Swedish Startup Offers Cable TV With No TV. Interview With Magine. [video][disrupt]

Companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu have started making a dent in traditional cable tv consumption. More and more people, globally, are watching tv shows and movies on other screens like, laptops, mobile phones and tablets. This has caused most cable companies (especially in the US) to move to other sources for revenue like telephone lines and cable internet.

Hulu, Amazon, Netflix and other similar companies are offering shows and movies a la carte and on demand. You subscribe to one of these services for a nominal fee and you can access whatever programs you want to watch, when you want to watch them. This model is working very well for many consumers, but the space as a whole is gearing up for another disruption.

There are some startups like, Jacksonville startup whata.tv, that are hoping to reinvent tv by allowing users to subscribe to one channel a la carte and get the entire programming from that channel in real time or on demand. Many analysts have suggested that this kind of model is where tv is heading.

On the other hand, you have startups like Sweden’s Magine, which is a full fledged cable operator, delivering the same programming, and functionality as traditional cable companies, on multiple screens and with even more features.

Magine allows viewers to watch programs in real time or on demand, without the need for a dvr. Magine, of course allows you to watch the content on any connected device.

With the stranglehold that the US cable operators have, it’s not likely that Magine will ever find it’s way onto US soil, but people in Europe love the freedom that the service is giving them. Beta testers, including TechCrunch’s Frederic Lardinois, love Magine, and of course we see why.

Check out our interview with Simon at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013, below.

Check out these other awesome startup stories from TechCrunch

How to Find the Right Venture Capitalist for Your Startup!

This is one match that’s certainly not made in heaven — you’ve got to toil and woo several partners to finally arrive at one that best understands you and your business, and is ready to commit to you in the long term.

I’m talking, of course, about your relationship with a venture capitalist. You’ve probably heard grieving entrepreneurs who, after signing the dotted line, are quite unhappy throughout the relationship with their investors.

But there’s nothing wrong with the venture capitalist (VC) per se. You just made the wrong decision. As an entrepreneur, you’ve got to choose the right VC to work with, because the right marriage can help define how successful your business will be and how happy you will be running it.

Here are 4 key points to consider for a happy and long-lasting marriage with a VC:

1. Expertise: Choosing a VC is just like a marriage — that is, it’s a long-term commitment. You need to court first to find out whether the VC is a right fit for you. Take the time out to research whether the VC has funded companies in the domain they are operating. Research to find out what companies they have invested in and what their level of involvement has been in each of those. Do they have potential conflicts (e.g., is the expertise a by-product of an investment in a potential competitor)?

2. Adding Value: Look for investors who can add value to your business and not just give you funds. The best marriages between entrepreneurs and VCs happen when the latter can contribute to the growth of the former and when it isn’t purely transactional. Entrepreneurs need to ask, when things get tough in my venture, will this VC be a part of the solution?

3. Term Sheets: This is where you really find out what the intentions are of the person putting in the money. Look out for exit clauses; if not clearly defined, ask for them to be. Although they are not cast in stone (I know of one venture where the exit was clearly defined, but deferred as the company entered a new vertical and that added to their top line immensely, adding to a bigger valuation), it helps to know what the person with the money is really looking for.

Term sheets are very carefully crafted to fool even the best of people into believing that they’ve struck a great deal, but in reality, for the entrepreneur, that’s not always the case. So if you’re at this stage, it wouldn’t hurt to have your term sheets validated by experienced entrepreneurs who’ve gone down this road and/or a lawyer who has the relevant experience.

4. Set Expectations: Many deals are left to ambiguity, either because of lack of clarity at the stage of getting into a deal or because of assumptions made by either party. It is very important to set expectations from both ends and be clear about it. Entrepreneurs need to build trust with their VCs and vice versa. If you don’t have trust at the beginning of the relationship, it is bound to cause heartaches at the later stage.

Whatever you do, do not take this relationship for granted. You are in it for the long haul, and giving up because of a failed marriage is the last thing that you want to do with your venture. So take caution before you enter into a contract.

That said, all the best with your pitch! If it has worked out well for you, I’d like to hear your experiences and what makes your marriage successful.

This post originally appeared on the author’s blog.

Rahul Varshneya is a startup coach and the co-founder of Arkenea, an enterprise mobility and cloud solutions provider. He writes on starting up and mobile strategy at http://rahulvarshneya.com/blog.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

In the Mouth of a Shark: Learn From ‘Shark Tank’

Have you seen “Shark Tank” yet? For entrepreneurs, it’s one of the best reality TV shows. Cable and satellite packages start at around $30 per month, according to www.directtvdeal.com. “Shark Tank” has five investors that are selected to sit on a stage that listen to entrepreneurs pitch their products and business ideas. After their pitch, the sharks decide whether or not they will be given money to fund their business ideas.

In the process, the entrepreneurs are asked a barrage of questions, sometimes humiliated, often laughed at, occasionally insulted and generally traumatized. Some of the sharks include Mark Cuban, real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O’Leary, who created and sold “The Learning Company” to Mattel for $3.2 billion, FUBU clothing founder Daymond John and comedian Jeff Foxworthy. Despite the hostile atmosphere created by the sharks, participants could walk away from the experience with a big, fat check if one or more of the Sharks believe their business idea is a good one. Lessons can be learned from “Shark Tank” for entrepreneurs:

Find Your Niche

When an entrepreneur makes their pitch, reactions from the sharks can be pretty telling. If it’s an Internet-related idea and Mark Cuban doesn’t like it, no deal. If a clothing idea is rejected by Mr. FUBU, chances are the designer will be sent back to the drawing board. If an idea geared toward an infomercial is rejected by the infomercial expert, it’s back to square one. You can’t be all things to all people, but you should know your target audience and connect with them.

Use Your Passion

Coming from a place of truly enjoying what you do is key, and the sharks pick up on it. One investor came in with just an idea — a medicine dropper in the shape of an elephant for kids — and won investment dollars. AVA the Elephant is now sold in 10,000 stores in 10 countries. Founder Tiffany Krumins used her passion for helping kids to create a successful business.

Fill a Need

Find a need and create a great product to fill that need. ReaderRest Magnetic Glasses Holders from season three is one of the show’s most successful products. It calls itself a “simple solution for eyewear management problems” and allows the user to keep their glasses safely and securely within reach using magnets that automatically attach and self-center. Overall, sales went quickly from $65,000 to $5.5 million after the show.

Do it Better

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to be successful; you just have to make a better wheel. BBQ sauce is nothing new, but sales of season one’s Pork Barrel BBQ sauces and rubs went from $5,000 to $3.5 million after their investment. Jamba Juice bought season three’s Talbott Teas in 2012. Both products took an ordinary item to the next level, doing it better than their competitors.

Sell the Dream, not Numbers

Some entrepreneurs start working their pitch with statements like, “I sold X amount of my product last year.” These people tend to get the worst deals from the sharks, or none at all. Sometimes the sharks don’t seem to care about numbers like $1 million in past sales, i.e. games2u.com, an excellent company that got no deal. Past numbers do not sell — the dream does.

10 Tools That Simplify Startup Collaboration

Producteev for Productive Collaboration

“I highly recommend cross-platform tool Producteev for collaboration. It’s easy to set up, easy to use, and fantastic for team members who are working on many projects at the same time with others. There is space to comment on projects to maximize productive collaboration, and it’s all about getting tasks done.”

– Doreen Bloch | CEO / Founder, Poshly Inc.

Try the New Basecamp

“The revamped Basecamp from 37signals has taken collaboration to a new level. It’s completely redesigned and rethought, and I can see the impact on our team already. It’s no Google Wave, but I’ll recommend it to anyone.”

– John Meyer | Founder/CEO, Lemon.ly

Facebook Member Pages Work

“Closed Facebook groups are nothing new, but I love how many mastermind communities are shifting into the platform to meet users where they already spend hours each day. In one such group, requests are posted around the clock, and it’s not unusual to see colleagues giving feedback and collaborating across time zones and over weeks and months.”

– Kelly Azevedo | Founder, She’s Got Systems

Trust the Team With Teambox

“We switched over to Teambox as our main project management system a few months ago. I have been pleasantly surprised by the unique functionalities it offers teams. Every week, I post conversations in a “New Idea” project that is then discussed in real time. The platform really allows everyone to piggyback on other ideas in order to come with something truly collaborative.”

– Logan Lenz | Founder / President, Endagon

Stick With What Works, Google Docs

“It’s not new but it’s solid. We use Google Docs for everything. In my opinion, it’s the simplest way to have multiple people work on one document and keep things organized.”

– John Hall | CEO, Digital Talent Agents

Join.me All the Way!

“Check out Join.me. It’s a super simple screen-sharing tool that I’ve been using recently, ever since I realized that Skype screen-sharing is terrible, especially when you’re working with someone on the other side of the country. It takes three minutes to install, and you’ve able to give or take away control from your collaborator. It’s also great for sales presentations.”

– Matthew Ackerson | Founder, Saber Blast

Go Zoho for Online Editing

“Zoho allows you to collaborate with its online Wiki, edit Word and Excel documents, and have live discussions. Brainstorming through email or any static site is incredibly difficult, as you lose the dynamic interaction of all participants. Sometimes, the energy created from a response is as important as the content of the comment. Zoho allows you to collaborate in real time.”

– Aaron Schwartz | Founder and CEO, Modify Watches

Asana Is Online Zen

“I’ve been using Asana a lot recently for collaboration and deadlines, and it’s got a simplicity and ease of use that’s hard to find elsewhere. It’s also free if you’ve got a small team, which helps keep your overhead low.”

– Colin Wright | CEO, Asymmetrical, LLC

Hammer Away on Yammer

“Yammer is much more than a company social network. Our Yammer feed has a constant stream of new ideas, articles and more. It’s a safe zone where we encourage employees to think differently without worrying about the minutiae. Yammer has facilitated cross-departmental collaboration and made our company more innovative.”

– Bhavin Parikh | CEO, Magoosh Test Prep

Work and Play With Skype

“Although it’s been around for a while, I still use Skype on a daily basis for collaboration. It’s great for brainstorming with my team, checking in with clients, and even a little “watercooler” chat — which can be challenging to spark with a completely virtual company.”

– Heather Huhman | Founder & President, Come Recommended

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

Now read this guest post from Jim Sposto, founder of Xtrant, the collaborative tool we use.

10 Must-Read Startup Tips for Young Brands

Everyone wants a “startup” these days. Everyone wants to be a “founder” with little more than a concept, an LLC filing, some Web real estate, and a dream. But how do you really get it done? In early stage brand building, traction is king.

You’ve likely seen the HBO Series “How To Make It in America.” It chronicles the story of two co-founders and their group of friends. There is luck, drama, rejection, implied success, real success, good marketing, poor marketing, and more luck. As difficult as they make it look in that wonderful series, they actually make it look easy. In reality, think less partying, more planning, and little dependence on gimmicks and luck. This being said, with the right approach it can be done. There is still room for innovation in textile manufacturing and fashion branding.

Starting a clothing brand can be one of the most worthwhile pursuits in all of startups. There are elements of: manufacturing, design, communication, marketing, probability and statistics, industrial engineering, timing, and the almighty of them all — foresight. There are so many variables that go into a success or failure. Right now (and I repeat, right now), we are somewhat succeeding. That being said, I thought I’d share some helpful hints.

Proof of Concept

Before a single shirt was manufactured, we had our initial concept feedback. “So, let me get this this straight,” the industry executive said. “You are going to manufacture in the States? You are going to use American-sourced fabrics? And you think you’re going to succeed in the textile industry?” Well, yes.

From July 2012 and through the fall, we focused on sales, feedback, construction revision, and regional media. Between Kevin and I, we bore the brunt of these tasks. Validation via earned media was the most difficult day-to-day task.

Through this initial stage, we were purely focused on “proof of concept” in our first test market — Dallas, Texas. The media response was great! And so, we continued. Active, driven, and confident men do want something more from their dress shirts.

Spring for Traction

After starting up in April of 2012 and launching the website in July 2012 (with only one product), we are now finally leaning into the Spring of Traction. Through the summer, fall, and winter of 2012, we were silently working on perfecting our first pieces, ginning up “first adopter” sales, building relationships, establishing brick and mortar presences, improving our supply chain, not paying ourselves, and paying our taxes. With that behind us, the fun begins. This spring is focused on the push for traction.

After the foundation that we’ve set over the past year, we can begin focusing on the brand’s opportunity and/or visibility to grow within several of our proven early-adopter demographics: professional athletics, military, collegiate, and metropolitan business.

The “How To” of This Blog

What does all of this mean to a young brand? It is a meticulous process that involves quite a bit of sacrifice, help, influence, and yes, just a little bit of luck. Here are some great tips that few in the industry will share:

Start with a concept that no one else is willing to attempt. Remember, it’s even better when people tell you, “Based on the industry precedent, this likely won’t work.”
The design and manufacturing process is expensive. Allot $20k-$50k for your first product run. You will need to achieve a volume of units manufactured to achieve reasonable margins.
Spend money on your branding and your collateral. I can’t say this enough.
Understand your supply chain and have a manufacturing backup plan when those sources, printers, and cut and sew shops are over capacity.
Spend money on your brand’s website and branding videos.
If you didn’t attend a top fashion design program, find a top designer who did and hire that person. Find a way to get that person on your team.
If there are no other options at the start, plan on pouring all of your personal income into the project for the first year or two.
Keep these elements at the forefront: be first to market, drive sales, gain traction.
Customers aren’t free. Find a natural pipeline that will serve as high-conversion customer acquisition.
Ask for help and be willing to pay for it.

The market is always looking for the next great idea; be willing to sacrifice to see it through. Design really well, depict great logo and lifestyle imagery, prove your concept in a transparent way, and then focus on gaining traction as you go. When you need the push, find a well-connected and cost-effective way to move your brand forward.

This post originally appeared on the author’s blog.

Web Smith is a Sr. Analyst, Co-Founder, and Sports / Entertainment / Political Marketing Consultant and a student of strategy. Follow him at: http://www.twitter.com/web.

Startup Weekend Madison: Holsinger Keynote Salutes “Dumb” Ideas That Lead to Unexpected Experiences

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Dallas Startup: Adscend Media Co-Founder Fehzan Ali In Our Startup Spotlight

Fehzan Ali is the co-founder of Adscend Media and serves as the Chief Executive Officer. He is responsible for driving and implementing the strategic vision of the Company. Since inception, Fehzan has secured business with high revenue publishers and top advertisers through his deep relationships and experience in the sector. He is an industry thought leader, providing editorial content about ad-based solutions through strategic opportunities. Follow him @fehzan1.

Who is your hero?

My parents. They raised me with a foundation focused on morals, values, and being the absolute best I can be. Their entrepreneurial spirit also cultivated mine.

What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?

Above all else, believe in yourself. This is a foundation for both success and happiness. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? In my earlier years as an entrepreneur, I was filled with doubts. What if I fail? Is entrepreneurship right for me? What will I do then? I created backup plans for my venture, and then backup plans for those backup plans.

In my opinion, that’s a mistake. To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be fully invested in your business. You have to believe in yourself and your ability to succeed even when you fail, even when you are under close scrutiny. Persistence and determination is the cornerstone of success. The day I really started believing in myself is the day that I became successful. I’ve failed more times than I can count with new solutions and product launches, however, I’ve also learned so much about myself, what I’m capable of, and the value of persistence. Never give up.

What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?

There’s a difference between an entrepreneur and a manager. Most successful entrepreneurs that I’ve met are great leaders and know how to create a product/solution and inspire their vision into the company. Once Adscend reached a size where it required us to hire additional manpower, we went out there and found great talent and delegated a loose set of tasks to each new team member. We continued this process until we realized that we had a very talented team, yet they were all lost and confused on how to help accomplish the company vision and goals.

Therefore, the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in business is a lack of organization/structure of the company. After consulting with my team and other resources, I spent a few months implementing organizational changes based on feedback I received from the team, and it was actually surprising to see how happy our team was with the new changes. The changes led to increased satisfaction in the team and helped us position the company to scale for growth moving forward. Furthermore, I had more free time after the changes to focus on innovation and the company vision.

If you are an entrepreneur struggling with scaling your company or getting started, pay attention to structure! If management is not one of your strengths or if you simply do not have time to set up the structure, hire someone else to do it. As a smaller organization, sometimes the leader has to be the manager as well. This is something you don’t want to overlook.

What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?

I usually spend the first hour of my business day reading up on industry trends and new innovations within my industry. In our fast-paced world, you have to be vigilant to remain relevant and create innovative products/solutions that fills in a gap in the market. This research is important to maintain an edge in the market over competitors as well.

What’s your best financial or cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?

Focus on the bare necessities for success to cut your operating costs. For example, you don’t need a fancy office or a secretary to get started. By running a lean organization, you are able to minimize your risks, reach profitability quicker, and build cash flow to establish a healthy financial foundation for your company. Assess the needs of your company on a set schedule to ensure that you are maintaining a lean, yet efficient organization that scales as needed.

Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?

Keep an open mind and constantly seek knowledge. Never stop learning.

What’s your definition of success? How will you know when you’ve finally “succeeded” in your business?

I personally believe success is more comprehensive than simply financial gain. To me, success means being passionate about what I do, spending time with friends and family that I love, enjoying life in general, helping others, and of course being able to generate an income from my passion. As for success in regards to just my company, I knew I was successful when I signed up our first large client to my ad network and started generating revenue. It was a snowball effect from there, and we took off. Although that may seem like a small accomplishment to attribute as success, it really bolstered up my confidence, and we soon became one of the consistently top-rated companies in our industry.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab , a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

Now Check out:

Indy Couple getting their grit and grind on at Memphis’ Seed Hatchery Accelerator

The Dropbox Story: From 0 to 100 Million Users: How a Simple Video Can Change Your Business

In a short five years, Dropbox has gone from 0 to 100 million users.

That’s impressive.

What’s even more impressive is the fact that they’ve done it with one of the most simple website designs ever. Since the first year, their homepage has featured only two main components—an explainer video and a download button.

They’ve also grown without spending money on advertising, and they’ve grown exponentially compared to the competition, despite the fact that there are dozens of similar services competing in the same space.

So what’s Dropbox’s secret? How did they grow so quickly with such a simple design, one explainer video, and spending no money on advertising?

Dropbox’s viral referral campaign

Dropbox started out by using Google AdWords as a way to reach customers. But they quickly figured out that they were spending $233 to $388 per customer acquired. That ended up being too expensive for what was a $99 product at the time.

Thus, they decided to switch to a viral referral campaign to attract more customers. This ended up being one of the keys to their success. Here’s how it worked: Dropbox users were encouraged to share the service via social media and email. If they did, they’d get extra space for free on their own account for every new person who signed up from one of their invites.

The result was that satisfied customers became brand evangelists who helped to get the word out about Dropbox. Due to the fact that they’d get something in return, i.e. free space, users liberally shared about Dropbox via Facebook, Twitter, email, and more. For every customer who was satisfied about the product, there were hundreds and even thousands of other people who were finding out about it and signing up. This resulted in a total of 2.8 million invitations being sent out over a 30-day period.

What an awesome viral campaign. It’s one of the greatest of all time, and Dropbox fully leveraged the power of referrals and social sharing.

But that’s not all that they did.

How a simple design and an explainer video helped Dropbox grow even more

Dropbox’s simple homepage design focuses visitors’ attention 100 percent on their explainer video. There aren’t any other links or any other messages that get in the way. When you land on the homepage, there’s only one thing to do—watch the video.

By focusing every visitors’ attention on the explainer video, Dropbox was able to get more people to watch and learn how the service worked. This in turn led to more sign ups because more people now understood how to use Dropbox. It’s a lot easier to click a download button when you know how something works and understand the benefit, and that’s what Dropbox was banking on with their 120-second explainer video.

The result was a 10 percent increase in sign-ups. That’s right—the explainer video led to a 10 percent increase in conversions. That may not seem like much, but when you do the math with 100 million users, that’s 10 million extra customers simply from using an explainer video. With an estimated $4.80 of revenue per customer (based on estimates from 2011), that’s an extra $48,000,000 in revenue per year. Not bad for a “mere” 10 percent increase in conversions.

3 reasons video worked for Dropbox — and can work for your business too

At this point, you may be wondering, “Why was the explainer video so important? What made it so successful?”

Here’s the answer:

Video is worth 1.8 million words: According to a study conducted by Forrester Research in 2009, one minute of video is worth 1.8 million words. It makes sense, when you think about it. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video should be worth a couple million at least. Companies that don’t embrace video will need to hire a lot of writers.
Video leads to huge increases in conversion: Based on research from Internet Retailer, product videos increase the likelihood of a purchase by 85 percent. Additional research showed that product videos gave 52 percent of customers more confidence in their purchase decision. Using the word “video” in an email subject line has also increased open rates 13 percent and click-through rates over 92 percent. Based on another Internet Retailer study from 2012, 46 percent of people will share a video on Facebook, and 40 percent will email links. How’s that for conversion-rate optimization and viral social sharing?
Brain science shows why videos are effective: Simply put, our brains are hardwired to respond to videos. Not only are most people visual learners, but people retain 68 percent more information from video than from plain text. By using video, which stimulates both visual and auditory senses, you’ll make sure that customers understand your business 68 percent better than if they’d only read plain text.

Dropbox increased their conversion rate 10 percent by using a simple explainer video on their homepage. This 10 percent increase led to 10 million additional customers and $48,000,000 in extra revenue. This was all done with a 120-second explainer video that cost less than $50,000.

Was it worth it? Well, a $50,000 in exchange for 10 million customers and $48,000,000 in revenue is quite a return on Dropbox’s investment. If you have a business website and a product, I strongly suggest you consider investing in a simple video too. You may not see numbers in the millions like Dropbox, but you will increase conversions radically with a clear, effective explainer video.

This post originally appeared on the author’s blog.

Andrew Angus is an author, speaker, and founder/CEO of Switch Video, a video animation company that produces simple videos that “explain what you do” in an engaging and compelling format. Andrew is a thought leader in the online video industry, writing and speaking about the brain science behind making your company’s story stick. He welcomes people to reach out to him on Twitter or Google+ and can be booked to speak on Speakerfile.

Now check out these other startup tips at nibletz.com the voice of startups everywhere else.

5 Tips for Young Entrepreneurs Who Want to Be Taken Seriously

I was a 21 year-old entrepreneur when the dot-com bubble burst in 2001. Given the unprecedented volume of dying startups, investors and other business partners became less and less inclined to partner with new companies — especially those led by young founders.

But I felt compelled to win over potential investors, customers, and team members. If I didn’t succeed, neither would my venture.

Here are some of the tactics I used to help establish my credibility as a young founder, and grow my business in spite of my age:

Show others that you’re committed to the venture. Find visible ways to demonstrate your willingness to serve the company. I was always the first person at the office. The signals founders send speak louder than their words.
Present yourself like the most successful people in your industry. Given that most of our revenue came from brand managers and advertising agencies, I couldn’t show up to meetings looking like the college sophomore that I was. I ordered and wore bespoke dress shirts with my monogram on my cuffs. When advertising buyers started our meetings asking where I had my shirts made, the subsequent discussions usually went well. Don’t take this too far and spend beyond your means, of course, but first impressions still count.
Find creative ways to inspire confidence. My team was fired up when well-known leaders like Fred Hoar, the late VP of Communications at Apple, and Dana Summers, Nordstrom’s former VP of Marketing and CIO, joined our board. Sometimes I would ask board members and other well-known advisers to come in and share their lessons with my team. Most leaders love to give back to motivated young entrepreneurs, and this helps improve your credibility in a very noticeable way.
Set and deliver on objectives. Goals and guidelines will go a long way towards establishing momentum and lifting team performance.
Develop your character. While nothing builds trust faster than delivering results, nothing destroys it faster than a failure of integrity. As you see your dream grow from an idea to an enterprise, your opportunities to cut corners will multiply. Grow your character as you grow your business so the latter doesn’t crush the former.

Kevon Saber is the CEO of Fig, a mobile startup focused on personal well-being. Prior to Fig, Kevon was VP of Sales & Marketing at GenPlay Games, a mobile games developer he co-founded which has created fifteen games and $40+ million in consumer revenue. Kevon holds a BS in Finance from Santa Clara University and a MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Kevon and his family live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Saber is a member of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

Fueled By Cardboard: Kidpreneurs Kid President & Caine’s Arcade Spark Happiness & Entrepreneurship

NJ Startup PoetCode Wins “Most Fundable Startup At Startupalooza 2013

The “Most Fundable Startup” award at the 2013 STARTUPALOOZA in New York City has been given to PoetCode, the New Jersey-based creative content company behind the breakthrough eBook and Massively Multiplayer Online game (MMO) in one, Dynasty of the Magi. PoetCode was selected as the winner of a group of 25 aspiring entrepreneurs.

With Dynasty of the Magi, PoetCode has created the first dual-platform interactive experience that allows the gamer/reader to shape the outcome of the eleven eBook fantasy series. This ecosystem of hybrid storytelling that PoetCode has developed has been named liMMO, short for Literary Immersive Massive Multiplayer Online Game.

The Dynasty of the Magi trial version for iPad was launched on the App Store in December of 2012. The app is now in the process of being updated based on user feedback and has an expected App Store and Google Play Store release in early summer 2013.

As a result of their STARTUPALOOZA win, PoetCode will be a Featured Entrepreneur Guest at The Yale Club New York’s Private Equity Forum on Thursday, May 2^nd. The New York Private Equity Forum is America’s premier business funding conference for early and later-stage companies seeking growth capital.

Dynasty of the Magi was also awarded the Publishing Innovations Awards’ Best Transmedia Project of 2012, as well as the Quality, Excellence, Design (QED) seal that serves as the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval™” for eBooks.

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Startup Front has something brewing for startups just outside of Chicago.

7 Steps to Raise Startup Money From a Family Member

My family immigrated from Lima, Peru to the United States before I was born to give me a shot at the American dream. I owe everything I’ve achieved so far to my parents, which is why it’s my goal to support them financially as they get older.

Somewhat paradoxically, to achieve this goal, I raised $5,000 from my mom to start an online affiliate business for U.S. tourism to Peru, called Professor Peru. The idea, of course, is to generate enough revenue to fund her retirement.

But after raising more than $1 million from angel investors, which required an executive summary, Powerpoint presentation and financial projections, I can attest to the fact that fundraising from family members is equally hard, if not harder. The goals and fears associated a family member associates with investing in your business are a far cry from the goals and fears of a professional investor.

If you’re considering raising money from a family member too, here are a few tips to make the process pain-free — and rewarding for everyone:

Understand their financial philosophy. My mom is very protective of her money and absolutely loves to save — she has never before invested in anything. She would rather use her money to pay off the mortgage than to take a gamble at a business that might fail. My mom’s philosophy: “Save now; invest never.” Convincing her to invest in me, then, is a challenge to her very view on money.
Build trust by showing examples of success. To overcome my mom’s knee-jerk reaction to investing her money, it was important to show her clear evidence that success is possible with online businesses. I spoke with her at length about my good friends Cody, Sean, and Chris who have built successful online businesses, as well as my own experience building startups.
Listen closely to investor concerns. My mom was intrigued by the evidence, so it was time to pitch her my idea of an affiliate business for U.S. travelers to Peru. Like any savvy mom, she immediately listed reasons why it might not work! I listened intently to understand her hesitation points. I didn’t respond right away; instead, I waited a day to talk about my idea again.
Address hesitation points. One of the biggest fears my mom had was that no one in the U.S. was traveling. The constant barrage on the news about an economic downturn had led her to assume that no one had the excess income to travel, which of course was untrue. To break this fear, I introduced my mom to four close friends of mine that had recently traveled to Peru. Seeing is believing!
Pitch the bigger vision. While you should certainly consider documenting your agreement in writing, you should also be able to clearly explain the benefits in big-picture terms your family member can appreciate. I asked my mom when she wanted to retire. I then asked her, “What if you could retire in two years?” Though she was skeptical, the seed was planted, and the possibility of an early retirement made her hopeful. Though I didn’t sign any official documents with my mom, your situation may be different if the dollar amount or risk is higher.
Make your ask. There was nothing formal about my pitch; I took my mom out to dinner to her favorite Japanese restaurant to make my ask. No financial spreadsheets, no Powerpoint presentations — just a mom and her son. Note: While Excel spreadsheets intimidate my mom, your family members may want to see detailed projections. In either case, if you can show a well-thought-out plan to spend the money and generate revenue, then you’ll be that much close to closing the deal.
Give a clear timeframe. The pitch itself was a very small portion of dinner, but I did make it clear to her that I needed to know her decision by Friday (giving her two days to make a decision). I’ve learned through years of pitching that the shorter the timeframe, the likelier your pitch is successful.

The result? On Friday, I called my mom, and she told me she trusted me and that she would invest $5,000. And so far, so good – Professor Peru is going strong, with several new partnerships, and I’ve also started development for How to go to North Korea.

Have you ever raised money from a family member? What steps did you take to ensure that the ask was a success — for you and your investor?

Jun Loayza is the President of Reputation Hacks and the original creator of the Beginner’s Guide to Reputation Management. In his startup experience, Jun has sold 2 internet companies, raised over $1 million in funding, and led social media technology campaigns for Sephora, Whole Foods Market, Levi’s, LG, and Activision.

Handprint Selected For Brad Feld’s Fiber House

What do Brad Feld, Kansas City, and Google Fiber have in common? Well combine them all together and you have the subject of a social experiment that Feld is doing to further the startup community in Kansas City.

Kansas City was the second city in the United States to get 1 gb fiber available to consumers, the first was Chattanooga Tennessee. Unlike Chattanooga though, Kansas City was the first city chosen for Google Fiber, the search giant’s first soiree into the land of internet providers. In Kansas City, and soon to be Austin, Google is running 1gb fiber optic lines for internet which allows ultra fast downloads and uploads. This will also put them in competition with several cable companies in markets where they expand their fiber product.

So how did Brad Feld get involved? The Kauffman Foundation’s Lesa Mitchell spoke at SXSW about how she took a phone call from Brad sometime over the Christmas holidays and he was excited about putting his money where his mouth is. He wanted to buy a house in the Google fiber neighborhood in Kansas City, but he wasn’t going to live there.

Feld teamed with the Kauffman Foundation and Startup America CEO Scott Case, who quickly devised a plan. They ran a contest for startups, where one startup would get to live in the house rent free for one year, and with the Google Fiber internet paid for as well.

Is crazy as this idea seemed at first, it was done before, right in Kansas City. Back in October we reported that Ben Barreth had the idea to buy a house and let hackers live in it rent free, again with Google fiber, to work on their startups. Barreth, who’s just an average guy, leveraged his own personal finances to put together his “Homes For Hackers” project and open up the first house.

Feld credit’s Barreth for inspiring him to do this. The two met at the Thinc Iowa startup event where the idea for the Fiber House was made.

Now, the judging committee, which included Case, has selected Handprint as the first year long occupants of Brad Feld’s Fiber House. Handprint is working on 3D printing and editing technology which Feld said “really captured our imagination”.

Handprint founders; Mike Demarais, Alexa Nguyen, Jack Franzen, and Derek Caneja will move to Kansas City and into the Fiber House where they can continue to develop their startup.

For more check out this story at Startup Revolution.

This was the first house purchased for hackers in Kansas City.

Are you a member of Brad Feld’s alternative to Hacker News, Startup Revolution?

Aurora Rediscovering Cities Through Local Music, Launches At One Spark [onespark]

Angel Ayala Torres pitches Aurora At OneSpark (photo NMI 2013)

Aurora is a new Jacksonville Florida based startup that is looking to connect two mobile experiences in one cool functioning app. By using the Aurora app, people will be able to rediscover a city through that cities local artists. This app combines location discovery with artist discovery in a way that actually makes sense.

Creator Angel Ayala Torres took to the Hemming Plaza Pitch Deck stage on Wednesday afternoon to pitch Aurora to an enthusiastic audience.

I actually heard the pitch about an hour earlier in the day at the OneSpark food village when I bumped into Torres and at that time I didn’t totally understand the concept. Now, after watching him pitch and downloading the app, it makes a lot of sense. It’s perfect for local people and local artists.

As he says in the video, take downtown Jacksonville for instance. When you open up Aurora downtown it will immediately start streaming a local downtown Jacksonville artist. If you hear a slow song and you’re briskly walking or jogging and “shake” your iPhone it will change the song and match it to your “mood” they call this “mood swings”.

Now if you venture to the beach area of Jacksonville or even New York City, you’ll get artists that are local to those areas. The Aurora team calls those “Echoes”. In New York you’ll hear New York echoes and in Jacksonville you’ll hear Jacksonville artists.

Aurora is working on a market place where users can purchase the songs to keep on their phone. This way you could listen to the artists wherever you go.

Local Jacksonville artists are jumping at the chance to have their music in the Aurora platform. Really this is a great idea for local music discovery. Just think of the music you would get in a city like Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans or Seattle. Every city has it’s own unique music scene and through Aurora you can easily discover it.

Check out the pitch video here:

Find out more about Aurora here at their Facebook page.

We’ve got more OneSpark coverage here.

Jacksonville Jaguars Are “All In” OneSpark The Crowdfunding Festival

Jacksonville Jaguars,Brian Sexton,startups,crowdfunding

Jacksonville Jaguars voice, Brian Sexton, MC’s OneSpark’s opening ceremonies (photo: NMI 2013)

We’ve been to a lot of startup conferences, festivals and events, and aside from the world famous SXSW, I’ve never seen a city so supportive of an event like this, especially a first time event. The entire city from the municipal government to the chamber of commerce and all of the agencies in between are truly engaged with OneSpark.

Police officers and Sheriff’s officers on loan to the downtown area, know where everything is, ask about creators, and projects and heck we’ve seen a few cops taking iPhone pictures for passerbys. In talking with some of the officers, they are all excited about OneSpark and what it means to downtown. “Big festivals and events like this usually happen across the bridge, OneSpark is great for downtown”, a Sheriff’s deputy who asked to remain nameless because he was on duty told us while we were walking toward Hemming Plaza.

One organization that you wouldn’t think would necessarily be involved in an event like OneSpark is “all in”, and that’s the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

The voice of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Brian Sexton, was the MC for the OneSpark opening ceremonies. While he talks for a living, on the stage at OneSpark he worked from a set of notes but you could easily tell that he knew all about OneSpark, adlibbing about the founders, the event and the creators. Sexton’s familiar voice to the resident’s of Jacksonville serves as another reminder that the whole community is all in.

Jaguars cheerleaders were also mingling throughout Hemming Plaza all afternoon long, even lending a boost to one of the presenters during the afternoon pitch sessions.

As part of the opening ceremonies the cheerleaders returned to the stage to accompany the Jaguars drum line who played a nice ten minute set to warm up the crowd, pep rally style.

Of course that’s just the beginning. Jaguars owner, Shahid “Shad” Khan, a local businessman and entrepreneur is notorious for supporting downtown causes. For OneSpark though his Stache Fund (a play on his signature moustache) has committed $1 million dollars to the event and the crowdfunding prize given out at the end of the festival based on voting.

Luckily for Jaguars fans we’re in the thick of the offseason, but nonetheless this isn’t just an “appearance” for anyone associated with the team, like the police officers, city councilmen and women and others, the Jaguars are all in for OneSpark.

We’ve got more OneSpark coverage here at nibletz.com The Voice Of Startups Everywhere Else.