8/20/12

8/20/12

Good morning, All,

Our next SOS gathering is tonight, August 20th, so don’t forget to register and looking forward to seeing you there. To RSVP: http://sosaugust2012-zvents.eventbrite.com/ discount code: sos.
It was another bad week for three Web 2.0 darlings: Facebook is at ½ its IPO value; Zynga is down 69% and Groupon is off by 82%. We’re not saying it’s a bubble: it was more a wakeup call. And it seems to have roused the sleeping giants, so in case you missed it: A massive partnership was just announced between some of the largest retailers and merchants in the US, including 7-Eleven, Best Buy, Sears, Walmart and Target, to name a few. The plan: to create a mobile wallet that would be honored at its members’ retail locations (Tired of Being Cut Out of Mobile Payments, Major Retailers Strike Back: http://rww.to/SEg5oq). This comes on the heels of the NY Times’ announcement that it is unloading about.com, which it bought from Primedia (who paid over $600 million for it) for $410 million in 2005, to answers.com, for $270 million (The New York Times Is About to Say Goodbye to About.comhttp://dthin.gs/RAxCSy). So don’t bank on starting a company called YouNeedToBuyUsBeforeGOOGDoes.com: You prove your worth, or you’re off the island. We see this as a harbinger and our takeaway: we’re on the eve of Web 3.0 and it won’t be about the Rise of Mobile (which is part of it) or the Demise of Social (which needs to come to the realization that there’s no free lunch: eventually the waiter does comes around with the check). Amazon never concerned itself with its stock price: the online retailer was busy building a business, and customer service was always front and center: after all, it was the customers who were paying the bills. Does Walmart care how many likes they get on FB? Haven’t seen them post too many – or any – Groupon offers, either, for that matter.  You might be a media darling for 5 hot minutes, but careful: the adults are now stepping into the room. It seems they weren’t asleep after all: they’ve quietly been watching from the sidelines and they’re getting ready to stake their own claims in our brave new world. That’s Web 3.0, in our humble opinion and you’d be better be prepared to play in the big leagues now, and maybe even do business with the big guys. They mean business – and always have. If you don’t realize that playtime’s over and that the game is changing, you may well find yourself in way over your hoodie. Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

The list of Startup Weekend Upcoming Events

VictorySpark, Milwaukee, WI, deadline August 22nd. This is an exclusive program designed for innovative, high-growth, Veteran-initiated startups. $20K given for 6% equity: http://www.victoryspark.com/

NEW NYSeedStart Enterprise, deadline, late August. NYC SeedStart Enterprise is an intensive, 12-week program designed to help entrepreneurs focused on the next-generation of enterprise software to launch new ventures in New York City. With access to large amounts of capital, highly experienced investors and a robust ecosystem, New York is a very attractive location for companies to launch. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/dTDk9N

Women 2.0 Pitch NYC, deadline August 31st. This is an early stage startup competition for technology startups to give the companies valuable feedback and exposure in their earliest days. Competition culminates at the November 14 conference. Any web or mobile startup with less than $1M in funding and at least one female founder should apply for the chance to win $25K cash and more! For more information: http://bit.ly/K56mbS

Pitney Bowes Entrepreneurial Competition, deadline September 7th. Startup Execs and Developers looking to provide value in the digital communication realm should check out the Pitney Bowes Entrepreneurial Competition, designed to identify and drive the development of growth businesses that can leverage three of the Company’s technology areas: Spectrum® Spatial analytics and location intelligence; the secure evidencing platform; and the Connect+® web-enabled digital envelope and mail printing system.   For more information and to enter: http://bit.ly/LL2OHJ

WIBO 1st Annual Executive Summary Competition, deadline September 7th. A well developed Executive Summary can open the door and a great Pitch can help you seal the deal.  The purpose of this competition is to guide you through the process of getting your thoughts about your business out of your head and on to paper! http://bit.ly/OC9Oe0

THE NEW ENGLAND VENTURE SUMMIT Call for Top Innovators, early deadline September 12th. If you are a Startup seeking capital and/or partnerships, submit your plan for the opportunity to present at The 7th Annual New England Venture Summit, the premier venue connecting emerging growth companies with active Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors, Corporate VCs and Investment Firms. A select group of 50 Top Innovators from the technology, life sciences and Clean-tech sectors will be chosen to present their breakthrough investment opportunities to an exclusive audience of Venture Capitalists, Private Investors, Investment Bankers, Corporate Investors, and Strategic Partners. To apply to present: e-mail iwant2present@youngstartup.com for an application.To nominate a company:please forward: company name, main contact at firm, contact details and why you think they should present to nominations@youngstartup.com. For more information: http://bit.ly/LjlttK

NYC Best for Business Infographic Competition, deadline September 21st. Designers, show the world why NYC is the best city for business for a chance to win $1,000 cash prize, a poster-size print of your work signed by Mayor Bloomberg, and bragging rights as the City’s top infographic designer. Infographics must incorporate the NYCEDC Dataset to be eligible. The top applicants will be selected as semifinalists and the winner will be chosen by public voting on NYCEDC.com. For more information and to apply: http://www.nycedc.com/competition

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For you edification this week:

DEAR FACEBOOK EMPLOYEES: Here’s The Truth About Your Stock Price; http://read.bi/Pr0cU2

How To Structure A Marketplace. Good insight, and especially fitting this week: http://tcrn.ch/ON2AGl

And speaking of media darlings: Foursquare’s big overhaul falls flat with users or a sign of the times? http://nyp.st/RrYzc2

Crunching the numbers on a Techcrunching: A mention on TC on launch day. Every founder’s dream, right? One shares the numbers to cut through the hype.  http://bit.ly/S8GBsR

The Ultimate Guide to Startup Marketing. It really is, down to the best days/time to tweet: http://bit.ly/RUmg7z

Push, push, push. Expanding your comfort zone. What scares you most? That’s your next move… http://sivers.org/comfort

The Facebook – Amazon comparison, and quite insightful: http://bit.ly/S8vS1u

Move over, millennials. They may not wear hoodies or pull all-nighters, but these later-in-life entrepreneurs haven’t ruled out creating the next Facebook. And they may have something you don’t: experience – and deep contacts: http://bit.ly/SF0sx3

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Mediocre Entrepreneurs. The thing is: persistence is not the self-help cliche “Keep going until you hit the finish line!” It’s: “Keep failing until you accidentally no longer fail.” http://tcrn.ch/SEmwIe

Elevator Pitch/Member News
Hint, hint: Feel free to tell us what you’re working on, or if you’ve been featured in the press…Share, and we will, too!

Something special for you from one of our member
TechSpeak for Entrepreneurs, September 20-21st. 15% SOS code: SOS.
We are pleased to partner with Webgrrls International and invite you to attend the TechSpeak for Entrepreneurs event on September 20-21 in NYC at a discounted rate. To receive a 15% discount, use code SOS: http://bit.ly/SOS35

That’s it from us this week and hope to see you tonight at the SOS networking event! And for now, as always, help is on the way…

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