10/8/13

10/8/13

Good morning, All,

Credit where credit is due: a great deal of tech has come out of Silicon Valley that has changed the world. Visionaries, yes, to a point. But then there’s the side to Silicon Valley that doesn’t get a lot of press.

Facebook announced recently that they’re building their own employee housing complex. What the article doesn’t mention is that Facebook is located near a very dangerous area. Google, Facebook, Twitter – all provide their employees with incredible perks, from free lunches to dry cleaning on the premises.

Many of these companies get or have gotten tax breaks to keep jobs in the area, and to help build the local economy. Then proceeded to devise elaborate schemes to evade paying taxes. Here’s how you, too, can do it. Bottom line is: California is home to some of the biggest, wealthiest companies on the planet. Yet the state is bankrupt.

Free lunches, affordable housing. Haven’t we read this book before? ? Or some variation thereof: company stores, company housing. They might not be slums this time around, but it’s a similar playbook. They’re not taking most of your salaries this time around, but they are keeping you tethered to your very cool desks in your very cool offices. And they’re starting to wield incredible political power as well.

Careful there.

The twitter IPO is going to mint many a new millionaire, and even billionaires and good for them, but always good to look on the other side of the coin: Twitter held “San Francisco hostage, threatening to move hundreds of jobs unless they received special tax relief on payroll taxes and on profits from an IPO.”  While the world was discussing its IPO, Twitter was making a case to justify massive tax breaks it received from the city of San Francisco.

These people are basically the robber barons of the Information Age. Which is fine, as long as we’re willing to call a spade a spade. Again, we need to stop deifying them: they’re businessmen, doing what businessmen have always done, despite the fact that they’re held up as pure visionaries who are changing the world. At the end of the day, so far, they simply changed the way that the world communicates.  Onward and forward.

 Housekeeping:

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Deadlines:

New England Venture Summit, The 8th annual New England Venture Summit, presented by youngStartup Ventures, is the premier industry gathering connecting venture capitalists, corporate VCs, angel investors, technology transfer professionals, senior executives of early stage and emerging growth companies, university researchers, incubators and premier service providers. Whether you are an investor seeking access to new early stage deals, or a CEO or Founder of a new venture looking for funding, visibility and growth, the New England Venture Summit is one event you won’t want to miss. Use code sos to save an addtitional 10% on the Early Bird rate.

Shopify/HuffPo Build a Business Competition, deadline March 31st – to build a business, so enter now! $50k cash prize (but read the fine print – it’s more like $500k), mentoring, and more. Get building!

R/GA (and TechStars) Connected Devices Accelerator, deadline October 11th. Three months, ten companies, up to $120 in funding. This one is focused on any technology-powered startup from around the world with an innovative idea for a product or service in the connected devices space. Your product can be hardware or software, but it should help bring together the physical with digital. Go for it!

The New York Expo and Conference is back on October 17th – the real one! Free E registration now available.
The largest business show on the East Coast is now open for FREE early bird registration. 40+ Seminars. 250+ Exhibitors. Unlimited networking. And yes, that is Brian Solis on the home page. He’ll be keynoting and that’s always worth the price of admission. Register here.
Date: October 17th
Venue: Javits Center, NYC

NEW Angelpad Accelerator is launching in NYC, deadline October 20th. AngelPad is a mentorship program founded by ex-Googler Thomas Korte to help web and mobile technology startups build better products, attract additional funding and ultimately grow more successful businesses.

NEW YCombinator Winter Class, deadline October 21st. It’s based in Mountainview, and they’re also accepting applications from non-profits.

NEW The Mobiley Awards, deadline October 21st. This new national competition produced by Mobile Future seeks to spotlight and support early-stage wireless apps, services and/or products that make the world a better place. Top prize: $10,000.

Daily News Innovation Lab, deadline October 31st (applications being accepted starting October 1st). The Daily News Innovation Lab is powerfully positioned to help grow and launch early-stage companies targeting a known digital-media need by offering unique access to the Daily News in-house team, robust technical infrastructure (hosting, servers, storage) and a massive national audience. Through the Innovation Lab’s Program Service Partners, participating companies will have access to external professional services and receive post-graduation office space. A slate of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors and professionals will offer advice, mentorship and support to the companies. The goal is for graduates to leave with a viable product that has been proven in the market, well positioned to launch a successful business

NEW NYC Next Idea, deadline November 11th. Global New Venture Competition invites teams from around the world to submit their business ideas that can be launched and operated in New York City. Finalist teams will win an all-expense paid trip to NYC in Spring 2014 to present their idea to a prestigious panel of judges, who will decide the prize winners. Prizes include a cash pool of $35,000, free workspace in NYC, pro bono legal advice and mentorship from the NYC venture capital and startup community.  The Competition is looking for ideas that address issues encountered in New York City as a result of the city’s infrastructure, industries, demographics, and space. This includes ideas addressing urban challenges found in NYC, as well as ideas aligned with major industries found in NYC such as fashion, financial services, media and advertising.

DreamIt Health Baltimore, deadline November 11th. DreamIt Health Baltimore 2014 will select up to ten companies from around the world to participate in a four-month accelerator program. In addition to receiving up to a $50,000 stipend and professional services, the startups will be paired with and work closely with exited entrepreneurs-turned-mentors with domain expertise specific to their needs; benefit from an intense startup and healthcare curriculum taught by accomplished practitioners; meet with subject matter experts and investors; and enjoy access to executives, information systems, and data from leading industry players including providers, payers, biopharma, device makers, and federal agencies. Participating teams will also benefit from DreamIt’s extensive network and expertise in guiding the growth of young technology companies. DreamIt Health Baltimore is expected to take advantage of many of the strengths of the region, giving participating startups the opportunity to work closely with Johns Hopkins Medicine for potential pilots and also access to key individuals throughout the region’s wealth of federal health care institutions including the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The program will be led by Elliot Menschik, MD PhD, a Johns Hopkins alum and successfully-exited health IT entrepreneur. Apply individually, or as a company.

ER Accelerator Winter Session, deadline November 15th.  $40k in funding and working with amazing mentors – including yours truly. Don’t wait till the last minute!

For you edification this week:

Twitter Founder Reveals Secret Formula for Getting Rich Online. ‘We often think of the internet enables you to do new things. But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.’ A direct quote from Ev Williams. Uh-huh.

Meet The New Serfs, Same As The Old Serfs. What were we saying, just last week?

The Top 5 Startup Mistakes. Nearly half of all new businesses don’t make it past their fifth anniversary, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. That makes it crucial for mom and pops to get basic strategies right from the get-go.

Ideas Mean Nothing If You Are Not The Right Person to Execute.

List of Crowdfunding Sites. Always good to know…

Tools and resources for first-time entrepreneurs. Says the author, This is definitely not objective, top or ultimate at all, just some people and things I know. This is what I tell my friends who ask me “How do I do a tech startup in New York City?”

Top Startup Cities by Cost and Taxes. In case any of you are entertaining a move…

13 Pieces of Startup Advice You Never Thought Of

Hypochondriacs turn to the crowd to track illnesses as CDC goes dark during government shutdown. Although, chances of there being a ricin epidemic might have been greatly diminished with the demise of Walter White.

The Autopsy of Chicken Nuggets Reads ‘Chicken Little.’ Conclusion: chicken basically never came to the table. Literally. Two fast food chains were tested. Neither were named. McDonald’s chicken McNuggets are made from 100% breast meat chicken, according to its website.

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!

Kudos this week go to Lily Liu (who happens to be one of my heroes) Borough Unveils ‘MyCarteret’ Smartphone App. She’s founder of PublicStuff.

That’s it from us this week and hope to see you at the The New York Expo and Conference on the 17th. We’ll be at the bonniefoods booth, so please do stop by! Also, next week is New York Entrepreneurship Week and TechWeek, so get ready. And now, as always, help is on the way…

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