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Crowdfunding Law Will Turn the Start-Up World Upside Down - Tim Rowe - Voices Remember that special moment when we all realized that the Web was going to remake yard sales and auctions, but we didn’t know yet who was going to win? (And then eBay left the rest in the dust?) Such a moment has come again, and with a choice prize: Investing in start-ups. What would this mean? Everybody likes the innovation and jobs that this could propel. Here’s how this is going to play out: Intermediaries (the future eBays of this space) will spring forward to handle the paperwork, do background checks on issuers (required), ensure that offerings are well described and enforce balanced investment terms. This could be big. Up next? Tim Rowe is the founder and CEO of Cambridge Innovation Center, which houses approximately 450 start-up companies in a large office tower in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
500 Startups Peels Back The Curtain On Its Third And Largest Batch Yet It’s Halloween, so it’s the perfect day to unveil the newest group of 500 Startups’ “little monsters”. Yes, this is the name that founder Dave McClure and his partner in crime Christine Tsai give to all the rock star entrepreneurs that grace the halls of their Mountain View offices. 500 Startups, as you may have heard by now, is the early-stage seed fund and incubator program founded in 2010 by the globe-trotting angel investor, which seeds between $25K to $250K in each of its startups that meet its “Three Ds” criteria: Design, data, and distribution. The fall batch kicked off on October 10 and includes 34 awesome startups, which makes this its largest roster to date (the initial batch consisted of 12 startups and the second came in at 21, bringing 500 Startups’ total to 174). The “Demo Days” for this batch of startups has not yet been confirmed, but we do know that they will take place sometime in January 2012. 300milligrams is a priority inbox for team conversations.
Angel investor Bill Bryant: Here’s what I look for in startup entrepreneurs Seattle angel investor Bill Bryant Seattle angel investor and venture capitalist Bill Bryant has been around the block a few times in the tech industry, estimating that he’s met some 5,000 entrepreneurs in the past 25 years. So what does Bryant — an investor in companies such as Isilon Systems, Swype and Z2Live and an early employee at startup companies such as Visio, Qpass and Netbot — look for in the entrepreneurs he backs? That was one of the topics Bryant addressed Monday night at a Seattle angel investor and entrepreneurial meetup in Seattle. As you might imagine, it is more art than science trying to pick the winners from the losers. “I’ve met, I am sure, like 5,000 entrepreneurs over the last 25 years, and have been pitched like 2,500 times. Bryant continued after sharing a story of Isilon co-founder Sujal Patel, who he said exhibited many of the traits he looks for in an entrepreneur. Later in the program, Bryant was asked about what makes a good entrepreneurial pitch.
by Eran B.Y You will fall in love with someone who annoys you, whose orgasm face looks and feels pathetic. Despite all of this, there’s something keeping you drawn to them, something that makes you want to protect them from the harsh world. What you fail to realize, however, is that you are the harsh world. You aren’t their noble protector — you are someone to be protected from but it takes a lot of dates, a lot of nights where you question whether or not you are actually a good person, for this to ever resonate with you. You will fall in love with someone who’s cold and always seemingly pushing you away. You will fall in love with someone for one night and one night only. You will fall in love with the old couple down the street because to you they represent the impossible: a stable, long-lasting love. You will fall in love with smells, the good and the bad kind. You will fall in love with your friends. So fine.
The myth of the overnight success tech Angry Birds was Rovio’s 52nd game. They spent eight years and almost went bankrupt before finally creating their massive hit. You tend to hear about startups when they are successful but not when they are struggling. Startups are hard, but they can also go from difficult to great incredibly quickly. Why Some Startups Succeed And Others Fail: 10 Fascinating Harvard Findings
[Excerpt] Fundraising: From $1,000 To $1,000,000 Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from Onswipe CEO Jason L. Baptiste’s new book The Ultralight Startup: Launching a Business Without Clout or Capital. To coincide with giving the chapter away, Jason will be choosing one entrepreneur from the TechCrunch audience to meet four of the best venture capitalists today to pitch their idea, which include Andy Weissman, Partner at Union Square Ventures, Alex Finkelstein, Partner at Spark Capital, Brad Feld, Parter at Foundry Group, and David Tisch, Managing Director of TechStars NYC and angel investor. To enter, go here and fill out some simple information about your startup. The winner will be selected by April 20th, 2012. If you pay attention to the headlines about startups getting millions of dollars of funding from investors, venture capitalists, or partnerships, you might think the fund-raising process happens overnight. The reality is a little trickier. The Real Purpose Of Raising Money And Why it Might not Make Sense For You
Stanford 2012 Lean LaunchPad Presentations – part 2 of 2 Today, the second half of the Stanford Engineering Lean LaunchPad Class gave their final presentations. Here are the final four (the first five are here.) Team ParkPoint CapitalThis team spoke face-to-face with 326 customers. As often happens, this team came into class convinced that their market research proved that their business was providing credit to underbanked customers. 8 weeks later they ended up as a financial service provider for immigrants. If you can’t see the slide presentation above, click here. The ParkPoint Capital customer discovery narrative blog is here. We thought the team summarized their lessons learned well: If you can’t see the image above, click here. Team DentalOpticsTeam DentalOptics spoke face-to-face with 72 customers. If you can’t see the slide presentation above, click here. The DentalOptics customer discovery narrative blog is here. Team MiCasaThey spoke to 105 customers and surveyed 98 more. If you can’t see the slide presentation above, click here.
The legal checklist every startup should reference I’ve been a corporate lawyer for more than 17 years, and there are certain fundamental legal mistakes that I’ve seen startups repeatedly make (many of which surface when investors are conducting their due-diligence investigation). Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful to provide a simple checklist for startups that includes links to indepth posts for a more detailed discussion. Startup checklist: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. None of this is rocket science. Scott Edward Walker is the founder and CEO of Walker Corporate Law Group, PLLC, a law firm specializing in the representation of entrepreneurs. [Image via Yes Man/Shutterstock]
10 powerful branding insights that will keep your business moving forward Flickr photo via Woodleywonderworks Just because you’ve built a successful company doesn’t mean you can relax. Succeeding in this ever-changing business world demands that you constantly strive to get ahead…and stay ahead. Easier said than done, right? Well, the following branding insights I’m about to share with you will help you create a brand and business that grows year after year. 1. Sure, this seems obvious, but if you want to start taking some of your competitor’s market share, it all starts with a strong brand. Start with the why – Apple explains why they exist before they even get down to building products. Knowing the basics isn’t enough to dominate your market. 2. Neil Patel Do not ask your customers want they want—just give it to them. That is nothing more than the same old thing with a little improvement. You can only create a strong brand and move your business forward when you create a product that breaks from the past and creates a new path on how we live. 3. 4. 5. 6. Wrong.
How To Increase Your Productivity 500% Altucher Confidential Posted by James Altucher I missed investing in Google. I missed investing in Foursquare. I made fun of the guy who started Lycos. I want to be productive, healthy, and happy.When you spend even two minutes mentally debating the worst people in your life (as I did the first two minutes after I woke up today) those two minutes add up. People say, “well I played too many games. Better to not have 80% of my thoughts (or more on some days!) Nine types of thoughts that will prevent you from succeeding at your business or in your job. 1) Pessimistic thoughts: For instance, judging myself too harshly. Or, before I give a talk, thinking that I’m going to do horribly despite the fact that I’ve prepared well and it’s a friendly crowd, etc. 2) Vice – My vice thoughts start when I wake up. Perfectionism is a form of bondage. 4) Possessiveness– there’s that Sting song, “if you love someone, set them free.” 5) Painful – We just had the Thanksgiving holidays. 6) Fear. 7) Obsessive. 8) Sadness.
Grow Detroit | Grown in the D The Detroit Startup List is a directory of Detroit Startups, Michigan Incubators and Accelerators, Groups & Meetups, and venture capital resources. (Last updated March 31, 2014) Quick links: Detroit Incubators and Accelerators Detroit Coworking Spaces Detroit Startup Events, Meetup Groups Michigan Venture capital and investment 1. 2. 3. We are a proud Detroit Startup. 4. Detroit startups Crowding out angels from startup financings? Photo via Bigstock As early as next week, we may know whether Congress will change US securities laws to permit startups to sell stock to the general public over the internet. You know how, today, companies raise money on Kickstarter by offering products, t-shirts, and other bennies? Imagine those same companies selling stock to investors over a Kickstarter-like platform. Sound too good to be true? Where does this leave angel investing? To borrow from the vernacular of Occupy Wall Street, angels are part of the 1 percent. William Carleton Some angels like the idea of crowdfunding because they know it will be good for entreprenuers to have more financing alternatives. But many entrepreneurs and angels I’ve talked to want to know if angel deals and crowdfunding deals can exist side by side. To put it in legal terms, how should a crowdfunding exemption and the all-accredited Reg D exemption synch up? Let’s use a hypothetical to illustrate some of the potential problems. It’s a bit ironic.