PR for Start-ups!

Do VC's Find you Attractive?

We all know that this is a tough climate for fund raising so today's post highlights some interesting articles for those seeking funding or simply working to move forward on an idea.

This week's reading list:

• VentureBeat: Get a board of directors – even if you’re not funded
• VentureBeat: 5 ways to make your start-up attractive to VCs
• The New York Times: A $3.5 Billion Effort Aims to Help Tech Start-Ups
• Harvard Business Review: How to Kill Innovation: Keep Asking Questions
  

The Entrepreneurial Hotbed - Yeah that's right, it's Colorado

People are starting to catch on... Colorado has a little something special going on and is attracting some incredible talent to take part in the entrepreneurial community and a growing number of startup companies are setting up shop here. Welcome to Colorado where the startup scene is starting to turn heads outside state lines for example, Fast Company did a recent piece, "Why You Should Start a Company in... Boulder." 

As the article highlights, Boulder's current entrepreneurial ecosystem boasts relocated second- and third-generation entrepreneurs like Kimbal Musk, who with his brother Elon (now CEO for Tesla), started and sold Zip2 and PayPal, and now runs real-time search engine OneRiot. One of Boulder's most recent entrepreneur transplants, Joe Stump, left a prestigious position at Digg to launch software firm SimpleGeo in Boulder.

...So yes, there are some exciting things happening in the town known for skiing and perhaps a layover here and there.

Having been born and raised in Colorado, I couldn't be more excited to play a small part in promoting the talent, ideas and concepts that are coming out of our town. To that end, I have joined a team that will unveil a new video podcast network and more specifically a show called NextCast. This show will highlight some of the talent, influencers and companies in the startup scene. Some of our initial episodes will include conversations with OneRiot, BlogFrog and SimpleGeo founders. Stay tuned for links and show information. 

Congrats Colorado!

5 Resources for Technology Startups - Version 1

If there is an upside to a down economy, it is the number of great ideas and companies that emerge. It is the time when the entrepreneur community reveals its finest through collaboration at meetups, coffee shops and word of mouth. Today's entrepreneur is not necessarily the same as the entrepreneur of the 90s. Today's entrepreneur mix can include the first timers, the serials, the build and flip experts etc. These days, it is nice to see that startups are taking the time to craft a solid business plan, bootstrap the organization and hire incredible talent in the very beginning.

Shout out to Entrepreneurs

A good friend, @damata, sent a link to the following video. He said he thought of me when he saw it. I am sure it is because of my fascination (some may call it an obsession) with the entrepreneur community.

I am passing it along with a note to all of the entrepreneurs out there, don't be afraid to GO FOR IT. Don't put that big idea off for another moment. Now is your moment.  We will be here to cheer you on!

(Hat tip to Grasshopper.com for creating the video)

Time for Change... Taking a Page from Entrepreneurs

Today marked one of the most important days in our history with the inguration of our 44th president, Barack Obama Regardless of your political interests, our country is in dire need of change and some fresh ideas. Looking at the current administration, I can't help but compare our president to a modern day entrepreneur and it is only fair given  a post several months ago about Obama and his start-up-like campaign.

In the past 10 years or so, I have had the incredible opportunity to work with a number of entrepreneurs and start-up companies. What is fascinating is the amount of work that actually gets done in the smaller companies and the joy that comes with a highly productive "burn the midnight oil" kind of culture. We celebrate, work hard, take risks and keep an optimistic spirit in everything we do.

Doing more with less is somewhat of a mantra for the state of business today. The same is true with the state of our nation. It is time for new and fresh ideas from those who come with a new perspective. And if the administration has any question on how to execute with limited resources, I am sure that the large number of entrepreneurs would welcome your call (I, for one, am ready for my duty).

As we heard several times this evening, it is now up to all of us to drive the change that we so desire.
And with that, a few of us have started a database of ideas to share with the new administration. Join us and add your ideas to the  Businesses for Change database.


 



 

Angel Capital Summit 2008 - Colorado Entrepreneurs Take Recession Head-On

If you live in Colorado and fall into the entrepreneur category, you better head to the Angel Capital Summit being held tomorrow at the Marriott City Center on 1701 California.

This year's Angel Capital Summit will bring specific focus to today's economic climate and how entrepreneurs can be successful during these changing times.

The event will start early with a kick-off keynote from Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.
During lunch, Anita Burke, one of the top thought-leaders in energy economics and markets, with talk about "evolutionary risk management."

There will also be a Town Hall Meeting, "Disrupting the Recession", with thought-leaders discussing Colorado's entrepreneurial response to the credit crisis, election, energy issues, and sustainability.

The companies that are presenting include:
18 Principles, Inc,  3D at Depth, Affinity Telecom, Inc, Alaskan Hardgear, Allegro Multimedia dba Music Wizard Group, ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals, Inc., AppVenture, Atrato, Inc., Aubice LLC, AWhere Inc., BOCS, Cadeka Microcircuits, Center For Innovation, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Chata Biosystems, Inc., CTM Software Corporation, Del Norte Brewing, DEMAND1, FacetoFace Health, flaik Inc, Fluonic, Inc., Frontline Aerospace, Inc., GroGreen Inc, iVation LLC, JuJu Central, LLC, Lingoport, Inc., Magic Portrait, Munch Away, LLC., NanoPrint Technologies, Progressive Health Center, PROJECT C.U.R.E., Shrewd Foods, Inc., Spatial Networking, Tissue Genetics Inc., Toghers Inc., TruEffect, Inc., Two Moms in the Raw, VanDyne SuperTurbo, Inc, VarVee, LLC, VitruMed Inc., Web2Storage, WhiteDove Herbals, Inc., Xpressplay, LLC, and Zerista.

For more information and the schedule, click here. Follow me on Twitter throughout the day.

Get your head out of the clouds... But feel free to run your business there...

A very interesting article appeared in Slate recently that looked at the dwindling number of startups actually attempting to go public. Thanks to open-source software and cloud computing, companies can build businesses at a fraction of what it would have cost just a few years ago.   

More cloud-based services mean less people needed to support applications, servers etc. Which means the dollar can stretch further than ever before.

Forrester Research analyst James Staten calls cloud computing “classic disruptive innovation where the mainstream dismisses the product and small companies have time to create a real differentiated value.”

Both Amazon and Google are gearing cloud offerings toward SMBs and even AT&T has jumped in with its Synaptic Hosting service which can add capacity in the event of a site's usage spike.

Some cloud-computing solutions worth checking out:

• Napera Networks: Network Access Control for SMBs - keep those roaming laptops healthy
• Elastra: Design, deploy & manage database and application infrastructure in the Cloud (Amazon recently participated in their financing)
• TrackVia: online databases - break through the limitations of excel and build your own database

Saying I Do...Social Programs Met with Fear of Commitment

Companies of all sizes are quick to talk about the need to implement social media strategies/tactics but when faced with the question of Who? How? and When? the fear of commitment washes over. Regardless of the industry, I often find that decision makers struggle with the commitment it takes to really get involved in the communities they wish to influence.  Whether it is confusion around measurement and effectiveness or deciding who will take on the responsibility, doing a little homework beforehand could save your company from the embarrassment of a bad start. Mitch Ratcliffe of ZDNet wrote an article that lays out levels of commitment that companies should keep in mind when considering a corporate blogging effort.

For startups, consider putting community manager on the list of necessary recruits. Often times, resource-limited companies and entrepreneurs are the first to make the plunge without considering the level of commitment it will take to serve as an evangelist and help build the community. It is possible to hire a part-time person to fill the role of the community manager. To get an idea of how this could work, I suggest you read “Do Startup Companies Need Community Managers” by Marshall Kirkpatric.

To understand the essential skills of a community manager, Chris Brogan, social media strategist has put together this thoughtful post.

The moral to this post, don’t jump. Wait until you have a plan in place, someone to make sure you are doing what you said you would do and a strategy that aligns with business goals but that also ensures involvement in the communities that you want to reach.

If your company has hired a community manager, I would love to hear about it.

Boulder... The 2nd cybercity!

Rocky Mountain News reported that Boulder holds the #2 cybercity spot following San Jose/Silicon Valley. This according to a recently released study by the American Electronics Association.

While some of the data is a tad dated, you can imagine this number has grown thanks to all the great stuff happening in the start-up community.

So a toast to Boulder, may you hold on to your mortgages before they equal those in the Valley.

Rockin' With Social Network Widgets

What would our social networks be without glitter text, slideshows and personal countdown meters? Apparently these social network widgets are worth a little something given news that RockYou secured $35 million today. RockYou is a provider of widgets and applications for the web such as photo slideshows, glitter text, customized Facebook applications and voicemail accessories that are simple to use and enable people to frequently refresh their online style. 

Outside of the popularity of SuperWall and the vampire and zombie applications, today’s news proves that there is a business for widget makers and a great opportunity for companies to understand the ways in which consumers are using social networking tools. Companies such as Paramount, New Line Cinema, Sony, Microsoft, and CBS are already benefiting from millions of unique site visitors by sponsoring social network widgets or tools.

Some interesting facts for consideration:

•  RockYou has over 35 million users, serving over 180 million widget views per day in more than 200 countries.
• RockYou applications are customized for easy integration across all social networks including Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, Tagged and hi5.
• RockYou’s cost-effective, results-focused advertising platform is the largest Ad Network on Facebook today.
• New applications can reach over 100k users in 24 hours, spanning a suite of applications across multiple publishing partners.

A common question that seems to pop up each day on LinkedIn is how do you monetize or benefit from social tools? Who is using them and how? Various opinions and open-ended comments are out there and everyone is trying to understand how to increase eyeballs or quite frankly, increase sales of products and services by leveraging social media tools.  comScore is trying to do just that with its Widget media Metrix.

According to Forrester research, U.S.marketers spent $600 million advertising on social media, a sliver of the $18 billion spent on interactive advertising that year and that number is expected to surge to $6.9 billion by 2012.

Companies who are consumer-focused should consider widgets and other social tools as the marketing and advertising paradigms continue to evolve away from traditional media.

More on this subject… Please share your comments or experiences with widget marketing - especially successes.

Rock on,

Melissa Hourigan