Good morning, All,

The inaugural SOS 1-1/(one on one) barbeque, Monday, July 25^th, (http://bit.ly/nO4zHI) and here’s how it works: All startups need one thing. Besides help. And money. We need access to investors. So every month or so, we’ll have a gathering and invite a seed/angel/early stage investor to come meet with you. The investor will do his or her presentation, letting you know what sort of investments they make and what the sweet spot is; then you have an opportunity to ask question, then meet him or her, one-on-one. You’re also free to network with each other, while waiting  your turn for your 1-1, and everyone who wants an opportunity to talk to the investor, will have one. We will start with a single guest early stage/angel investor and our first guest is Aaron Price from DFJGotham (and host of the perpetually sold-out Hoboken Tech Meetup. We’re keeping it informal which means, yes, there will also be a barbeque. Since we know some of you may want a few minutes of 1-1 time with Aaron and some of you might just want to come out for some bbq on a beautiful summer night, all are welcome and both types of tickets are available. Hope to see you there, and it’s less than a week away. To register: http://bit.ly/nO4zHI. We will do more in future, and hope to have a couple of angels/early stage investors available who cover different verticals, and we will be incorporating technology so that non-New Yorkers can also participate and have 1-1s with the investors, so stay tuned! We do try to be inclusive.

Over 420 of you turned up to our terrace party last week, including 7 VCs representing $5B in capital; 2 superangels; 6 angels and 2 banks. So we’re giving you early warning this time: the next terrace party will be August 16^th, so register now for the early bird rate! http://terraceparty.eventbrite.com/

We follow the industry ad nauseam and go to more pitching/networking events than any three people really have the energy/fortitude to pursue. That said, while there may not be anything completely new under the sun, there is always a better way to do something – and sometimes, a more effective technology/app than is out there presently. It’s not always game over, or ‘first mover advantage,’ investors on this list. So even though you may think you’ve heard it all, hear entrepreneurs out and remember: when was the last time you yahoo’d someone? Onward and forward.

Deadlines!

The 11th Annual New York Venture Summit is this week: July 20^th-21^st The 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 to register ($100 discount with your “sos” code): http://bit.ly/jCFrNr

The NYC Big Apps Challenge is on! You have until July 28^th to enter your submission. For details and information on how to submit: http://ideas.nycbigapps.com/

The City of New York announced its first-ever hackathon: Reinvent NYC.GOV, July 30-31^st  <http://www.reinventnycgov.com/>, is a collaborative design and development event to re-imagine the City government’s main website, nyc.gov. We’re partnering with General Assembly, who is hosting the hackathon on July 30-31. It will feature API resources and reps from DonorsChoose, ExpertLabs, Facebook, Foursquare, Google, Twitter and YouTube onsite to support participants. At the conclusion of the hackathon on Sunday afternoon, a panel of judges (Mimi Chun of General Assembly, Dave Tisch of TechStars, Scott Heiferman of Meetup, City reps) will evaluate demos. You’re invited to attend, participate, and encourage talented coders and designers to apply. For more information: http://reinventnycgov.com

Sanofi-aventis U.S. Innovation Challenge:Data, Design, Diabetes. Deadline: July 31^st. This next-generation challenge brings together the richness of open data sets made available on healthdata.gov, the values of human-centered design, and the leading-edge methodology of the top innovation accelerators. Starting July 1, we invite innovators to submit their ideas for consideration on our website: www.datadesigndiabetes.com.
The Data, Design, Diabetes Challenge offers:
– Month-long mentorship to develop a prototype from the RockHealthaccelerator program and its partners
– Opportunity to demo your solution to hundreds of industry leaders and innovation
– Additional prize money to generate user feedback and engagement from real people living with diabetes
– Over $200,000 in dilution-free earnings
This challenge is not just for healthcare apps! We’re enlisting your help to encouraging everyone – hackers, designers, dreamers, and entrepreneurs alike – to submit a solution that can help change the lives of the 100 million Americans living with diabetes.
www.datadesigndiabetes.com
Email info@datadesigndiabetes.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dddiabetes
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Data-Design-Diabetes/129625740449604
IMPORTANT DATES TO KEEP IN MIND:
July 1, 2011 – Submissions open
July 31, 2011 – Last day to submit an entry
August 5, 2011– 5 semi-finalists will be awarded $20,000, and mentored for 1 month as they create a prototype of their concept.
September 2011 (exact date tbd) – Demo Day: 5 semifinalists will pitch their concepts to contest judges and the public. Finalists will be selected by the judges and through open voting on the website.
October 2011 (exact date tbd) – 2 finalists will be awarded $10,000 to gather feedback about their concept from real people living with diabetes.
December 15, 2011– Winner will be announced and awarded $100,000 to develop their solution.
NEED INSPIRATION?
Fact:25.8 million people in the US have diabetes. CDC, 2011
Fact: 79 million more have pre-diabetes. CDC, 2011
Fact:The CDC estimates that 1 in 3 Americans will have diabetes by 2050. CDC, 2010
Fact:Diabetes is one of the most serious epidemics our country has ever faced.
Fact: You can help. For more information about the disease of diabetes, and how the Innovation Challenge poses to help, please check out our video:
http://bit.ly/pyneNC
NEED DATA? For a variety of data sets and resources, please visit our links page: www.datadesigndiabetes.com/links
NEED HELP? For submission rules and guidelines for success, visit our criteria page: www.datadesigndiabetes.com/criteria

Investors’ Circle Call for Applications: Deadline August 5^th. Are you: An Entrepreneur creating a more sustainable world with your business? Raising capital for your high-impact enterprise?  Looking for investors with values that align with yours?
Investors’ Circle is dedicated to the growth of businesses with high social and environmental impact.  We invite early-stage entrepreneurs to apply to present to our network of socially responsible angel investors, venture capitalists, foundations, and family offices.  Since 1992, Investors’ Circle has facilitated the flow of $150 million into 225 companies in a variety of sectors:
Energy & Environmental Solutions
Sustainable Consumer Products
Community & Economic Development
Health, Biotech & Wellness
Social Media & Software
Education
Will your venture be next?
For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/eDSKnB

Applications for StartupChile Round 2 opened July 11^th. 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. You have until August 11^th; tick-tick-tick. For more information: www.startupchile.org. To apply: http://bit.ly/i8bFur

The Daily Candy 2nd Annual Start Small, Go Big Contest: Deadline August 5th. Here’s your chance to launch your bazillion dollar idea. One winner from each of our categories (fashion, beauty, food and drink, and home) will win a trip to New York City, a DailyCandy write-up, and a day at the DailyCandy Academy, where the likes of Isaac Mizrahi, Marcus Samuelsson, and Rebecca Minkoff will mentor the begenius out of you. Just think, you have nothing to lose but your day job. For rules, details, and an entry form: http://bit.ly/aR8Yk5

Heads up, college students! Moverandchangers.com is all set to launch its third nationwide challenge to uncover the country’s next young entrepreneurs who want to make it big with their innovative ideas for a new business. The contest is open to 16-28 year old college students to develop and produce a compelling business proposal. Ideas must be original, feasible, scalable and practical. More information on the site, which features a video with Dennis Crowley, who, just for the record, wouldn’t qualify for the contest now, nor would he when he first started foursquare.  Deadline is October. Information is here: http://bit.ly/EvBLZ

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For your edification this week:

Startup Valuation: How Much Is Your Company Worth? As the writer, Nathan Beckford (venturearchitypes) says none of the traditionally-accepted valuation methods really apply to early stage startups. And he briefly review why. But remember:your company is worth is what the market will pay for it. Create a market for your startup, and you will have the leverage to get what you feel it is worth. Full story: http://bit.ly/8GyCWC

The Problem with Silicon Valley is Silicon Valley Itself. Interesting piece, written by a British transplant who feels Silicon Valley is an incredibly inspiring place to be. Everyone is doing something amazing and trying to change the world, but in reality much of the technology being built there is not changing the world at all, it’s short-sighted and designed for scalability, big exits and big profits. The feedback is also worth reading. http://tnw.co/ncZZLG

Here’s Why This Latest Wave of New York Startups is Just the Beginning. New York remains one of the world’s greatest and most livable cultural centers. It has a diverse core of seven global industries competing aggressively, increasingly through technology. A new set of lower-cost economics is enabling technology providers to operate closer than ever to business centers such as New York. And New York is attracting a widening pool of talent for start-ups that is highly motivated. This latest wave in the long, storied history of entrepreneurship in New York is only getting started. For more on what James Robinson has to say: http://htl.li/5DhSF

5 Reasons Why You Need a Business Plan. Starting a business? You should write a business plan–even if you’re not raising money any time soon. Read on and find out why: http://bit.ly/qVdPXc And yes, you do need an investors deck as well.

How to effectively launch your new product or service.  What the author shares is the workflow he follows when announcing something important such as the launch of a new product or service. Although there are many ways to go about doing this, the following approach has worked pretty well for him so far and has resulted in media coverage from TechCrunch, Forbes, Fast Company and many others. Not too shabby: http://bit.ly/qZ3Vn8

For your amusement, we include Does Not Compute: 10 PC Myths from Movies and Television (http://bit.ly/qkOpPK), although they missed our personal favorite, from The Negotiator, when someone shoots the computer, wherein resided critical information, and as we know, once you shoot out a monitor, well, the computer is legally dead. LOVE that! Ah, Hollywood, shooting a monitor does not kill the hard drive.

That’s it from us this week. Make sure to sign up for our inaugural SOS 1-1 (http://bit.ly/nO4zHI) and now, as always, help is on the way…