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…