4 Must-Read Venture Capitalist Blogs

There’s a lot of noise in the blogosphere, but when it comes to blogging VC’s, founders would do well to pay attention. The great thing about investors who blog is that entrepreneurs can do some initial research before they ever request a meeting. And for those not ready for funding, VC blogs can teach us a lot about the startup atmosphere.

As the content trend grows, more and more VCs blog on a semi-regular basis. Here are some of our favorites:

Brad Feld

Brad Feld is the managing director of the Foundry Group in Boulder, CO. He’s also the author of some of our favorite startup books, including Startup Communities and Do More Faster. As one of the founders of TechStars, he’s a champion of startups and startup ecosystems all over the country. On his blog, Feld talks startup life, startup communities, and the startup scene in Colorado.

Mark Suster

One of the very first articles I read about startups was Entrepreneurshit. The Blog Post on What It’s Really Like. In a world where we often glamorize startups, Suster’s blog is often a refreshing jolt of reality. Startups are hard, but as a 2x founder and partner at Upfront Ventures, he knows it’s not impossible. There’s as much encouragement as tough talk on this blog.

Ben Horowitz

One of the founding partners of Andressen Horowitz, Ben also has plenty of experience as an entrepreneur. His blog is full of wisdom gained from those experiences and discussions of how Andreesen Horowitz operates.

Fred Wilson

As the managing partner at 2 New York VC firms, Flatiron Partners and Union Square Ventures, Fred Wilson has plenty of experience. He’s been in the VC game since 1986, before a lot of current entrepreneurs were out of diapers. His posts are short and sweet, but insightful. My current favorite post is If You Aren’t Technical, Get Technical.

How to Stay Ahead of Startup Trends

technology If you feel like you’re always behind the times in startup trends, you’re not alone. Journalists build their entire careers on being analysts of the industry, trying to become the one who predicted the next Apple or Google. Following those journalists will connect you with greater trends and analysis. Many of them build and maintain lists of prominent industry figures you should follow.

If you’re still feeling stuck, it may be time for a more aggressive strategy on keeping up with the news.

Study the Investors

On the blog of Toby Ruckert, you’re likely to find articles about things like how to secure government funding for your startup. This might sound like an obvious tip at first glance. Who doesn’t want government money if it will help launch and won’t come at a high interest rate? But Toby takes the tip further by discussing how you can shift the work of having to apply for government funding to investors.

Reading investor blogs get you inside the head of people that have been in the game for years. They know what it takes for companies to grow and become successful brands in a crowded market. You might not be able to meet with them personally, but their blogs are full of free knowledge. Seek out lists of investors where you can.

Study Which Startups Succeed

The kind of startups that succeed tell you a lot about the climate that you are competing against. Take Honey as an example. The idea of finding deals for users might sound like a turn off for online retailers, but as the numbers increase the hype behind the small startup is growing too. Co-founder Ryan Hudson says that the company is succeeding based on word of mouth marketing. He claims the majority of traffic is from users typing the URL of Honey directly into their browsers.

Honey might be spreading so virally because of its leak on Reddit, but it could be related to the quality of service that users want. The startup adds value to users, so people are willing to pass it on to friends and family. Not every startup will catch like Honey, but you can take time to evaluate your business model and find its sticky value.

Even simpler than that, read the blogs of successful startups. They will often discuss their process, brag about accomplishments and talk about new partnerships they have acquired.

Study the Tools Startups Use

If you didn’t know, some of the most successful startups around are currently built on Python. Quora, Instagram and Pinterest all use the programming language to render their pages in-browser. Python is one of many popular frameworks currently favored by Web developers worldwide. Ruby on Rails is another simplistic programming language, both are free to learn from manuals on the Web or from Code University.

Knowing which languages are popular helps you hire developers to build the vision you want.

Visit Universities

Robert Scoble claims that he saw a self-driving car debut at Stanford University in 2007. Today, there are several tech companies and car companies seeking to build one and get it on the market. Universities like Stanford and MIT are the best and brightest that American schools have to offer. If you want to know what the next generation will be using, take a peek in on some of the technology these students are playing with.

You can also head over to Boston, where robotics is fairly huge and where some of the brightest minds in the fields are building amazing machines that can carry heavy loads and navigate complicated terrain on their own.

Network Face to Face

Getting out and meeting people is a great method of figuring out what companies might be into. Not every business executive has time to meet with you, but hanging out at local networking events and talking with experts in the field to write a blog post are both great ways to gain knowledge from experienced people.

Follow Trends Online

Google Trends and Twitter are two good places to start if you want to see what’s brewing in the tech scene, but you can find interesting trends all over the Web if you know where to search. Sites like Reddit divide their groups up by interest, making it easy to find a niche and search for the trends that niche thrives on. News sites like NPR and CNN have technology sections that feature stories about new ideas being toyed with, and new procedures that have become standard. NPR has done extensive reporting on the viability of fracking in the wake of a natural gas boom in the United States. Knowing these types of trends, and some of the debates behind them, influences where investor money goes.

Travel

If possible, travel to other countries and discover their startup scenes for more inspiration. You’ll learn things like Africa’s shift toward a society less reliant on physical currency, or how Brazil and South America are experiencing a small tech boom. Take a cue from Hollywood, an industry that routinely borrows from all over the world, there is always profit to be had from good ideas.

Kevin is an account director at Online Rep Management and has been working within internet marketing and public relations for over 8 years. Kevin got his start working online in SEO, link building, and some affiliate marketing. Kevin is most passionate about helping good brands become online entities. Check out ORM or follow Kevin on twitter!

Founder Spotlight: Phil Laboon of Eyeflow Internet Marketing

Phil Laboon has consulted for everything from startups to Fortune 500’s, Phil Laboon has consulted for everything from startups to Fortune 500’s, developing clients’ online presences and online credibility. Eyeflow Internet Marketing specializes in providing organic SEO, online marketing solutions, social media and PPC by utilizing strategic, ethical and natural techniques. Each campaign is customized based on customers’ unique industries and goals. Follow him @eyeflow

Who is your hero?

I would have to say Ron Paul. A true underdog story! When he was running for the Republican nomination, it literally changed my idea of what is possible. Here you have a guy running under a ticket of a party that hates him, and he did very well. He got hammered by the left, the right, and even the media but he never gave up. He changed the course of that election on both sides of the aisle.

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

Be stubborn and be committed to the belief that you’re not going to fail. The people who quit typically never get back on the horse. I knew that if I quit and became an employee, I would have that employee mindset forever.

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

I would have not relied on partners for various business ventures I got involved with early in my career. I had 100 percent confidence in a previous real estate venture, my contract, and my partner. But he ended up funneling the leads into a separate entity to prevent me from getting my share. I think when you are young and eager, you think you need a partner to help with the workload. From my experiences, most of the time partners just hold you back and create more problems than they solve. I’m sure many partnerships are great for some entrepreneurs, but looking back I wish I would have set more legal safety nets and specific tasks for each of us to accomplish.

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

I have a clear plan for what I need to tackle in the morning before other things come up and interrupt my day. I like to start the morning by going through my emails and then move on to any tasks left over from the previous day. It’s important to prioritize tackling emails as they come in while thoughts are fresh. It promotes good customer service and helps ensure that nothing is missed. After that, I move on to items that need accomplishing that day.

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

Don’t skimp on marketing materials or online design. Strong branding is important online and offline. I’m really into making sure our sales material reflects the quality and value of our services. Success and income are in those details.

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

Look for unique opportunities to take advantage of and take educated risks! The only way your company is going to grow is if you take calculated risks with your time and money. Every business was a gamble when it was first created. Businesses only need to discover one profitable strategy to overshadow all the previous failures. You just have to look out for opportunity and give it your best shot. The true challenge is being able to recognize opportunity when it comes your way and take the leap in order to capitalize on it.

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

A benchmark of success for me was when I didn’t have to work a side job to “support” my business. I didn’t want investors in my company, so I self-funded everything, which meant working side jobs to keep the lights on during slow months. This milestone helped reassure me that I made the right decision with my career and gave me even more dedication to continue what I was doing.

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.

Funding Friday: It Is Possible to Raise Money Everywhere Else

The common theme in the startup world is that it’s very hard to raise money outside of Silicon Valley. But, let’s be real here. It’s really hard to raise money inside the Valley, too. No one said entrepreneurship was easy, and sometimes the best things are difficult to accomplish.

Sometimes, though, it’s nice to see other companies doing it. Whether it’s a seed round or an IPO filing, watching other companies succeed can be a good reminder than we can, too.

With that in mind, here are 5 companies from everywhere else that raised money recently*:

GROUNDFLOOR, based in North Carolina, raised $125,000 in a seed round. Founders Brian Dally and Nick Bhargava are building a new way to invest, starting with real estate. “The banks aren’t invited, but you are,” it says on the website. The two men have plenty of experience between them, and if you’re interested in investments, you should check them out.
Traxo announced a $4.2 million Series A on the company blog last week. Part social network, part travel itinerary, the Dallas-based company is looking to make the travel process easier.
KidsLink calls itself a “family management tool.” Parents can aggregate and organize essential documents and receive alerts about milestones and seasonal events. The team at KidsLink sees their product as a great solution for the lack of technology in most medical and educational institutions. The Atlanta-based company announced $1 million in funding.
Nextly offers a new browsing solution for online content. You can follow streams and save pages to your collection. The Boston-based startup is a well-designed competitor to StumbleUpon. The $600k in another seed round, and are already backed by prominent angel investors like Dharmesh Shah of Hubspot.
NoWait is an iPad app that allows restaurants to text customers when their table is ready. With offices in Pittsburgh, New York, and (soon) Austin, they are definitely everywhere else. The company raised a $1.9 million Series A.

So, take heart, founders everywhere else. With a great solution and a great team, it is possible to raise money outside of Silicon Valley. However, as these founders probably know, raising money just means the work can get started.

*All funding news and most numbers came from the Mattermark newsletter.

Top 6 Tips for Crowdfunding Your Startup

If you own or plan on starting your own business, you may have considered crowdfunding to raise additional capital. If you haven’t, you should.

It’s quickly becoming an extremely popular form of project and startup funding, primarily since it frees you from having to pay back the interest that goes along with a business loan. Essentially it allows you to collect funds in the form of donations.

While businesses can offer incentives or (now) equity in exchange for donations, this overhead is usually much smaller than what you would be facing in terms of interest payments to a bank.

Crowdfunding also offers a chance to connect with people who are truly interested in what you’re doing and who believe in you on a personal level– not just in your business model.

cf1

Image courtesy of jannoon028 — FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There’s no question that crowdfunding is a workable and viable financing method; so for entrepreneurs looking to get on board, here are few tips to take note of moving forward:

1. Plan a marketing campaign — Your crowdfunding campaign will only yield returns under an effective marketing campaign. Make sure you sketch out a marketing plan ahead of time and avoid the “build-it-and-they-will-come” mentality.

2. Research and know your target audience — When you do go to market your crowdfunding campaign, you need to know who to market it to. Try and identify those who are most likely to donate and make sure they know about your campaign.

3. Create a pitch video for your project — A pitch video should be a short, 30-second-or-less clip explaining your project, what it’s about and why you’re asking people to donate. While it should be short and to-the-point, it should also be convicting and passionate.

Here are a few helpfulexamples.

4. Leverage your social media following — Businesses that have a substantial social media following have a tremendous opportunity to get their campaign in front of a lot of eyes. Use your social media account as a component of your marketing campaign; though make sure not to put all your eggs in this one basket.

5. Have incentives — Smaller projects can sometimes get away with not having any incentives and just asking for donations. However, incentives are always going to increase the likelihood that people will donate. Whatever those incentives might be, make sure to keep it low-cost so that you’re not needlessly increasing overhead.

6. Have a spending plan in place — Once you start to bring in money, you’ll want to have a plan in place for how you eventually intend to spend it. In fact, it doesn’t hurt to have this information available to potential donors from the beginning, so that they know exactly how their money is being used.

Also be sure to follow up with those who donate to let them know how you’re using their money and what level of success your project is seeing.

Not a Passive Solution

On the surface, crowdfunding might seem like asking for a handout or getting free money; however, that’s not the case at all.

Crowdfunding isn’t a passive solution to your business project; it requires a tremendous amount of work and preparation, both before, during and after you launch the campaign. While it does give you more flexibility and independence than traditional methods of financing, it still requires you to be sharp and well-prepared for the task at hand.

That being said, if you can be proactive and thorough about your approach, a crowdfunding campaign could be ideal for your business needs.

Camille McClane is a freelance writer and online entrepreneur who hopes to have her very own business someday. Working withHostPapa has given her the opportunity to share her knowledge of the online world, including SEO and social media marketing. Entrepreneurs today have so many options, and she highly encourages others to explore all of them!

Trends to Watch: Content 101

Content is King.

This was probably the first thing I heard when I started freelancing a few years ago. Back then, it was said in comparison to SEO or social media strategies. The theory went that if you produced good content, you were going to get traffic.

Well, things change quickly on the Internet. The saying is even more true these days, but not in quite the same ways.

Everywhere you look there is “content.” Videos, podcasts, Tweets, Facebook status updates, and plain old articles. There are “content companies” whose sole purpose is to manage or produce content. But, almost every savvy startup or company knows they have to figure out how to utilize content to bring in customers.

So, in the mess of content creation, curation, and syndication (and any other-tion you can think of), how do you know what’s what? What are the different kinds of content companies, and how do they make money?

Never fear. Here’s your brief, Content 101 rundown:

The Media

These are the companies that look a lot like traditional newspapers, just in the digital realm. They focus on reporting and storytelling, often in one vertical. In the startup space, for example, you have PandoDaily and TechCrunch. Nibletz also falls into this category. There are also some very interesting general journalism startups that are playing around with business models to keep more traditional journalism alive.

These companies deal with content in vastly different ways. Some focus on the quality of articles, often producing fewer, more expensive pieces. Others put out tons of articles that are shorter and quicker to read.

There are a variety of ways in which media companies get content in the first place. Some have a staff of writers who are paid to produce, similar to an old-style newsroom. Others solely publish unknown writers, often for free. Most use some hybrid of the two models.

How do they make money?

Good question. As in social media, ads are a big source of revenue for media companies. However, most are also exploring other streams like sponsorships, events, and subscriptions/paywalls. This is a huge source of disruption at the moment, and my guess is things will look very different in 20 years than they do even now.

The Platforms

As in everything else, lines are blurring between “media companies” and “media platforms,” but in general a platform company does not produce its own content. Medium is one example. Users hop online and write whatever they want. They don’t need to write consistently; no one’s looking for a blog theme or any kind of upkeep.

Longreads is another example of a platform, though it is used for curation. Users of the site post their favorite long-form journalism articles and essays from all over the place for the enjoyment of other users. Flipboard is another platform that takes your personal preferences into account as it curates news and other content.

Platforms are also working out new ways to make money. Longreads is a subscription service; users pay a small fee to read and recommend on the site. Medium, however, doesn’t really have revenue yet, and no one’s quite sure how they plan to produce some. Users rave about the beauty and simplicity of the design, so it’s hard to believe they’ll be stoked about ads appearing.

Besides the media companies and platform companies, content is growing in other sectors as well. Most e-commerce companies also have some kind of content to draw potential customers to their site. Big corporations are hiring editors and social media experts to manage the content they produce.

If content is king, it’s still anyone’s guess as to what his kingdom will ultimately look like. But, we can always be sure there’ll be stuff to read on the Internet.

Visualead is Redesigning the QR Code

The QR code has now become so ubiquitous, even my mom knows what it is. (And she had that original Nokia phone for, like, 10 years.)

The QR code may be everywhere, but the black and white box design leaves something to be desired. It either completely interrupts the design of the product, or it blends in so perfectly, it’s impossible to spot.

Visualead thinks it has the answer. The Israel startup is redesigning the QR code to make it fun, hip, and more engaging.

Check out their Q&A below:

What does your company do?

Our company is pioneering a change, or as we like to call it – an evolution, in the field of QR codes by introducing a new product to the market – the visual QR code, which utilizes the scannability of the original code but boasts an attractive customizable image, instead of the boring black & white barcode. This is great for mobile marketing, and has proven to increase CTR and user engagement.

Who are the founders, and what are their backgrounds?

Nevo Alva – CEO, MBA from TAU in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, held executive positions in Clearcut and Dreambots startups

Itamar Fridman – CTO, MSc EE from the Technion summa cum laude, worked in Kaminario and Dreambots startups

Uriel Peled – CPO, BSc EE from the Technion summa cum laude, previous position was a R&D team leader at Mellanox

Where are you based?

Israel.

What’s the startup scene like where you are based?

While Israel is a small country, with roughly 7.6 million people, it has approximately 4,800 startup companies and attracts far more venture capital per person than any other country in the world. Dubbed as The Startup Nation, Israel outweighs the United States in venture capital investment per person, totaling $170 per person compared to $70 per person in the US.

What problem do you solve?

We are bent on solving a core problem with the design of the QR code, which is its visual handicap in form of an un-engaging black and white barcode. This in turn causes a decrease in user engagement and CTR. By introducing our product to the market we solve that problem; the visual QR Code is cool, hip and fun and caters to the needs of both individuals and businesses. We really think it’s the next thing in digital marketing, and judging by the response so far – we’re spot on!

Why now?

Our world is becoming increasingly crowded with more and more information and commercials, and we learn to blur them out instantly unless we can gauge their relevancy and usefulness to us straight away. In addition, digital marketing has taken a leap since the introduction of smartphones which the average person uses for web browsing every day. That’s our window of opportunity to help businesses and individuals succeed in marketing ideas correctly though the use of a fashionable tool.

Wouldn’t it be a shame for a great product to go unused just because it was marketed through the wrong channels and gone unnoticed?

What are some of the milestones your startup has already reached?

We’ve had the honor of taking the podium at the Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing. Needless to say we were very happy to receive such recognition. Other than that, we have a very impressive daily use of our application, in both private & business sectors, which we’re very proud of.

What are your next milestones?

We are working to develop the next generations of our Visual QR Code technology which would improve the integration of QR Codes into images even more and also support integration of QR Codes onto videos as well

Where can people find out more? Any social media links you want to share?

Sure! You can learn more about us at our website.

Feel free to follow us on Twitter or on Facebook!

You can also view our short on the Visual QR Code on YouTube:

Zulily Is An IPO for Everywhere Else

There’s been a flurry of activity since Twitter filed their S-1 last week. Will it be a repeat of Facebook’s IPO? Why aren’t there any women on the board? Does that matter? And, by the way, isn’t the company still losing money?

So much digital ink has been spilled over the Twitter filing, it’s hard to remember what we wrote about before it.

Thankfully, the cycle has turned, and we have something new to write about. Two days ago another startup filed to take the IPO plunge. It’s probably safe to say that Zulily is much less well-known than Twitter and hasn’t had quite the same impact worldwide as the social media company. If you aren’t a mom, you probably haven’t heard of Zulily.

The Seattle-based flash sales site is the picture of a successful company from everywhere else. In 2009, founders Darrell Cavens and Mark Vadon saw a problem: it was difficult to buy unique, inexpensive clothes for children. If they bought clothes from Target, 20 other kids had the same shirt, but if they shelled out more money, the clothes were stained or torn in a matter of hours.

The two dads figured out a fun way to solve the problem and how much users were willing to pay for it. When all the other daily deals and flash sale sites were struggling, Zulily doubled down and continued to grow.

3 years later, they’re running a company with the coveted $1 billion valuation and filing IPO paperwork.

Twitter and Zulily have completely different business models, but thanks to filing IPOs in the same week, the comparisons are inevitable. Twitter undoubtedly has more users and more impact worldwide. However, Zulily has figured out how to get cash from their customers, which means they bring in more revenue than Twitter at the moment. Money in the bank is always, always a good thing.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Twitter is a bad company or a bad investment. Without a doubt, Twitter is changing the way information is spread, and there’s plenty to like about that. And with millions of users worldwide the potential (social media’s favorite word) for revenue is massive.

Zulily’s story is an inspiration to companies everywhere else. Not everyone can–or should want to–build the next paradigm-shifting social media company. Silicon Valley has proven particularly good at that, and the world is different because of it.

However in the next 20-30 years, entrepreneurs everywhere else will prove very good at building black ink companies that solve problems in other aspects of life. Education, healthcare, government, and logistics are all ripe for disruption, and who knows what industries will be invented in the coming decade. Big problems will be solved in hubs all over the world, as well as Silicon Valley.

A flash sales site may not solve a “big” problem, but Zulily’s IPO is more step in proving the power of everywhere else.

Speek Partners With Dell, Also Gets Praise From Edward Norton & Sophia Bush

Well Tuesday morning we started working on a big story about Speek, a great Washington DC startup we’ve been covering since before they launched. Speek is the “easiest way to conference” and it really is. Speek’s co-founders John Bracken and Danny Boice are big supporters of Nibletz and Everywhere Else.

So we were excited when Boice emailed us to tell us about an exciting new partnership with Dell. The partnership, which went live yesterday afternoon, has the Fortune 50 computer manufacturer promoting Speek through several of their digital marketing channels to over 10 million+ of the company’s business customers. Speek is the only startup that’s part of this new partnership which Dell calls “Dell Marketplace”.

Dell’s Marketplace is launching on Dell’s Center For Entrepreneurs. That site is a highly curated collection of companies that provide services for the entrepreneur community. Dell has embraced the entrepreneurial community with several efforts including recruiting Ingred Vanderveldt as their Entrepreneur in Residence.

Through the Marketplace Dell offers entrepreneurrs access to special deals from companies ranging from FedEx to Speek. Our good friends at Influence & Co are also featured in the Marketplace.

But that wasn’t the only big news this week for the DC based startup. On Wednesday afternoon the company received tweets praising their conference calling platform from Academy Award winning actor (and Maryland native) Edward Norton and Teen Choice Award winning star Sophia Bush.

Norton started his day off with a string of tweets about Speek

He also tweeted another four messages including a link to a special deal for his followers (hint click here and take advantage)

Also Wednesday morning, Sophia Bush, who played young entrepreneurial starlet Brooke Davis on the CW hit series One Tree Hill, also said she was obsessed with Speek.

What’s all the hype about? Sign up for your Speek account here at Speek.com

You can conference call me anytime at Speek.com/kyle

Check out the new Dell Marketplace for entrepreneurs here.

See Speek co-founder Danny Boice at this huge national startup conference in Memphis.

Skillshare And Levi’s: Take Amazing Classes And Help Kids

The concept is no simpler than it is in the headline. Take classes from New York startup Skillshare’s select offerings of online classes, where you can learn creative skills from visionary experts and share your own experiences, and 100% of the proceeds will go to arts and music education for students in grades k-8.

Skillshare is a New York startup that serves as a marketplace linking people to hundreds of online classes across many disciplines. While there have been a handful of startups that have tried to compete in the space, Skillshare has remained the market leader.

Now, in a unique partnership with Levi’s, not only is the site offering some premium classes with amazing instructors, it’s all for a good cause.

The classes are taught by renowned artists such as Cubby Graham, David Carson, Bang Bang, Benjamin Samuel, Brock Davis, and Linda Eliasen. The program is called “The School Of Make Our Mark”

The classes are only $10, with all of that money going towards the musical education program. The classes being offered include:

Urban Explorer Photography: Shooting the forgotten and the familiar, taught by Cubby Graham
Beautiful Ink, Designing Meaningful Tattoos, taught by Bang Bang
Vintage Postcard Design: Back To The Future, taught by Linda Eliasen
Stop Motion Video: Create & Animate, taught by Brock Davis
Creating Typographic Art Inspired By Sound, taught by David Carson
Flash Fiction: How To Tell Pint Sized Stories, taught by Benjamin Samuel

The classes will help you learn new skills, and meet new people across the globe. You will be able to share your completed work with the group and some of the projects will be chosen to go into a time capsule that Levi’s and Skillshare will open in the future.

You can use promocode: OURMARK to take one of the classes for free!

Find out more and sign up now here at skillshare.com/makeourmark.

1776 Turns Google Doc Into Unfurlough.us

Last week we broke the news that the entrepreneurs at 1776 in Washington, DC jumped into action when the federal government was first shut down. The first thing they did was hold an impromptu event which brought together the startups at 1776 with furloughed federal workers in the area.

What came out of that was the Google Doc we reported about last Friday. 1776 found a clear path between workers on furlough and startups that needed paid workers, volunteers or people to do small projects.

They’ve now turned the simple GoogleDoc into unfurlough.us which is picking up a lot of traction. The new jobs site, set up to connect furloughed workers with positions in startups, caught the eye of Mashable on Tuesday.

Mashable revealed that all kinds of people are signing up, even people that aren’t on furlough. 1776 cofounder Donna Harris told Mashable that they aren’t going to take down anyone’s profile.

So is it working?

Mashable reports that Josh Hurd, the founder of Nonprofitmetrics, used unfurlough.us to find a blogger who he is paying a minimum of $35 per post. Lily Bradley who works for the Department of Health and Human Services is also on furlough. She found a temporary job taking pictures for a startup that pays more than her day job.

1776 does have a warning posted on the unfurlough.us website reminding furloughed workers to check their agency’s “ethics guidance” to make sure they are allowed to engage in outside work while on furlough.

1776 even has their own listing looking for someone to do PR & Marketing research.

Building unfurlough.us was a community effort between blen and 1776 and built on the open source platform drupal, reportedly in under five hours.

New Leadership Book Contradicts The Startup Lifestyle

As I write this I must remind many people to heed what I say not what I do. I’m admittedly one of those startup workaholics that has driven myself to the doctors, and later this week the hospital, because I focused so much on work that I let my health go.

My good friend and bad ass startup chick, Denver Hutt, first drove me to re-examine the 120 hour a week lifestyle when news broke that the She-Ra of the startup community pushed too hard and ignored early onset signs of what is now stage 4 ovarian cancer.

While there are many nights that I work around the clock, there are thankfully equally as many that I don’t.

So what’s the “right” way?

We joke with other startup people all the time that if you’re not coding, writing, developing or working on business development 24 hours a day, you aren’t a real startup founder. We scoff at people that post Facebook updates saying they are having family time while you’re on the grind. Is it jealousy? Are we jealous of the other founders who have work/life balance? Sure sounds like it.

Well a new book called Bankable Leadership by Dr. Tasha Eurich suggests that working around the clock is actually a bad thing. In fact Eurich goes as far as to say, “We actually get stupider when we work too much.”

Dr. Eurich holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Colorado State University. She’s spent her entire career working with organizations big and small to mold more effective leaders, and believe it or not it all starts with better time management.

Dr. Eurich’s approach to leadership is fresh, modern, and fun. Broken down into four easy-to-digest sections, the Bankable Leadership model “can help anyone become bankable-producing results while fostering a healthy work environment that ensures sustainable success,” says Dr. Eurich. “This balance between people and results lies at the heart of Bankable Leadership.” Based on over 70 years of science, Dr. Eurich helps leaders understand current—and sometimes surprising—research on the best ways to lead. “This is not fluff. The science of leadership is strong – and good leadership drives results.”

While most startup founders are going to be interested in what Eurich says about working too many hours, there are other entrepreneurial and startup myths and lessons explored in her book:

70% of leadership is learned and great leaders are made, not born.
Why most companies don’t develop leadership skills effectively.
How anyone can learn the principles of effective leadership, regardless of his or her background.
How organizations can achieve prosperity with the Bankable Leadership model.
Why companies treat employees like children and ways to change it.
The differences between the “Cool Parent” Leader vs. the “Trail of Dead Bodies” Leader.
What “Delusional Development” is and how it is killing many of today’s leaders.

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Pilot Jim McKelvey Continues Empowering People With An Individual Accelerator For Programmers

Jim McKelvey, LaunchCode, Startup, St. Louis startup

(img: Flickr)

How the death of a St. Louis Pizza Delivery Boy Sparked Jim McKelvey’s Latest Startup:

I got to spend a lot of quality time on a 1:1 phone interview with Square co-founder Jim McKelvey yesterday. After bumping into McKelvey at numerous events and talking startups or otherwise shooting the shit, I finally had time to dive in with one of St. Louis’ biggest startup community advocates.

We wasted no time during the interview call, so I went right for the “how does a glass blower get into startups, investing and now being a catalyst for the St. Louis startup community?” McKelvey explained that so many people are eager to give just one label to others, when in fact there are multiple labels for just about everyone. McKelvey is a professional, now hobbyist, glass blower. Blowing glass is something he enjoys when he can now, and he hasn’t been a professional glass blower since 1992.

McKelvey was formerly trained as an engineer and making things is something he’s great at. Over the years, one of his other hobbies, flying, has filled a lot of that time that he had for glass blowing, adding “pilot” to the list of labels attached to him.

We were supposed to talk about Six Thirty, the new St. Louis accelerator specifically for fintech (financial tech) startups. McKelvey is one of the co-founders of the Six Thirty accelerator. With companies like ScottTrade, MasterCard, and Wells Fargo (plus many more) based in St. Louis, a fintech accelerator is a natural fit. They even have a fintech fund in St.Louis called FinServe Tech Angels, which is headed by Kyle Wellborn.

McKelvey points to the launch of Square for the reason there was a need for a fintech accelerator

“We were able to build the technology for Square in 3 weeks. We were running transactions in no time. It took 18 months though to get legal,” McKelvey told me. He firmly believes that anyone with a great team, a good idea, and money behind them can launch a product to market. Launching a financial product is a whole other can of worms. Insurance regulations, PCI compliance, licensing and other legal hurdles stand in the way of a great startup just going for it with a financial product.

Through a cohort-based model, 4 companies will get the mentorship, training and connections they need to hopefully see their fintech startups get to market.

That was the quickest part of our talk, though. McKelvey is actually knee deep in two current working projects. One is Six Thirty; the other is still an “experiment,” but one that he is truly passionate about. LaunchCode is something that truly seems to fulfill McKelvey’s calling right now.

Jim loves teaching, and he loves empowering people. We briefly talked about how now you can walk the streets of Baltimore before a Ravens game or Cincinnati before a Reds game, and see the street vendors accepting credit cards through Square. “I love those kinds of stories” McKelvey said. Those stories show Square has been able to empower people to take their businesses to another level.

LaunchCode is another way people can get to another level.

“There’s only one industry I’ve ever seen where you can go from zero knowledge to a $100,000 salary in one year, and that’s programming,” McKelvey said. There are tens of thousands of folks out there who would absolutely agree.

You need to be driven, have a little bit of scientific or computer knowledge and want to learn, besides the technological tools like a computer. If you have those things you can learn to program.

Throughout his career McKelvey has seen all types of people learn to code and become legitimate programmers. Of course there are the high school computer science misfits, the college graduate engineers, and even people like a WalMart maintenance man who taught himself to code on the side. McKelvey knows that one personally. “He literally mops the floors at a local Walmart and he’s taught himself to code, and he’s good at it”.

Before diving into what LaunchCode is, it’s important to know how McKelvey, who’s admittedly been “rich” for decades, got started with this latest project.

This story begins with pizza, but not in the way you would think with startups.

A friend of McKelvey’s had brought his family over to the US for a better life from Russia. That dream turned tragic for that family in May of 2012 when their 22-year-old son Daniel Maksimenko was shot and killed delivering a pizza in St. Louis. The young man was shot and killed before he even got out of the car, “and for–what–maybe $60,” McKelvey said.

This story has been eating away at McKelvey for quite some time. He didn’t understand why anyone would do something like this. It’s not like the pizza guy carries a lot of cash, and there obviously wasn’t time for an argument. McKelvey came to the realization that these people weren’t crazy. They did it because they thought they had no other hope.

In the same breath McKelvey points out that there are over 5,000 programming jobs available in St. Louis right this second, but the system is flawed and LaunchCode is changing that.

“When Boeing announces they are bringing 700 jobs to St. Louis, they aren’t bringing 700 jobs. They are bringing 700 job openings,” he points out.

LaunchCode doesn’t have an exact label just yet, and besides everything has multiple labels (see above). I likened LaunchCode to an individualized accelerator for programmers, and McKelvey liked that description.

LaunchCode is bridging the gap between the number of “job openings” and the talent pool. You see, most companies (and when we say most it’s most) require two years experience before hiring a programmer. Schools are churning out programmers left and right, and thousands of people are teaching themselves how to code through online courses and other study at home classes. So when these people are finished learning, they have nowhere to go because they don’t have that experience.

Through LaunchCode Mckelvey has teamed up with 100 businesses in St. Louis ranging from the city’s corporate flagships like ScottTrade, Energizer, and Entreprise, to St. Louis startups like aisle411.

“If you take those 100 startups, just two of them were hiring programmers with less than 2 years experience,” McKelvey said. The other 98% basically just swap employees around.

As an example, McKelvey explained “Say Boeing is working on a new plane and they need developers. They put out a call to their HR channel and recruiters recruit developers from Ralston Purina and Enterprise.” Then those companies hire away someone from another company and so on down the line. New people weren’t put to work; people were just moved around.

The problem has been apparent and glaring at people for decades, and now LaunchCode is fixing it.

McKelvey has convinced these 100 companies both big and small to take a crack at an experiment in peer programming that worked well for Square.

New programmers sign up for LaunchCode. Candidates need to have the basic skills, be eager to learn, take criticism well and a handful of other attributes outlined here. Nothing too hard, really.

While in the program, the new programmer will be paired with an experienced programmer, “mentor” on location with a participating company. During that time the programmer will make $15 per hour and gain a vast knowledge of programming in the real world.

“While we were paying double for one output at Square, we were getting a better quality product,” McKelvey said of peer programming. “When you pair an experienced programmer with a junior programmer, the junior programmer picks up quickly.”

Then you have two experienced programmers.

The program (like an accelerator) lasts 2-3 months. After that time the participating companies will evaluate the new programmer through a more equal lens and decide whether to hire them on full time. These companies all have programming openings, and the candidate will have then spent 2-3 months in their company, in their company culture, and with their company work flow. It seems that staying employed with the company will be pretty easy.

LaunchCode is disrupting the way talent is being hired. McKelvey reminded me several times that LaunchCode is still an experiment. He’s hoping with some success to evaluate LaunchCode to see if expansion vertically, horizontally or both is the next step. In the mean time many have their eyes on what’s going on in St. Louis.

Check out LaunchCode here.

Jim McKelvey image: Bob Lee, Flickr

Show Your Team Pride With Your Socks With Sock 101’s New Kickstarter Campaign

Sock 101 is all about the socks. The startup built in Kansas City is bringing fashion back to socks. We’re not talking about your average Gold Toe or even the latest in argyle socks. Sock 101 makes a fashion statement with socks that complement any man’s fashion-sensible wardrobe.

Speaking of fashion sense, the durable, nice looking socks are affordable as well. Every pair of socks the company sells are only $7. The have awesome names as well like the blue infused “KC,” the red, white, and blue “Patriot,” the polka dotted “Dapper Dot,” and President George H.W. Bush’s favorite “The Johnny,” a crimson and white sock that the former President insists will be “perfect for days in College Station, Texas.”

In true startup fashion, Sock 101 also offers a subscription sock service where you get a new pair of socks delivered to your door once a month without even having to think about it.

If you’re like me and have a different pair of shoes to match every outfit, the socks from Sock 101 are absolutely perfect.

Now the company is looking to expand on their “Johnny” sock and do color combinations to match every major school.

Not convinced yet? Sock 101 offers these 5 ideas where your socks from Sock 101 will be a huge hit:

1. At the Game

Lift a little pant leg and show of your school spirit at the game. You have hats and shirts. Why not socks?!

2. At the Office

The first thing that most people notice about your look are your shoes. The second? Your socks! Imagine sitting down in a meeting and crossing your legs. The next thing you know, somebody is wide eyed staring at your socks. Will they think you are cool? You betcha.

3. At the Bar or Party

Whether you are watching the game or looking for love, our socks are guaranteed to make you stand out. Please see our warning above. Although we’d love to hear from you, please do not send us complaints about too much attention from the opposite sex.

4. On a Date

Do you want a second date? Wear our socks with your outfit. You will look more fun and more stylish. We guarantee it. If you don’t want a second date or are designated wingman, just wear plain white socks or gold toes.

5. On the Course

These socks are great for golf! They are lightweight, breathable, comfortable, and durable. One of our owners has walked eighteen holes over a dozen times this year in the same pair of socks with no holes, rips, or tears. They still look great. As you can see, our socks are seriously versatile!

They’ve got several winning testimonials on their Kickstarter page where they are looking to raise $25,000 so that they can bring the team line to fruition. Nothing is as telling as the testimonial from President Bush, sent in a personal letter you can even read on the Kickstarter page.