Good morning, All,

Yes, we were having an Alice in Wonderland moment, and we’re not the only ones, it seems. IPO fever seems to be on again, and now all eyes are on Groupon, but a moment, please, and eyes on the bottom line: Groupon is no Linkedin – which happens to have a very profitable bottom line and has had for some time now. Groupon, on the other hand, is shelling out $1.43 cost-per-acquisition for every $1 it makes. Did we mention that it’s a 2-1/2 year old company with 7,000 employees? Yes, we do remember Web 1.0 and the New Economy. The math didn’t work then; doesn’t work now. Want a great read on the topic? Groupon IPO: Pass on this Deal: http://bit.ly/j1ONlH From the yipit blog Groupon S-1 Reveals Business Model Deteriorating in Oldest Markets: http://bit.ly/migJUl. And for those of us who remember way back to the end of 2010: Groupon Turns Down Google’s $6 Billion Offer: http://on.mash.to/f4iCQd. Hmmm. Someone will make money in the groupon IPO, no doubt, and between this and the MSFT purchase of Skype, well, it’s all just so much fodder for the doom-and-gloomers. But as witnessed in the articles above, not everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon, as happened back in the days of Web 1.0. Been there; done that – burned the tee shirt. We are admittedly a cockeyed optimist and see this as a blip, rather than a trend.  Eye on the prize: some of us are here to build an industry and won’t be led lemming-like over the precipice again. Hopefully, cooler heads rather than greed will prevail this time around and we’re not looking at another bubble but rather another proliferation of bubbleheads. As Vivek Wadhwa tweeted – “Problem: after Groupon crashes, it will wreck chances of more worthy companies going public. Wreck innovation system again like dot coms did.” Our sentiments exactly and let us not be led down the rabbit hole again. Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

StartupWeekendNY is next week. Time flies. To find the next StartupWeekend near you:  http://startupweekend.org/about/ To register for the 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

The 11th annual New York Venture Summit is coming up July 20-21^st at the Digital Sandbox and will showcase 50 of the hottest early stage and emerging growth Technology, Life Sciences and Clean-tech innovators. It’s also the premier venue for 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

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:

Groupon Is Effectively Insolvent. Yes, it’s yet another Groupon piece, but if you want insight into how the old New Economy worked, read on: http://bit.ly/mHtYb3

From Both Sides of the Table – The Harder I Work, the Luckier I Get. Or, in the words of Seneca, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” So get busy: http://bit.ly/k3G12t

How to Find and Recruit a Killer Advisory Board. Picking the right advisors, approaching them correctly and making sure they get involved can be challenging, extremely rewarding – and very important to your startup.  Here are some good guidelines: http://bit.ly/jpk3BW

On Being the Best. Differentiation is important, when you’re trying to, um, differentiate what your startup is doing. Ok, first mover advantage doesn’t always work (YHOO/GOOG), but still some good advice here on how to differentiate by positioning yourself as the biggest/fastest/bestest: http://bit.ly/iLE7KP

10 Super Successful Cofounders And Why Their Partnerships Work. Many accelerators – and investors – prefer investing where there are multiple cofounders rather than just one. There are pros and cons to both, but some of the most successful companies of our time were founded by friends/classmates/relatives/rivals who decided not to go it alone: http://read.bi/iErbXa

Be My First Customer. No, it’s not an article, it’s a website. Interesting idea. We haven’t tried it yet. Sometimes, we just like to share: http://bit.ly/kHQCju

It’s Internet Week in New York! For the full schedule and tickets: https://www.internetweekny.com/partners/login, and no, we’re not going to list every single event in town this week, but Thursday is Ultra Light Startups – Lead Generation Revenue Models and never underestimate the importance of lead generation. Graham always puts together a good panel so register, stop by, have some pizza, do some networking and learn a thing or two: more information in “EVENTS” and register here: http://bit.ly/kHQCju

We know you can’t all make it to New York this week but we will report back on key highlights, if any. In the meantime, we thought we’d leave you with a taste of the city, in all its glory, as seen from 100 hotel rooms: http://bit.ly/lMB97C. Enjoy, see you next week and until then, help is on the way…