5/31/11
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.
What’s more interesting is who the big winners and attention-getters were last week and pay attention: getaround.com – the peer-to-peer zipcar competitor that allows you to rent a car from someone nearby – won the Battlefield competition, and let’s not forget that they found their initial funding on the angel list, which we do remind you about every week. Zaarly.com, which launched at StartupWeekend LA back in February, is a peer-to-peer location-based app where community members post goods/services they need and how much they’ll pay for it, thus connectng buyers and sellers of – well, whatever may strike your fancy, actually and brings new meaning to the phrase ‘everything has a price.’ Disrupt speaker and investor Ashton Kutcher put his money into it, as well as into airbnb.com, which allows you to literally create your own cottage industry by renting out your home/extra bedroom/apartment/sailboat/castle. Why do we mention these three in particular? Unemployment is high; people still have places to go and things to do – on a budget – and what do you know: there’s an app for that! And if you happen to be traveling somewhere in the world and need a quick office, don’t forget loosecubes.com – where you can rent office space, or lease your space. Sharing is caring – and these days, it’s also commerce. Onward and forward.
Deadlines:
Call for Top Innovators: Venture Summit early application deadline is today! 11th annual summit 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 2011 New York Venture Summit, the premier venue connecting emerging growth companies with active Venture capitalists, Angel investors, Corporate VCs and Investment Firms. Presented by youngStartup Ventures, The 2011 New York Venture Summit provides an unparalleled opportunity for startups to meet, network and showcase their innovative investment opportunities to a leading group of investors. For more information and early bird registration ($100 discount with your “sos” code: http://www.youngstartup.com/newyork2011/overview.php To apply to be a Top Innovator: iwant2present@youngstartup.com
CEO Perspectives on Navigating Venture Capital, deadline tomorrow – June 1st: If you’re the founder of a high-growth startup, Bain Capital and Chubby Brain are co-hosting. Join Managing Directors from Bain Capital Ventures and the Founders/CEOs of Rent the Runway, blip.tv, TargetSpot, Buy With Me, Magazine Radar and Stamped as they share triumphs and tribulations as well as insights on how the big idea is born, how to raise capital to fund it, and ultimately how to build a great business. Attendance is free, but by invitation only for 20-25 startups. For more information and to apply: http://www.chubbybrain.com/venture-capital-ceo/
StartupWeekend deadlines coming up fast, all over the world and that’s where zaarly got started: NYStartupWeekend is June 10-12, and it gets sold out fast, so we’re giving you fair warning now. Heads up: there’s one in Toronto, SF, Madrid, Denver, Marseilles and Boston June 3-5. For more information: http://startupweekend.org/about/ To register for the next NY event: http://nyc.startupweekend.org/tickets/
Silicon Alley Talent Fair & After Party is June 16th. The recent surge of entrepreneurial activity in New York has created a surge in hiring. Now is the time to join some of New York’s most creative and industrious minds to bring the next wave of computer products and services to the forefront of daily use. Join us on June 16th at the Armory for a Startup Talent Fair, where you’ll have plenty of time to meet with exciting new startups and network with other talented individuals like yourself. Good back story, too: SAJF was born out of 80 + startups doing the entrepreneurial thing and leveraging an email mishap to rally around the concept of doing their own job fair. It took on a life of its own and has found mass support across the NYC startup community. For the full story: http://mashable.com/2011/04/05/nyc-startups-job-fair/ This event is organized and produced by startups for startups. To register as a jobseeker: http://bit.ly/SATFtalent; to register as an employer: http://bit.ly/SATFemployer
Hacking Education: A Contest for Developers and Data Crunchers. Ten years ago, a teacher in the Bronx launched DonorsChoose.org. Since then, more than 165,000 teachers at 43,000 public schools have posted over 300,000 classroom project requests, inspiring $80,000,000 in giving from 400,000 donors. We’ve opened up that data, and invite you to make discoveries and build apps that improve education in America. We’ve got a list of suggestions to help get you thinking. We hope to build a community of developers and data crunchers, so we’re launching a contest! Deadline is June 30th, and more information is here: http://www.donorschoose.org/hacking-education
Startup Chile: tentative deadline July 4th. Start-Up Chile is a program of the Chilean Government, created by the Ministry of Economy, executed by CORFO via InnovaChile, that seeks to attract foreign, high-potential entrepreneurs to come to Chile to bootstrap their businesses with the end goal of converting Chile into the innovation and entrepreneurial hub of Latin America. Start-Up Chile provides access to a mentors network, attendance to weekly networking events, and the support of the Program which offers all the necessary contacts to find the money, the talent, the expertise, the visibility or other support that you may need. The Program assigns a $40k grant per project ($20,000,000 CLP), a 1-year resident visa to every founding team member provided on the application, a temporary workspace (desk & wifi). And you surrender zero equity in your company. The program is conducted in English, and entrepreneurs worldwide are encouraged to apply. For more information: www.startupchile.org
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For you edification this week:
Why New York City’s Tech Scene Is Thriving. As the writer points out, New York has got coworking space; incubators; chicks. New Yorkers also have chutzpah and let’s not forget: real business models: http://tnw.co/jxyPsI
Five Steps to Better Financial Projections. Ah, the stumbling block of so many a startup. The worst, and by far the most common mistake, is absurdly high profitability. So, in honor of this epidemic of bad financials, here’s angel investor Tim Berry’s five-step plan for better financial projections: http://bit.ly/kbjLxk
These are courtesy of chubbybrain.com and thank you so much for sharing:
Top 20 NYC Startup Lawyers (and a few of them are SOS members) – http://www.chubbybrain.com/blog/nyc-startup-lawyers-top/
32 places to submit you web app/site for FREE – http://www.chubbybrain.com/blog/startup-submit-free-web-directories/
30 Women Tech Entrepreneurs to watch – http://www.chubbybrain.com/blog/women-tech-entrepreneurs-top/
9 Ways to Increase Your Productivity While Working from Home: if you’re working from home, chances are you’re a freelancer, consultant, entrepreneurs or small business owner. This means your ability to get paid is directly tied to how productive you are. Wasting time equals wasting money. Here are some tips on how to stay focused as you move through the workday, while still enjoying all the unique benefits of working at home. http://mashable.com/2011/05/26/work-from-home-productivity/
Startup Mantra: Hire Fast, Fire Fast. From Mark Suster, who has often said that what separates real entrepreneurs from pundits and bystanders is a bias towards getting things done versus over analyzing things. His credo has always been JFDI: http://bit.ly/kqTppC
Is There A Peak Age for Entrepreneurship. This is an industry that places great value on youth, and the money’s on it, too – literally – among many an investor, and particularly the VCs. Yet the research shows that an older age is actually a better predictor of entrepreneurial success http://tcrn.ch/kPSP2a
Finally, for fun: There are 7 types of entrepreneurs. Which one are you? Being an entrepreneur means being different kinds of things at different moments. That makes it a challenging but never boring profession. http://tnw.co/lJITl8
Don’t forget that Internet Week NY is next week, June 6-13. For the full schedule and tickets: https://www.internetweekny.com/partners/login
Not all lawyers are the same, as chubbybrain points out above, and on that note, we leave you with this week’s little chuckle (http://youtu.be/KoDNdTXx-7U) and now, as always, help is on the way…