Startup One Stop

Good morning, All,

In case you hadn’t heard, Google reportedly offered a star engineer $3.5 million not to join FB (http://current.com/1j5gl4c). Gotta love the bubble, and according to Dave Winer, who pioneered the development of weblogs, syndication (RSS), podcasting, outlining, and web content management software, when you see a bubble about to burst, get ready to invest. Good times!

Anyway, the holiday season is officially underway – our favorite time of year – and since so many people do unplug this week, today we’re offering something different. Some holiday reading – both inspirational and cautionary. First up: 14 Reasons Why You Need to Start a Startup. Including that you will have the time of your life, and you will create something from nothing (http://bit.ly/aggU1S). Maybe you should skip his 11 Harsh Realities of Being an Entrepreneur. Save it for another week and nope, not even giving you the link. Although it’s easy enough to find. Read More...

Good morning, All, and it was good to see those of you who were able to make it to NYEW last week. We were also very happy to hear that some of you did manage to find a cofounder at our last Find A Cofounder event. We will do another one in the coming weeks – and if anyone can refer us to a tequila sponsor, well, have an awesome idea, so email me. Now, on with the show.

First, this past weekend was StartupWeekend in both New York and Boston and congratulations to the winners! In New York, Belli Elle took top honors, with Fashionable Maternity Wear for Rent. Good work, guys, and what a great idea! Especially considering you did it in 54 hours or less. Coming in a close second was another winner (in our book): Love Your Layover, which helps you sort out what to do when you’re between flights. Also competing for the upcoming Global StartupWeekend winner, this time from Boston: “The Hitchery,” a location-based social game that’s all about letting your hitchhiking avatar go places without you. Tagline: “Get there without going there.” They can be found at http://www.hitchery.com/ or @The_Hitchery.

Business Insider IGNITION: Welcome To The Future Of Media conference takes place in NYC December 2-3 (more info below) and the first 5 SOS member who respond can attend for only $225 (code: NYCinnovation). We’re witnessing the greatest period of creative destruction — and invention — in the history of media. Hear from Nick Denton, Sarah Chubb, Susan Lyne, John Borthwick, Eric Hippeau, Jason Kilar, and many more on where it’s all heading. http://bit.ly/bbYa71 to RSVP and there’s also a 20% discount for all members (code: startup2010) Read More...

Good morning, All, and if you were wondering where in the world all of the seed accelerators are, well, look no further: http://bit.ly/dbNHMW

Yes, New York Entrepreneur Week is at long last upon us and it’s not too late to be there. There’s still a lot to do (http://www.nyew.org/ for the schedule. SOS discount code: SOS345) – and a lot to be done. There will be panels daily, and there’s still time to register for Startup Waffles & Raffle Prize, tomorrow morning, 8.15 am – 9.15 and it’s worth getting up early as Yours Truly will again be on the waffle iron – which means I’ll have to wake up even earlier. And I didn’t burn a one! Come join entrepreneurs for a morning of good food, laughter and homemade waffles. Orange juice, milk and coffee will also be provided. Suggested Donation: $5.00. And remember: it’s the early bird who catches the Raffle Prize, so be there and submit your name! Or mine! We have an array of prizes for those who beat the crowd early and stick around all day. Announcement of winner at 3:30 pm. You must be in attendance to receive your prize. RSVP: http://startupwafflesnyc.eventbrite.com/

On Thursday, November 11, there’s NYEW & Do it in Person Present: The Cocktail Reception. Do it in Person http://www.doitinperson.com/ events are legendary during NYEW, and 350+ attended in April ’10. We invite you to join us for a night of cocktails and networking to celebrate New York Entrepreneur Week at Slate New York located at 54 W. 21st Street, from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Limited early bird admission ($30) includes:
– 1 premium drink ticket
– Light food from 7:00PM-8:00PM
– DVD on non-verbal communication
RSVP: http://doitinpersonnovember2010.eventbrite.com/ Read More...

Good morning, All,

Since it is Election Day, of course we need an Election Day tech tale. How about: Foursquare, Google Launch “I Voted” Badge.
 Foursquare announced an initiative called “I Voted,” a real-time tracker of users checking in at polling stations around the country. When users vote, they’ll earn an “I Voted” badge and can give a shout out for their civic participation through an #ivoted hashtag. What’s more, the information will be available online in a sleek map visualization that can be broken down by location (state, city, neighborhood) and even gender. The data will be gathered from 107,000 polling stations.

The “I Voted” initiative marks not just another democratic platform in social media, but another instance of the potential for geo-location in politics. Recently, Foursquare competitor a Gowalla launched a similar initiative aimed at getting more people involved in campaigns, offering stamps and badges for their participation and support. Full story: http://bit.ly/bYO5vw Read More...

Good morning, All, and just wanted to have a little fun today.

First, next week is the last full week of Daylight Savings Time, so enjoy!

Second: Did you know that there’s a free work space for designers in NYC? It’s true: it’s called wix lounge and while we haven’t been there, nor have we heard any reports about it, here’s more information for the designers on the list: http://bit.ly/bZQSqA Read More...

Good morning, All, and good one, eh? Here’s the deal:

They’re still in closed beta, and have limited it to the first 200 startups/entrepreneurs who want to use it. To try the Funding Recommendation Engine:
1. Visit ChubbyBrain @ http://www.chubbybrain.com
2. In the invite code box, enter “startup1stop” (no quotes) and click the green button (Free! Get Started)
3. The Funding Recommendation Engine will then start

How the FRE works?
Investors often talk about “pattern matching” when they talk about assessing investments. The FRE is pattern matching in reverse. The reality is that past investment behavior is the best indicator of future behavior and so the FRE takes inputs about an entrepreneur’s business (industry, funding required, location, stage, experience of entrepreneur, etc) and then algorithmically matches those inputs with investors/funding institutions based on the investors’ actual investment history (not what their website says). The FRE uses data from CB Insights and culls through 8000 investors (VCs, angels, gov’t grant programs, family offices, pvt/growth equity, banks, etc) who’ve made at least one investment in a private company in the last 2 years to algorithmically assess fit with an entrepreneur’s venture. Read More...

Good morning, All, and we did have quite a turn-out on Tuesday evening for FAC3. We did try to have you all meet as many potential co-founders as possible and were happy to see that a lot of you left smiling. We did have about a hundred techs show up, but you know how it goes: never enough of them! Working on it! We know you still have follow-up to do: remember, it starts with speed dating. Up to you to make the next move, and if all goes well, we want to hear from some of you at FAC4 . There were even techs there looking for business co-founders (that’s a note to self – and you all – for the FAC4.) And yes, we will do another one – mark your calendars – on November 30, before the holiday party. Yes, there will be an SOS holiday party, and that’s all we can say about it for now, since we’re only just starting to organize it. If you’d like to sponsor, let us know!

In the meantime, if it goes really well with your new potential cofounder, don’t forget the list of NYC’s most active early stage internet and mobile VCs (http://bit.ly/bkXY7d), which we’re reposting since we heard that a few of you received an empty newsletter on Tuesday and we promised that there was information in there).

If you’re not quite at that stage yet, or need help mapping out your startup, you might also want to consider wickedstart.com. It’s an online guide to help you launch your startup. With a roadmap of concrete action items that’s customized for your idea, along with access to a community of experts and resources for obtaining business planning guidance, funding, legal guidance, low cost marketing strategies, this is the only online tool that helps you manage the entire startup process, each step of the way. There’s a free 7-day trial and because StartupOneStop is a startup community, wickedstart is offering us a 20% off the subscription price of $10/month. Go to www.WickedStart.com. Discount code: SOS001 Our thanks to Howard for bringing it to our attention, and discounts – and help – are always welcomed and appreciated. Read More...

Good morning, All, and guess which venture capital firms are writing checks to early-stage internet and mobile companies in NYC?

You don’t really have to guess, because chubbybrain.com put the list together for us. Mind you, the rankings are not of the top NYC-based venture firms, but rather, who’s providing funding to NYC-based startups. But do you really care where the investors have their offices? Of course not, and the winner is…Lerer Media Ventures! For the full article and the whole list: http://bit.ly/bkXY7d

Which brings us to “Find-A-CoFounder3” taking place this evening at the Hudson Hotel and we’ve gotten a huge response from developers, who’ve already registered to be there. Hey, we read the post – we know that a lot of you are looking for developers and technical co-founders. Here’s your chance! We’ll even have past attendees speak for a few minutes about how they successfully found their co-founders at previous FAC events. So come, find your co-founder, then get busy and refer to the chubbybrain.com list of who to go for early-stage funding. Sounds like a plan to me! Read More...

Good morning, All, and yes, it’s in private beta and in case you’ve been under a rock or heads down – heaven forfend! – hard at work on your own startup, it’s the connections engine that’s charting the social media landscape and is being written up everywhere – based right here in NYC. http://www.observer.com/2010/media/why-21-year-old-kid-most-powerful-networker-silicon-alley. The official launch is November 1, but if you want an invite or a hookup, email hello@startuponestop.com. Happy to oblige.

Want to attend New York Entrepreneur Week for free? Founders Block is launching a video contest for you to share your entrepreneurial story. Tell us “What is an Entrepreneur?” in 60 seconds or less and you can win a complimentary conference pass, valued at $874.12. Winner is chosen on October 25th. Click here for entry details. Winner is determined by public voting – and frankly, sounds like good fun all around!

Want to attend ‘Find-A-Cofounder 3’ for free? Well, you should have taken a few computer sciences courses. If you did and you are a developer, you get in for free! As it is extremely important for ventures to have an experienced technical Co-Founder, can we do ask that you please forward your resume for to findacofounder@gmail.com. Once it has been reviewed, you will receive a confirmation email of your complimentary ticket. ‘Find A Co-Founder3’ is next week – Tuesday, October 19, and over 50 developers have already registered! Our VC/entrepreneur panel will featureSilicon Valley VC Vishal Shah with GGV Capital, who recently relocated to NYC and has a different take on what investors look for. We’ll also have serial entrepreneurs Joe Chin (sourcepad.com, Guidester – now Searchandise Commerce – et al) and Beth Schoenfeldt (co-founder, Collective-e and Ladies Who Launch). Next up: a speed-dating session to make it easier for you to partner up. And our thanks to HodgsonRuss for sponsoring. To register: http://fac3.eventbrite.com. Read More...

Good morning, All, and hope you enjoyed your Columbus Day.

Speaking of discoveries, this blog will give you 36 places where you can submit your startup for reviews, mentions or at least some backlinks: http://bit.ly/9sIbTB Our thanks to Perks Consulting (http://bit.ly/ayGKZj) for bringing it to our attention.

‘Find A Co-Founder3′ is next week – Tuesday, October 19, and over 50 developers have already registered! Vinod Khosla said at TechCrunch Disrupt that the single most important fact about doing a startup is being clear about your vision and not letting it get distorted by what pundits and experts tell you. “But the second most important thing is finding the right team.” And here’s your chance! The good news is: over 50 developers have already signed up to be there. Our VC/entrepreneur panel will feature Silicon Valley VC Vishal Shah with GGV Capital, who recently relocated to NYC and has a different take on what investors look for. We’ll also have serial entrepreneurs Joe Chin (sourcepad.com, Guidester -now Searchandise Commerce – et al) and Beth Schoenfeldt (co-founder, Collective-e and Ladies Who Launch). Next up: a speed-dating session to make it easier for you to partner up. Note to developers: As it is extremely important for ventures to have an experienced Technical Co-Founder, can you please forward resumes for review to findacofounder@gmail.com. Once your resume has been received and reviewed, you will receive a confirmation email of your complimentary ticket to ‘Find a Co-Founder 3.’ If you decide to attend as a regular participant, please go to http://fac3.eventbrite.com To register for the early bird rate: http://fac3.eventbrite.com. Read More...