Good morning, All,

TechCrunch Disrupt was in town last week and there were a lot of grumblings about the fact that a lot of it was about – apps. We understand the irritation: they do call it ‘Disrupt’ after all, and how disruptive is yet another app for your iPhone/android/iPad/insert-name-of-mobile-device here?

Makes sense to us: apps are to mobile what websites were to web 1.0. The devices are not just for phone calls anymore (and hasn’t the iPhone proven that, thank you so much, AT&T). The platform is being built out and it’s apps that are answering at least the initial call, pun intended.

What’s more interesting is who the big winners and attention-getters were last week and pay attention: getaround.com – the peer-to-peer zipcar competitor that allows you to rent a car from someone nearby – won the Battlefield competition, and let’s not forget that they found their initial funding on the angel list, which we do remind you about every week. Zaarly.com, which launched at StartupWeekend LA back in February, is a peer-to-peer location-based app where community members post goods/services they need and how much they’ll pay for it, thus connectng buyers and sellers of – well, whatever may strike your fancy, actually and brings new meaning to the phrase ‘everything has a price.’ Disrupt speaker and investor Ashton Kutcher put his money into it, as well as into airbnb.com, which allows you to literally create your own cottage industry by renting out your home/extra bedroom/apartment/sailboat/castle. Why do we mention these three in particular? Unemployment is high; people still have places to go and things to do – on a budget – and what do you know: there’s an app for that! And if you happen to be traveling somewhere in the world and need a quick office, don’t forget loosecubes.com – where you can rent office space, or lease your space. Sharing is caring – and these days, it’s also commerce. Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

Call for Top Innovators: Venture Summit early application deadline is today! 11th annual summit will showcase 50 of the hottest early stage and emerging growth Technology, Life Sciences and Clean-tech innovators.If you are a startup seeking capital and/or partnerships, submit your plan for the opportunity to present at The 2011 New York Venture Summit, the premier venue connecting emerging growth companies with active Venture capitalists, Angel investors, Corporate VCs and Investment Firms. Presented by youngStartup Ventures, The 2011 New York Venture Summit provides an unparalleled opportunity for startups to meet, network and showcase their innovative investment opportunities to a leading group of investors. For more information and early bird registration ($100 discount with your “sos” code: http://www.youngstartup.com/newyork2011/overview.php To apply to be a Top Innovator: iwant2present@youngstartup.com

CEO Perspectives on Navigating Venture Capital, deadline tomorrow – June 1^st:  If you’re the founder of a high-growth startup, Bain Capital and Chubby Brain are co-hosting. Join Managing Directors from Bain Capital Ventures and the Founders/CEOs of Rent the Runway, blip.tv, TargetSpot, Buy With Me, Magazine Radar and Stamped as they share triumphs and tribulations as well as insights on how the big idea is born, how to raise capital to fund it, and ultimately how to build a great business. Attendance is free, but by invitation only for 20-25 startups. For more information and to apply: http://www.chubbybrain.com/venture-capital-ceo/

StartupWeekend deadlines coming up fast, all over the world and that’s where zaarly got started: NYStartupWeekend is June 10-12, and it gets sold out fast, so we’re giving you fair warning now. Heads up: there’s one in Toronto, SF, Madrid, Denver, Marseilles and Boston June 3-5. For more information: http://startupweekend.org/about/ To register for the next NY event: http://nyc.startupweekend.org/tickets/

Silicon Alley Talent Fair & After Party is June 16^th. The recent surge of entrepreneurial activity in New York has created a surge in hiring. Now is the time to join some of New York’s most creative and industrious minds to bring the next wave of computer products and services to the forefront of daily use. Join us on June 16th at the Armory for a Startup Talent Fair, where you’ll have plenty of time to meet with exciting new startups and network with other talented individuals like yourself. Good back story, too: SAJF was born out of 80 + startups doing the entrepreneurial thing and leveraging an email mishap to rally around the concept of doing their own job fair. It took on a life of its own and has found mass support across the NYC startup community. For the full story: http://mashable.com/2011/04/05/nyc-startups-job-fair/ This event is organized and produced by startups for startups. To register as a jobseeker: http://bit.ly/SATFtalent; to register as an employer: http://bit.ly/SATFemployer

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. 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 30th, and more information is here: http://www.donorschoose.org/hacking-education

Startup Chile: tentative deadline July 4th. Start-Up Chile is a program of the Chilean Government, created by the Ministry of Economy, executed by CORFO via InnovaChile, that seeks to attract foreign, high-potential entrepreneurs to come to Chile to bootstrap their businesses with the end goal of converting Chile into the innovation and entrepreneurial hub of Latin America.  Start-Up Chile provides access to a mentors network, attendance to weekly networking events, and the support of the Program which offers all the necessary contacts to find the money, the talent, the expertise, the visibility or other support that you may need. The Program assigns a $40k grant per project ($20,000,000 CLP), a 1-year resident visa to every founding team member provided on the application, a temporary workspace (desk & wifi). And you surrender zero equity in your company. The program is conducted in English, and entrepreneurs worldwide are encouraged to apply. For more information: www.startupchile.org

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For you edification this week:

Why New York City’s Tech Scene Is Thriving. As the writer points out, New York has got coworking space; incubators; chicks.  New Yorkers also have chutzpah and let’s not forget: real business models: http://tnw.co/jxyPsI

Five Steps to Better Financial Projections. Ah, the stumbling block of so many a startup. The worst, and by far the most common mistake, is absurdly high profitability. So, in honor of this epidemic of bad financials, here’s angel investor Tim Berry’s five-step plan for better financial projections: http://bit.ly/kbjLxk

These are courtesy of chubbybrain.com and thank you so much for sharing:
Top 20 NYC Startup Lawyers (and a few of them are SOS members) - http://www.chubbybrain.com/blog/nyc-startup-lawyers-top/
32 places to submit you web app/site for FREE - http://www.chubbybrain.com/blog/startup-submit-free-web-directories/
30 Women Tech Entrepreneurs to watch - http://www.chubbybrain.com/blog/women-tech-entrepreneurs-top/

9 Ways to Increase Your Productivity While Working from Home:  if you’re working from home, chances are you’re a freelancer, consultant, entrepreneurs or small business owner. This means your ability to get paid is directly tied to how productive you are. Wasting time equals wasting money. Here are some tips on how to stay focused as you move through the workday, while still enjoying all the unique benefits of working at home. http://mashable.com/2011/05/26/work-from-home-productivity/

Startup Mantra: Hire Fast, Fire Fast. From Mark Suster, who has often said that what separates real entrepreneurs from pundits and bystanders is a bias towards getting things done versus over analyzing things. His credo has always been JFDI: http://bit.ly/kqTppC

Is There A Peak Age for Entrepreneurship. This is an industry that places great value on youth, and the money’s on it, too – literally – among many an investor, and particularly the VCs. Yet the research shows that an older age is actually a better predictor of entrepreneurial success http://tcrn.ch/kPSP2a

Finally, for fun: There are 7 types of entrepreneurs. Which one are you? Being an entrepreneur means being different kinds of things at different moments. That makes it a challenging but never boring profession. http://tnw.co/lJITl8

Don’t forget that Internet Week NY is next week, June 6-13. For the full schedule and tickets: https://www.internetweekny.com/partners/login

Not all lawyers are the same, as chubbybrain points out above, and on that note, we leave you with this week’s little chuckle (http://youtu.be/KoDNdTXx-7U) and now, as always, help is on the way…

Good morning, All, and you knew that was coming.

Ok, it may seem like semi-old news by now, especially with TechCrunch Disrupt going on. Still, attention must be paid. Linkedin IPO is the first so-called social media company to go public – and the biggest internet site to go public since Google – which naysayers also claimed, at the time, was overvalued. And the bubble talk is bubbling up once again.

There are huge differences between Linkedin and the sites that went public during the ‘90s bubble. First, Linkedin grew organically, rather than paying a fortune in advertising to acquire users. Next, Linkedin is a site one returns to time and again, and where one expands one’s own personal network in order to bring more value to the experience – and to Linkedin itself. In fact, between November 2010 and March 2011, the number of Linkedin users literally doubled. Next, Linkedin is profitable and has been since about a year or so after its launch – and has multiple profitable revenue streams: Paid job postings, advertising and a subscription model (CHART OF THE DAY: Where LinkedIn’s Revenue Comes From http://read.bi/kXIEQg)

Nor is Reid Hoffman your typical twenty-something Bubble 1.0 – or potential Bubble 2.0 – founder: Attn Entrepreneurs: Mark Zuckerberg Isn’t the Role Model. Reid Hoffman Is. http://tcrn.ch/jxzpTV) 13 Startups Facebook Acqui-Hired For Millions Of Dollars http://read.bi/l8MNJP

Bottom Line: While Linkedin is labeled a social media company, let’s not lose sight of what the platform really is; namely, a utility; a business tool: Linkedin changed the way people do business. We operate in an as much a relationship economy as in an information economy. It’s not just what you know but who you know, and when Linkedin came along, that was extended to who you know and who they know.

Finally, if you need a barometer as to how influential a company is, ask yourself: did they somehow change the patois? We google. We tweet. And to potentially reach someone we may not personally know, well, we can always send an inmail.

Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

Deadline for TechStars New York Summer program is this Thursday, May 26. Seattle, your deadline is June 1. Apply here, apply now: http://bit.ly/a7YCkV

Call for Top Innovators: Venture Summit early application deadline is May 31st 11th annual summit will showcase 50 of the hottest early stage and emerging growth Technology, Life Sciences and Clean-tech innovators.If you are a startup seeking capital and/or partnerships, submit your plan for the opportunity to present at The 2011 New York Venture Summit, the premier venue connecting emerging growth companies with active Venture capitalists, Angel investors, Corporate VCs and Investment Firms. Presented by youngStartup Ventures, The 2011 New York Venture Summit provides an unparalleled opportunity for startups to meet, network and showcase their innovative investment opportunities to a leading group of investors. For more information and early bird registration ($100 discount with your “sos” code: http://www.youngstartup.com/newyork2011/overview.php To apply to be a Top Innovator: iwant2present@youngstartup.com

CEO Perspectives on Navigating Venture Capital, deadline June 1^st:  If you’re the founder of a high-growth startup, Bain Capital and Chubby Brain are co-hosting. Join Managing Directors from Bain Capital Ventures and the Founders/CEOs of Rent the Runway, blip.tv, TargetSpot, Buy With Me, Magazine Radar and Stamped as they share triumphs and tribulations as well as insights on how the big idea is born, how to raise capital to fund it, and ultimately how to build a great business. Attendance is free, but by invitation only for 20-25 startups. For more information and to apply: http://www.chubbybrain.com/venture-capital-ceo/

StartupWeekend deadlines coming up fast, all over the world: NYStartupWeekend is June 10-12, and it gets sold out fast, so we’re giving you fair warning now. Heads up: there’s one in Hamburg May 27-29 and Toronto, SF, Madrid, Denver, Marseilles and Boston June 3-5. For more information: http://startupweekend.org/about/ To register for the next NY event: http://nyc.startupweekend.org/tickets/

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. 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 30th, and more information is here: http://www.donorschoose.org/hacking-education

Silicon Alley Talent Fair & After Party is June 16^th. The recent surge of entrepreneurial activity in New York has created a surge in hiring. Now is the time to join some of New York’s most creative and industrious minds to bring the next wave of computer products and services to the forefront of daily use. Join us on June 16th at the Armory for a Startup Talent Fair, where you’ll have plenty of time to meet with exciting new startups and network with other talented individuals like yourself. Good back story, too: SAJF was born out of 80 + startups doing the entrepreneurial thing and leveraging an email mishap to rally around the concept of doing their own job fair. It took on a life of its own and has found mass support across the NYC startup community. For the full story: http://mashable.com/2011/04/05/nyc-startups-job-fair/ This event is organized and produced by startups for startups. To register as a jobseeker: http://bit.ly/SATFtalent; to register as an employer: http://bit.ly/SATFemployer

Startup Chile: tentative deadline July 4th. Start-Up Chile is a program of the Chilean Government, created by the Ministry of Economy, executed by CORFO via InnovaChile, that seeks to attract foreign, high-potential entrepreneurs to come to Chile to bootstrap their businesses with the end goal of converting Chile into the innovation and entrepreneurial hub of Latin America.  Start-Up Chile provides access to a mentors network, attendance to weekly networking events, and the support of the Program which offers all the necessary contacts to find the money, the talent, the expertise, the visibility or other support that you may need. The Program assigns a $40k grant per project ($20,000,000 CLP), a 1-year resident visa to every founding team member provided on the application, a temporary workspace (desk & wifi). And you surrender zero equity in your company. The program is conducted in English, and entrepreneurs worldwide are encouraged to apply. For more information: www.startupchile.org

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Pieces we liked this week:

From Mark Suster: You Need To Win The Battle for Mind Share: We are building a lot of stuff now that has no longevity. In a way, startups have become kind of like the video game industry. New stuff gets created, it’s fun to play with and talk about.. You play with it for a few weeks or months. Then you stop because it was game like. Non valuable. Not really helping you do something better. Not solving a real problem. Suster uses Linkedin as the example du jour on why/how some companies win: http://bit.ly/jtJoqT

Best Practices For Raising a VC Round. Chris Dixon gives his Top Ten points, and make sure to read Roger Ehrenberg’s comments for more clarification: http://bit.ly/knxJfK

The Right Investors for the Mission.  “How should I finance my start-up?” is a common refrain from first-time founders and serial entrepreneurs alike. There is no manual for how to best do this, and intuition can only get you so far in the absence of experience and mentoring. Roger Ehrenberg poses – and answers – three simple questions and is always a worthwhile read: http://bit.ly/iH8pih

Infographic: A Look At The Size And Shape Of The Geosocial Universe In 2011 It wasn’t so long ago that the International Astronomical Union booted Pluto out of the solar system or that MySpace was overtaking Yahoo! and Google as the most-visited site in the U.S. Well, a few rotations around the sun later, and that has all changed. New stars have been born and others have been scattered out across the cold recesses of Internet space. Today, Myspace is sputtering, Skype is part of the Microsoft solar system, and LinkedIn is being traded publicly. The whacky flux continues. http://tcrn.ch/m4z83R

Of course, there was the Linkedin IPO pissing match, if only just for fun: Now, The Truth About Linkedin – according to Henry Blodgett (http://read.bi/ldigC4) Yes, Henry did live through a bubble – and didn’t exactly distinguish himself admirably the first time around. On the other side: Jane, You Ignorant Slut: http://ow.ly/1t61AW; Even The “Smart” Arguments Justifying LinkedIn’s IPO Pop Are Bogus http://read.bi/ms1d4B

And speaking of help being on the way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSdxqIBfEAw No, really, it’s that time again. We wish you all a wonderful (hopefully rain-free) Memorial Day Weekend, our next Find-A-Cofounder event will be in June, and help is on the way…

Good morning, All,

There’s a battle on for the business desktop. Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion, which many believe was about $4 billion too much, and that got a lot of attention. Meanwhile, the Google Chromebook is coming out mid next month and the giant is aiming squarely at the business desktop market, which Microsoft has had a lock on for quite some time now. For your edification: Five Reasons why Google’s Linux Chromebook is a Windows Killer http://zd.net/kTrXbV Five Reasons Why Skype Will Be An Office Hit: http://rww.to/kWu0Kg For fun: Why Google Does Not Own Skype: http://bit.ly/j2sbpL Google has been quietly minting money on the enterprise side for a while, and what can we say?  Maybe they figured it’s time they got off their ads went full throttle.

Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

Call for Top Innovators: Venture Summit early application deadline is May 31st 11th annual summit will showcase 50 of the hottest early stage and emerging growth Technology, Life Sciences and Clean-tech innovators.If you are a startup seeking capital and/or partnerships, submit your plan for the opportunity to present at The 2011 New York Venture Summit, the premier venue connecting emerging growth companies with active Venture capitalists, Angel investors, Corporate VCs and Investment Firms. Presented by youngStartup Ventures, The 2011 New York Venture Summit provides an unparalleled opportunity for startups to meet, network and showcase their innovative investment opportunities to a leading group of investors. For more information and early bird registration: http://www.youngstartup.com/newyork2011/overview.php To apply to be a Top Innovator: iwant2present@youngstartup.com

CEO Perspectives on Navigating Venture Capital, deadline June 1^st:  If you’re the founder of a high-growth startup, Bain Capital and Chubby Brain are co-hosting. Join Managing Directors from Bain Capital Ventures and the Founders/CEOs of Rent the Runway, blip.tv, TargetSpot, Buy With Me, Magazine Radar and Stamped as they share triumphs and tribulations as well as insights on how the big idea is born, how to raise capital to fund it, and ultimately how to build a great business. Attendance is free, but by invitation only for 20-25 startups. For more information and to apply: http://www.chubbybrain.com/venture-capital-ceo/

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 30th, and more information is here: http://www.donorschoose.org/hacking-education

StartupWeekend deadlines coming up fast, all over the world: NYStartupWeekend is June 10-12, and it gets sold out fast, so we’re giving you fair warning now. Heads up, Miami, Bordeaux, Coimbra: StartupWeekend for you is May 20-22; there’s one in Hamburg May 27-29 and Toronto, SF, Madrid, Denver, Marseilles and Boston June 3-5. For more information: http://startupweekend.org/about/ To register for the next NY event: http://nyc.startupweekend.org/tickets/ It’s just not easy being global.

Silicon Alley Talent Fair & After Party is June 16^th. The recent surge of entrepreneurial activity in New York has created a surge in hiring. Now is the time to join some of New York’s most creative and industrious minds to bring the next wave of computer products and services to the forefront of daily use. Join us on June 16th at the Armory for a Startup Talent Fair, where you’ll have plenty of time to meet with exciting new startups and network with other talented individuals like yourself. Good back story, too: SAJF was born out of 80 + startups doing the entrepreneurial thing and leveraging an email mishap to rally around the concept of doing their own job fair. It took on a life of its own and has found mass support across the NYC startup community. For the full story: http://mashable.com/2011/04/05/nyc-startups-job-fair/ This event is organized and produced by startups for startups. To register as a jobseeker: http://bit.ly/SATFtalent; to register as an employer: http://bit.ly/SATFemployer

Startup Chile: tentative deadline July 4th. Start-Up Chile is a program of the Chilean Government, created by the Ministry of Economy, executed by CORFO via InnovaChile, that seeks to attract foreign, high-potential entrepreneurs to come to Chile to bootstrap their businesses with the end goal of converting Chile into the innovation and entrepreneurial hub of Latin America.  Start-Up Chile provides access to a mentors network, attendance to weekly networking events, and the support of the Program which offers all the necessary contacts to find the money, the talent, the expertise, the visibility or other support that you may need. The Program assigns a $40k grant per project ($20,000,000 CLP), a 1-year resident visa to every founding team member provided on the application, a temporary workspace (desk & wifi). A great team – and you surrender zero equity in your company. The program is conducted in English, and entrepreneurs worldwide are encouraged to apply. For more information: www.startupchile.org

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Pieces we like this week:

HOWTO: Spend your investors’ money. Ok, so the money’s in the bank. Don’t feel badly about spending it – that’s what it’s there for. Here are a few tips on how to  spend it wisely: http://bit.ly/jD9Vmp

The Co-Founder Mythology. 50/50 partnerships don’t always work. Mark Suster weighs the upsides and downsides, and points out a few of the landmines: http://bit.ly/jAeQoz

While we’re on the subject: The only wrong answer is 50/50: Calculating the co-founder equity split. The question of equity brings out the most fundamental differences, perceptions, and values in an aspiring startup.  In fact the equity question, more than any other, may strangle a young company before it can even get started. Dan Shapiro lays it all out: http://bit.ly/mLwUmU

Quick Practical, Tactical Tips for Presentations, from Mark Suster, who is always one of our favorites. This post is a subtle one about positioning yourself in a presentation. This might be a VC meeting but also might just be a sales or biz dev meeting. It’s any meeting where you are in a small room and are being called on to present on some form of overhead slides. It also includes links to some great points he has covered in past posts: http://bit.ly/mfSGLj

73 Essential Social Media & Tech Resources for Small Businesses. It’s the mashable megalist, and what small business doesn’t need resources: http://mashable.com/2011/05/15/small-business-digital-resources/

Small Business Contests: A Guide. Here’s a handy list of contests, competitions and awards for small businesses. Every little bit helps and if/when you enter – and win – please do let us know: http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/05/small-business-contests.html

We do try to leave you with a chuckle, and since we all have technical issues from time to time, well, you’re not alone: http://bit.ly/hWcRxv See you next week, and in the meantime, help is on the way…

Good morning, All,

And yes, we mean theonion. So, there’s a new startup out there that has been getting a lot of buzz from the press and in the twitterverse and what they do is…well, we can’t tell you. In fact, no one knows what they’re all about, with the possible exception of the founders and their investors – and there are a lot of them – and they’ve raised quite a bit of money, too (Stealth NYC Startup Kohort Raises $3 Million Seed Round From IA Ventures, RRE, And More, http://tcrn.ch/gzSqs0)  Mashable covered them, too (How To Sign Up Users Even Before You Launch Your Startup http://on.mash.to/j3vMpe), although, there are step to this success story that were excluded.  For all we know, they may be launching the next google, but in the meantime, you may need to know these missing steps if you hope to follow this model:
1.     Make sure one of your founders is former VC
2.     Make sure all or a lot of your friends are VCs/investors with large twitter followings
3.     Send out early invitations to these people, and make sure to include a twitter share button
Curious to see what they’re all about, and as Mashable reminds us: buzz is great, but substance matters more. Cuil? Onward and forward.

Speaking of the press, we are reminded once again that it’s not always a good idea to piss them off and yes, every now and again, they do eat their young. Everyone’s got an agenda – The Tech Press: Screw Them All: http://tcrn.ch/mhrDHI

Deadlines:

The User Experience Awards contest @ UserExperienceAwards.com deadline is May 15th. It’s free to enter, and the Grand Prize winner receives $1000 and press. There are also three other prizes of $500. All user experience professionals, startups, agencies, established companies and students are encouraged to submit. For more information and to enter your submission: http://userexperienceawards.com/http://userexperienceawards.com/

The User Experience Awards aim to showcase the value and importance of user experience in creating successful digital products and services. Great user experience is often an essential differentiator in the product or service offering and THE critical component that drives user satisfaction and engagement. The contest is open to anyone, with a juried awards ceremony  featuring 8 UX experts that will be held on the first day of the 2011 NYC Internet Week.

The first annual International Startup Festival, call for pitches. Deadline: May 15^th. The International Startup Festival is an event focused on the business of startups. With a special emphasis on hot sectors like mobility, social networking, and gaming, the program features dozens of opportunities for startup founders to learn from experienced entrepreneurs and multiple venues for pitching your business to investors and thought-leaders in the industry.  The event is taking place in beautiful Montreal, Quebec, July 13 – 15. They want to see great entrepreneurs and never-before-seen startups to pitch their companies to hundreds of the industry’s leading investors, analysts and bloggers. If your company has what it takes, apply here: http://www.startupfestival.com/en/call_for_pitches/

NYC TechStars deadline for the summer program is coming up.  Early application deadline is also May 15th. Apply here: http://www.techstars.org/apply/

If you’re the founder of a high-growth startup, Bain Capital and Chubby Brain are co-hosting CEO Perspectives on Navigating Venture Capital. Join Managing Directors from Bain Capital Ventures and the Founders/CEOs of Rent the Runway, blip.tv, TargetSpot, Buy With Me, Magazine Radar and Stamped as they share triumphs and tribulations as well as insights on how the big idea is born, how to raise capital to fund it, and ultimately how to build a great business. Attendance is free, but by invitation only for 20-25 startups. Deadline is June 1st and for more information and to apply: http://www.chubbybrain.com/venture-capital-ceo/

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 30th, and more information is here: http://www.donorschoose.org/hacking-education

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Pieces we liked this week, and there were quite a few of them:

Five Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Angel Investors.If your startup is looking for an angel investor, does it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of angels, and assume that at least one will scoop you up? In reality, hitting large numbers of angels in multiple locations with a generic pitch is one of the least productive approaches.  http://bit.ly/lYusSf

The Next Ten Years Will Be Great For Both Founders And VCs. Until very recently, public investors, those who waited until the hard work was done and the upside was evident, were the ones who earned the greatest returns. Game-changer: in order to participate in the great wealth creation taking place in this and future technology cycles, you will have to be a founder, an early employee or a private investor. So keep doing what you’re doing. And read on: http://tcrn.ch/jU0Ce4

10 Business Plan Dos and Don’ts. Insights from a judge at Harvard Business School’s Business Plan Contest. Of course, some say you don’t need a business plan any more. And some say that even decks are going by the wayside in favor of product. But, always good to know and keep in mind because remembe: they still want to know about your business. http://bit.ly/ld6j9w

Top 15 U.S. Startup Accelerators and Incubators Ranked. Someone posed this question to the list recently, so thought we’d include this and remember: there are new ones launching all the time, and stand-bys launching perhaps in a city near you. So check the list and check on which cities they may be including next: http://bit.ly/jvimeC

Making the Most of Your Startup’s Beta Testing Process. It’s a familiar story: a startup launches their beta. The tech blogosphere writes up the news: “Sign up now!” Droves of people rush to do so (well, hopefully). There’s a spike in traffic and solid number of names and email addresses of interested people. But then what? Sharing is caring – and building. Targeting can be critical: http://rww.to/g5AFsD

Don’t be an idiot. Find a great Startup Advisor. Everyone needs help and don’t we know it. Good advice, from someone who learned the hard way: http://bit.ly/kJ2o8q

Ten Things I Learned From Failure. Every entrepreneur has made a series of mistakes or been subject to failures along his or her entrepreneurial journey. These setbacks, though painful, will teach you more about business than any textbook, lecture, or mentor ever could: http://bit.ly/mNeFtA

Finally and don’t we know it: A report in the New Scientist claims that Easily distracted people may have too much brain. http://t.co/8sp0ml0. On that note, you may want to wrap your around this for a chuckle as we leave you with Existential Star Wars: a film by George Lucas and Jean-Paul Sartre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-uQWNd540I. Well, almost because before we go, as always, help is on the way…

Good morning, All,

Since we’re often asked if we focus exclusively on New York (answer: no, or at least not intentially), we went and took a look at the SOS readership statistics. Well, it’s true that we’re based here, but it seems we have members who are regularly following the newsletter – and everyone’s progress – from: Norway, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, China, Egypt, Israel, Viet Nam, Thailand, Costa Rica, Turkey, India, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Argentina, Chile, Spain, Morocco, Portugal, Canada, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Switzerland, the US, and New York, which let’s face it, is basically its own planet.  We are gobsmacked – and humbled – and would love to hear from some of you to get your points of view on what’s going on in technology in your part of the world – literally. We also wanted to take a moment to say danke, dorro arigato, thank you, merci – and we’ve just exhausted our knowledge of the major food groups. Apologies if we’ve left you out. And since you’re all here, wherever you are, you might want to look into: http://www.angelinvestmentnetwork.net/ – they’re global. And hope this helps!

Don’t know what the final numbers were regarding the masses who watched the Royal Wedding on Friday  – on line or on the tube. We saw reports of from 275 million to 2 billion. Which is a pretty big spread, and two comments on this subject:
1.     A nod to old media: no matter how far technology has come to date, and yes between facebook friends and twitter, it was an exponentially larger and a much more immediate shared experience than the last RW, and no matter on which screen you were watching – terrestrial television or online – remember: it was being delivered to you via broadcast television. Game not over yet.
2.     In terms of viewership, don’t know where they got those numbers from, but in light of all that came out last week about privacy and tracking wouldn’t it have been a lot easier – and more exact – had it been tracked by GOOG or Apple or some combination of the two? End of line.

And finally, while the Royal Wedding was televised, the demise of Osama bin Laden was tweeted: http://bit.ly/iSdkew. And this on the day that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange called Facebook the most appalling spy machine that has ever been invented http://tnw.to/182sQ. Someone is always watching – and/or reporting.

Deadlines:

The inaugural User Experience Awards contest @ UserExperienceAwards.com is actively seeking submissions and the deadline is May 15^th. It’s free to enter, and the Grand Prize winner receives $1000 and press. There are also three other prizes of $500. All user experience professionals, startups, agencies, established companies and students are encouraged to submit. For more information and to enter your submission: http://userexperienceawards.com/

The User Experience Awards aim to showcase the value and importance of user experience in creating successful digital products and services. Great user experience is often an essential differentiator in the product or service offering and THE critical component that drives user satisfaction and engagement.

The awards are being co-hosted in NYC by the NYC chapters of the Interaction Design Association (NYC IxDA), the Usability Professionals’ Association (NYC UPA), Computer Human Interaction (NYC CHI) NYC-CHI, and NYC IA Meetup. The contest is open to anyone, with a juried awards ceremony  featuring 8 UX experts that will be held on the first day of the 2011 NYC Internet Week. This inaugural event is sponsored by Razorfish, Parsons School of Design, Oxford Technology Ventures, Ultralight Startups and Harvest Software.

NYC TechStars deadline for the summer program is coming up.  Early application deadline is also 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

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Numbers are especially important in an industry based on them, and this week we have  number of articles for your edification:

How To Hustle The AngelList in 10 Easy Steps. The AngelList platform has been improving, giving startups new ways to reach investors with every push. This is about using those tools : http://b.qr.ae/ewbQOm

The Ten Commandments of Collaboration. Collaboration is not just about sharing and communicating, but also knowing how to best distribute, manage and monitor your resources and ideas.  Here’s a handy list for you – and we do love our lists, don’t we?  http://bit.ly/gmrT3j

20 Blogs Every Entrepreneur Should Read. Starting your own company is one of the hardest things you can do – so it’s invaluable to get advice from other people who’ve been there, done that: http://read.bi/kTsGGz

Seven Keys to Capturing the Attention of the Bloggers/Media: http://bit.ly/h0FbDy

Ten Entrepreneurial Rules for Building Massive Companies, from Reid Hoffman, who did manage to build one: http://bit.ly/dMzkoE

21 Tips To Get Your Tweet On: http://bit.ly/ermpDn

11 Excellent iPad Apps for Meetings & Presentations. Always helpful: http://on.mash.to/fZEfCG

10 Ideas For Those Critical Early Startup Sales. Closing your initial sales at a startup is one of the most challenging parts of building a company. Many startups die before they ever close a deal. Here are ten principles one entrepreneur learned:http://bit.ly/iktlGf

Finally, and not so much a chuckle as a huh???, we leave you with a Quora question: What is the all-time greatest failed Internet startup? Yes, boo.com blew through $188 million in six months. Six months, Gracie??? It was the First Wave, when startups were spending like drunken sailors, and investors weren’t saying…boo.  An interesting read; numbers included.  http://b.qr.ae/mPaVOR Spend those dollars wisely and since it’s not just the cash that you need, not to worry: help is on the way…