Good morning, All,

The next SOS gathering is coming up on August 20^th and if your’re in town, we’d love to see you. Details and RSVP are here: http://sosaugust2012-zvents.eventbrite.com/ and you know, you don’t have to register at the last minute. How well we know you all!

It wasn’t a good week for FB, but then, the company hasn’t had a good week since it went public. Turns out the 6^th largest country in the world, by population, admitted that millions of accounts are fake (http://bit.ly/N1xqsQ); the company lost more than three-quarters of a billion dollars of market cap EACH DAY since it went public (Who To Blame For Failed IPOs: http://tcrn.ch/QC4SJQ); Randy Zuckerberg went to work for Google; and her brother is no longer a Top 10 Tech Billionaire (http://on.mash.to/NeAwGz). He’s fine, but with the stock plummeting, he is at risk of losing valuable employees (Facebook loses 2 more executives, after stock price hits low: http://bit.ly/Mecr6G). Zuckerberg never wanted FB to go public – ever – and with the company under constant scrutiny for some privacy issue or another (Facebook’s facial recognition gets probe from Norwegian officials: http://bit.ly/MecBuI), it’s no wonder. One of the valuable lessons we can learn from FB, from way the company/investors handled the IPO to its policies, to its seemingly ever changing look, is that actions have consequences, even when the service is free. Yes, new users subscribe daily, but FB is not monetizing the base in any meaningful way. We personally think twice when the ‘I’ll allow it’ button pops up and given the choice between FB and allowing it through another service, we opt for the alternative: after all, Zuckerberg and ethics are rarely ever used in the same sentence – in a good way. The trust is long gone. He was always a press darling and still gets a great deal of ink – again, these days, not in a good way. We menton this because it’s August, and investors have mostly checked out for the time being. A good time to work on your business and, if necessary, to retool your business plan, and to think long and hard about what you’re creating, how you’re monetizing and if you’re not, what or whom you’re selling. We work in technology and we’ve all come to learn that there’s no such thing as the free internet: someone always pays. Let’s take some responsibility for what we’re doing because what we’re building is the future – and we all have to live there. Onward and forward.
Deadlines:

The list of Startup Weekend Upcoming Events

Thrillist/Samsung Speed Dating for Startups, deadline August 10^th. Think you’ve got the perfect start-up idea on your hands? All entrepreneur’d up with nowhere to…entrepreneur? Then upload a 30-second video describing your brilliant start-up idea. Grand prize: the ultimate business launch package that’ll get your start-up all started up, including the chance to be showcased on Thrillist. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/NZkx2F
NEW  AARP Health Innovation@50+ LivePitch, deadline August 17^th. Health Innovation@50+ takes place at the annual 2012 Life@50+ AARP National Event & Expo in New Orleans, which is attended by 20,000+ members and guests from across the U.S. and the globe. This is the best opportunity of the year for entrepreneurs and investors to capitalize on the world’s largest and fastest-growing consumer market. Qualified companies will LivePitch their products and/or services to a live audience, including representatives from the venture capitalist and angel investment community, industry experts and panel of expert judges. Additionally, pitching companies will present to AARP members, receiving instant valuable consumer feedback. Two grand prize winners (Judges winners and AARP Member winners) will be selected at the end of the day. For more information and to apply: http://health50.org/
VictorySpark, Milwaukee, WI, deadline August 22^nd. This is an exclusive program designed for innovative, high-growth, Veteran-initiated startups. $20K given for 6% equity: http://www.victoryspark.com/

Women 2.0 Pitch NYC, deadline August 31^st. 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 7^th. 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 1^st Annual Executive Summary Competition, deadline September 7^th. 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 12^th. 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

NEW  NYC Best for Business Infographic Competition, deadline September 21^st. 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

For you edification this week:

Speaking of FB – Dear Mark Zuckerberg. Dalton Caldwell (app.net) didn’t want to be acqua-hired, then described the coercive tactics he says Facebook used to pressure a would-be rival. The letter that stirred up the tech world last week: http://bit.ly/N2vXR5

Facebook’s Stock Crash Has Created A Bunch Of New Problems For The Company… http://read.bi/MJ4ovg

Got Investors? Now, How to Handle Your Salary. Always a thorny issue. Here are salary guidelines to consider for the different stages of your business: http://bit.ly/KBgvhn

6 Tips to Rapidly Raise Funding on Angel List: http://bit.ly/PtPKY8

12 things to consider when deciding where to start up. Thanks to the Internet, you can choose to start up anywhere in the world that you want to. But there are a few important factors to consider when picking a place to start a business:

Rent-a-desk scene heats up. With about 62 locations, up from 28 a year ago, you’ll never have to work alone in this town again: http://bit.ly/Pzh5YG Speaking of which, don’t forget: free work space for SOS members worldwide, from our friends at loosecubes: Loosecubes is a private workspace sharing community where you can find and book a free place to work for the day in over 40 countries around the world. Loosecubes has transitioned to an invite-only model, whereby all ‘cubes (1,000+ worldwide & over 150 in NYC) are completely free to book by members on a daily basis. And any SOS member can get immediate access as a subscriber to Startup One Stop with this link:  https://www.loosecubes.com/startuponestop.

Signs A VC Is Just Not That Into You. Many venture firms will take a long time to get to a “no.” Don’t let them waste yours: http://bit.ly/OTTkhG

Why social media is endangering our future and what we can do about it. Some consider it a time waster. Is it more than that? http://tnw.co/PWMO6D

iPhone & Android App Stores Lifting the Developer Middle Class. Apple paid developers nearly $1.5 billion in the first two quarters of 2012. In fact, middle-class developers – those who publish the bulk of the 600,000 apps available in the Google’s and Apple’s app stores – are making a comeback.   http://rww.to/QllgvS

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!

Congratulations to our friends (and ER Accelerator graduates) LocalBonus (LocalBonus Raises $900,000 To Provide A Universal Loyalty Program For Anyone With A Credit Card: http://tcrn.ch/OutvoQ But we always knew that Derek knows his stuff.

Something special for you from one of our member

TechSpeak for Entrepreneurs, early bird deadline August 8^th. 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 on registration, use code SOS when registering: http://bit.ly/SOS35

Are you a non-techy entrepreneur?

Do you ask yourself the following questions?

• How can I find the right tech person?
• What in the world is my tech person saying?
• Why is my tech person choosing that software?

• Why is my tech project costing so much?

10 How-to Workshops in 2 Days!

1) How to create a tech plan

2) How to wireframe & prototype your idea or project

3) How to refine your ideas through user testing

4) How to price & budget your project

5) How to determine the best technology solutions for executing your project

6) How to build your technology infrastructure for scale

7) How to manage your project using agile project management techniques

8) How to hire a development team

9) How to protect yourself and your intellectual property

10) How to track what your users are doing on your site

For detailed workshop descriptions and to register, go to http://bit.ly/SOS35

Stranger than truth: A man walks into a bank. Hands over a junk-mail check for $95k… http://on.ft.com/TaUVRc What more can we say except that now, as always, help is on the way…