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 [...]
Mar
13
2010
13
2010
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 [...]
Oct
29
2009
29
2009
Interview: Founders of Aucadia.com, where Fans Get Involved in the Bands They Love
Aucadia.com is a community website aimed at musicians and fans where the fans can get involved with the bands they love.
It’s such a cool project, we had to find out more from Robin and Owen Spottiswoode, the two co-founders.
Alain: Tell us about your product and maybe where the idea came from, or why you think [...]
Oct
27
2009
27
2009
Instant Idea Feedback for Entrepreneurs
When you just found a great idea for an app, the first step (after the initial excitement subsides) is to gather feedback from as many people as you can.
That’s what we just made really simple now on FairSoftware with our new feedback widget. Once you setup your idea and enter a description, the community can [...]
Oct
8
2009
8
2009
Shark Eats Entrepreneur Alive
Below is a question from an entrepreneur, edited to protect the innocent (if you are a member of TheFunded.com, you can read the complete thread):
Q: An investor has been pressing me to invest and needs A DECISION IN THE NEXT DAY OR TWO, plus he is reminding me to stop publicizing my site and keep [...]
Oct
1
2009
1
2009
Book Review: The Web Startup Success Guide
Advice on how to build a startup is plentiful online with countless blogs by seasoned entrepreneurs or consultants, successful or not. So it begs the question: why write a book in 2009 about starting your own web startup? “The Web Startup Success Guide” by Bob Walsh answers with a resounding yes!
Despite all the information at [...]
Jul
9
2009
9
2009
Good Programmers Don’t Need No Marketing
Good programmers don’t need marketing. Great applications sell themselves.
I used to think that way too.
When I was an R&D engineer, I wrote the code. I made the product. I thought that sales and marketing were basically overhead.
Then I switched sides, worked with sales people for a while, and witnessed how hard it is to sell [...]
Jun
10
2009
10
2009
European Entrepreneurs Visit Sun
Today I joined a group of European entrepreneurs on their visit to Sun, hosted by the Sun Startup Essentials program.
We were treated with a one hour Q&A session with Scott McNealy, chairman of Sun. He was very engaged, passionate and very willing to give advice, answer straight questions and address difficult issues. I believe all [...]
May
28
2009
28
2009
Weekly Gem from the Founder Institute: Mechanical Turks for Market Research
Attending the Founder Institute is great for the brain: every session contains nuggets of wisdom and tricks that we can all apply to our current projects.
This week, the topic was market research.
The discussion included a two-box metric to find out if you have a real market or a niche. At some point, a member of [...]
