Good morning, All,

A brief history: Web 1.0 was the age of the information highway. Remember, there was no there there, and that’s what we were building, and bringing eyeballs online. Web 2.0 is the social web, where people connect and interact. The cost of building and hosting websites dropped, and so went barriers to entry. The Lean Movement was born and the concept of the MVP – minimum viable product. Eyeballs were still the currency of the day. Now we’re in the Age of Mobility – face it, we’re all on smartphones and/or tablets and many of us work out of co-working spaces, from home or remotely. The mindset is changing: online, in all of its iterations, is here to stay, but eyeballs will get you just so far.  Welcome to the Smart Movement, and isn’t it about time?

Want to build an app? Make sure it’s something people will want to pay for – or at least offer a premium version as well, and make the value add worth paying for. Building something with a recurring revenue stream? Really Smart Movement. Think Gillette razors: the body itself is affordable enough, but the replacement blades – gotcha. Brilliant. You can put up banners and ads – really? Still? If you’re getting no traction with potential investors, it’s because their model has changed, too: they want to invest in a business, so you’d better be building one. An ad revenue model will get you just so far , too – unless you’ve got some new twist on the concept that’s a slam dunk with advertisers. Look at the Mommy Vertical. Mommies are busy and will pay for things that make their lives easier – especially if it saves them time, money, effort, or d) all of the above. Affiliate programs. Recurring revenue streams. Product placement. Subscriptions. Rewards points. All fine, but who knows what else you’ll come up with, that’s particular to what you’re building. Get your mind out of the box: this is still a new industry – come up with a new model. No one has pulled that off yet, but it’s time. Whatever you do, build smart. Build with a revenue model in mind from Day 1. You can build lean, but unless you’re also going to build smart, hope you like lean, because you might be facing a lot of lean times ahead. Now, get out there and invent the future. Onward and forward.

Just for the record, that’s one of the reasons why we chose Kelley Boyd as the speaker for our February 7^th speaker+networking event: The Lean Movement: What You Need to Do – And Why You Probably Won’t Do It. Some of you might know Kelley, who has mentored at many a startup weekends here in NYC, helping companies to figure out their business/revenue models. And Kelley will be happy to give you a pointer or two. We’re also keeping the group small – 50 attendees max – so that everyone can participate. And network, of course. Her talk will center around observations about what kinds of work people do in startups and what kind of support startups need and when! You will hear her views of the differences in coaching, advising and mentoring and what kind you should expect to give and get from those relationships. We will chat about the lean movement and what really has to be done and why you probably won’t do it! Kelley is an early adopter market specialist with expertise in business and sales models, strategies, tactics. A veteran of 7 web 1.0 startups, 5 of which went public, were acquired OR in one case both! Proud carrier of a Fortune #1 Badge (you gotta come to learn what that is!). Kelley is expert in a range of technologies from inter-networking to data security. Of late she has dusted off her Sales 1001 skills and worked in the burgeoning “lean” ecosystem with a number of weekend groups and start up companies.

She’ll also share a few fun stories about sales – breaking into enterprise companies, gaining trusted adviser status among Fortune 10 CEO’s, How I lost a global Exxon deal and designing the network for the “Smartest Guys in the Room!” Hope to see you there!  To RSVP: http://bit.ly/W525WP

Deadlines:

The list of Startup Weekend Upcoming Events

Hacker School, a three-month, full-time school in New York for becoming a better programmer is still accepting applications for its Winter 2013 program that’ll run from Feb 11 to May 2.

LLGA | Cities Pilot the Future: Global Cities invite urban & social innovators to pilot their solutions. Deadline: January 31^st. 21 cities are participating, each with their own pitch to companies, entrepreneurs, innovators, consortia, research centers, organizations and experts. For more information: http://bit.ly/tm2hxS

Startup Grind 2013, February 5-6, Mountainview, CA – 20% sos discount
Join us for Startup Grind 2013, a worldwide 2 day community event bringing together entrepreneurs and founders from every continent across the globe. Where better to host it than the heart of Silicon Valley? Not only will we have great Startup Grind networking and fireside chats, but we’ll also learn from the best and brightest entrepreneurs around the world as they educate and inspire us to push through 2013. Some things you can expect:
Be inspired by people and products we use and believe in.
Make the lasting friendships needed to survive our journey.
No panels. No startup booths. No pitching. Just founders helping founders.
Speakers will include Clayton Christensen (Innovator’s Dilemma), Mark Suster (Both Sides of the Table), George Zachary (Charles River Ventures), Brad Feld (Foundry Group), Bing Gordon (KPCB), Steve Blank, Ben Huh (Cheezburger Network), Jeff Clavier (SoftTech VC), Leah Busque (TaskRabbit), and many more being announced soon. SOS member Perri Gorman will be on of the moderators – and she’s very good. That we can tell you from personal experience.
For more information and to register: http://sg2013.eventbrite.com/?discount=SOS4532#

DreamIt Health, deadline February 8th. This is the first-ever Philadelphia-based health care accelerator. Powered by IBC and PennMedicine, this collaboration marks the first time a leading health insurer and a leading health care provider have come together in an accelerator to deliver the resources entrepreneurs need to capitalize on emerging health care opportunities. DreamIt Health’s 4-month program provides selected companies with a stipend up to $50,000 and office space, plus in-depth mentoring (which are uniquely assigned in a one-to-one fashion to each company), coaching from industry experts, and access to other critical health care-specific resources to rapidly develop and test its product. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/RQRqTc

Call for Top Innovators! The 1st Annual Venture Summit | West. 1st annual conference 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 1st Annual Venture Summit | West, the premier venue connecting emerging growth companies with active Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors, Corporate VCs and Investment Firms. Presented by youngStartup Ventures, Venture Summit | West 2013 provides an unparalleled opportunity for startups to meet, network and showcase their innovative investment opportunities to a leading group of investors. And it all happens in San Francisco on February 13^th.
Apply to Present:
To be considered for one of the Top Innovator slots, please 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.
So mark your calendar and click here to take advantage of the “early bird” registration savings before they expire. This is the event of the year you won’t want to miss! Click Here to Register Now! SOS members also get 10% off on attending.  Discount code:  sos10

Call for Nominations: Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards, deadline March 8^th. Recognized as one of the most prestigious business award programs in the country, Ernst & Young is now calling for nominations in San Diego, Orange County, Greater Los Angeles, Northern California, Portland, Seattle and Utah for the 2013 Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards. Details: http://bit.ly/UCDHeU

Global Apps to Empower Competition Seeks Apps to Educate and Empower Women Everywhere, deadline April 30th. Applications that best satisfy the competition criteria will receive cash prizes and the opportunity to have their apps featured on Datawind’s $40 Ubislate educational tablet. That’s potentially a lot of computers – and a big win for the winning app! The UN is involved and the winning apps will be receive cash prizes, recognition (judges for the contest include Joanne Wilson, Vivek Wadhwa, Geena Davis. For more information and to apply: http://appstoempower.org/

NEW  DreamIt Ventures Accelerator Summer class is now accepting application. Deadline: March 15.  It’s their third annual New York City Accelerator program, which will begin in mid-May and run to mid-August. The program offers $25,000 in seed funding, as well as collaborative work space, mentoring, exclusive speaking engagements with industry leaders, and an opportunity to pitch to investors on Demo Day. To apply as a company or an individual: http://www.dreamitventures.com/

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For you edification this week:

13 top mobile apps for entrepreneurs on the go. Do you ever leave home without a smartphone and/or tablet? You might want to take these with as well.

Keep your steenking Silicon Valley. RIM’s Mike Lazaridis Takes A Quantum Leap Of Faith In Waterloo. Meaning, Ontario.

25 Things I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco.  I used to spend a week a month in SF. Knew these things. Never moved permanently and PS: It is NOT a superfit city. More obesity that I’ve ever seen in NYC. http://bit.ly/WaOmyQ

A golden opportunity, or not… Peter Robinett makes a pretty solid case for developers won’t work on your idea.

Be Focused, Not Myopic. “Get involved with one or two other startups as a board member, advisor or mentor. This will help you extend your network and build relationships with other CEOs that could come in handy in the future. Even more important, you’ll gain a much wider perspective on fundraising, staffing challenges, and business models than you could ever get from just running your own company,” suggests TechStars founder Dave Cohen.

Watching your competitors release “your” features. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have someone else release the first version of an idea. You get to form a perspective on what they did right, and wrong, and how that might translate to your product. That is, once the time is right.

Should Your Startup Apply To An Accelerator? Applications to the 200-plus accelerators worldwide have nearly doubled in the past two years. How to choose…
And link should work now.

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!

That’s it from us this week. Hope to see you at our event on February 7th, and at our friend Aaron Sylvan’s Lemonade Heroes event next week.  Until then, as always, help is on the way…