7/5/11

7/5/11

Good morning, All,

Heads up: Our next Find A Cofounder is Tuesday, July 12th and it’ll be under the stars. Yes, it’s summer’s first big outdoor party at a 4000 square foot terrace overlooking the Hudson. Come find a cofounder for your startup. Network with fellow entrepreneurs and investors. Enjoy the views and a cold brew at sunset. And it’s free to entrepreneurs and developers and an EW, SOS and ER co-event. Oh, coincidentally, it falls on the same night/same time as Feed-A-Cofounder, and yes, we are looking for someone to sponsor the food. Feel free to contact us (hello@startuponestop.com). You will be featured in our next newsletter and at the event –  and you’ll be making many a hungry attendee happy! To RSVP: http://findacofounder2011.eventbrite.com/

As we all know by now, GOOG went social in a big way last week with google+. (Does that strike anyone besides us as a bit oxymoron?) Mashable spelled out some (early) pros and cons: http://on.mash.to/j7PAIc MySpace founder Tom Anderson also chimed in with his feelings on the launch http://bit.ly/mSn0iF Google’s a big company with a huge footprint and an enormous suite of products. Early reports are already predicting the demise of twitter, facebook, linkedin, quora (can foursquare be far behind?) and half the marine life on the planet. One major problem/irritation from reports we’ve gotten is that people anywhere can add you, seemingly almost randomly. So, is social media a numbers game, or is it about meaningful relationships/connections?  Chris Brogan, who spent some time checking it out, offers the Google+50, a list to get you thinking about a bunch of different possibilities: http://bit.ly/klNELs Is the social/war for eyeballs on? Facebook Blocks Friends Exporter Plugin (a chrome extention): http://on.mash.to/kR2S2Q; Google Disables Realtime Search – Will Replace Twitter with Google+: http://bit.ly/kJ97Cx
It’s still early days and the votes – and the upgrades – aren’t all in yet, so we can only watch and wait. And at the end of the day, decide just how much more personal information we want GOOG to have on us, after all. And how much more of our online real estate – and decisions on search results – we want to further cede to the behemoth. Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

There are a few startupweekends coming up around the country and the world: Amsterdam and Tampa are next weekend; July 22nd is Shanghai and Chicago; Sydney on July 29th. For more information and to register: http://startupweekend.org/ And good luck to all of you out there!

DreamIt Philly accelerator application deadline is this Friday, July 8th. Apply at: http://bit.ly/ecieVT. DreamIt is also hosting  a seminar today at noon. “What to Expect When Raising Early-Stage Capital” with Jordy Leiser, Co-Founder/CEO, STELLA Service.  Please join DreamIt for this special lunchtime event where Jordy Leiser will share his experiences in raising early-stage capital for his company STELLAService (www.stellaservice.com), which provides proprietary ratings on the customer service performance of online stores.  You’ll learn how Jordy successfully raised his initial round of $2 million, which included investments from Battery Ventures, DFJ Gotham Ventures, and RRE Ventures, as well as several angels.  It’ll be a lunch hour well spent. To RSVP: http://bit.ly/j2mByC

Flights! Camera! Action! You have until July 15th to submit your video telling American Airlines and the world how flying benefits your business. You could win up to 50 tickets for your company and exposure to thousands of potential customers by telling AA how travel boosts your business – you might get the ultimate boost to your travel budget! For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/mkP9Mu

Charles Barkley wants to give your startup $25,000. Deadline July 18th to win ‘Chuck Bucks.’ Priceless, isn’t it, but true! The National Basketball Association Hall of Fame power forward also known as “Sir Charles” announced on his website a contest called “Earn Chuck’s Bucks.” He’s calling for the best business-plan pitches and says he’ll give the winner $25,000 to help fund that business. Here’s how it works: Any U.S. resident age 18 or older can submit his or her business-plan pitch. The entry period ends at 11:59 p.m. on July 18. Finalist entries will be posted on CharlesBarkley.com where fans will be encouraged to vote for their favorite pitch. A winner will be selected in mid-September based on the total number of fan votes and other criteria, which include the pitch’s creativity, originality, feasibility and “energy and enthusiasm.” This definitely isn’t your typical business plan contest, and it might seem a little strange coming from a former NBA All-Star with no previous business experience. Barkley admits in his video announcing the contest that he feels that it’s his job to “help people become successful.” Barkley bites from the video (on his website):
• Keep it short.The official rules call for entries to be 3,900 characters or less. “Send me the CliffsNotes. I don’t want to be readin’ through a bunch of crap.”
• Make it realistic. “Don’t be sendin’ me no bull,” Barkley says. In other words, make sure the idea isn’t ‘turrible’ (sic).”

The 11th Annual New York Venture Summit is coming up July 20th-21st. Next early bird deadline ends July 18th. The 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) and to apply to present: http://bit.ly/jCFrNr

Applications for StartupChile Round 2 open July 11th. Things change; deadlines move: 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. You have until August 11th, so get busy. For more information: www.startupchile.org. To apply: http://bit.ly/i8bFur

Charles Barkley wants to give your startup $25,000. Deadline July 18th to win ‘Chuck Bucks.’ Priceless, isn’t it, but true! The National Basketball Association Hall of Fame power forward also known as “Sir Charles” announced on his website a contest called “Earn Chuck’s Bucks.” He’s calling for the best business-plan pitches and says he’ll give the winner $25,000 to help fund that business. Here’s how it works: Any U.S. resident age 18 or older can submit his or her business-plan pitch. The entry period ends at 11:59 p.m. on July 18. Finalist entries will be posted on CharlesBarkley.com where fans will be encouraged to vote for their favorite pitch. A winner will be selected in mid-September based on the total number of fan votes and other criteria, which include the pitch’s creativity, originality, feasibility and “energy and enthusiasm.” This definitely isn’t your typical business plan contest, and it might seem a little strange coming from a former NBA All-Star with no previous business experience. Barkley admits in his video announcing the contest that he feels that it’s his job to “help people become successful.” Barkley bites from the video (on his website):
• Keep it short.The official rules call for entries to be 3,900 characters or less. “Send me the CliffsNotes. I don’t want to be readin’ through a bunch of crap.”
• Make it realistic. “Don’t be sendin’ me no bull,” Barkley says. In other words, make sure the idea isn’t ‘turrible’ (sic).”
For more information and to apply: http://charlesbarkley.com/

The NYC Big Apps Challenge is on! You have until July 28th to enter your submission. For details and information on how to submit: http://ideas.nycbigapps.com/

The Daily Candy 2nd Annual Start Small, Go Big Contest: Deadline August 5th. Here’s your chance to launch your bazillion dollar idea. One winner from each of our categories (fashion, beauty, food and drink, and home) will win a trip to New York City, a DailyCandy write-up, and a day at the DailyCandy Academy, where the likes of Isaac Mizrahi, Marcus Samuelsson, and Rebecca Minkoff will mentor the begenius out of you. Just think, you have nothing to lose but your day job. For rules, details, and an entry form: http://bit.ly/aR8Yk5

Heads up, college students! Moverandchangers.com is all set to launch its third nationwide challenge to uncover the country’s next young entrepreneurs who want to make it big with their innovative ideas for a new business. The contest is open to 16-28 year old college students to develop and produce a compelling business proposal. Ideas must be original, feasible, scalable and practical. More information on the site, which features a video with Dennis Crowley, who, just for the record, wouldn’t qualify for the contest now, nor would he when he first started foursquare.  Deadline is October. Information is here: http://bit.ly/EvBLZ

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For you edification this week:

On Bubbles…And Why We’ll be Just Fine. Mark Shuster recently spoke at our friend Addeo Ressi’s Founder Showcase, and covered a number of topics, not the least of which was the latest bubble babble. Worth your reading, and the video of his presentation is also included in the article: http://bit.ly/itbAAv

Getting funded: Step 0 – Prepare. We do include a lot of articles on funding and how to get there. Here’s one that starts at Step 0: everything you need before you get to Step 1.  Always good to be prepared and here’s what you need to do that: http://bit.ly/je2utr

How to put a VC in the hotseat. Turnabout is always fair play, and your VC could potentially make or break your company. Have a list of questions for them as well for your due diligence and here are a few you might want to keep in mind: http://bit.ly/kNhC4P

Launch your site too soon. Yes, you heard right. As the blogger/founder notes: “Because I launched it before I was ready, I got real feedback, which forced to me to address the bugs which real visitors & users were hitting.” Full, short story here: http://bit.ly/l7zsh0

The Declaration of Innovation. Yes, the US Independence Day celebration is over for this year, but this came across our screen. We take no political stand, but still felt a responsibility to share it with you innovators and entrepreneurs out there: http://declareinnovation.com/

How Much Money to Raise. Ah, isn’t that always the question and Fred Wilson gives some insights: http://bit.ly/kzdFvV

Mark Birch’s advice: Raise What You Need – and Then Some: http://bit.ly/iGSSPB

We usually try to leave you with a chuckle, but this time, something to consider, especially if you wonder why kids ‘prefer’ texting over emailing. The obvious just always escapes us, what, eh: http://bit.ly/jN2VmN

That’s it from us for this week.  Hope to see you at our Find A Cofounder event next week and remember: if you ever need help, have help to give, have a question, an event, advice to give, or just want to tell us what you’re up to, always feel free to post. Simply go to the website (www.startuponestop.com) and post away. Speaking of which, help is on the way…

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