1/17/12

1/17/12

Good morning, All,

Heads up, NYC: there’s an Emergency NY Tech Meetup/SOPA/PIPA Demonstration in New York on January 18. It’s so that “we can publicly demonstrate our collective dismay at the unprecedented attack currently being made on the Internet and our industry. We will gather at 12:30 pm outside the offices of Senators Charles Schumer and Kirstin Gillibrand at 780 Third Avenue (at 49th Street). RSVP here: http://nytm.org/sos .” Yes, SOPA was supposedly killed by the House of Representatives (House Kills SOPA: http://exm.nr/wdW6D8), but as of the time of this writing, we’re not sure if it was killed or sidelined, and PIPA is still alive and well. Chuck Schumer co-sponsor of PIPA, and his office believe that the internet needs to be censored (NYC Startup Founder Says Schumer’s Office Told Her the Senator ‘Is In Favor of Censoring the Internethttp://bit.ly/zCdi9W), while SOPA’s author is himself guilty of copyright violation (The Villain Behind SOPA, Rep. Lamar Smith: Copyright-Violating Hypocrite? http://bit.ly/wMmk6e). Let’s not lose sight of the fact that our lawmakers have taken to passing legislation – and exempting themselves from it, thereby placing themselves outside of the law. Why is it OK for lawmakers not to have to adhere to the laws that they themselves legislate? This is as troubling as SOPA and PIPA themselves.

We digress. Hollywood has been rife with sequels, prequels, remakes and animated films for a long time now. Box office receipts are down.  Cable companies have been gouging consumers for years, and people have been fleeing for tech-based options.  Network television has devolved to a large part into reality programming – cheap to produce, but very little upside in syndication, which is where they make much of their money. And the major news outlets have seen their audiences defecting for years – you must have noticed that this story has been widely underreported in the mainstream press.  These industries have stopped innovating, and more and more eyeballs have migrated online. Make no mistake about it:  PIPA is censorship by any other name and they’re just the beginning. Once the precedence has been set, they can shut anyone down. The word about these two bills spread via the online media and twitter. Who do you think they’ve got next in their sites? As Fast Company noted (Remain Diligent: SOPA And PIPA Must Be Squashed, Not Changed: http://bit.ly/xtghkl), “this is one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation ever introduced in Washington. It will not only strip us of many of the freedoms (and websites) that we currently hold dear, but will also set a precedent that the US Government controls the internet. We’ve seen what has happened in the Middle East and Asia when governments meddle with the internet. It cannot happen here.” Onward and forward.

Deadlines:

Another accelerator, deadline unknown, but it says January. We run four three-month funding cycles a year, one from January, April, July and October. We may ask the founders of each startup we fund to move to the Northern NJ Metro Area for the duration of their cycle, during which we work intensively with them to get the company into the best shape possible. We usually $10,000-$100,000 per startup. Occasionally we invest more. The goal is usually to give you enough money to build an impressive prototype or version 1, which you can then use to get further funding. What do we get out of this?  From 2-30% of your stock. Usually 5 or 10%. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/ysJLXG

FinTech Innovation Labs, deadline January 18th. This is an annual program run by the New York City Investment Fund and Accenture for early and growth companies that have developed cutting edge technology products targeted at financial services customers. For more information and to apply: http://www.fintechinnovationlab.com/

First Ever Startup Weekend Mobile | Jan 20-22, NYC. Are you a developer, graphics designer, UX designer, or business person with a great idea for new mobile Startup? Startup Weekend Mobile is a 54 hour challenge to launch a mobile business, hosted by Microsoft on Jan 20-22nd. SOS readers can use DISCOUNT CODE “SOS” for $25 off the ticket price. Our Premier Sponsor EachScape was nice enough to put together a training for non-technical attendees How to Create a Demo App – No Code Required. The event is January 17th. See below for details. For more information and to register for SW Mobile: http://nycmobile.startupweekend.org/

TechStars NYC, final deadline: January 23rd. Time for the Spring session. To apply: http://apply.techstars.com/ For more information: http://www.techstars.com/

NYC Big App Awards, deadline January 25th. – New York City is challenging software developers to create apps that use city data to make NYC better. $50k in cash and prizes! You have from now until January 25th to enter. For more information and to apply: http://2011.nycbigapps.com/

NEW Hacker School is a three-month, full-time school in New York for becoming a better programmer. We’re free as in beer, and provide space, a little structure, time to focus, and a friendly community of smart builders dedicated to self-improvement. We value free software, beautiful code, personal growth, and shipping. The third batch will take place from February 13th to May 3rd. For more information and to apply: http://www.hackerschool.com/

NEW Race For Apps, deadline January 26th . The judges have completed their first round assessments and 29 of the lanes have been filled. They have decided to reopen the race to fill the remaining lanes in four of the categories. If you’ve got a great idea for an app which you think could help people visiting Hackney during the 2012 Olympic Games, go for it! For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/w9KIiv

NEW Startup Weekend San Jose, January 27-29th. You know the drill. You have 54 hours – GO! http://sanjose.startupweekend.org/

NEW Rockstart Accelerator Amsterdam, deadline January 31st Rockstart Accelerator is a new program that helps the most promising teams from around the world to launch their startups and break through on a global scale. We support 10 startups for 100 days, backed by 99 mentors, coaching by entrepreneurs in residence and a 3-week road-trip to Silicon Valley. Our goal is to get you ready for international expansion and growth funding of between 100,000 and 1,000,000 EUR. For more information and to apply: http://rockstart.com/accelerator/

Mini Seedcamp London, January 31, 2012 is a one day event aiming to connect the 20 best web-tech, mobile and software talent with some of the leading entrepreneurs, developers, and experts from all across Europe and all over the world. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/rqgVQm

WIM Accelerator, Deadline February 1st. Women Innovate Mobile (WIM) is the first startup accelerator and mentorship-driven program designed for women-founded companies in mobile technology. WIM’s goal is to provide women entrepreneurs with the guidance, feedback and connections needed to make their startups best in class companies and formidable business concerns. Our companies will receive $18,000 in funding, free office space, product development and design support, mobile-marketing promotions, and access to an incredible network of mentors, funders and advisors. In exchange for our investment and services, we receive a 6% equity stake in each company.  For more information and to apply:  http://womeninnovatemobile.com/ From the WSJ, A Start-Up Program for Women in Mobile Tech: http://on.wsj.com/vErQhp

Startup Bootcamp Amsterdam, deadline February 12th. We provide seed investment, 6-months of office space, 99 mentors, daily coaching by serial entrepreneurs in residence and a 3-week road-trip to Silicon Valley. Teams receive a maximum of €17,000 per team and 6 months of free office space in return for 8 percent of equity. The accelerator program operates for 3 months. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/vWpBqW

NXTP LABS/TechStars Argentina deadline 13 de Febrero – and that’s the extent of our Spanish. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/rYcDfN

DEMO Spring 2012, application deadline February 17th.  DEMO Spring 2012, the launchpad for emerging technology and trends, is returning to Silicon Valley April 17-19, 2012 and we have many exciting new reasons to attend and launch!

  • New Low Attendee Rate: Register for DEMO Spring 2012 by January 20 at the low conference attendee rate of $995.
  • No Barrier to Entry: Apply to Launch or Pitch at DEMO Spring 2012 and take advantage of our new pricing and scholarship program opportunities. Application Deadline: February 17, 2012.

Over the next few months, we’ll be in touch with conference updates, speakers and more! To apply to Launch or Register to Attend: www.demo.com

NEW Win a VIP Trip to SXSW, deadline February 24th. Yeah, thought you’d like this one: http://bit.ly/wTXVdT

Applications for the DreamIt NYC Summer 2012 program are now open.  Final deadline: March 16th, but note: there is a definite advantage to applying early, as it results in the application getting  more attention (and possibly early admittance).
-the program runs from May-August 2012 in NYC
-accepted companies get seed money (typically $20-25,000), office space, free legal and accounting services, and access to a who’s who list of advisors and mentors (http://www.dreamitventures.com/team/advisors.php)
For more information and to apply: http://www.dreamitventures.com/apply/.

The Appy Awards – enter once and you could win twice. Deadline March 21, but any entry you submit today may also be selected as our “Featured App of the Week“, scoring you some seriously instant gratification. And we doesn’t love that? For more information and to enter – any time – http://appyawards.net/

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For you edification this week:

List of Major Companies Supporting SOPA – this is one of the few non-PDFs we found: http://bit.ly/vOdCO9

The 10 Hottest Startup Incubators. Here are 10 incubators putting their mark on the Web and beyond. Congratulations to Murat (ER Accelertor) and Mark Wachen (DreamIt Ventures), SOS members both, who made the list and heads up: DreamIt is now accepting applications for its summer session. Full article here: http://onforb.es/yfl6G7 To apply to DreamIt: http://www.dreamitventures.com/apply/.

Mark Cuban’s 12 Rules for Startupshttp://bit.ly/AymIAW

The Startup Calculator. http://bit.ly/w1GfeZ It’s supposed to do four things:
1) Describe the web startup in a one line pitch
2) tell you how much time you are saving a potential client
3) tell you how much money you are saving a potential client
4) Help you understand how many sales you need to make a month to achieve a certain amount of profit

How to make money doing what you love to do on the Internet. A few under-the-radar startups that are making powerful moves to change the way inspired entrepreneurs can make money doing what they love on the Internet. Including companies whose products might help you to launch your startup: http://tnw.co/zQinud

The 5 Basic Building Blocks For Branding Your Startup. First, you need to figure out who you are. Of course, that’s just the first step: http://bit.ly/wliq2j

Adding features takes creativing; Cutting Features is Hard: http://bit.ly/xAPxIF

26 questions you have to answer correctly to get funding for your startup. And for all we (and the author) know, there may be more: http://bit.ly/x6Tlgn

Lest we forget why we do what we do, from Vivek Wadhwa, who reminds us that if you build a company with the right values, you are more likely to be successful and enjoy the journey than if you just focus on the exit: Is Entrepreneurship Just About the Exit? http://bit.ly/y0Yv5z

Hey, StartupGrind is tonight and hope to see you there! To register: http://startupgrindnyc.eventbrite.com/ In the meantime, very serious week ahead of us, so we thought we’d leave you with a chuckle. Work can get monotonous – unless you have a bit of imagination. For your amusement this week: World’s Coolest Flight Attendant: http://youtu.be/-_MfHMQWmiE That’s it from us and now, without further ado, as always, help is on the way…

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