on hand and happy to answer any questions you have about the ER Accelerator program,

And a special thanks to our sponsor Joe Daniels, who currently represents over 40 startups in the NYC metro area – and is now partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP (http://www.loeb.com/). In fact, your first beer or wine is on him – and feel free to ask him questions and advice.

Of course we will be there and will happily make introductions to anyone in the room you’d like to talk to. Just ask! Again, to RSVP: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1553028149

Oh, the guys – or at least one or two of them – from http://48hourapps.com/ will be there and yes, they’ll help you build your apps in 48 hours – or you don’t have to pay them. But they’ll get it done, not to worry!

Deadlines!

The deadline for the inaugural ER Accelerator this week – April 30^th, in fact. For more information and to apply: http://eranyc.com/ And by the way, there are now 170+ mentors participating, including Fred Wilson, Howard Morgan, Esther Dyson, Jeff Stewart, David Pakman, Brian Cohen, John Frankel, Anil Dash and more. You’ll also get startup $$, free office space, hands-on help and more. You don’t want to miss out: http://eranyc.com/apply/

NYC TechStars is doing a summer program. Early application deadline is May 15th. Apply here: http://www.techstars.org/apply/

Finally, Hacking Education: A Contest for Developers and Data Crunchers. Ten years ago, a teacher in the Bronx launched DonorsChoose.org. Since then, more than 165,000 teachers at 43,000 public schools have posted over 300,000 classroom project requests, inspiring $80,000,000 in giving from 400,000 donors. We’ve opened up that data, and invite you to make discoveries and build apps that improve education in America. Help to shape your school system’s budget by revealing what teachers really need. Build the first mobile app for hyper-local education philanthropy. We’ve got a list of suggestions to help get you thinking. We hope to build a community of developers and data crunchers, so we’re launching a contest! Deadline is June 30^th, and more information is here: http://www.donorschoose.org/hacking-education

Streaming Media East comes to NYC May 10-11, and if you’d like a free exhibit hall pass, now’s the time to sign up for it. http://bit.ly/exN3Zj

BarCampNYC6 takes place May 21st and 22nd and tickets go fast. BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees. The event is free, but there is a price: all attendees must give a demo, a session, or help with one. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join. When you come, be prepared to share with barcampers. When you leave, be prepared to share it with the world. RSVP: http://barcampnyc6.eventbrite.com/

Someone’s always watching:
In case you missed it, skynet became self-aware on April 19^th, 2011 according to the television series, but in the movie, the date was actually August 29^th and who you going to believe? Ok, don’t answer that. What got the tech world all abuzz – besides which was the actual date, of course and the fact that AWS suspiciously went offline that day – was the announcement that your iPhone (and 3G iPad) is tracking your location and reporting back up to 100 locations a day. Now, don’t get all paranoid, iPhone/iPad owners: Android users are being tracked as well. If you’ve had enough, Android users, go here: http://bit.ly/fKLsRC. iPhone users, here: http://tnw.co/eGYvQ5. Sort of. More good news: According to the WSJ (via TNW), even disabling location services won’t stop your iPhone from tracking your location: http://tnw.co/go4cGx. More information on the ins and outs of iPhone tracking here: Stay Calm: A Guide to iPhone Location Tracking and You (http://tnw.co/e7mMTz)

Now, about all those video cameras tracking you on every street corner everywhere in the world, well, don’t know if there’s an app for that. Yet. Although, GPS satellites are in the process of getting a serious upgrade, and will soon be able to track your location within 2-3 feet , rather than the curent 20 feet, so if you’re one of those people who can find your keys, well, make sure to always leave them next to an electronic device: http://bit.ly/fC5cjO.

But wait! There’s more! Get ready for The Really Smart Phone. For almost two years, Alex Pentland at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has tracked 60 families living in campus quarters via sensors and software on their smartphones—recording their movements, relationships, moods, health, calling habits and spending. In this wealth of intimate detail, he is finding patterns of human behavior that could reveal how millions of people interact at home, work and play. Not only that, by analyzing changes in movement and communication patterns, researchers could even detect flu symptoms before the students themselves realized they were getting sick. Story is here: http://on.wsj.com/gY3tfS And we’re sure that there’s more to come on this tracking story.

More pieces we like this week:

How to Conduct References on Your Investors. Your investors do their due diligence and you need to do the same: http://bit.ly/dKrYNl

How to Use Competitive Intelligence to Gain an Advantage. Hey, investment may be at an all-time high, but let’s face it: it’s tough out there. Here’s a guide to ethically gathering intel on your rivals: http://bit.ly/gQsE2P

Startup Launch Lessons from Color. Some good advice about what to do – and what not to do, and the example being a company that raised $41 million, launched beta – and forgot that they had a story to tell. Besides raising the $41 million, of course. Short and sweet: http://bit.ly/ev32dj

Finally,and because we can always use a chuckle, this week we have two: What Monty Python Taught Me About the Software Industry. Does the computer industry seem just a little too strange? Never fear: Monty Python encapsulated several nuggets of wisdom years ago that summarize exactly what is behind the sometimes-tawdry behavior. Classic clips included and they just never get old. http://bit.ly/g7BY9R

Inbound Marketing Rap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkhN4L7Mn74

We do hope to see you at Connolly’s tonight and until then, as always, help is on the way…

4/19/11

Good morning, All,

Ok, so many of you commented that we buried the registration link, so, thought we’d make it easy for you this week. Onward and forward:

We always post deadlines, be they incubators, accelerators, StartupWeekends. We’re there for you and why do we do it? Fact: Nearly 70 companies in the New York area received more than $580 million in funding in Q1, according to CrainsNY: http://bit.ly/dRrhvx. And TechStars showcased their incubated companies last week and according to GigaOm et al (TechStars NYC Class Shines at Demo Day: http://bit.ly/hs0zte) there’s a good chance that all will be funded.

The first step to funding is getting out there and making your presence known and we’re going to do our best to make it that much easier for you and here’s how:

The SOS Gathering is next Tuesday, April 26 (RSVP: http://bit.ly/eCTIfi) and we will be doing videos of your elevator pitches! Simple! Just talk to the camera, tell us what you’re doing and the video is yours to submit and not to worry: we will give you privacy and hoping to film – in an elevator. Nice touch, what, eh? Our thanks to On Digital Media (http://odmcast.com/), the podcast that covers the technology, creation, distribution, consumption and monetization of digital media. They will be on hand to talk with you about your business – and help you with your elevator pitch video. Which is a two-for-one, for those of you who are counting. Your video and audio interviews will be syndicated throughout the interwebs – and available for you to submit for incubators, applications – or an SOS elevator pitch. And our thanks to our sponsor Joe Daniels, who currently represents over 40 startups in the NYC metro area – and is now partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP (http://www.loeb.com/). In fact, your first beer or wine is on him – and feel free to ask him questions and advice. Before you imbibe, of course. Or maybe not. Murat Agtihonaglu will also be there to answer any questions you have about the ER Accelerator program and again, to RSVP: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1553028149

Speaking of which, the deadline for the inaugural ER Accelerator April 30th: http://eranyc.com/ Apply to work with an amazing team of partners, sponsors, interns, resident technologists, resident designers and 150+ mentors including Fred Wilson, Howard Morgan, Esther Dyson, Jeff Stewart, David Pakman, Brian Cohen, John Frankel, Anil Dash and more. You’ll also get startup $$, free office space, hands-on help and more. http://eranyc.com/apply/ Also, Esther Dyson is the guest VC atthe next Entrepreneurs Roundtable, which will be tomorrow, April 20^th. Sign up here: http://er35.eventbrite.com/?ref=ecount

And the winner is…There were StartupWeekends all over the country this past weekend. The NYC winner: congrats to OMGplaymob (members receive a mystery box every month filled with 4-5 toys that represent the latest and upcoming must-have trends from the toy industry), and a special thanks to SOS members John Britton, Kelley Boyd and Frank Denbow, who were mentors at the event. John also announced that he and his crew are starting a new service: for $10,000, they’ll build your app over a weekend. That’s 54 hours, and if they don’t complete it, they’ll simply turn the code over to you. Knowing John, it’ll get done, and it’ll get done right. Email us if you’d like to get in touch with him. The next NYstartupweek is June 10^th and it fills up fast, so register now: http://nyc.startupweekend.org/

The Founders Lab deadline is tomorrow! They will select about 15 hackers and engineers, designers, product and marketing mavens to begin to develop high-growth mobile ventures in NYC. You may apply individually (most common scenario) however, pairs or teams who want to work together and are open to change, may also apply. Founder Labs builds fresh founding teams and validates ideas. Application deadline: http://bit.ly/gcOJF8

A Chance to Audition for Your Own Ted Talk: On May 24, TED is holding the first-ever public audition for TED Talks. It will take place in New York in front of a live audience made up of TED staff and members of the TED community. The audition will be recorded, and the best talks could either be posted on TED.com or win an invitation for a full-on mainstage presentation at TED2012 in California early next year. Make a one-minute video to qualify. Video deadline is April 25. More info here: http://blog.ted.com/2011/04/15/a-chance-to-audition-your-own-ted-talk/

The first TechStars NYC showcase grabbed a lot of attention andNYC TechStars is doing a summer program. Early application deadline is May 15th. Apply here: http://www.techstars.org/apply/

Speaking of deadlines, early registration for Brand Camp ’11 ends tomorrow: http://bcnyc.eventbrite.com/ More information about the event below under ‘Upcoming Events.’

Regarding the other half of our subject line this week:

Google Holds Out Against ‘Do Not Track’ Flag http://bit.ly/dG7pDZ Granted, it’s a complicated issue – and difficult to enforce. Guess we’ll just have to keep an eye on the Kerry-McCain privacy legislation introduced last week that tightens information-sharing rules, and could include a mandate requiring U.S. companies to follow the DNT flag. On it! Personally, we stopped using GOOG search. Not surprisingly, spam count has dropped over 80%. And yes, BING now has an over 30% adoption rate – maybe Because It’s Not Google. Sort of. And remember: Better Ads Coming Soon In Gmail!

Disturbing trend: big brands pimping Facebook “Likes” A disturbing and abhorrent trend has emerged on Facebook, says B.L. Ochman, where big brands force visitors to “Like” their page in return for a gift, coupon, or special access to promotions or contests – while forcing people to give them access to their personal data unless they jump through Facebook’s notoriously complex privacy hoops. Story is here: http://bit.ly/hyLEs8. Then again, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, or a free ride, even on line: (Facebook Uses Profile Info to Target Ads! http://bit.ly/ggzBR5)

And finally, and funnily, courtesy of The Onion News Network: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqggW08BWO0

More pieces we like this week:

10 Words That Should Never Appear on Your Website. A good, simple list and good advice: use plain language, avoid generalities, and skip the hyperbole. http://bit.ly/gtYNGi

Ok, so we know what you don’t want to do. Here’s what you do next: The Anatomy of a Perfect Landing Page – Ten Key Features That Draw In Users. Simple and to the point: http://bit.ly/evJTcc

From Both Sides of the Table: Brad Feld Drops Knowledge. Here’s What He Said … Are pitch decks going the way of the now-obsolete executive summary? Let’s hope and it seems now investors would rather see product: http://bit.ly/hBP5Q2

Startup Advice You Don’t Want to Hear, But Absolutely Need To. Starting a business is easy. Anyone can do it. Starting a successful business is hard. Well, that we know. It’s what you don’t know that can hurt you: http://bit.ly/gPEni3

Of course, would the week be complete without an is-this-a-bubble piece, and since one of our favorites chimed in, attention must be paid. From John Frankel, Okay…I Said it: This Time it’s Different, or How The Bubble WILL Come About: http://bit.ly/g1x9nE

This week, we leave you with two chuckles: We do want to wish those of you on the list a Happy Passover and for your amusement, an abbreviated tech version of the Passover story: http://bit.ly/hZZf1d.

Because the royal wedding is next week and some of us are just too busy to make it, a T-Mobile sneak preview of the Wedding Entrance Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kav0FEhtLug

Enjoy the rest of your week. A very Happy Easter to you and hope to see you at Connolly’s next Tuesday. In the meantime, help is on the way…

4/17/11

Good morning, All,

Our first SOS bbq of the season will be on May 3rd (rain date: May 10th), sponsored once again by our friends at 1099partners.com. Come and have some BBQ, talk to the 1099 people and enjoy the great outdoors in a lovely garden! $15 in advance; $20 at the door. To RSVP: http://sosbbq20121.eventbrite.com/

Our next SOS 1-on-1 with an investor will be in a couple of weeks and we have a direct pipeline to a group of serious angels whose representative will be at the event. Caveat: you must send us your deck in advance. Your startup must be tech-based, and the focus is on startups who have developed product and are looking to get to the next level, which means, you need the money to get there, and they’re not focusing on any particular vertical. Send your deck to hello@startuponestop.com and we will pass it to investors’ rep. And looking forward to seeing them!

Next, an exclusive SOS Member Offer: Complimentary Admission to NY XPO for Business. Because of our long standing support of the NY XPO for Business we are thrilled to offer YOU COMPLIMENTARY ADMISSION ($15 Value). This offer is not available anywhere else. FREE 1-DAY XPO PASS INCLUDES UNLIMITED NETWORKING & 2 SEMINARS
Date: May 2 – 3 2012
Location: Javits Center Hall 1A – 655 West, 34th Street, New York, NY 10001
For more information and to register: http://bit.ly/PQPDb
Discount code: COMP1

We’re an industry that loves free stuff. Twitter, facebook, instagram, email, rewards for check-ins. The list goes on. We’ve not only made a habit/lifestyle of it: we’ve made it a business, too, and as we well know, the buck always stops somewhere, whether they’re gathering information about you to sell to a third party, or well, gathering information about you to sell to a third party. Let’s face it: it’s a tough economy and the bucks have stopped in a lot of areas. Opting for premium/freemium is an option, but that only gets you so far in some quarters (How I lost access to my Google account today http://bit.ly/IGwo2C). But remember: If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold. So, sell and if you want to go big, think big, meaning think global, and that was one of the lessons of the TheBizDen 2012 Business Summit that took place two weeks ago at NYIT, organized by – a student. Arjun Rai, in fact. If you missed it, here’s a great article, filled with points you need to hear (Instagram Dreams? Wake Up. VCs Still Want to See the Money: http://bit.ly/J0bT0n) Lest we forget: Instagram is the exception to almost all rules except aqu/hiring. If the money isn’t rolling in from outside parties, rethink how you plan to monetize.
Lessons from the BizDen Summit, elsewhere and well, just common sense:
1.     Keep your day job. Good advice from the bizden panel: Investors will often encourage entrepreneurs who are employed to stay that way. Many startups don’t earn a profit for one to two years or more, you may need that money in the end. And closing a round takes time, and the panel also suggested…
2.     Have passion.  Truly care about what you’re doing. “I always tell young entrepreneurs to expect a five-year slog,” says Michael Yavonditte, an angel investor and venture partner at ff Venture Capital in New York. And the only way to do that, he says is to be passionate about your business.
3.     Always think outside of the box. From The Economist: Air for shares. Meaning ad space for equity. In Europe, a handful of companies are helping struggling start-ups with an unusual model: investing advertising space in them instead of money. There are caveats here, you’re supposedly plucky entrepreneurs, dammit! Pluck may work where luck may fail you: http://econ.st/HigTzE
4.     Revenue is important. Recurring revenue is even better. It’s called ‘proof of concept’ when you have a loyal following. Make sure that your passion is one that instills passion – and loyalty – in your (dare we say it) clientele. Big time.
5.     Many entrepreneurs undervalue their product or service and we find that that’s especially true in many a New York based startup. Stop that! Now! Eyeballs are important. Revenue is better and more compelling. Have a basic product – and a value-add, just in case you’re not instagram.
6.     Press isn’t success. One of the panelists observed that he noticed a correlation between the number of mentions in TechCrunch and the success of a company: the more TC mentions, the more likely that company was to fail. Our takeaway: if you’re product is getting press, make sure it works. Well.
7. Don’t do what everyone else is doing. They’re already doing it. You might have a better product: they may be better connected, and that counts for a lot. Do what no one else has thought to do yet.
8.     The lesson of Instagram. Instagram came along and focused in two hot areas simultaneously: iPhone & social media (integrating with both twitter and facebook). They also had a beautifully designed product that put its users’ needs front and center. Yes, it was free: it was also a perfect storm.
9.     Is Direct Selling The Next Driver Of Startup Commerce Companies? Mulitlevel Marketing has gotten a bad rep, and for good reason. But what if you had a real product to sell. Suddenly, all of those FB friends mean something and can be monetized in a real way. Likes are nice. Commerce is far more meaningful: http://tcrn.ch/IJR8qc
10.     Make sure you know all the right people. The instagram founder did (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: Everyone’s connected in Silicon Valley: http://bit.ly/HUgm4k),
If you want to have a successful company, anywhere, it helps to know the people who can help you along the way. You don’t have to be in Silicon Valley, but you do need to go where the people you need to get to know will be. Network. Email. Follow up. And build a product people need and/or will use. Having a path to monetization doesn’t hurt, either, just in case. Like they say: always bet on black. Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

New York Entrepreneur Week starts April 16^thAre you an entrepreneur in practice or at heart? There’s only on place to be this April 16-20. New York Entrepreneur Week. You owe it to yourself to recharge, refuel and refocus your purpose. Use code: StartupOneStop for 15% off
Make sure to come to the Entrepreneurs Walk that will raise funds to support entrepreneurs. That’s 4/18
Walk alongside 650+ other aspiring and accomplished business owners
Where: West Side Highway Path (meeting street sent 48hrs before the event)
Time: 4/18 at 5pm EST
Sign-up:www.EntrepreneurWalk.com

3rd Annual NYC Startup Job Fair, Friday, April 20^th, 2012
1:00 – 2:30 pm Engineers/Developers Only
2:30 – 5:00 pm All Candidates
World Trade Center 7 (250 Greenwich St)
Free – Limited Tickets – Registration Required
This is the third annual NYC Startup Job Fair. The companies present are some of NYC’s top startups. Last year’s event held 40 startups and this year we’ve moved to a larger venue so that we can include more startups. It’s a great chance to talk with and learn more about opportunities with NYC startups.

Founders Institute Israel, deadline April 22^nd. It’s the world’s largest idea-stage incubator, founded by our friend Adeo Ressi. Through its four month idea-stage incubator program, you can launch your dream company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs, while not being required to quit your day job. To apply: http://bit.ly/zoHyNa

Wayra UK Startup Accelerator, deadline, April 22^nd. Telefónica has announced the UK launch of its technology accelerator programme. Wayra is inviting technology startups to apply to receive up to €50,000 (£42,000) investment and access to a new shared workspace in Tottenham Court Road. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/xeugnmThinking about applying to ERA Summer 2012 class? Application deadline: April 29th! To apply to join the the ER Accelerator summer class: http://eranyc.com/apply/

ERA is now accepting applications for Summer 2012! Application deadline: April 29th Yes, it’s here in NYC, with access to world-class mentors, office space, and more. Each company receives $25,000/8% equity. And we’re one of the mentors! For more information and to apply: http://eranyc.com/apply/

The Second Annual User Experience Awards are here! Submission deadline May 1^st. The User Experience Awards aim to honor and celebrate outstanding UX projects and practitioners. The UX Awards are produced in partnership with IXDA NY, NYC Chapter of the UPA and NYC-CHI and culminate with an Awards Ceremony on June 12 in NYC. We’re actively seeking submissions from UX professionals for this year’s Awards! If you think you’ve worked on a project in the last two years that shows great user experience in terms of the final product or the process you followed, please submit your project, app, software, website, or even strategy to UserExperienceAwards.com by May 1 2012! Enter to win cash prizes, press, PR and community recognition! Full details of the submission process can be found on http://userexperienceawards.com/

Hacker School: Summer 2012 Applications Open, deadline May 7^th: http://bit.ly/Inm9fo. It will run from June 4 to August 25. The batch will be hosted at Etsy, which is also sponsoring $50,000 worth of scholarships for female programmers (Hacker School remains free for all students; the scholarship money is for living expenses). We’re trying to make this batch at least 50% women. For more information: http://bit.ly/Ilm8fm

Blueprint Health: Transform health & wellnesswith your startup, deadline June 8^th. Blueprint Health is a startup accelerator based in New York City that helps entrepreneurs improve the health and wellness industry. We offer an intensive three-month program and provide $20,000 of seed capital, extensive mentorship and a shared work environment to help entrepreneurs go from idea to prototype and provide access to angel and venture capital investors. For more information and to apply: http://www.blueprinthealth.org/

As we were saying…Ten Rules for Web Startups. Great list and quite inclusive: http://bit.ly/WuqdX

Don’t Try to Pull an Instagram. Here’s Why. We’re all still a bit heady with Instagram’s seeming Instasuccess. Mark Suster weighs in with a bit of perspective: http://bit.ly/HKj79g

Will This Platform Change Startup Funding Forever? Ah, David B. Lerner, a breath of fresh air: Wefunder splits from the aforementioned platforms in two key ways: It actually does allow businesses to use the platform, and potential funders are also offered a stake of equity in the company, and became active under the JOBS act. http://bit.ly/IkVQs5

Speaking of doing something new, This citizen journalism app lets you create the news and decide which story matters. It’s called Signal, it came out of Arab Spring (created in Lebanon, no less) and according to its creator, it takes up with twitter leaves off – an app that shows you the top stories of any country of the world, completely created and voted by the users in a systematic decentralized way: http://tnw.co/IMqnz3

Finding Early Customers When You Aren’t Internet Famous. Always a tough – and important – one, so here’s some advice for you: http://bit.ly/IN26LK

The Tragedy of Calling Things Silicon Blah. Says Brad Feld, “in the late 90′s a wave of “Silicon Blah” appeared. Silicon Alley, Silicon Mountain, Silicon Prairie, Silicon Slopes, Silicon Gulch, Silicon Bayou, and on, and on, and on. The rallying cry was “we are going to be the next Silicon Valley.” Whatever. At the time, my opinion as someone who disliked generic marketing was that this was the worst branding ever. I feel even more strongly about this today.” Agreed! http://bit.ly/JfEFH0

New Draft Of CISPA Announced: Some Progress, Still Big Problems The House Intelligence Committee has published a new draft of CISPA (pdf and embedded below), which includes the two amendments that were already approved, plus several other additions and changes. In some areas, there is genuine progress—in others, things actually seem to have gotten worse. Unfortunately, some of the biggest problems with the bill remain. http://bit.ly/Iw7gfO Oh, and just for the record, Mark Zuckerberg supports CISPA, too, and this new bill will obliterate online privacy, give the military crazy new abilities to spy on the Internet, and potentially let ISPs block sites and cut off users accused of piracy. (Facebook partially supports CISPA, but is talking with “key lawmakers” about changes: http://tnw.co/HIFdHI)

We did add something new this week: a ‘donate’ button in the SOS footer. The newsletter is free and we plan to keep it that way. If we’ve been of help to you, hey, donations are always appreciated and thank you! That’s it from us this week. Hope to see you at some NYEW events – especially for the Entrepreneurs Walk tomorrow. And now, as always, help is on the way…

4/12/11

Good morning, All,

OK, so Larry Page took over the reigns at Google last week and the story that got the industry up in arms was his announcement that employee bonuses would be tied to GOOG’s success in social (Dear Google: You Can’t Threaten People Into Being Social http://bit.ly/e18aup) Did we miss the forest through the trees? Google also announced that they’re planning a $100 million overhaul of YouTube, which will include 20 premium channels (YouTube Recasts for New Viewers http://on.wsj.com/fBdOKS). Between that and Netflix and Hulu ordering original programming, are we seeing the convergence of the web and the small screen? Or is television simply surrendering the space? Do we care who’s dancing with the stars? The Firm was rebroadcast, ad nauseam, on Starz last week. The Firm? Really, pay cable? Newsflash: Tom Cruise isn’t even firm anymore! During web 1.0 the matra was: Content Is King. Of course, content was free and the king couldn’t afford the price of admission. How things have changed and who the hell has been making decisions on the broadcast side for the last few years? The bean counters, of course, and television seems to be going the way of the music business, where it was the same scenario. Just our .02, and Eric Hippeau, who just left The HuffPo to return to the VC world, mentioned last night at the Digital Media MBA event that one of his focuses for investment is the video space. Note: he mentioned that first, and he’s not alone, so head’s up, entrepreneurs and remember: both film and televison got their starts in – New York.

The hour doth draw on apace – Deadlines!

First off and at long last: Yes, we’re doing another StartupOneStop gathering, Tuesday, April 26th at Connelly’s on 45^th Street. Startups – get your pitch on. On Digital Media, the aptly named podcast about the technology, creation, distribution, consumption and monetization of digital media, will be on hand to talk with you about your business. Speaking of content, video and audio interviews will be syndicated throughout the interwebs – and available for you to submit for incubators, applications – or an SOS elevator pitch (hint hint). Learn more at http://odmcast.com. And our thanks to Joe Daniels for his generous sponsorship. Joe regularly represents companies from start-ups to mature public companies, private equity and venture capital funds, and investment banks involved in high-growth sectors, such as digital media, software and cleantech. He currently represents more than 40 startups in the NYC metro area. He recently joined Loeb & Loeb LLP, 2010 winner of the Chambers Award for Excellence in Media. For more information please visit www.loeb.com. RSVP here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1553028149

The deadline for the inaugural ER Accelerator is around the corner: http://eranyc.com Apply to work with an amazing team of partners, sponsors, interns, resident technologists, resident designers and 150+ mentors including Fred Wilson (and USV was just named The Top VC In The World http://tnw.co/gjhpZW), Howard Morgan, Esther Dyson, Jeff Stewart, David Pakman, Brian Cohen, John Frankel, Anil Dash and more. Application deadline is April 30th: http://eranyc.com/apply/ Also, the next Entrepreneurs Roundtable, which will be on April 20^th. Guest VC: Esther Dyson, so sign up now: http://er35.eventbrite.com/?ref=ecount

Next, Startup Weekend NYC is back, this time on April 15th-17th at General Assembly and yes, we know it’s sold out. If it makes you feel any better, as of last week, even Fred Wilson couldn’t get a ticket. BUT – if you happen to be in San Jose, there’s a surprise SanJose Startup Weekend also happening April 15-17 (discount code: TRIKRO) and there’s still space available! Go to http://sanjose.startupweekend.org/ and Cali-based students on the list: email us and we can get your ticket sponsored, if you get to us quickly enough! And don’t forget, NYC: check http://nyc.startupweekend.org/ on April 18^th to grab your ticket for the June 10^th NYC Startup Weekend.

The Founders Lab comes to New York City! They will select about 15 hackers and engineers, designers, product and marketing mavens to begin to develop high-growth mobile ventures in NYC. You may apply individually (most common scenario) however, pairs or teams who want to work together and are open to change, may also apply. Founder Labs builds fresh founding teams and validates ideas. Application deadline: April 20th. For more information: http://bit.ly/gcOJF8

Last but not least: NYC Techstars is doing a summer program and applications are now being accepted. Early application deadline is May 15th. Reminder: Seattle members, your deadline is April 25th. To apply to either: http://www.techstars.org/apply/

Pieces we liked this week:

You can call yourself an Entrepreneur when… as James Altucher says, Its not really such a great thing to be an entrepreneur – yet here we are and go know. What are the telltale signs? Go here for the full list: http://bit.ly/fAb1JQ

The New Information Age, or Imagine what happens once Google has access to our DNA information. No, we’re not singling the behemoth out, but with Steven Levy’s In The Plex (How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes Our Lives) coming out this week, they just seem to be under scrutiny and getting a lot of ink:http://tcrn.ch/hzztIS

OK, since it’s Google week, also from James Altucher: 10 Unusual Things I Didn’t Know About Google (also: the worst venture capital decision in history). Did you know that the original name for Google was Backrub? We knew that, thanks to a trivia contest at an O’Reilly Summit. But wait! There’s more! http://bit.ly/eQ6QIy

A taste of things to come? The 10 most watched YouTube videos of 2010, and who just can’t wait for the YouTube Network and the Kute Kitty Channel! http://tnw.co/gjhpZW

Finally, this is just fun: The History of the World in 100 seconds and worth your taking a minute or so and hope you enjoy: http://vimeo.com/19088241. Looking forward to seeing you on April 26th and until then, as always, help is on the way…

4/5/11

Good morning, All,

Ok, so it’s been raining. It’s April! That’s what it’s supposed to do. Still, it’s a good time for startups and here’s what you should be doing:

This week, you can learn more about ER Accelerator ER Accelerator Happy Hour. Come, grab some free beer, network – and meet some ER
Accelerator mentors. And don’t forget: ER Accelerator is now accepting applications for its inaugural June 2011 program: http://eranyc.com Apply to work with an amazing team of partners, sponsors, interns, resident technologists, resident designers and 150+ mentors including Fred Wilson, Howard Morgan, Esther Dyson, Jeff Stewart, David Pakman, Brian Cohen, John Frankel, Anil Dash and more. Application deadline is April 30^th: http//eranyc.com/apply. Also, the next Entrepreneurs Roundtable, which will be on April 20^th. Guest VC: Esther Dyson, so sign up now: http://bit.ly/erg5JO

Next, Startup Weekend NYC is back, this time on April 15th-17th at General Assembly. Join 150 other ‘doers’ to pitch ideas, form small teams and launch a startup in just 54 hours. The learning experience is invaluable, the energy is contagious, and the likelihood that you’ll meet your future co-founder is higher than that at any event you’ve attended – with the possible exception of our Find A Cofounder events, of course! Plus, we happen to be a huge fan of Shane Reiser, who does an amazing job at organizing the event – and keeping the energy going without flagging for a minute. To sign up or learn more, head over to http://nyc.startupweekend.org . If the April event is sold out – never fear! Check the website again on April 18th to grab your ticket to the next one, happening June 10th. And blame Shane: we’ve been bugging him to send us the info, but he’s been a bit busy: startups coming out of startup weekends are attracting the attention of the press – and investors. Good stuff! And June will be here soon enough!

Next, yes, we’re doing another StartupOneStop gathering, and the date is Tuesday, April 26^th at Connelly’s on 45^th Street. Startups – get your pitch on. On Digital Media, the aptly named podcast about the technology, creation, distribution, consumption and monetization of digital media, will be on hand to talk with you about your business. And video and audio interviews will be syndicated throughout the interwebs – and available for you to submit for incubators, applications – or an SOS elevator pitch (hint hint). Learn more at http://odmcast.com. RSVP page will be up tomorrow – and we will tweet it as soon as it’s available. And if you’re not following us on twitter, just open this email again and the link will be there in our twitter feed.

The Founders Lab is coming to New York City! They will select about 15 hackers and engineers, designers, product and marketing mavens to begin to develop high-growth mobile ventures in NYC. You may apply individually (most common scenario) however, pairs or teams who want to work together and are open to change, may also apply. Founder Labs builds fresh founding teams and validates ideas. Application deadline: April 20th. For more information: http://bit.ly/gcOJF8

Last but not least: NYC Techstars is doing a summer program and applications are now being accepted. Early application deadline is May 15^th. And heads up, Seattle members: Your deadline is April 25^th, so get on it. To apply: http://www.techstars.org/apply/

Pieces we liked this week:

Thank you, Brad Feld: I Encourage Entrepreneurs to Ignore the Word Bubble. Truer words never spoken: “Today, there is once again enormous focus on entrepreneurship as the salvation for many things, with the naysayers starting to say ‘but it’s a bubble’ or some variant. If you recognize that we are in a strong, positive, upward segment of the current ‘tech company creation cycle’, that’s more than enough.” Yes, we work in an industry that’s cyclical, as Feld points out, and we’re a resilient – and inventive – lot. Buck up and read on: http://bit.ly/gYk1bM

9 Women Can’t Make a Baby in a Month aka Lessons Learned From Web 1.0. He didn’t call it that in his article, but that’s basically what it is and Mark Suster is a big proponent of the lean startup movement, which is basically just good common sense. Full story here: http://bit.ly/gQ1jmM

How to Get a Check from an Angel at Venture AssociationNJ Meeting -MyCentralJersey.com There’s another meeting coming up soon, and no jokes please: yours truly happens to have been born in mythic New Jersey: http://bit.ly/hIf7r1

Zero-Dollar Validation: Free Ways to Vet Your Startup Idea. This one is written by SOS member Mariya Yao (who also posted last week about Xanadu, her new NYC-based design and development consultancy that specializes in mobile UX and cross-platform mobile development). Some good advice here – and it’s free! http://bit.ly/evmBPH

Since so many of us resort to the cloud, be aware of the pros and cons: Should You Move Your Files to Amazon’s New Cloud Drive? http://rww.to/gz44CN

Now, we’ve always believed that if you can’t imagine, you can’t make it happen. So we leave you with two thing, both from Mashable. First, Ten Vintage Video of the Future (and when it comes to the fashion one, oh yeah, that’s how I wear my hair): http://on.mash.to/e0XSko. And from the Stranger Than Truth files, for those of you who saw the Google April Fool’s prank (gmail motion beta), well, maybe it wasn’t so prankish: Google’s Gmail Motion Prank Turned Into Reality: http://on.mash.to/g7TRIE.

Over and out for now. Hope to see you on April 26^th, if not sooner, and until then, help is on the way…

Start Up One Stop

For Startups, By Startups

Monthly Archives: April 2011