Not yet: this is a big month in the startup world!

Good morning, All,

First, application deadline for SXSW Accelerator is this week: December 10, and we all know that South By is one of the biggest showcases of the industry. And Accelerator provides an outlet for early stage companies to present their new online Entertainment products, Social networking applications, News-related technologies, Music-related technologies, Health technologies, or Innovative web-based technology services to a panel of industry experts, early adapters, and representatives from the Venture Capitalist community. It all happens March 14-16, 2011 in Austin, Texas and we’d love to see some of you there. As finalists, we mean. Or, just there. Apply at http://sxsw.com/interactive/accelerator or if you’re a music technology company: http://sxsw.com/music/accelerator

Also this week: December 7-8, isTEDxTribecaWomen : a live webcast and series of events built around the TEDWomen conference in DC. This event is one of over 70 local, self-organized events that will take place across the globe to spark discussion and connection in a small group around TedWomen and “ideas worth spreading.” We’ll be streaming all 5 sessions of the conference – 25+ live speakers, performers, tech demos and more, over the span of 2 days. Hosted by Tipping Point Partners and Perks Consulting. The complete list of simulcast locations are below.

Next up: Whether you’re a startup seeking capital and exposure or an investor seeking new deals, The New England Venture Summit™ presented by youngStartup Ventures – is one event you won’t want to miss, and it’s happening next week on December 15, in Boston.

The New England Venture Summit™ is dedicated to showcasing early stage VCs, Corporate investors, and angel investors committed to funding early stage and emerging companies. This exclusive summit will feature a distinguished line up of more than 40 VCs on interactive panels; presentations bymore than 50 Top Innovators; and high-level networking opportunities. It’s an impressive line-up of investors – and an amazing opportunity to have access to them all in one place. We’re even including a partial list of those confirmed to speak at the bottom of this newsletter. Just too many to list here. Best for last: Register now and take advantage of the special $100 SOS discount. Click on http://www.youngstartup.com/newengland2010/overview.php and enter discount code “sos”. To register by phone or inquire about group rates, call Rivka at 718.447.0009 and mention “sos”.

Also on December 15, this time at Webster Hall: Vator Splash NY. Vator, a leading platform for innovators and entrepreneurs to connect and learn from each other, and a provider of news and information through VatorNews, will spotlight 10 promising startups across New York City’s hotbed of emerging technology companies – and we have an SOS discount!

Following an intense online voting competition and judging round, 10 finalists will be presenting to some of the hottest NYC startup peers, VCs, and tech community. In addition, Avner Ronen, CEO of Boxee will talk about launching in the highly competitive set-top box space and Blip.tv co-founder and CEO, Mike Hudack, will talk about how his attempt at knowledge management software resulted in Blip.tv. Keynoting will be Henry Blodget, Founder and CEO of Business Insider, an up-and-coming business news site. Purchase your ticket now: http://vatorsplashny.eventbrite.com/ with the discount code: “SOS25”. In addition to general admission tickets, 25% discounted demo tables (including 3 admission tickets) are available to startups who missed the competition deadline. Enter code “Vator25” when registering. Doors open at 5:00pm, Program begins at 6:00pm.

Entrepreneurs Roundtable is Monday, December 13th, from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM at HodgsonRuss (1540 Broadway). This month’s special guest investor is Jeffrey Stewart (http://www.urgentspeed.com/about.html) and our own Emily Lutzker (openinvo) is one of the entrepreneurs selected to pitch. For those of you who’ve never attended an ER, here’s the drill:
Introductions, Q&A, 5-minute pitches from 5 startups and
5-minute feedbacks from our speaker and the community.
To pitch, please apply here (only 5 startups will be selected to pitch): http://goo.gl/zFRxU. To hear about future events, feel free to sign up at http://eroundtable.net

So, since we’re so focused on competitions/pitches today, and the judges are investors, here’s an article we thought might shed some insight as to what investors’ thought process is – if that’s at all possible: VC insanity, explained …or, why VCs do what they do. VC behavior sometimes looks insane, but generally it’s just sound economics: if you know how a VC gets paid, you can pretty much read their mind. Full article here: http://bit.ly/cJXgU2

This week’s pieces we like:
If you’re about to pitch – or putting together your pitch or deck, here’s a good exercise for you: the Y Combinator application form, or a few points from it, anyway:
What is your company going to make?
What do you understand about your business that other companies in it just don’t get?How long will it take before you have a prototype? A beta? A version you can charge for?
Who are your competitors, and who might become competitors?
Who do you fear most?
Why would your project be hard for someone else to duplicate?
What might go wrong? (This is a test of imagination, not confidence.)
Here’s a link to the dropbox application (http://files.dropbox.com/u/2/app.html), courtesy of Dave Winer. Good general exercise for you.

From the he said/she said department:
Mashable Video: Inside Tips from Entrepreneurs and Investors. http://bit.ly/e5qfyE
The Top 10 Lies Entrepreneurs Tell VCs…and the top 3 lies VCs tell entrepreneurs (our faves: We’ll be cash positive in 12 months/ I love your company, I just can’t get it through our partners. http://on.wsj.com/9YtE1f
And to remind you why we keep going forward, in case you need reminding: 14 Reasons Why You Need to Start a Startup #1 Reason: You will have the time of your life. And of course, the caveat: “Doing this may be hell at times…” Ya think? http://bit.ly/aggU1S

Finally, for a bit of fun: The Top Ten Daily Consequences of Having Evolved. This one is from the Smithsonian Institute and just goes to show you that technology isn’t the only thing that screws up. From hiccups to wisdom teeth, the evolution of homo sapiens has left behind some glaring, yet innately human, imperfections. Personally, we would have put #5 in the #1 spot: the trachea being so bloody close to the esophagus? That was just unforgivably bad engineering. Full story and the complete list is here: http://bit.ly/e9uS9P

It’s that time again. Time to hear from you and not to worry: help is on the way…