3/1/11
Good morning, All, and thank you for coming out for our Find A Cofounder – and for drinks afterwards. We always love to see you!
First, the SXSW party list, for those of you who’ll be there, which unfortunately, we won’t be. As far as we know: http://www.eventbrite.com/sxsw
Next, an important message/reminder: You all are allowed to post elevator pitches, you know. Just keep it short and sweet. We’ll leave a section there – even if there are no pitches that week, just as a heads up. We mention this because as many of you know, I’m a constant if not compulsive networker and often meet investors – many of whom join or are already on this very list – who ask me to point them towards startups in specific verticals – including some of thing this you all are doing. Since you aren’t saying anything, and why not? Happened again just this past week, and yes, we do intend to make the introduction, Jesse, and you’re welcome. So, please, do feel free to share what you’re doing, since we don’t know what everyone on the list is up to. Happy to help and happy days! You can also post for beta testers. We do get a number of those requests, usually off list, and again, feel free to share.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.
Ok, so The Social Network didn’t sweep the Oscars, and the tech community was all abuzz about it on twitter. Why? It was not a loss for the tech community, and it wasn’t even a true account of actual events surrounding a certain one-time startup. If you want to see the real thing, warts and all, DreamIt is hosting a special screening of startup.com, a fascinating documentary that takes you back to the Internet Gold Rush of the late 1990s to expose the painfully intimate story of one would-be internet empire that goes from dot-com darling to dot-bomb flameout. This one’s a must-see for any budding internet entrepreneur – especially if you weren’t around to witness the first bubble – and its aftermath. As an added bonus, the screening will be immediately followed by a Q&A with Kaleil Isaza-Tuzman, the main protagonist in the film. Find out the lessons learned from Kaleil’s first, very public, entrepreneurial experience. And learn about Kaleil’s impressive postscript: how he has gone on to build KIT Digital (NASDAQ:KITD), into a tremendously successful, internet video company that recently acquired KickApps, Kewego, and Kype (http://tcrn.ch/dU8D02) The Social Network it’s not, but trust me, it’s two good stories. So come and meet Kaleil and bring your questions:
Wednesday, March 2
General Assembly, 902 Broadway, 4th Floor (between 20th and 21st Street)
6pm: Drinks and Mingling
630pm: Startup.com Screening
830pm: Q&A with Kaleil Isaza-Tuzman
9pm: More Drinks and Food
Admission is free, but space is limited!! Please RSVP well, now, at http://www.dreamitventures.com/news/events.php. Presented by the DreamIt accelerator program (www.dreamitventures.com/apply). And don’t forget: applications due March 16th, and we’ll have another accelerator to announce very soon, too, so stay tuned! Oh, and in honor of the movie, thought we’d include this, for those of you who weren’t there to have experienced it: http://www.youtube.co/watch?v=r00IjBdp-ZA
Next, Jacob Brody, Co-Founder and CEO of Standard Start, contributing writer at Venturebeat, long-time SOS member and now head of business and community development at MESA, is holding office hours this Friday, March 4, so sign up and use the time wisely, young Jedis: http://ohours.org/officehours/471.
Latest tweets, and remember: thanks to movableink, they do update every time you open the newsletter. And now that we’re finally over that bloody flu, will try to keep it current:
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This week’s reading:
Financing Your Startup without Bootstrapping, Incubation, or VC. There’s always another way… this from an entrepreneur. http://bit.ly/ePuONm
Ten Top Investor Turnoffs Around Business Plans. Investors can be a touchy lot, so we figured it’s helpful to know some of the most common turnoffs that investors encounter in plowing through this stack of requests for money, from Startup Professional Musings: http://bit.ly/gcKBxG.
From Fred Wilson, some advice for finding product/market fit and turning it into dollar bills. Fred’s post is here: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/02/mba-tuesday.html. For Fred’s 5 rules (aka, the crib notes): http://b.qr.ae/hoZ27c
Want to get Sponsored? You’d Better Be Sponsorable, from our friend Peter Shankman. Just some straightforward, common sense advice from someone who knows how to get sponsors and lots of them. Ask me about his 30th birthday party sponsors some time. Off list: http://bit.ly/gcbfE9
Since we do list the AngelList under Good Stuff, thought we’d include Mark Suster’s take on it from TechCrunch this week, What’s The Real Deal with the AngelList? http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/26/angelist/ Along with follow-up comments from his own blog: http://bit.ly/feSYLu
One last thing: One of my fellow British Airways Face to Face winners is posting today for an internship. He’s a good one, so carpe diem, guys! Just saying. Anyway, our cold February’s over. Thankfully short and so am I and on that note, help is on the way…