3/27/12

Good morning, All,

First, come join us for our next ERA + SOS Startup Breakfast on April 12th, This one will take place at SOS Headquarters, in a lovely backyard on the UWS. Breakfast will include famous Fairway bagels, our own healthy, fat-free muffins, coffee, tea, juice – and lively conversation. Date: April 12^th, 8.30 am – 10. $15 in advance and $20 at the door. To register: http://bit.ly/GRXHrA and hope to see you there, bright and early.

The big news this week is employers asking job applicants for their facebook passwords (Two US senators ask the Attorney General to investigate employers asking for Facebook logins: http://vrge.co/GNYTMi). Yes, it is an invasion of privacy, not to mention various laws that it violates, but are employers really that clueless? With more and more people tweeting, all they really need to do is – follow that potential hire on twitter. Seriously. We know a number of people who attended SxSW, many of whom were sent by their employers and what was the big standout in the tweet stream? The free food trucks and the parties, re drinkfests. From what we saw, little or no real news was reported or technologies touted – or tweeted. What were you tweeting and think that employer is likely to send you again next year? A few simple guidelines on social media and while they may seem obvious, hey, our tweetdeck is always up, and sometimes it’s the obvious that escapes us:
1.     Think before you tweet – someone’s always watching and/or retweeting
2.     Do we really care where you had breakfast/lunch/dinner – and you had how much to drink and where? Tweets are forever, the health police are out in force and your employer will know it’s a hangover and not some 24 hour bug.
3.     Keep your tweets relevant: you never know who’s reading them. It’s a public record of your life and you don’t need share everything with us.
4.     Never tweet when you’re angry
5.     Stay the hell off your computer/ipad/smartphone when you’re drunk
6.     While employers – or potential employers – might not get access to your facebook password, they can still read your blog. Careful what you say. It’s not a personal diary – unless it’s password protected.
7.     Foursquare: another favorite or soon to be favorite of employers, burglers and stalkers everywhere.
We’re not picking on SxSW attendees, and we know you worked hard and did what you needed to do, so calm down. We’re also a big fan of social/networked media and like many applications, it’s a tool and one to be used wisely and with forethought. With video cameras pretty much ubiquitous and social media filling in the blanks behind closed doors, careful out there: what happens in Vegas – or Austin or anywhere else for that matter – no longer stays in Vegas. Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

YCombinator, San Francisco, deadline March 28^th, 8 pm. (psst: you can even apply if you haven’t got an idea for a startup: http://ycombinator.com/noidea.html) But if you do have a project to submit, apply here: http://ycombinator.com/apply.html Program runs for 3 months, 2-10% equity stake taken for $11,000 given, + 150k from Ron Conway and Yuri Milner. Yes, there is that, too.

Hey Startups: Here’s An Easy Way To Get 75K For Your Company, deadline March 31st. Apply to enter Business Insider’sStartup 2012 business-plan competition.: http://bit.ly/zzaKwm The online form will take about an hour to fill out. (You can save and come back if needed.) A top handful of finalists will compete to take home $75,000 in cash and prizes at the intense, fun Startup 2012 conference on May 3 in New York.
Winners also get to attend the event and hear from amazing speakers like Jason Goldberg, CEO of the world’s fastest-growing startup, Fab.com, and Philip James, CEO of the hit online wine flash retailer Lot18.
Do this now because the form closes on March 31, in 3 short weeks. Note: this is a business-plan competition, primarily. Contestants do not need a polished, whizz-bang, ready-to-market prototype. They should have at least a minimum viable product, and a very sharp, well-articulated business plan. The competition is open to companies that have taken less than $2.5million in outside financing. See more fine print here.
2. After entering, take a call with an active investor.Some of New York’s top VCs — with track records including major wins — will interview top candidates selected by a judging panel. From there, a handful of finalists will be chosen.
3. Attend Startup 2012and present your idea onstage. Then, more grilling from VCs.
4. One winner gets $75,000! That’s $25,000 in cash and $50,000 in prizes.

Kauffman Life Science Ventures Summit, deadline April 2^nd. Registration fee: $100. Up to 200 life science entrepreneurs will be selected across four industry sectors: therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health. Applicants will be accepted based on two factors: (1) how much they will benefit from the experience based on where they are in their early-stage entrepreneurial journey, and (2) the commercial viability of their plan. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/x9xtWM

NEW Turnstone is giving away $25K worth of office furniture, deadline April 15th. Pretty amazing opportunity for a small company. Additional details of the contest can be found here: http://myturnstone.com/contest/. This contest is national. The video should be about why you want a great space to work in and what this makeover would do for you and your company – and this contest is national!

NEW New York Entrepreneur Week starts April 16^th, early bird discount ends April 5^th. Yes, it’s back and we have a 10% SOS discount for Monday. For more information (with more being added daily) and to register: http://bit.ly/H21Kvy (discount code: StartupOneStop)

MassChallenge, deadline April 11^th. This is the largest-ever startup accelerator and competition, and the first to support high-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs with no strongs attached.
3 month accelerator program. World-class mentorship and training, free office space, access to funding, media and more.
$1M in cash awards. $4M+ in-kind support.
Open to all. Any startup can enter, from anywhere, in any industry.
No equity taken. No restrictions applied.
$1M in cash awards. $4M+ in-kind support.
For more information and to apply: http://masschallenge.org/

Wall Street Journal Codethon April 13-15 at NYU Law School, and to attend you must apply and be accepted. We’d love to have a good turnout from the NY developer community. More details, a brief application, etc. are available at our site: http://datatransparency.wsj.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.

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/

NEW 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/

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/

The Complete Guide to Getting Press Coverage For Your Startup. You’re always your best PR – although hiring pros can certainly help. According to the writer, “Mashable featured us 6 times, TechCrunch twice, over 10 articles in The Next Web, plenty of write-ups from ReadWriteWeb, GigaOm, LifeHacker, VentureBeat, Inc. Magazine and others. In total, there were over 40 stories by these notable sites written about us, each one based on the tips in this guide.” Given this, we thought we’d share: http://bit.ly/GQFwyq

Why Every Startup Should Consider Creating an Advisory Board Early On. We all get so busy and focused on what we’re doing, we sometimes forget this important piece. “A board can guide the founders and help them make important business decisions. A board is also a meaningful signal given to outsiders such as potential investors, clients, and employees. The founders are likely to be perceived as serious, ambitious business owners supported by a strong team.” Full article is here: http://bit.ly/xAzVJx

Five Steps to an Awesome Executive Summary. Don’t get nervous. This is a guide to doing a one-page pitch sheet and worth the minute or two it takes to read: http://bit.ly/H84wBy

Why You Should Think Twice Before Sending That Intro Email. Yes, there’s a time and a place for introduction, and we all make them. There is such a thing as overdoing it, and Mark Suster spells it all out for you. http://bit.ly/GPtjKy

Frighteningly Ambitious Startup Ideas. Want to be a billionaire? Paul Graham outlines how to get there – it ain’t easy, but it’s doable. Neither Bill Gates nor Mark Zuckerberg knew at first how big their companies were going to get. All they knew was that they were onto something: http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html

A lesson from Richard Branson: Why geeks need to learn how to delegate. According to Sir Richard Branson, delegation is one of the most important traits of a leader. What he has always done is find people who are better than him at a task and then he steps out of their way. Isn’t that one of the cardinal rules of great leadership? Maybe he’ll get us all into outer space after all: http://tnw.co/H6kjCg

The 25 Hot NYC Startups You Need To Watch. NYC is a hotbed for startups. Business Insider spotlights 25 very early stage companies that generating a buzz in the investor community: http://read.bi/GIEM2W

That’s it from us for now. Looking forward to seeing you at our next breakfast and for now, as usual, help is on the way…

3/20/12

Good morning, All,

Happy Springtime and looking forward to seeing some of you at our SOS 1-1 tomorrow!

As we all know by now, Denveen is no more. Yes, foursquare’s junior cofounder and tech lead Naveen Selvadurai has decided to move on to new projects and who wouldn’t want to strike while the iron’s hot and leave one of the darlings of the industry? We’ve seen it before – founders being ousted from the companies they helped to create, including Jack Dorsey (twitter), who did go on to found Square, and more famously Steve jobs, who returned to Apple older, wiser and obviously much more capable of taking the reigns. We have no special insights as to the reasons/causes for Naveen’s departure, but in an industry where people are constantly looking for their cofounder, we can offer only something of a roadmap to potential landmines:
1.     You’ve heard it before: finding a cofounder is like dating/marriage, and actually, it’s usually more like a speed date. Choose wisely and…
2.     Don’t propose on the first date
3.     Don’t jump into bed on the third date
4.     Do your due diligence and yes, use social networks. That person might have great recommendations on Linkedin. Also use Linkedin to find people who might have worked with him or her, who didn’t write a recommendation. See what they have to say about your potential partner
5.     Don’t give away the store at the beginning of the relationship. Build in milestones and make sure they’re met before you give away the keys to the kingdom. This is your baby: make sure you’re not in bed with an axe murderer. Think of it as a pre-nup.
6.     Hire a lawyer to negotiate your agreement. And yes, make sure to include a non-compete. If/when things do go south, and your partner has the information/tools to build without you – don’t leave him/her with the weapon to do so.
7.     All of the above holds true, even in cases where you’ve known your potential cofounder forever. Look at Larry and Sergei. Larry’s at the helm. Sergei works on ‘special projects’ and shows up for photo ops: he hasn’t been booted from the company.
8.     This is especially important: is the cofounder you’re bringing on today the one who can see the project through for the long haul? Is he/she there to build the prototype, but does he/she lack the necessary skills to be the CTO? Or does he/she have the contacts to get you going, but is not the leader you need long-term? Ask these questions up front. Have that conversation early on. Leads to less hurt feelings/potential lawsuits/unwanted media attention down the road.
Yes, a business partnership is like a marriage and you can potentially spend more time with that person than with your spouse and we are reminded of the Dorothy Parker poem, which you should keep in mind while you’re meeting/courting a potentially cofounder you might have happened upon at some event:
“Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Roumania.”

Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

The Appy Awards – enter once and you could win twice. Deadline March 21, but any entry you submit today may also be selected as our “Featured App of the Week“, scoring you some seriously instant gratification. And we doesn’t love that? For more information and to enter – any time – http://appyawards.net/

NEW StartFast, Syracuse, deadline March 23^rd. We’ll give you enough money to pursue your software/internet startup full-time, co-working space, resources to work with, and continuous feedback on your progress from mentors who’ve done it before. Program runs for 3 months. 6% equity stake taken for up to $18k in investment. For more information and to apply: http://startfast.net/

NEW The AT&T and BaruchCollege Fast Pitch Competition, deadline March 23^rd. Pitch your best business concept for: Wealth (e-commerce, retailing business services, advertising), Education & Health (classroom collaboration, teaching aids, educational gamification, sports, diagnostics), or Enjoyment (social networking, gaming, entertainment of all kinds). The pitch can be made by a team or an individual. $2,000 awarded in each category. An additional $2,000 prize will be awarded to the best student pitch. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/wFH1yA

Crain’s New York Business is now accepting nominations for its annual Top Entrepreneurs competition, deadline March 23^rd. It is open to businesses located in the five boroughs of New York City. Businesses must be 3 years old or more to enter and can have revenues up to $100 million. You can enter and get more information here:http://bit.ly/AdFq9t Winners will be featured in the May 29 issue of Crain’s. You can enter yourself or nominate someone else. Contact: Elaine Pofeldt,epofeldt@yahoo.com

Mobile Merit Awards, deadline for entry: March 26. The Mobile Merit Awards is open to all interested individuals and companies that would like to nominate a product, technology, etc relevant to the mobile sector. All nominations entered should have an impact on today’s global mobile marketplace. For more information and to enter: http://mobilemeritawards.com

NEW YCombinator, San Francisco, deadline March 28^th, 8 pm. (psst: you can even apply if you haven’t got an idea for a startup: http://ycombinator.com/noidea.html) But if you do have a project to submit, apply here: http://ycombinator.com/apply.html Program runs for 3 months, 2-10% equity stake taken for $11,000 given, + 150k from Ron Conway and Yuri Milner. Yes, there is that, too.

NEW Kauffman Life Science Ventures Summit, deadline April 2^nd. Registration fee: $100. Up to 200 life science entrepreneurs will be selected across four industry sectors: therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health. Applicants will be accepted based on two factors: (1) how much they will benefit from the experience based on where they are in their early-stage entrepreneurial journey, and (2) the commercial viability of their plan. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/x9xtWM

How to Avoid Being Pushed Out of the Company You Founded. Yes, the article that inspired today’s editorial and a must read, from Adrienne Jeffries at BetaBeat: http://bit.ly/wWcJOM

Variations on a theme: How to Stay Sane as an Entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is a lot harder – and more stressful – than one might imagine. So, here’s a list of tips to help (try to) keep you sane: http://tnw.co/FPXhM7

The One Page Seed Stage Dashboard. This dashboard works for pre-revenue startups that are focused on building that initial user base. Hey, good to know what angels look for: http://bit.ly/x6gFzd

Learning from Competition. Instapaper creator Marco Arment offers an interesting read on what he learned when Readability came in to challenge for dominance in the space. Equally interesting: his take on Google’s and Apple’s hubris – and Microsoft, who has been quietly making radical changes. http://bit.ly/xhSD0p

Google Faces New Federal Investigation over Safari Hack. We know you believe we single GOOG out, but this was submitted by a member who knows that we’ve been watching GOOG and their various transgressions. For those of you who emailed to ask which search engines we do use, since almost completely having abandoned GOOG: Yahoo, Bing and Yandex, which was introduced to us by Esther Dyson and thank you for that one, Esther. Appreciated. We still like Blekko as well. Back to our story: http://on.mash.to/FPvICd

That’s it from us for now. Looking forward to seeing some of you tomorrow and at various networking events. Until then or next week, as usual, help is on the way…

3/13/12

Good morning, All,

First, our next SOS+ER+Hubitat breakfast March 15 at Hubitat on 26th Street. Come meet some new people and get first-hand help or advice for your startup – or just come tell us what you’re working on. It’s 8.30 am – 10. $20 with an RSVP or $25 at the door, and hope to see you there! To RSVP: http://erasosbreakfast2.eventbrite.com/

Next, our next SOS 1-1 with an Investor is March 21^st, but as we said, this one is different: we have a direct pipeline to a group of super angels whose representative will be at the event, and you must send us your deck in advance. This event is focused on startups who have developed product and are looking to get to the next level, which means, you need the money to get there. That said, it is also a networking opportunity, so all are welcome to come and meet new people/fellow members – but in order to meet with the rep, you must send your deck in advance and we’ll notify you if he has decided to meet with you at the event, so, no, you’re not guaranteed an opportunity to pitch. Just wanted to be clear. Send your deck to hello@startuponestop.com and we will pass it to investors’ rep. And congrats to those of you who’ve already submitted and were notified that he’d like to hear more. We love that and always happy to help – and looking forward to seeing you there! To RSVP: http://bit.ly/yhSveL

If we go to another pitch event and hear yet another panelist/investor ask the presenter/startup if they plan to incorporate a gamefication element, we’re going to scream. Just because it’s the approach du jour, doesn’t mean that gamefication needs to be ubiquitous and trust us, it can get old fast. Does it matter how many connections you have on linkedin? In our humble opinion, it’s still dashboard over leaderboard, and the value that you’re adding. Here’s inspiration for you: Harvest, a company that took no outside investment, and succeeded by taking the long road: Harvest Co-Founder: “Solve A Real Pain Point, And Don’t Be Afraid To Charge For It” http://tcrn.ch/yYuXzs At the end of the day, winners aren’t the one who play the game: they’re the ones who move the game. Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

The Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards, deadline March 13^th. It’s an international business plan competition for women entrepreneurs who are in the initial stages of development, in any country, of any nationality and operating in any industry. Since its inception five years ago, it has provided support, visibility and coaching to 76 women heading businesses in countries across the globe. There’s mentorship, $20k US and a trip to France for the presentation Finale. For more information and to apply: http://www.cartierwomensinitiative.com/

3 Day Startup NYC, deadline March 15^th. 3 Day Startup is an entrepreneurship education program designed for university students with an emphasis on learning by doing. The idea is simple: start tech companies over the course of three days. To apply: http://nyc.3daystartup.org/

Applications for the DreamIt NYC Summer 2012 program, final deadline: March 16^th.
-the program runs from May-August 2012 in NYC
-accepted companies get seed money (typically $20-25,000), office space, free legal and accounting services, and access to a who’s who list of advisors and mentors (http://www.dreamitventures.com/team/advisors.php)
For more information and to apply: http://www.dreamitventures.com/apply/.

NEW Excelerate Labs Chicago, deadline March 16^th. The program promises an intensive summer filled with mentorship, company building, and investor pitching. To get the most out of the experience, and to maximize your success, you really need a team. $25k for 6% equity stake. And Demo Day is at the House of Blues. Cool. For more information and to apply: http://exceleratelabs.com/

NEW Grow Labs, deadline March 19^th. GrowLab aims to find the world’s smartest Internet entrepreneurs who are passionate about technology and changing the face of traditional business. GrowLabs’ approach is entrepreneur-centric. Your startup will go through an intense mentorship program embedded in both Canada (10 weeks in Vancouver) and Silicon Valley (two weeks in SF), providing access to resources and an international network that will accelerate your growth exponentially. $25k for 5% equity stake. For more information and to apply: http://www.growlab.ca/the-program

NEW Mobile Merit Awards, deadline for entry: March 26. The Mobile Merit Awards is open to all interested individuals and companies that would like to nominate a product, technology, etc relevant to the mobile sector. All nominations entered should have an impact on today’s global mobile marketplace. For more information and to enter: http://mobilemeritawards.com

MassChallenge, deadline April 11^th. This is the largest-ever startup accelerator and competition, and the first to support high-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs with no strongs attached.
3 month accelerator program. World-class mentorship and training, free office space, access to funding, media and more.
$1M in cash awards. $4M+ in-kind support.
Open to all. Any startup can enter, from anywhere, in any industry.
No equity taken. No restrictions applied.
$1M in cash awards. $4M+ in-kind support.
Open to all. Any startup can enter, from anywhere, in any industry.
For more information and to apply: http://masschallenge.org/

NEW Wall Street Journal Codethon April 13-15 at NYU Law School, and to attend you must apply and be accepted. We’d love to have a good turnout from the NY developer community. More details, a brief application, etc. are available at our site: http://datatransparency.wsj.com/

NEW 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.

NEW 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/

Outsmarting Yourself for Success. Procrastination can be so much fun, and so much easier than working, eh? Here’s a list of tips and tricks on how to get organized and be productive: http://bit.ly/yGs2c2

Chasing Problems? Surprisingly, founders’ instincts to solve problems can also cause us to fail. Many startups miss success signals because they are too busy solving problems. Best advice: ignore most problems. Seriously: http://bit.ly/zGeABJ

Why You’ll Always Think Your Product is Sh#t. Let’s face it – we’re always our own toughest critics. A great man once said, your product is shit – and maybe you will always think it is. Yet at the same time, it is our creative struggle with what we do that ultimately makes our creations better and better. Keep plugging: http://bit.ly/yHTkYU

It’s been a while since we’ve posted some of these, and here they are, and this time with feeling:
Find an angel anywere in the world: http://www.angelinvestmentnetwork.net/
Complete list of angel investors As always: http://angel.co/
From our friends at chubbybrain.com:NYC Startup Accelerators: A Quick & Dirty Guide. Helpful, too: http://bit.ly/hTNLSN

How The iPad Could Destroy Google’s Lucrative Search Business. Google could end up losing out if the iPad takes over the world, according to two Wall Street analysts. It’s going to take a lot of pieces falling into place for Google’s lucrative search business to fall apart. But, the more successful the iPad becomes, the greater the long term threat. We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: no one stays on top forever: http://read.bi/w1E6Dd

‘ACTA a lightning rod for web freedom fighters’ Great points here, like the fact that we’re giving government the tools to regulate the internet. Central and Eastern Europe are leading the charge against ACTA, but then, they’ve experienced what it means to have your freedoms taken away. http://youtu.be/urzuHLT3dJU

And don’t forget: General Assembly is launching a free online education platform to teach you all the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, and they really have some amazing speakers. To reserve your spot: http://startmaking.com/

That’s it from us for now, and people at SxSW: please tweet about something other than the food trucks. So far, we feel that the only thing we’ve missed is – lunch. Until next week, as usual, help is on the way…

3/6/12

Good morning, All,

First, just a couple of weeks until our next SOS+ER+Hubitat breakfast March 15 at Hubitat on 26th Street. It’s March 15^th, 8.30 am – 10. $20 with an RSVP or $25 at the door, and hope to see you there! To RSVP: http://erasosbreakfast2.eventbrite.com/

Next, we are hosting our next SOS 1-on-1 with an investor on March 21^st, but this one is different: 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, preferably a game-changer in whatever area on which you are focused (we know; they all say that), and this SOS 1-1 is focused on startups who have developed product and are looking to get to the next level, which means, you need the money to get there. That said, it is also a networking opportunity, so all are welcome to come and schmooze and meet new people/fellow members – but you’re not guaranteed an opportunity to pitch, unless you’ve submitted your deck in advance. Just wanted to be organized and clear. Send your deck to hello@startuponestop.com and we will pass it to investors’ rep, and yes, he is someone we know, so no need for paranoia. And looking forward to seeing them, and you! To register for the event: http://bit.ly/yhSveL $20 in advance; $25 at the door and of course we’ll have food and beverages.

This past week, Google’s new privacy policy went into effect and basically, there is no privacy. They’re monitoring your every keystroke made on a google product, Which is why we no longer search on Goog or use their groups, docs or G+, but then, we’re hardly in the minority on the last one. True, you have no privacy on Facebook either and we could easily compile a list of services that you use on a daily basis where the same can be said. Search is free. Facebook is free. Twitter is free, too, but let’s face it: you pay a price somewhere. That’s how it works. Worldwide. You want privacy? Here’s a piece definitely worth a read: Google’s Privacy Invasion: It’s Your Fault (If we really wanted privacy, we would turn off JavaScript, block ads, and browse in privacy mode through an anonymous proxy. But we would rather have free services.) http://bit.ly/A4BERr Adam Hirsch remarked on the Digital Flash panel during SMW that at one point, Facebook considered charging $1 a month for the service, then dismissed the idea in favor of its present model, which again, compromises your privacy. Would they have reached a billion users had they become a freemium/premium service? Well, that’s a road not taken and as a result, we’ve spun a web – a world wide web – where practically everything can be known – or assumed to be known – about anyone. A lot of attention has been focused globally on ACTA/SOPA/PIPA – monitoring the web in the name of copyright protection. It’s censorship by any other name and let’s face it: this is a two-pronged attack. And Hollywood, “Battleship – The Movie.” Seriously? What’s next? “Hungry Hungry Hippo- The Movie”? Definitely a trashy scare movie, unless Disney or Pixar gets a hold of it first. Both censorship and privacy online are critical issues and neither is about to go away anytime soon. Stay vigilant. And when posting information – anywhere – proceed with extreme prejudice. Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

StartFast! Software, Internet & Mobile Venture Accelerator, early deadline March 6^th, Final deadline March 23^rd. One hundred days to get focused, get feedback, and get funded. We’ll give you enough money to pursue your software/internet startup full-time, co-working space, resources to work with, and continuous feedback on your progress from mentors who’ve done it before. Post-program, our mission is to help you get the funding and resources needed to scale and achieve a successful exit. Apply Now for this summer’s program (shortcut for TechStars applicants) or contact us to be a StartFast mentor, sponsor, investor or volunteer.StartFast welcomes applicants from all over the United States and around the world. In addition to exceptional mentors and program leaders, we offer our teams:
Up to $18,000 in cash and another $85,000 in perks
Access to high quality, affordable talent;
Ability to achieve your goals not just faster, but with an ultra low burn rate;
Our successful track record of getting companies funded;
Support from an emerging, globally connected entrepreneurial community
For more information and to apply: http://startfast.net/

UpTech deadline, March 9^th. As an UpTech company you will be able to engage in applied research, develop the intellectual property, and collaborate with faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduates. This is a formal arrangement; each company will receive two student interns, plus a graduate assistant for each five companies. Also, companies will have access to an UpTech lab at Northern Kentucky University’s College of informatics and access to the state of the art facilities. This partnership is a first in Business Acceleration programs. For more information and to apply: http://www.uptechideas.org/

First Floor Labs, Palo Alto, deadline March 9^th. First Floor Labs is a vibrant community of startups working out of the AOL building in Palo Alto. In general, we’re looking for companies in the consumer internet/mobile space. After that, we’ll base our decision on 1. team (brains, drive, product sense, background, etc), 2. idea (market size, use cases, competitive advantage, etc) and 3. progress. To apply: http://bit.ly/z8jLIP

Huge Thing, Poland deadline March 9rh. Huge Thing is a 6 months two-phase business acceleration program. During first 3 months we get you through intense entrepreneurship training. The training pillars are Entrepreneurship, Strategy, People, Money, Sales and Marketing. With help of our great mentors you will validate your business model and create Minimum Viable Product. Huge Thing is located in Poznan (Poland), less than 3 hours drive from Berlin (240 km) and Warsaw. For more information and to apply (cute website, btw): http://www.hugething.org/about/

Applications for the DreamIt NYC Summer 2012 program are now open. Final deadline: March 16^th, but note: there is a definite advantage to applying early, as it results in the application getting more attention (and possibly early admittance).
-the program runs from May-August 2012 in NYC
-accepted companies get seed money (typically $20-25,000), office space, free legal and accounting services, and access to a who’s who list of advisors and mentors (http://www.dreamitventures.com/team/advisors.php)
For more information and to apply: http://www.dreamitventures.com/apply/.

NEW Hey Startups: Here’s An Easy Way To Get 75K For Your Company, deadline March 31st. Apply to enter Business Insider’sStartup 2012 business-plan competition.: http://bit.ly/zzaKwm The online form will take about an hour to fill out. (You can save and come back if needed.) A top handful of finalists will compete to take home $75,000 in cash and prizes at the intense, fun Startup 2012 conference on May 3 in New York.
Winners also get to attend the event and hear from amazing speakers like Jason Goldberg, CEO of the world’s fastest-growing startup, Fab.com, and Philip James, CEO of the hit online wine flash retailer Lot18.
Do this now because the form closes on March 31, in 3 short weeks. Note: this is a business-plan competition, primarily. Contestants do not need a polished, whizz-bang, ready-to-market prototype. They should have at least a minimum viable product, and a very sharp, well-articulated business plan. The competition is open to companies that have taken less than $2.5million in outside financing. See more fine print here.
2. After entering, take a call with an active investor.Some of New York’s top VCs — with track records including major wins — will interview top candidates selected by a judging panel. From there, a handful of finalists will be chosen.
3. Attend Startup 2012and present your idea onstage. Then, more grilling from VCs.
4. One winner gets $75,000! That’s $25,000 in cash and $50,000 in prizes.

MassChallenge, deadline April 11^th. This is the largest-ever startup accelerator and competition, and the first to support high-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs with no strongs attached.
3 month accelerator program. World-class mentorship and training, free office space, access to funding, media and more.
$1M in cash awards. $4M+ in-kind support.
Open to all. Any startup can enter, from anywhere, in any industry.
No equity taken. No restrictions applied.
$1M in cash awards. $4M+ in-kind support.
Open to all. Any startup can enter, from anywhere, in any industry.
For more information and to apply: http://masschallenge.org/

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. For more information and to apply: http://eranyc.com/apply/

Since SXSW is just around the corner, we thought we’d include The 9 Skills Needed to Be a Super-Connector.: http://tcrn.ch/nxfaAQ

Speaking of angel investors…Red flags in emails to angel investors. As with anything, there are rules. Here’s how not to piss off a potential investor, and always good to know: http://bit.ly/xuO72r

And speaking of pitching…How to Evaluate Your Startup Idea Part 1: The Basics. Always good to go back to the basics and while it’s basically everything you know, there are still some gems here: http://bit.ly/xMnn8Z

How To Choose A Co-Founder. We know that a lot of you out there are desperately looking for a co-founder and according to the writer, the two biggest reasons startups fail are running out of money and founder conflicts. So read on and watch for landmines: http://bit.ly/xE9G4m

Startup Founder Agreements. This post addresses the lifecycle of founder agreements and the key compensation and control parameters in them. A companion post suggests ten rules for building better founding teams: http://bit.ly/akClsD

Always Go Home with the Lady Who Brought You to the Dance. As Mark Suster says, your word is you bond and reputation is everything. In other words, don’t be a dick and we’d say that that holds true, no matter on which side of the table you happen to be sitting: http://bit.ly/zYDrHS

From the ‘if it ain’t broke’ files: How Twitter broke Twitter. True and so annoying, and thought we’d give you a heads up: http://bit.ly/w0NFY5

Pinterest has grown 37x this year alone, so…20 Awesome Tools which will have you Pinteresting like a pro: http://tnw.co/x16dXT

Gary Whitehill is back from Entrepreneur Week Greece and it’s important to him that as many people as possible realize that Greece has an entrepreneurial ecosystem – which we know is true, as we do have quite a few Greece-based SOS members – and it’s on the way upward toward helping to save the country, instead of downward and with a lack of hope (which is how the media is portraying the situation). There is a real opportunity in the country and multiple fronts and am hoping more people will want to get engaged and help out. Link is here: Turmoil Breeds Opportunity: Greece Entrepreneur Week

Steve Jobs Solved the Innovator’s Dilemma. Everything — the business, the people — are subservient to the mission: building great products. And rather than listening to, or asking their customers what they wanted; Apple would solve problems customers didn’t know they had with products they didn’t even realize they wanted. http://bit.ly/q4ch5I

Two more things. First, General Assembly is launching a free online education platform to teach you all the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, and they really have some amazing speakers, including:
David Kelley, Founder of IDEO: http://j.mp/ga-david
Mike Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg LP & Mayor of NYC: http://j.mp/ga-mike
Mario Batali, Chef & Restaurateur: http://j.mp/ga-mario
Amanda Hesser, Founder of Food52: http://j.mp/ga-amanda
Kevin Ryan, Founder of Gilt Groupe: http://j.mp/ga-kevin
Bre Pettis, Founder of MakerBot: http://j.mp/ga-bre
Dan Frommer, Founder of SplatF: http://j.mp/ga-dan
To reserve your spot: http://startmaking.com/

Next, a number of you have been asking us about the SXSW parties and no, we will not be there, BUT that doesn’t mean that we don’t have the party list for you, courtesy of our friends at cmp.ly and thanks, Tom! Follow the link and have fun, kids: www.cmp.ly/SXSW12

That’s it from us for now. Safe travels, if you’re off to SX and feel free to report back to us. Until next week, as usual, help is on the way…

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Monthly Archives: March 2012