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
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Aug
5
2009
5
2009
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 [...]
