7/24/12
Good morning, All,
The long-overdue and highly underreported Kayak IPO finally happened last week (http://bloom.bg/M54bqK). The stock jumped from its initial offering – and rose steadily throughout the day, adding $91 million to the company’s coffers. The founders are not twenty-somethings or media darlings; the company is profitable – and has been for some time. They do face their challenges. Still, the initial investors did not cash out at the IPO. They’re in it for the long haul, as are the founders.
With tech stocks essentially dead after the Facebook IPO debacle, the Kayak IPO should have been bigger news, or should have gotten more ink than did the demise of Digg, whose founder walked away with millions, despite the fact that the $164 million company was sold off for $16M. Is that success? Nick Bilton wrote an excellent piece describing his move to Silicon Valley and its bifurcated culture (Disruptions: Looking Beyond Silicon Valley’s Bubble: http://nyti.ms/QobVUU) “This belief that everyone is an entrepreneur has a stultifying effect. It can drive founders to seek an easy acquisition instead of a quest for true innovation and a sustainable, profitable business — a truly entrepreneurial challenge.” Kevin Rose (named a “Top 25 Angel Investors (#14)” by Bloomberg, “Top 25 Web Celebrities” by Forbes, “Top 25 Most Influential People on the Web” by Time and BusinessWeek magazines, and one of MITs “Top 35 Innovators under 35”) is at Google Ventures, since Google bought his next company, Milk (now defunct. Too. Why Google or Facebook Buying Your Favorite Startup Means It’s Probably Toast: http://ti.me/LEijWz). He has made some good investments (http://about.me/kevinrose) – from the money he made off investors who didn’t fare as well by investing in him. Video killed the radio star – and the adoration of youth over substance is certainly not doing much for online. If you’re going to start a company, do it because of that fire in the belly; that passion to somehow move the needle, even if it’s just in some small way. And have a path to monetization. Media attention is fine, but don’t forget your investors. Be a Kayak and in it for the long haul, because unless you’re suddenly made one of the anointed, you might otherwise just some day find yourself up the creek without a paddle. Onward and forward. Deadlines:
The list of Startup Weekend Upcoming Events
Amplify.la – deadline unknown. Our accelerator program is four months of intense collaboration designed to help entrepreneurs amplify their business far beyond where it is today. We provide up to $50,000 in seed funding, free workspace at our Venice campus and hands‐on mentorship. Our companies also benefit from a variety of free or highly discounted services including hosting, legal, banking and more. For more information and to apply: http://amplify.la/
Oxygen Accelerator, Birmingham, England, deadline July 31st. A 13-week intensive mentor led bootcamp, followed by 13-weeks of incubation that culminates with a series of investor days where we will help you pitch to a large, carefully selected group of Angel investors, VCs and Private Equity groups for next stage funding. Up to €40,000 per team in exchange for 8%-10% equity, and much more, including relocation allowance: http://www.oxygenaccelerator.com/ NEW The Guardian Small Business Awards, 1st deadline (Winning New Business) August 3rd. All entries that meet the criteria will appear on the Small Business Network’s best practice exchange and the winning entries will be written up as a feature in the Guardian. For more information and to enter: http://bit.ly/QaTcw4
Women 2.0 PITCH comes to NYC, deadline August 31st. We are now accepting applications for PITCH NYC from early-stage ventures around the world with at least one female founder to apply to the startup competition. PITCH NYC 2012 will provide entrepreneurs with a chance for fame and fortune: finalists present onstage at the conference, and prizes include $25k cash from L’Oreal, $24k worth of free hosting from Rackspace and a finalist interview with TechStars! Stay tuned for more awesome prizes to be announced. Early-stage ventures with under a million in funding and a product in the market (prototype OK) are invited to apply. We are looking to identify, recognize and reward the most disruptive women-led ventures globally – and invite them to pitch onstage for the PITCH NYC conference in November for top prize. Got a startup idea but no team, or got an idea but don’t know how to build it? You have at least THREE MONTHS starting today to emblazen the deadline of August 31 into your head and make it happen. For more information and to apply: http://bit.ly/K56mbS
THE NEW ENGLAND VENTURE SUMMIT Call for Top Innovators, early deadline September 12th. If you are a Startup seeking capital and/or partnerships, submit your plan for the opportunity to present at The 7th Annual New England Venture Summit, the premier venue connecting emerging growth companies with active Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors, Corporate VCs and Investment Firms. A select group of 50 Top Innovators from the technology, life sciences and Clean-tech sectors will be chosen to present their breakthrough investment opportunities to an exclusive audience of Venture Capitalists, Private Investors, Investment Bankers, Corporate Investors, and Strategic Partners. To apply to present: 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. Early bird registration is now available. For more information: http://bit.ly/LjlttK
Battle of the Apps: become the Kick Apps Champion by creating software that helps small businesses. Contest now opened, deadline: December 31st. Infusionsoft is offering$20,000 in cash and prizes for the best apps to help small business customers. Use the Infusionsoft API to create an app, integration, or plug-in that helps Infusionsoft customers grow their business! 1st through 4th place winners will receive ongoing marketing, plus stage time at InfusionCon 2013. 10 runners-up will receive InfusionCon boothspace and 2 tickets to the conference. Register to enter.
powered by Movable Ink For you edification this week:
How To Score A Meeting With An Angel Investor. David Rose told people on Quora exactly how to score a meeting with him: http://read.bi/NDXpFx Why Every Social Media Manager Should Be Under 25. Of course, the piece should be entitled, If You’ve Never Encountered Millenial Entitlement Before, Read On: http://bit.ly/Q9fO1a
15 Dumb Mistakes to Avoid When Pitching Investors. Pitching venture capitalists or angel investors is nerve-racking. Young entrepreneurs explain trip-ups you should avoid at all costs. http://bit.ly/N6o6oO
What we should have said to Paul Graham. Remember: if you don’t take the lead, the scenery never changes: http://bit.ly/PNGnHZ What Founders Wish They Knew Before Starting Companies. 1 in 12 startups do succeed, but that’s not to say there weren’t bumps in the road. http://on.mash.to/NPcp1N
Everything Americans Hate About the Internet in One Chart. File this under ‘know your audience’: http://bit.ly/PdzQkY
How the BlackBerry Died: The Five Mistakes That Killed a Once-Great Device. http://bit.ly/M55DJM Moving the needle. As you get bigger, what moves the needle changes dramatically: http://bit.ly/LTb6MX
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!
In honor of the Summer Olympics, Entrepreneur Week is throwing an Olympic-Size networking event, including a free drink and an opportunity to win four Yankees tix! It happens August 9th, but early bird ticket sales end July 27th. To RSVP: http://bit.ly/M5dCqi We’ll also be hosting another SOS gathering later in August. Details to come – soon – and until then, as always, help is on the way…