Displaying posts tagged with

“startup idea”

Your Elevator Pitch Sucks: How Investors Think, by Adeo Ressi at the Founder Conference

Possibly the most popular part of the Founder Conference this year was the live pitch feedback, a workshop run by Adeo Ressi. We actually extended its allocated time by 20 minutes because it was so popular. The rules are simple: you give your best elevator pitch, in less than 1 minute, as if you were [...]

Stanford Expo a Welcome Change to Web Startups

Last Thursday I attended Stanford Design EXPE, where a dozen teams of students present the result of their 9 months of innovative work in relation with a corporate sponsor. The twist is that all projects must build a hardware prototype (I guess because it’s linked to the Mechanical Engineering department). For me, it was a [...]

VCs Can Fix Your Team, Not Your Market

I was on the Paris subway, returning from one of the first sessions of the Founder Institute there. Sitting next to me was one of the founders. Something was bothering him. He finally asked: “why do you put so much emphasis on market size? The team, and surely other aspects must be equally important to [...]

Adding a Co-Founder In 140 Characters Or Less

I love advising early-stage startups. A question I get frequently is “how to formalize bringing a co-founder on board.” I could write a book on the topic, but it’s really much simpler than that. Here’s how you do it in one tweet: @joe I expect this co-founder position to be worth ~30% equity. My goal [...]

A Memorable Co-Founders MeetUp

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

The Great Startup Idea That I Can’t Reveal (Yet)

Finding a great idea for your startup or Fair Project is the first step to a captivating journey. Sharing your idea with others is the first step to success. Many software developers I meet are so scared to have their idea stolen that they refuse to tell you anything at all. Reality Check Do you [...]