Yesterday was the third Co-Founders MeetUp of Silicon Valley, which set a new attendance record of 120 people. 12 startups pitched their idea with the goal to attract co-founders. The quality of the ideas was very high. Another thing I liked is that this MeetUp truly opens my mind: it’s like a giant idea brainstorming [...]
Displaying posts written by
Alain Raynaud
who has written 37 posts for FairSoftware's Blog.
Mar
13
2010
13
2010
Mar
1
2010
1
2010
HARO vs. PrManna: Out of Control Lawyers
If I am to believe this blog post, HelpAReporter, a web site that helps journalists connect with sources, has sent a threatening legal letter to a free competitor called PRManna:
From the blog post summary:
I stole his idea (bullshit, his service was a mailing list when I built PRManna, and there are tons of sites for [...]
Feb
1
2010
1
2010
Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders
Do you wonder if your startup could benefit from having a co-founder? Some people are worried that adding a co-founder will slow them down, it will take too much time to discuss everything. They also think they can pretty much figure out everything on their own so why take the risk to add a co-founder? [...]
Jan
14
2010
14
2010
Opt-Out Policy Gone Wrong: The Google Way
I hate spam. Opt-out is the minimum that I expect from all decent sites. Opt-in would be nicer.
Imagine my surprise when I received the following card in the mail:
When I opted-out, I thought I was sending a clear message to the company that I didn’t want them to contact me and send me adverts and [...]
Jan
5
2010
5
2010
Ask: I own a great domain name, how can I turn it into a business?
Question: I own a valuable dot-com domain, but I’m not a programmer. I think it could sell for a million dollars someday, with the proper traffic. What sould I do?
A: The basic idea here is to build a site to take advantage of the great domain name. By going on FairSoftware and listing your site, [...]
Dec
18
2009
18
2009
Startup Advice Contradiction: “Iterate Quickly” or “Trust Your Guts”?
If you have been reading startup advice long enough, you surely noticed two trends repeated ad nauseum.
Iterate Quickly
Also known as “kill ideas fast”, this advice is saying that your idea is probably not worth the pixels it’s displayed on. Ideas are a dime a dozen, execution matters. You’d be better off with a dumb idea [...]
Dec
7
2009
7
2009
Want Major TV Coverage? Successful Entrepreneurs Seize Opportunities
Recently, I was contacted by a major TV show, looking to do a segment on what it looks like to be an entrepreneur building a startup from scratch. I am talking major TV show, with an audience in the millions, not some local news channel.
So I e-mailed a few entrepreneurs I know to see who [...]
Nov
19
2009
19
2009
First Co-Founders MeetUp: Lessons Learned
70 people showed up at the Hacker Dojo in Mountain View for the first Co-Founders MeetUp. It was pretty clear that everyone enjoyed the event and was quite happy to have been part of the first of what is shaping to become a long series of co-founders meetups (in Silicon Valley and elsewhere).
Basic Format
10 founders [...]
Nov
15
2009
15
2009
The Case of the Missing Stars: Why a Startup Community Can Thrive Nonetheless
If you are like me, you like the new startup community formed at OnStartups.com. Lots of questions from people looking into creating or advancing their startup, and lots of good answers.
However, a promise from Dharmesh, the founder, was that “startup stars” would participate:
I have a long list of exceptional entrepreneurs I know well enough to [...]
Nov
5
2009
5
2009
Joel vs. Joel on Startup Discussions: And The Winner Is…
If you are curious about maybe one day doing your own startup, you should know about a new discussion site called Answers OnStartups. It uses StackOverflow’s software but focuses on the art of starting your own company.
The only previous decent online forum covering that topic is the Business of Software forum of Joel on Software.
Which [...]
