Dress Your Personal Web Presence To Impress With Detroit Startup Workfolio

There are thousands of “do it yourself” (DIY) solutions to designing your own web page. There are blogging platforms, free overnight do it yourself web tools, and many more. When it comes down to it though, most of them are about saving time and sacrificing design.

Well a Detroit startup called Webfolio is looking to change that by helping users create a “stunning personal website in minutes”.

The startup, founded by Charles Pooley and Aaron Smyth, comes with everything people need to create their own beautiful website in a very short amount of time. Simple editing, magazine quality blogging, file and media hosting, promotional tools, traffic analytics and personal domain and email services make Workfolio a one stop shop for whatever your personal web needs are.

We got a chance to interview the team behind Workfolio. Check out the interview below.

What is Workfolio?

Workfolio is a web application that allows anyone to create a beautiful, distinctive website to highlight their personal brand.

In layman’s terms, how does it work (In other words how would you explain it to your grandmother)?

We make it easy for anyone to create a website, removing many of the technical and content-writing hurdles that complicate the process for the average person. We help users register their own domains, choose a beautiful website theme, and create high-quality content so they can feel great about their website and get back to business.

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

Charles Pooley is the CEO and visionary force behind Workfolio. He comes to Workfolio having previously run a successful marketing and design agency, and having served as a technology executive at a publicly-traded company.

Aaron Smyth is Workfolio’s technology lead. He previously worked as a developer for CafeMom and FoxNews.com, and was the second employee at a successful New York startup company. In addition to his product development experience, Aaron is an instructor in front-end web development at General Assembly in New York.

Where are you based?

Workfolio operates from Detroit and New York City.

What’s the startup scene/culture like where you’re based?

Detroit and New York have very different startup cultures. Because Detroit’s tech scene is still small, the atmosphere is very collaborative, and there is a greater opportunity for individual companies to be recognized within the community.

We chose to open an ofﬁce in New York in order to take advantage of the tremendous network of technology entrepreneurs, investors, and media that exists here.

How did you come up with the idea for Workfolio?

About a year ago I was invited to do a number of speaking engagements, and I decided I needed my own website to help build my personal brand. I tried to use several of the popular website builders but found them to be complicated and frustrating. I realized that if I was having such a problem, being a designer and a fairly technical person, then this process must be close to impossible for less tech-savvy people. We ran a survey and found that 80% of respondents wanted their own website, but only 7% of them actually had one. And when asked why, the two most popular reasons were exactly what I encountered — people thought it was too difﬁcult to set up their own website, and they had no idea what content to add to the website once they set it up. I took these results to my partners, and Workfolio was created shortly thereafter.

How did you come up with the name?

We struggled for a long time to come up with a ﬁtting name for our product. We eventually landed on Workfolio because it concisely conveys the essential function of the product (and we also think it’s catchy).

What problem does Workfolio solve?

If you’ve ever tried to set up your own website, you probably remember feeling frustrated trying to get your website hosting, domain, and code to work together. If you somehow managed to get those to cooperate, you then had to create or buy a design theme, and let’s face it — most of us are not good designers. Then you’re left with another big question: what content goes on my website? Most people get stuck just after purchasing their domain — the learning curve is just so steep. We eliminate the technology and design hurdles for you, allowing you to focus on the important part — creating content to let the world know what you’re all about.

What’s your secret sauce?

We believe design and user experience are the keys to the success of every application. If we can ﬁnd a way to get users to share their content and feel good about the sites they create, they will be loyal customers for life.

Are you bootstrapped or funded?

Workfolio is funded by angel investors.

What are some milestones you’ve achieved?

We’re still in the early stages of the business, so most of our milestones have been related to product development. We have hit every product development milestone we have set so far.

What’s your next milestone?

Since our soft launch, our milestones have shifted from product development to customer acquisition.

Who are some of your mentors and business role models?

Randy Whitaker, the Executive Vice President of Operations for Victoria’s Secret, Dr. David DiChiera, the founder of the Detroit Opera, and Dave Hill, former President of General Motors Trading, stand out as the three people who have been most inﬂuential in helping me develop as an executive. I also admire a number of thought leaders in business, Tom Peters for example, and designers such as Jonathan Ive at Apple.

What’s next for Workfolio?

We have several new product enhancements in the works to provide more customization options for subscribers.

Where can people ﬁnd out more?

The best place to learn about us is on our website: workfolio.com. Follow us on Twitter, as well: @WorkfolioHQ

We’ve got more great startups from Detroit here.

Do you have your startup village booth for everywhereelse.co yet?

Madison Startup PieCharter Is Getting Startups Off The Ground

Madison Wisconsin startup PieCharter is the latest startup tackling the issue of getting entrepreneurs connected to the resources that they need in order to bring an idea from the idea stage to a startup.

PieCharter “…connects budding entrepreneurs with freelance designers in order to create startups. It eliminates the single biggest barrier any entrepreneur faces when starting a new business, money. The site allows entrepreneurs with an idea to post and create a new project then hire contractors to do work that they themselves cannot do by offering the contractors equity in the new project.” John Scheflow, co-founder of PieCharter told nibletz.com in an interview.

Early stage startups often resort to giving up equity to designers, developers and other personnel that come on board in the earliest stages because they can’t afford to pay them. This process gets really sloppy by the time it comes to actually do a cap table and issue stock certificates. Time and time again, founders, or employees who think they are founders, have some kind of misunderstanding when distributing equity.

Scheflow said “…PieCharter creates a platform to hold people accountable for their promises of equity, and also allows freelancers the opportunity to take on projects to build a portfolio and work with companies they believe in.” Thus eliminating the equity free for all that sometimes happens when splitting up the pie.

Scheflow along with his co-founder Richard Magness are law students at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Magness hails from Eureka Springs Arkansas, however before law school in Wisconsin he spent 7 years in Japan working as a free lance web designer. He co-founded flutterscape.com and is also the art director at Diveboard.com. Scheflow majored in journalism at the University of Miami before moving to sunny Wisconsin and is originally from Elgin IL.

While there are plenty of startups out there that are trying to solve the work for equity issue, PieCharter has a few elements that make up their secret sauce. First off, with PieCharter he equity “pie” is visualized and easier to understand. Also both Schefulow and Magness agree that their legal experience and education fits into their secret sauce as well.

“We were aware of some of the legal issues like securities law that our website raises, which has helped us plan around these issues from the beginning. Other than that it’s caffeine and the feeling that working on the site is better than doing any of the other work we have to do.” Scheflow added.

To date the duo has been accepted into the University of Wisconsin Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic. They’ve also built out two prototypes. Their next milestone is an alpha launch and eventually fundraising.

While they don’t have formal mentors both Magness and Scheflow are getting a lot of experience and help in school. They also look up to the Beastie Boys.

“…we’re definitely huge fans of the Beastie Boys. We like people that do what they want to do, and that’s what we’re trying to do with PieCharter. We’re doing what we want to do, and hopefully PieCharter will help people start the projects they want to start.”

PieCharter hopes to move to a closed beta soon. You can find out more at piecharter.com and by following them on Twitter @piecharter.

Now check out 4 Startup Co-Founders You Don’t Want.

Move Over Gary Vee Splitbin Says They’re The “Wolverine” Of Wine Startups [interview]

According to the founders of New York startup Split Bin, Chris “Hannibal” Fava and Todd “Niko” McCarthy, they’ve re-invented the wine startup.

“Splitbin is the Wolverine of wine sale sites…in beast mode…on steroids…to the extreme. While other wine sites just sell assorted high price booze, we offer high quality, low cost wine in a way everyone can understand. Oh yea, we’re also the first wine site in the world to give you the choice to split the cost and buy with friends.” Fava told nibletz.com in an interview.

Essentially Splitbin wants to become the easiest way to buy win and have it delivered, whether you’re drinking alone or having an open house party.

One things for sure, judging by our interview with them, Splitbin has the fire to succeed (and probably attract Gary Vee, who may be just a tad crazier than them)

Check out the interview below.

In layman’s terms, how does it work? (In other words how would you explain it to your grandmother)

If you like wine, but get confused by the culture, and intimidated by high prices, then Splitbin is your horse. We offer affordable wine deals, delivered quickly, with no minimum order requirements. Since we are not, in principle, a “wine club”, we don’t require our Splitbuds to adhere to a buying program. Just log in, check out our new juice, and pick what you like, when you like.

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

Our founder, Chris “Hannibal” Fava, an avid big game hunter, is always after the next animal ready to be taken down. After filling his study with boar and bear busts, he targeted the bloated wine industry and decided to start filling his wine cellar.

Todd “Niko” McCarthy, Splitbin’s CMO and resident chef/DJ, is into wine but also enjoy a nice bullfight on acid. Amateur Formula 1 racetracks in Eastern European capitals are where he finds his happy place. After reading Tim Ferriss’ “4 Hour Work Week” he dedicated himself to digital marketing…and to discovering the elusive 3 hour work week.

Part of our Shadow Ops team, Tom “Bootsy” Collins, is our enigmatic guiding light, a guru of sorts. When upright, you’ll usually find him ensconced in a Burmese jungle searching for rare snake wine, or fending off ivory poachers in Zimbabwe. Currently, his mission is to show wine producers of the world to a new audience, helping the otherwise shunned, marginalized, overlooked drinkers of the world discover great juice at exceptional value.

Where are you based?

Brooklyn, NY (aka Bucktown, USA)

What’s the startup scene/culture like where you’re based?

Ready to be crushed.

How did you come up with the idea for Splitbin?

We’ve lived in group houses and have gone/held our share of group dinners where one person gets stuck with the tab simply by being a good host. We could always split tabs at bars and restaurants, so why the hell couldn’t you do it online? We all liked to cook, eat, and drink together, but we wanted a way to make it easier to get together without one person having to buy everything. Living and working in cities also makes it harder to get to stores and learn about new wine, let alone carrying the damn stuff.

How did you come up with the name?

Have you ever seen the movie Face/Off? It’s like that. Except you Split the Bin.

What problem does Splitbin solve?

Global Warming and making sure mark-ass tricks pay for what they drink in groups.

What’s your secret sauce?

Oooohhhh, you’re dirty…we like that, but we’ll keep the answer clean. You can eat it with anything, but our secret sauce would be a beurre blanc with capers and tarragon. It’s almost like a hybrid Bearnaise and absolutely rocks with roasted salt potatoes or a nice fatty salmon. It’s actually something that is fun to mess around with at home, it just involves a bit of patience, and a shit ton of butter.

Are you bootstrapped or funded?

We like to consider ourselves strapped and sometimes we wear boots. But yeah, we haven’t taken any angel or VC clams yet.

What are some milestones you’ve achieved?

Doing the Seven Summits carrying a full case of Cabernet (without extra oxygen) was Bootsy’s major achievement of fall 2012. Getting our business up and running was a minor miracle…doing this interview with the fine folks at Nibletz sure counts as one

What’s your next milestone?

Getting every man, woman and child (over 21) hooked on wine.

What’s one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?

Figuring out you can’t easily build a website just because you know how to share google docs or have a great smile. Also, figuring out which growth driver is most efficient in our user acquisition strategy.

Who are some of your mentors and business role models?

Our role models are Dave Chappelle (post Africa), the dude that sold his picture app to facebook, Eric Ries and Zack Morris.

Our mentors include some highly experienced pros in the NYC advertising world (Woods Witt Dealy & Sons) as well as Neil Jacobs, who has provided invaluable startup legal counsel as we’ve gotten going.

What’s next for Splitbin?

First priority is bailing our CTO out of jail in Cancun then bussing him back to BK to complete our mobile app (Mexico is fun, but the dude needs to get cracking). It’s still in development, but this app is going to change the world. We are a national company, but have been pretty Beast Coast dominant since launching. We want to really focus on getting the word on Splitbin out to all our homies in the south, midwest and the Best Coast, letting them know that we’ve got the best wine deals going

Where can people find out more!

Check us out on Facebook/splitbin – we post deals, free mixtapes, and all sorts of tomfoolery to help you get through the day

You can find us tweeting trivia questions for wine deal discounts @splitbin or engaging in topical political discussions like #whatismetrobutt?

Ready for a glass of wine? Check out splitbin.com

Zack Morris may have been the inspiration for this startup too!

Austin Startup Burpy Is The Latest In The Grocery Delivery Phenomena [video][sxsw]

We got a chance to catch up with Aseem Ali, one of the cofounders of Austin startup Burpy.

The Burpy platform allows you to order groceries, beverages, snacks/candy, beer, health and beauty needs, cigarettes, household essentials and more. Essentially, anything that can be purchased at WalMart can be delivered via Burpy.

“Our vision was inspired in the kitchen of a friend’s house on August 30, 2012. We were all gathered for a surprise birthday party and were busy baking a cake for the special occasion. Once we pulled the freshly baked cake out from the oven, we realized we didn’t have any candles! With decorations left to arrange and more guests arriving every second, there was no time for anyone to run out and get candles. This left us with a bit of a problem.

That is when the idea for Burpy came to life.

We created Burpy with the goal of uniting traditional “brick & mortar” stores with a 1-hour delivery platform to make shopping a breeze. Burpy’s unique service provides instant delivery of thousands of products whenever and wherever you want! Simply choose products from our easy to use website or mobile app, and we’ll deliver them to your location in a “burp.” If you use it in your home and it fits in a grocery bag, chances are we have it. Plus, our inventory is constantly growing so we’re always looking out for you.” their website says.

At the moment they are in a public beta in their home city of Austin Texas but Ali tells us in the interview video below that they plan on expanding to other big metro areas in Texas as quickly as possible.

This may be the way to go in terms of order and deliver startups. A few weeks back Zaarly shuddered their original “reverse Craigslist idea”, paving the way for Burpy and other similar services to succeed.

Now of course we asked Ali why the name “Burpy” and he explains the answer in the video. All of the founders are students at UT Austin.

You can check out Burpy here at burpy.com

Here are over 65 startup stories from SXSW 2013.

Non Tech Co-Founders Check Out TechSpeak For Entrepreneurs

TechSpeak For Entrepreneurs,Nelly Yusupova, Fred Wilson, startup tips,startup news

Nelly Yusupova founder of TechSpeak For Entrepreneurs (photo: tech.co)

Although he hasn’t led a deal this year, the venture capitalist of all New York venture capitalists, Fred Wilson, is still sharing great advice on his “avc” blog. If you’re not a regular reader of avc.com you need to be.

Last week he wrote about his friend Nelly Yusupova, the CTO at Webgrrls International and the founder and creator of TechSpeak For Entrepreneurs.

As you might imagine, TechSpeak For Entrepreneurs, is a two day bootcamp that teaches us non-technical founders the ins and outs of the software design and build process, and how it works.

Wilson says “…that entrepreneurs who are not deeply technical spend too much money, time, and effort trying to get their ideas turned into software products. Many hire the wrong people, get a product that doesn’t meet what they wanted, and worse of all, many get ripped off in the process. ” Wilson is not a “design” or “developer” snob and realizes that all great startups don’t need a technical founder, but they need to be technically savvy.

TechSpeak for Entrepreneurs also helps non-technical founders learn the lingo and the language on the design and development side. To some, speaking tech is like a foreign language, taking the time out of your busy schedule to attend a TechSpeak for Entrepreneurs could give you the leg up.

There are three TechSpeak For Entrepreneurs’ bootcamps coming up in Phoenix, Silicon Valley and New York.

Phoenix, AZ Apr 05-06

Silicon Valley, CA Apr 13-14

New York City, NY May 04-05

“If you are a non technical entrepreneur, I strongly advise you to get technical. And TechSpeak for Entrepreneurs is a good way to start on that journey.” Wilson suggests.

Wilson is a VC and Principal at Union Square Ventures in New York. Click here to check out avc.com his personal blog.

Learn more, check out these Startup Tips at nibletz.com

I Know We Want Venture Capital But What Is It?

You may be shocked at the amount of startup founders and entrepreneurs that are too afraid to ask the question in the headline, “I know we want venture capital, but what is it”.

Well almost three years ago Silicon Valley Bank did a round table discussion led by Michael Hanewich, the East Coast Head Of Life Sciences/Venture Capital for Silicon Valley Bank.

The panelists were:

Bryan Roberts, Ph.D. — Partner with Venrock, a leading venture capital firm
Judith Elsea — Co-Founder and Managing Director of Weathergage Capital, a fund-of-funds and limited partner in venture capital investing
John Mendlein, Ph.D. — Chairman of Fate Therapeutics, an emerging company backed by venture funding.

In a six part video series they explain exactly what venture capital is, where it comes from, how it gets to entrepreneurs and how an entrepreneur can benefit, not only from the funding but from a long term commitment as well.

Roberts explains the venture capital process early on. Venture capital firms raise funds every 3 or 4 years from limited partners. Limited partners can come in a variety of forms. Wealthy families, foundation partners, insurance companies, funds of funds and other can be partners in VC firms. Now keep in mind we’re talking about Venture Capital here, not an “angel” round which is something totally different.

Partners in a venture capital firm have a “very long horizon” on dollars. They want to make money,but are fine, and perhaps better off, doing it over a long period of time.

Now, granted, this video series was produced three years ago before super exits like Instagram. However, Instagram is the exception, not the rule.

The purpose of the VC dollars is to get a company’s product developed and to market, and eventually to liquidity. Venture capitalists will then make money on their initial investment commonly through the company going public or a merger or acquisition of some sort. In rare instances the venture capitalists can make their money back through the company generating revenue.

Here’s the first video in the series:

See the rest of the video series here.

4 Startup CoFounders You Don’t Want

Back in October we had a great guest post from Mike Moyer the author of “Slicing Pie: Funding Your Company Without Funds”. In that guest post Moyer talks about how to divide equity in a startup, fair and square. If you haven’t read it, it’s definitely worth the read.

Co-founder contribution is one of the biggest things that co-founders argue about when they are distributing equity. I’ve been down this road three different times and have learned some pretty important lessons along the way. My co-founder at nibletz.com, Nick Tippmann, compliments me and the business in ways that will hopefully make nibeltz succeed far beyond our wildest dreams.

Every startup isn’t so fortunate. Many startups and cofounders find that other people on their team fit into one of these four categories, at least in their first time around. Scott Annan at startupplays.com did a great job of summarizing them:

The Disappearing Cheerleader
Initially excited and enthusiastic about how your solution will change the world, they start missing meetings, not following up on things they said they’d do, are slower responding to emails. They’re on the to the next shiny object, and things get awkward.

The “All In If It Works Out”
Cautious from the beginning, you get the impression that this character is hedging her bets… Putting in enough time to be part of the team if it takes off, but keeping that day job, not changing their Linkedin Profile, or forgetting to mention your new super-awesome project at the latest meetup.

The Big Talker
This is the uber-connected person who can open any door with their massive contact list. But once you need their help, the contacts aren’t so quick to help, or aren’t as strong as you were led to believe. Or, worse, excuses are made why you’re not really “ready” for intros yet – and you get the feeling you’ll never be “ready” enough.

Allergic to Work
Despite an epic startup weekend, life gets in the way of getting stuff done.

It happens. And if you’ve ever started a company, it’s probably happened to you. Next is the awkward conversation “that-should-have-happened-a-long-time-ago” and ensuing equity renegotiation that at worst can kill your startup – and at best dilute your company unnecessarily.

Check out the rest of Annan’s post here, as well as Mike Moyer’s video on the “Dynamic Equity Split”

Fair and Square how to divide equity in a startup.

Holy Apples Batman, Steve Wozniak To Speak In Arkansas April 7th For Free

This announcement comes to us by way of Lee Watson and Startup Arkansas .

Apple co-founder, and generally awesome tech geek extraordinaire, Steve Wozniak is speaking at the University of Arkansas next Sunday April 7th. Doors open at 6:00p,. The lecture and Q&A, with are part of the University of Arkansas’ “Distinguished Lecture Series.

The talk will take place at the Barnhill Arena and is free and open to the public. Seating will be first come firs served, so arrive early.

More info here.

Listen Up Here’s How You Could Win A TechCrunch Startup Alley Booth

TechCrunch has just announced the first wave of their 2013 meetups and this year they’re coming with “Pitch Offs” as well.

TechCrunch held a pitch off event in New York City back in February. It was met with huge success. TechCrunch editor John Biggs called the event a “mini Disrupt”. If you’ve ever been to Disrupt in Asia, New York or San Francisco, it’s one of the most highly coveted startup events.

Now TechCrunch has announced meet-ups and pitch offs in Austin, San Diego and Boston.

The first event out of the gate is the Austin meetup on May 30th at the Stage On Sixth where TechCocktail held their pitch-off event during SXSW.

TechCrunch meetups are great. We were able to attend one in North Carolina and one in Atlanta last year. Both had nearly 1000 people through the door which came from every corner of the tech and startup community. There will be a handful of local startups and local startup support organizations, free alcohol and TechCrunch editors and reporters mingling and giving best practices and advice to startups. They even hold office hours.

This year they’re adding the pitch off event as well.

Participants will have 60 seconds to pitch the crowd and the TechCrunch judges. Products must be in private beta or stealth mode and ready to launch at TechCrunch Disrupt SF in September. The top prize at the Austin event is a free TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Alley booth. Of course the TechCrunch judges will also be vetting startups for the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield stage for their chance at $50,000 and a crown that is almost always synonymous with follow on funding.

So if your startup wants into the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Alley, prepare to attend the Austin event in May!

More on the Austin meetup and pitch off here.

Did you miss everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference, don’t miss the next one.

Bizoogo Is A Modern Bulletin Board Connecting Founders, Startups and Entrepreneurs [interview]

The latest “cofounder platform” promising to connect cofounders to launch the next wave of startups is in London and has a great name. London startup Bizoogo, is allowing UK entrepreneurs to search, connect and collaborate with partners and co-found new businesses.

“The website is organised as a Noticeboard for “People” and “Ideas”. If you’re looking to find a co-founder to help develop your business idea, search our database of “People”; if you want to contribute your time and skills to a new startup opportunity as a co-founder, search our database of “Ideas”.”

“To get started,you sign up for free; update your profile by specifying your location, expertise and the industries you’re interested in. If you have a startup idea, post a brief, specify your location, the industry of your idea, and the expertise you’re looking for in a co-founder. Now you can find or be found according to location, expertise and industry preferences. You can shortlist your top picks and connect privately or publicly via our messaging features. And when you’re ready to meet, come along to our monthly co-founder networking meetups to find out whether the connection is as good face-to-face as it is online.” Erez Nounou told nibletz.com in an interview.

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

Erez Nounou (CEO) – Erez started out as a commercial lawyer before jumping ship and getting involved in the London startup scene. Alongside founding bizoogo, he has also been involved in digital media and angel investing.

Nicolás Klein (CTO) – Nico is our all-knowing technical guru. From Buenos Aires, he’s been programming for over 6 years and has several desktop and mobile (android) applications to his name. He’s now working on the next set of game-changing features on bizoogo.

Where are you based?

London, UK.

What’s the startup scene/culture like where you’re based?

The London startup scene is buzzing. We’ve got some of the best support and infrastructure in the world and the quality of our startup and investment community continues to improve and influence the European tech space. It’s a good time to be a startup in London, and as a grassroots entrepreneur community, we’ve got great seats.

How did you come up with the idea for Bizoogo?

The idea came about as a solution to my own startup dilemma of having an idea but not having the technical skills or the industry know-how to develop it. Starting up can be expensive and before proof of concept, risky. It seemed like a good idea to have a go-to, where you know from the start there’s a bunch of people from a range of industries and areas of expertise available and interested in working together, either to eliminate bad ideas early or to validate and develop good ones. That would give us all a cost-effective opportunity to start new businesses and to build better resourced teams from the start.

How did you come up with the name?

It all stemmed from the root word ‘zoog’, which in Hebrew means partner; the website is a place where entrepreneurs are able to find the partners they need to ‘go into business’. Put it all together and you get bizoogo – you go into business! The interlinking O’s in the logo design represent the partnership made up of ‘People’ and ‘Ideas’.

What problem does Bizoogo solve?

With an “ambition gap” in the UK that sees more than 44% of the population wanting to start a business but not doing it, and that “gap” largely follows worldwide, our aim is to bridge the gap by matching the ideators with the technical help they need to execute. Working together lets both sides bridge the creative, technical and financial gap that holds them back; it’s also a really easy, effective and fun way of validating ideas and building a community for those of us that are new to the scene and just scratching and exploring the surface.

What’s your secret sauce?

It’s informal, easy to use, clear in purpose, non-discriminatory and effective. Members across all industries and areas of expertise are able to connect and work together in partnerships that share the talent, time and cost of developing a new business. Instead of paying disconnected freelancers at a time when risks are high and money is limited, anyone can now find the people they need or collaborate on the ideas they like, with a shared interest to make it work. We also realise that lasting relationships don’t exist virtually, so having face-to-face opportunities to meet really helps.

Are you bootstrapped or funded?

Bootstrapped…investors, get in touch.

What is your goto market strategy?

We’re using social media to spread the word via facebook and twitter; we promote our events via meetup; we’re big on strategic partnerships and try to attend and get involved at as many industry events as possible.

What’s one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?

The toughest challenge was finding the right people to work with. To start a new venture, you often don’t know where to start, who to ask or trust and there’s generally a lot of trial-and-error, particularly with freelancers. I think it’s a problem which knocks back a lot of people with business ideas because going beyond your own limited network is a step too far in the dark for most. We’ve created and personally used Bizoogo to help overcome that problem, and it’s fast becoming a really credible go-to community and first point of call for many UK entrepreneurs, because you’re sure to find a mix of different skills, experience and ideas, with the joint aim of collaborating and co-founding new ventures.

Who are some of your mentors and business role models?

We’ve got a solid network of experienced and exited entrepreneurs across digital and traditional business. I think we’re lucky in that we meet so many passionate and enthusiastic entrepreneurs through our events and our day-to-day that it always provides us with a good measure of inspiration and learning.

What’s next for Bizoogo?

We’re looking to create an end-to-end startup ecosystem where ideas are conceived, developed, grown and funded into profitable businesses.

We want the platform to become a creative, dynamic and ambitious hub packed full of ideas and professionals looking to get involved across the industries, and we want to make sure we’re able to help any business from idea through to sustainability. Watch this space!

You can find out more about Bizoogohere.

This California startup is making smoking marijuana more professional

Chattanooga’s CoLab Hosting Women’s 48 Hour Launch

Tennessee is a great state for startups. There are 9 accelerator regions across the state, that draw resources from Launch Tennessee, and one of the most active Startup America Regions. Startup Tennessee was the second Startup America region launched two years ago.

The major accelerator hubs across the state; Memphis,Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga work very well together and naturally collaborate on ideas and generally help each other out.

That’s why when Memphis held the UpStart 48 Hour Launch for women in December two young women from Chattanooga joined in the festivities and pitched in all weekend long. Next weekend on April 5th, Launch Your City Chief Relationship Officer Elizabeth Lemmonds, will return the favor by taking part in the city’s first women’s 48 Hour Launch.

48 Hour Launch works very similarly to the Startup Weekend model, just a few hours shorter.

Friday April 5th, the community will gather up all the interested female entrepreneurs. At that time the women will pitch their idea to the audience. A voting process will take place and it will be decided which teams will continue on to create a business in 48 Hours.

Saturday the teams will continue to work on their startups and Sunday they will be judged. Danielle Inez, and her event in a box startup, Pink Robin Avenue, won the Memphis event back in December. Inez won a free booth at Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference.

CoLab has put together sponsor supported prize packages of great business services for the top three teams on Sunday.

For more information click here

4.2% of venture capital funded startup deals go to women.

When VC’s Hear Entrepreneur They Think “Man”

Women Entrepreneurs, Clayman Institute, Sexism,startups

(image: womenentrepreneurshq.com)

A new study from the Clayman Institute for gender research at Stanford suggests that there is still a major gender bias in how Venture Capitalists view women entrepreneurs. While we love to celebrate entrepreneurship among women, and have done so with our recently launched“Bad Ass Startup Chicks” feature and by having women focused panels at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference, not everyone is quick to recognize the female entrepreneur.

Business Insider has an advance of the study which says that women only receive 4.2 percent of venture capitalist fuunding.

At the heart of the study was a project where the researchers created identical executive summaries for a startup. They then modified the education and gender of the fictional entrepreneur and asked participants to rate the venture’s likelihood of success and their impression of the entrepreneur.

The three key takeaways were:

– Women with a technical education and background raised the confidence in the VC’s and their willingness to meet and potentially invest.

– Women without a technical background received “significantly lower” ratings. Even if they had business degrees, which often help men, they were harmful for women.

– Network ties were incredibly critical for women.

“What we found was that having a technical background helped both men and women,” said Stanford’s Andrea Davies Henderson. “But it helped women more, in terms of likelihood to invest a higher percentage, and likelihood to schedule a meeting with an entrepreneur.”

“Not having a technical background hurt women — it hurt their chances of securing a meeting and securing funding,” Henderson continued. “But it didn’t hurt men.”

Women in startups, entrepreneurship and business have been a hot button topic since the release of Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In”. The Clayman Institute was the academic partner for the book.

Find out more here and here.

Check out these stories on women founded startups.

OFFICIAL: Paul Singh Unveils Dashboard.io Steps Down From 500 Startups

A few weeks ago during SXSW we had heard some rumblings that DC area native Paul Singh was tapping his network back east and preparing to launch a startup of his own, sort of.

This announcement from TechCocktail says it’s official. Armed with a $250,000 investment from DC based NextGenAngels, Singh is embarking on a mission to take a system he developed that has been used internally at 500 Startups and bring it out to the world.

While we were in Silicon Valley last week we stopped by for a three hour tour and a cool session with 500 Startups Fire Chief George Kellerman. Kellerman reiterated the positive things that many of the 500 Startups founders we’ve talked to have said about their internal dashboard system, which is the Dashboard.io product Singh is now working on full time.

The dashboard system has allowed 500 Startups founders, and 400 accelerator companies to communicate internally with VC’s, Angels and Mentors. Sarah Ware, CEO and Founder at 500 Startups alum Markerly, told us “The dashboard system gives us access to people that may not necessarily correspond with us outside of the system.” Being a 500 Startups company certainly gives a startup credibility but Ware added “potential investors and mentors get back to us quicker when the message comes through the system.”

“This thing is so deceivingly simple, but it’s amazing that no VCs have really innovated in this space,” Singh said to TechCocktail.

New startups sign up for the system using Angel List. Dashboard.io gives them access to their investor’s networks where they can start having discussions, send private messages and make comments. If a startup shares their analytics, the system gives investors access to comparative data on how the startup stacks up against other startups and their competition.

As of this writing there have been 18,509 interactions, 2,224 mentor sessions across 1,044 funded startups.

For more info check out dashboard.io

500 Startups Founder Dave McLure says Buying a house is far more risky than investing in startups.

Everywhereelse.co 2013 In Just About 3 Minutes (Ticket News for 2014) [video]

If you missed everywhereele.co The Startup Conference 2013, then you missed the largest single venue startup conference in the United States dedicated to one thing. That thing is, startups “everywhere else”.

Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference 2013, and Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference 2014 provide programming, celebrations, pitch contests, parties and networking opportunities that are extremely relevant for startups outside Silicon Valley.

The 2013 conference featured a huge startup village exhibition, along with workshops, keynotes, small groups and round table discussions on the issues that matter to startups in entrepreneurial pockets across the country and around the world.

Kick Ass Female Founders From Everywhere Else, Legaleeze, You Only Launch Once, applying and graduating from accelerators and more were at the forefront of the 2013 event. After parties that included free tickets to a Memphis Grizzlies NBA game, a historic brothel (Ernestine & Hazels), and the craziest throw back disco ever, dj’d by a world famous pimp (Raifords), were just some of the great social events.

2014 features a lot more similar content focused on acceleration, access to capital, access to talent, branding, design and pitching. Mike Muhney the godfather of CRM (co-creator of ACT which was the standard before SalesForce), Baker Donelson legal panels and workshops, and design, naming and branding with the folks at nationally known archer>malmo are just some of the discussions, topics and content coming in 2014.

The Marriott is offering $109 per night rooms for the event which runs February 17-19th 2014. American Airlines is also offering reduced fares and Avis is offering reduced rental cars.

This year we are also providing breakfast and lunch on both conference days.

Tennessee startup GreenPal and J Brant Films, Jeffrey Brant, who’s worked with national country recording artists in Nashville, have provided the video montage below. Check out Everywhereelse.co 2013 in nearly 3 minutes below.

The early bird special, where you can purchase attendee tickets and Startup Village booths at 2013 prices for the next conference, has been extended from March 27th to March 31st (Sunday night) or until the early bird tickets and startup village booths run out. Check out the ticket registration form below the video for availability.

Event management for Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference 2014 powered by Eventbrite

We’ve got more great startups from Detroit here.

Do you have your startup village booth for everywhereelse.co yet?

Now check out 4 Startup Co-Founders You Don’t Want.

Zack Morris may have been the inspiration for this startup too!

Here are over 65 startup stories from SXSW 2013.

Learn more, check out these Startup Tips at nibletz.com

See the rest of the video series here.

Check out the rest of Annan’s post here, as well as Mike Moyer’s video on the “Dynamic Equity Split”

Fair and Square how to divide equity in a startup.

More on TechCrunch Disrupt SF here.

Did you miss everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference, don’t miss the next one.

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4.2% of venture capital funded startup deals go to women.

Check out these stories on women founded startups.

500 Startups Founder Dave McLure says Buying a house is far more risky than investing in startups.