Startup One Stop

Good morning, All,

Unless you’ve opted out and there’s still time, your name and face can be used in Google ads, starting today. Not everyone who uses Google products is a sophisticated web user, and how long before there’s a hue and cry – not to mention a lawsuit? (We’re personally looking forward to the SNL parody, which should be a wake up call to those who don’t read the fine print or follow the tech press.) But whatever happened to the days when the customer was always right? Has the faceless world of online changed that? Careful there.

We are personally not fan of walled gardens: they tend to put too much power in the hands of the few, and what subsequently tends to happen is that people react with their feet. Google recently changed the comments section on YouTube in an attempt to drive people to Google+. Oops, we mean to prevent pedophiles and the likes from commenting. This ditty pretty much sums up users’ reactions: “F*ck You, Google+”, An Adorable Song About YouTube’s New Comments. Remember Beacon? It was a FB program that announced your purchases/song or movie selections to your friends. You had 10 seconds to opt out – not a long time, if you could find the damned opt-out button at all. There was a class action lawsuit (Supreme Court notes ‘disconcerting’ Facebook settlement, will eye future charity deals). Yes, FB did remove Beacon, and in lieu of offering remuneration to those harmed, the company gave to a charity – and gave the charity a board member from FB as well. Consumers were cut out of the settlement. The lawyers were paid. Read More...

Good morning, All,

Ok, we’re mixing metaphors today, thanks to a tweet by @davemcclure: driving entrepreneur education, building community, making bets *b4* traction are more reliable+sustainable foundations 2 finding unicorns.

We know the usual VC drill: Invest in successful serial entrepreneurs (which, for the record, not only doesn’t always work out, but in such cases, they tend to invest more money than necessary and well, we know what that end result it. And yet, lemming-like, many a VC holds hard and fast to that rule); invest in the team, which usually means the co-founding team, like Tumblr’s David Karp and, wait, no co-founder there; and putting money on Ivy-educated entrepreneurs is always a better bet, like Steve Jobs (oops, no, he dropped out of every non-Ivy League school he ever attended. Oh, David Karp. Nope, again, non-Ivy, nor is Jack Dorsey, who, like Jobs, never finished college). As for the mixed parables: the blind men are all standing at different parts of the elephant, and each has a theory of what’s before him. Of course, none is right, as each experiences only part of the animal. And an elephant in the living room is something that’s so big that despite the fact that it’s standing right before you, you can’t see it: you miss the obvious. Read More...

Good morning, All,

When LinkedIn launched their social network nearly ten years ago, they were the underdog. Facebook was miles ahead of them, but LI had a niche: they meant business, and that was their focus. And LinkedIn means business. With their diverse revenue streams, their revenues jumped 59% last quarter, and the company is still going strong, and growing.

We'd like to know why so many companies in tech that start out as the underdog, grow and then decide that they're the new sheriff in town? Read More...

Good morning, All,

We exhibited (bonniefoods) at the Javits this past week, and a huge thank you to the SOS members who volunteered. We literally could not have done it without you. Starting any business isn’t easy, as we well know, and starting a food business is bloody difficult, especially when you have little background and/or experience in the sector, and you’re appealing to a so-called specialty market. In our case, we developed all-natural confections for our Type 2 diabetic other half. They also happen to be gluten free, but unlike other gluten free products on the market, which substitute wheat flour with a rice flour/potato starch combination, we use oats. Rice flour and potato starch are too heavy in carbs for a Type 2. And we had a sneaking suspicion that it would only be a matter of time before Type 2 diabetes hit the gluten free/celiac community. So we changed our marketing this time out and instead of focusing on diabetes, we focused on being the ‘Healthier Gluten Free Alternative.” It resonated. It turns out that it seems Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in the gluten-free and celiac community. It didn’t happen overnight. But it’s happening. And we found ourselves addressing a whole new audience, who were literally lining up for our products.

The lessons: Read More...

Good morning, All,

A few months back, Facebook started using users’ names and pictures in their ads, without providing remuneration, and without permission. Of course, there was a lawsuit. Their headache continues. Enter Google, who is doing basically the same thing (calling it ‘Shared Endorsements), but of course, they learned a thing or two from Facebook’s mistakes, and they offer an opt-out (of course, they do make it sound as though you’re missing out on something, should you decide to go that route, Mr. Phelps).

And now that we all know that privacy doesn’t exist, of course, CISPA is making a comeback as well. (Senator 'very close' to reintroducing controversial CISPA. Despite Americans’ widespread, newfound concern for digital privacy, one senator says he’s close to reviving the most notorious Internet privacy bill in recent history. It’s intended to make it easier for private companies under cyberattack to team up with government for assistance, but a pesky consequence of that is the government can get information from those networks—content that users may have intended be kept private.) Read More...

Good morning, All,

Credit where credit is due: a great deal of tech has come out of Silicon Valley that has changed the world. Visionaries, yes, to a point. But then there’s the side to Silicon Valley that doesn’t get a lot of press.

Facebook announced recently that they’re building their own employee housing complex. What the article doesn’t mention is that Facebook is located near a very dangerous area. Google, Facebook, Twitter – all provide their employees with incredible perks, from free lunches to dry cleaning on the premises. Read More...

Good morning, All,

Everyone loves listicles, and we recently came across an article about 50 people in NYC tech whom you need to know. We perused the list and the fact is, we happen to know a good number of them. Some were valid. There were glaring omissions. No criteria were given in terms of list selection. And the facts on some of the people were waaay off.

We attended Entrepreneurs Roundtable Demo Day earlier this week and met someone who recently did some house cleaning and came across an old copy of the Red Herring magazine, which had their list of the top companies to watch, the majority of which are now defunct, as is Red Herring itself: prescience was obviously not their forte. Before we go down that rabbit hole again, time out: let’s be honest and before you go out and start your next undertaking or go online looking for advice, let’s keep in mind some of the things we probably don’t need/would be better off ignoring completely: Read More...

Good morning, All,

We hear a lot about Investor Exhaustion, Investor Fatigue, and let’s face it: in NYC, there’s at least one pitch event a week. How often do you hear about something that’s truly original? Or something that’s more a feature than a company? As to Startup Exhaustion, we all hear about the upside of starting your own company, but the fact that most businesses fail, even when the entrepreneurs did have a great idea and worked hard. Remember: according to New York Angels Chairman Brian Cohen, angels invest in only one out of 40 companies; VCs in one out of 400.

Still, we would never discourage a potential entrepreneur. Although, we do want to throw something out there that we haven’t seen mentioned discussed anywhere and that’s the idea of Startup Consolidation. How many times have you met someone with a company similar to yours – okay, there are a few key differentiators – who is also struggling for traction? Ever thought of working together? Just a suggestion, which occurred to us, after having met with a very successful entrepreneur/investor recently, and pitched one of our startups (bonniefoods). He liked the product, he is interested in pursuing it, and when he asked how we planned on building it out, we answered honestly: we don't want to run the business, but rather, license the recipes/partner with a company/or come on board as the food scientist/subject matter expert (in this case, type 2 diabetes). We don’t know the food business – but we do know a hell of a lot more about food for Type 2 diabetes than even most nutritionists and dietitians. Nothing wrong with symbiosis. Read More...

Good morning, All,

We all know what happened after the TechCrunch Disrupt hackathon. It disrupted, all right. First there was Titstare, an app that lets you stare at tits, then show your reaction. Followed soon on the heels by  Circle(Jerk)Shake, a game app where you see how many times you can shake your phone in 10 seconds, demonstrated by simulated masturbation. Audio/visuals were made for the teams. Someone knew what was being presented, but, let’s face it: a name like TItstare is just sooo open to interpretation.

Disrupt is a world stage, and even though the founders said that their creation was a joke, it wasn’t a funny one, although people did laugh. Ok, there was a hue and cry in the press for a hot minute. Nothing like the backlash Peter Shih suffered when he posted his 10 Things I Hate About You – San Francisco Edition. As someone who has spent a fair amount of time in San Francisco, he’s pretty accurate, although he said he wrote it as a joke. A friend in SF informed us that signs were posted on street corners, urging him, in no uncertain terms, to go back to NYC. Just a reminder, SF: you pride yourself on your tolerance. Being able to take criticism, and allowing for difference of opinion – these two concepts fall under ‘tolerance,’ just for the record. Many people took deference to Shih’s comparing the SF weather to a woman who’s always PMSing. We found this response to Shih’s post in ValleyWag (Douchebags Like You Are Ruining San Francisco), and if nothing else, catch the visual. Entrepreneurship as a young woman in bunny ears. Read More...

Good morning, All,

We have a member on this list whom we’ll call Frank. For the record, he’s not a twenty-something. He’s not in a particularly sexy vertical. He lost a core team member at a critical juncture. He did find a replacement, and it was someone who was an even better fit than his original key man. Still, it cost Frank a spot in a leading accelerator. But as Yogi Berra once said, when you see a fork in the road, take it.

There was a panel discussion Frank attended, because he needed to speak to one of the panelists, but he could barely get near the podium. Poor Frank. It seemed that anything that could go wrong, was going wrong. He’s not Ivy League educated, which seems to be on the VC Check List. It’s his first startup, so he’s not a serial entrepreneur, successful or otherwise. Sadly, he is not friends with/related to/or otherwise associated with Ben Lehrer. It seems that lately, being any one of those things, gives one a definite leg up in this town. Nor is his father a VC. Frank is the Rest of Us: not someone who started from third base. Frank has a few things going for him: he’s got a market and a long-term vision for his product, and he doesn’t give up. We didn't choose an easy row to hoe. Read More...