Startup One Stop

Good morning, All,

Yes, we were having an Alice in Wonderland moment, and we’re not the only ones, it seems. IPO fever seems to be on again, and now all eyes are on Groupon, but a moment, please, and eyes on the bottom line: Groupon is no Linkedin – which happens to have a very profitable bottom line and has had for some time now. Groupon, on the other hand, is shelling out $1.43 cost-per-acquisition for every $1 it makes. Did we mention that it’s a 2-1/2 year old company with 7,000 employees? Yes, we do remember Web 1.0 and the New Economy. The math didn’t work then; doesn’t work now. Want a great read on the topic? Groupon IPO: Pass on this Deal: http://bit.ly/j1ONlH From the yipit blog Groupon S-1 Reveals Business Model Deteriorating in Oldest Markets: http://bit.ly/migJUl. And for those of us who remember way back to the end of 2010: Groupon Turns Down Google’s $6 Billion Offer: http://on.mash.to/f4iCQd. Hmmm. Someone will make money in the groupon IPO, no doubt, and between this and the MSFT purchase of Skype, well, it’s all just so much fodder for the doom-and-gloomers. But as witnessed in the articles above, not everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon, as happened back in the days of Web 1.0. Been there; done that – burned the tee shirt. We are admittedly a cockeyed optimist and see this as a blip, rather than a trend.  Eye on the prize: some of us are here to build an industry and won’t be led lemming-like over the precipice again. Hopefully, cooler heads rather than greed will prevail this time around and we’re not looking at another bubble but rather another proliferation of bubbleheads. As Vivek Wadhwa tweeted – “Problem: after Groupon crashes, it will wreck chances of more worthy companies going public. Wreck innovation system again like dot coms did.” Our sentiments exactly and let us not be led down the rabbit hole again. Onward and forward.

Deadlines: Read More...

Good morning, All,

TechCrunch Disrupt was in town last week and there were a lot of grumblings about the fact that a lot of it was about – apps. We understand the irritation: they do call it ‘Disrupt’ after all, and how disruptive is yet another app for your iPhone/android/iPad/insert-name-of-mobile-device here?

Makes sense to us: apps are to mobile what websites were to web 1.0. The devices are not just for phone calls anymore (and hasn’t the iPhone proven that, thank you so much, AT&T). The platform is being built out and it’s apps that are answering at least the initial call, pun intended. Read More...

Good morning, All, and you knew that was coming.

Ok, it may seem like semi-old news by now, especially with TechCrunch Disrupt going on. Still, attention must be paid. Linkedin IPO is the first so-called social media company to go public – and the biggest internet site to go public since Google – which naysayers also claimed, at the time, was overvalued. And the bubble talk is bubbling up once again.

There are huge differences between Linkedin and the sites that went public during the ‘90s bubble. First, Linkedin grew organically, rather than paying a fortune in advertising to acquire users. Next, Linkedin is a site one returns to time and again, and where one expands one’s own personal network in order to bring more value to the experience – and to Linkedin itself. In fact, between November 2010 and March 2011, the number of Linkedin users literally doubled. Next, Linkedin is profitable and has been since about a year or so after its launch – and has multiple profitable revenue streams: Paid job postings, advertising and a subscription model (CHART OF THE DAY: Where LinkedIn’s Revenue Comes From http://read.bi/kXIEQg) Read More...

Good morning, All,

There’s a battle on for the business desktop. Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion, which many believe was about $4 billion too much, and that got a lot of attention. Meanwhile, the Google Chromebook is coming out mid next month and the giant is aiming squarely at the business desktop market, which Microsoft has had a lock on for quite some time now. For your edification: Five Reasons why Google’s Linux Chromebook is a Windows Killer http://zd.net/kTrXbV Five Reasons Why Skype Will Be An Office Hit: http://rww.to/kWu0Kg For fun: Why Google Does Not Own Skype: http://bit.ly/j2sbpL Google has been quietly minting money on the enterprise side for a while, and what can we say?  Maybe they figured it’s time they got off their ads went full throttle.

Onward and forward. Read More...

Good morning, All,

And yes, we mean theonion. So, there’s a new startup out there that has been getting a lot of buzz from the press and in the twitterverse and what they do is…well, we can’t tell you. In fact, no one knows what they’re all about, with the possible exception of the founders and their investors – and there are a lot of them – and they’ve raised quite a bit of money, too (Stealth NYC Startup Kohort Raises $3 Million Seed Round From IA Ventures, RRE, And More, http://tcrn.ch/gzSqs0)  Mashable covered them, too (How To Sign Up Users Even Before You Launch Your Startup http://on.mash.to/j3vMpe), although, there are step to this success story that were excluded.  For all we know, they may be launching the next google, but in the meantime, you may need to know these missing steps if you hope to follow this model:
1.     Make sure one of your founders is former VC
2.     Make sure all or a lot of your friends are VCs/investors with large twitter followings
3.     Send out early invitations to these people, and make sure to include a twitter share button
Curious to see what they’re all about, and as Mashable reminds us: buzz is great, but substance matters more. Cuil? Onward and forward.

Speaking of the press, we are reminded once again that it’s not always a good idea to piss them off and yes, every now and again, they do eat their young. Everyone’s got an agenda – The Tech Press: Screw Them All: http://tcrn.ch/mhrDHI Read More...

Good morning, All,

Since we’re often asked if we focus exclusively on New York (answer: no, or at least not intentially), we went and took a look at the SOS readership statistics. Well, it’s true that we’re based here, but it seems we have members who are regularly following the newsletter – and everyone’s progress – from: Norway, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, China, Egypt, Israel, Viet Nam, Thailand, Costa Rica, Turkey, India, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Argentina, Chile, Spain, Morocco, Portugal, Canada, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Switzerland, the US, and New York, which let’s face it, is basically its own planet.  We are gobsmacked – and humbled – and would love to hear from some of you to get your points of view on what’s going on in technology in your part of the world – literally. We also wanted to take a moment to say danke, dorro arigato, thank you, merci – and we’ve just exhausted our knowledge of the major food groups. Apologies if we’ve left you out. And since you’re all here, wherever you are, you might want to look into: http://www.angelinvestmentnetwork.net/ – they’re global. And hope this helps!

Don’t know what the final numbers were regarding the masses who watched the Royal Wedding on Friday  – on line or on the tube. We saw reports of from 275 million to 2 billion. Which is a pretty big spread, and two comments on this subject:
1.     A nod to old media: no matter how far technology has come to date, and yes between facebook friends and twitter, it was an exponentially larger and a much more immediate shared experience than the last RW, and no matter on which screen you were watching – terrestrial television or online – remember: it was being delivered to you via broadcast television. Game not over yet.
2.     In terms of viewership, don’t know where they got those numbers from, but in light of all that came out last week about privacy and tracking wouldn’t it have been a lot easier – and more exact – had it been tracked by GOOG or Apple or some combination of the two? End of line. Read More...

Good morning, All, and hope to see you tonight and it’s high time we were together in the same room, so to make sure you’re in the room, RSVP here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1553028149.

Or just show up! We do have a few things planned for the evening – or just come network, socialize and meet some people:

On Digital Media (http://odmcast.com/) will be there doing videos of your elevator pitches – or whatever you’d like. Want to do a short video for your website/beta launch? Go for it! Just talk to the camera, tell us what you’re doing and the video is yours to have or to submit or post wherever you’d like. Read More...

Good morning, All,

Ok, so many of you commented that we buried the registration link, so, thought we’d make it easy for you this week. Onward and forward:

We always post deadlines, be they incubators, accelerators, StartupWeekends. We’re there for you and why do we do it? Fact: Nearly 70 companies in the New York area received more than $580 million in funding in Q1, according to CrainsNY: http://bit.ly/dRrhvx. And TechStars showcased their incubated companies last week and according to GigaOm et al (TechStars NYC Class Shines at Demo Day: http://bit.ly/hs0zte) there’s a good chance that all will be funded. Read More...

Good morning, All,

Our first SOS bbq of the season will be on May 3rd (rain date: May 10th), sponsored once again by our friends at 1099partners.com. Come and have some BBQ, talk to the 1099 people and enjoy the great outdoors in a lovely garden! $15 in advance; $20 at the door. To RSVP: http://sosbbq20121.eventbrite.com/

Our next SOS 1-on-1 with an investor will be in a couple of weeks and we have a direct pipeline to a group of serious angels whose representative will be at the event. Caveat: you must send us your deck in advance. Your startup must be tech-based, and the focus is on startups who have developed product and are looking to get to the next level, which means, you need the money to get there, and they’re not focusing on any particular vertical. Send your deck to hello@startuponestop.com and we will pass it to investors’ rep. And looking forward to seeing them! Read More...

Good morning, All,

OK, so Larry Page took over the reigns at Google last week and the story that got the industry up in arms was his announcement that employee bonuses would be tied to GOOG’s success in social (Dear Google: You Can’t Threaten People Into Being Social http://bit.ly/e18aup) Did we miss the forest through the trees? Google also announced that they’re planning a $100 million overhaul of YouTube, which will include 20 premium channels (YouTube Recasts for New Viewers http://on.wsj.com/fBdOKS). Between that and Netflix and Hulu ordering original programming, are we seeing the convergence of the web and the small screen? Or is television simply surrendering the space? Do we care who’s dancing with the stars?  The Firm was rebroadcast, ad nauseam, on Starz last week. The Firm? Really, pay cable? Newsflash: Tom Cruise isn’t even firm anymore! During web 1.0 the matra was: Content Is King. Of course, content was free and the king couldn’t afford the price of admission. How things have changed and who the hell has been making decisions on the broadcast side for the last few years? The bean counters, of course, and television seems to be going the way of the music business, where it was the same scenario. Just our .02, and Eric Hippeau, who just left The HuffPo to return to the VC world, mentioned last night at the Digital Media MBA event that one of his focuses for investment is the video space. Note: he mentioned that first, and he’s not alone, so head’s up, entrepreneurs and remember: both film and televison got their starts in – New York.

The hour doth draw on apace – Deadlines! Read More...