The 7 Best Places to Startup (Infographic)

Here at Nibletz, we’ve long known the benefits of starting up “everywhere else.” Silicon Valley gets so much press–and they have certainly been at the top for a long time–but we know that the hottest new companies of this century will come from outside the Valley.

And now we have an infographic to back us up!

GoodApril is (ironically) a San Franciso-based tax-planning company and a startup themselves. In conjunction with Entrepreneur, they ranked the 7 hottest startup scenes in America on 5 measures:

median tech-employee earnings
max personal income tax
property tax
cost of housing
cost of office space

There are some people who argue that these factors don’t affect the decisions of people you actually want. But, we’ve met plenty of great entrepreneurs over the years who definitely understand the benefits of low cost of living. And they know that employees can work from anywhere.

So, you’re looking to move you’re startup. Where should you go?

According to the GoodApril rankings, Austin, TX is the best place to build a new company. San Francisco? Well, by these metrics, the Valley is actually the worst place to start your new company, despite the concentration of talent and VC money. In a blog post on GoodApril’s website, co-founder Mitch Fox tells this story:

I recently met an entrepreneur who’s had enough of the Bay Area’s living costs and taxes, and is moving to Austin. He launched his startup in San Francisco several years ago. Now he says, “The business case to move is just too compelling. Austin has everything we need at a much lower cost.” He’s had an office in Texas for three years. Now he’s going all-in. “This tax increase was a tipping point for me, but it’s not just about taxes. My employees can buy a large, three bedroom house in Austin for less than a one bedroom condo in Noe Valley.”

Several states don’t have income tax, including Florida, Texas, Washington, and Nevada. A lack of income tax makes life easier for employees as well as companies. And for many families with children, the pace of life outside the Valley is a better fit.

It may take awhile for any one of these scenes to overtake the Valley, but the more entrepreneurs see the benefits of “everywhere else” the quicker it will happen.

Check out the infographic from GoodApril and Entrepreneur for all the details.

7 best places to startup, startups, entrepreneurs, inforgraphic

Source: Entrepreneur.com

Building A Social Site? You Can Trust Your Users Are Full Of It

Your startup began because you wanted to create the Airbnb for X or the Match.com for Y. You have visions of thousands, if not millions, of users flooding your site, all of them acting with the best intentions as they rent, share, buy, date, and network.

Well, they’re liars and full of bullshit.

Not all of them, of course. But the majority of them aren’t totally honest. There’s the online dating girl who posted a picture on her profile from fifteen years ago, the guy who lied about his income and interests, and the opportunistic teen who is selling goods on Craigslist that he just happened to have “borrowed” from a neighbors open garage. Not only are people lying about small facts, but whole identities are fictional as 83 million Facebook users and 20 million Twitter accounts are fake; the odds are good that you’ve had an interaction with a fraudulent individual or social media account in the last month alone.

The scary thing is, opportunities for such fraudsters will continue to grow, a scary proposition for your startup, whether it be a P2P, networking, dating, or any other site that connects people. When you look at it, our new fangled digital economy is built upon increasing amounts of strangers entering into trust-based transactions, and your new startup sits on top of these transactions, which you should be praying go without incident.

If you’re in the startup ecosystem, you’ve probably spent countless hours worrying about how you and your website best ensure that everything is on the up-and-up with the least amount of effort. There are definitely a variety of ways that startups have tried to keep the bullshitters off their site, each which have their own pros and cons. Some of the popular ones include:

Leverage users social media connections – These days sites are popping up overnight, allowing users to login using their Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. On the face, this is great, as it saves time to get in the door and creates a minimal barrier to entry for each new user, which is one of the goals of any founder. Websites see this as a way to better know their users because at the very least it anchors them to an account that has interactions with others. If you see that Jane has her Facebook account connected to her Airbnb account, you can look for common connections, possible see more about Jane’s education, and make assumptions that Jane seems like a nice gal. You as a platform owner and as someone checking out Jane might feel great . . . that is until you remember the large amount of fake Facebook accounts and realize how low the barrier to entry for most social networks is. Now, one starts to wonder if Jane is really Jane and if she’s not, who did you just let stay in your Manhattan loft. Pro: Utilizes technology that is commonly used. Con: Fake accounts and fraudsters can easily make it onto your site.
Disclaim It – True, it can be a burden for sites, especially startups, to even think about fraudsters on their site, so many, including a lot of dating sites, will just disclaim it. They’ll say in big, bold type that they don’t conduct background checks or verify their users at all. While this is definitely easy for the site, as they can collect subscription payments as usual, it leaves the consumer, you know the one without the leverage, being stuck chatting with potential fraudsters. Pro: It is cut and dry for the website owner. Con: Users interact at their own risks.
Vet Them – Some startups will look to tackle this problem head on, spending extra time and money on creating their own vetting system. They may have users send in passport/license photos or run background checks on their users to confirm identity. These steps really begin to show that a site cares about their users, but some consumers have begun to push back as to fears that this is a bit big-brotherish. Do you want a car sharing site having your passport on file for the one time you’re going to use them? Pro: Provides verification for users, so they know who they’re dealing with. Con: The fear of too much personal information locked up with one site.

While these are just a few of the methods used to verify users and keep out the fraudsters, the bottom line is that you must take the proper steps to deliver a great experience to your users and make them comfortable with your service and others on the site. You must not overlook the elements that go into your offering, as many issues likely sprout from such decisions that affect your staffing, your liability, your site’s friction, and how much time and effort is necessary to pull it off.

Michael Bergman is the CEO and Co-Founder of REPP, a platform for identity management and self-curated background checks. His goal is to provide everyone an easy way to take control of their information and every platform a simple solution to their verification and fraud issues.

Google’s Maker Camp Brings The Maker Movement to Teens Everywhere

Summer camp is an iconic American tradition. Even if you’ve never actually been to summer camp, you know the images: lakes, ropes courses, capture the flag, and campfires.

Oh, and arts and crafts, of course.

For the second year in a row, Google is bringing the summer camp arts and crafts experience online with Maker Camp.

Don’t be fooled, though. This is the 21st century, and we’re talking about Google. You won’t see any macaroni birdhouses. Instead, Google has partnered with MAKE Magazine to bring a lineup of intense hands-on projects over a period of 30 days. Each morning, a new project is posted on the camp’s Google+ page, complete with materials needed and instructions. Each afternoon features a Google+ Hangout with a “maker” as well as tips and tricks on cool projects. The week caps off with Field Trip Friday, a video series going behind the scenes of some pretty cool spots. For example, the first week took visitors to Oracle Team USA’s basecamp, where they build the boats that race in the America’s Cup.

This year, each week has a theme. This week’s theme is “Create the Future” and features projects like a light up hoodie and learning to solder. The field trip on Friday will be to NASA, which promises to be pretty cool.

If you’re thinking some of this stuff would be hard to pull of at home, you’re right. In many areas there are “campsites” with counselors facilitating the program. Most of the projects are fairly simple, though, so if you’re in an area without a campsite, it’s still possible for teens to do them on their own. But, teens like to socialize, so they can also hop on the Google+ page to chat with other kids doing the same projects.

“Maker Camp hopes to foster the DIY (do-it-yourself) spirit in young people. We want each camper to see how much there is that you can do and how much there is to explore all around you. Once you begin doing things, you’ll meet others who share your interests, and you can collaborate to work on projects together. We call that DIT (do-it-together),” publisher of MAKE Magazine Dale Dougherty said in a blog post.

Last week I jumped on the Maker Camp website with my 3 boys. Now, at 7 & 5 they are definitely under the age range Google is targeting, and I am certainly not one of those handy moms skilled in any kind of crafts. But, we attempted the “balloon blimp” project anyway. (And by “we,” of course, I mean “I.” Unless you count chattering and jumping on the bed as the boys helping.)

The project was simple enough and the instructions pretty clear. We did need to plan ahead to get a certain kind of balloon and a certain kind of straw, though, which would be hard for a younger teen at home while parents worked. Ultimately, we didn’t really succeed in our project, but that was because my own kids were too impatient to let me try different solutions to make it work.

For the industrious teen, though, the projects at Maker Camp are easy enough to do alone, but challenging enough to require some problem-solving skills. The experience would be enhanced, of course, if they can do it with a group of some kind. Because everything’s more fun in a group.

This whole endeavor is a stroke of genius on Google’s part. They are contributing to the DIY nature of the next generation, which gives them great press. But, this year the program is also intimately wrapped up in the Google+ platform. Last year, more than 1 million campers tuned in, and this year they are hoping for even more. That’s a lot of interaction on the world’s 2nd most popular social network site.

Maker Camp is only 6 days in, so there’s still time for teens to jump in. Check it out on the website or at Google+.

How Startup Funding Works In An Infographic

Everyone wants to know the secrets behind getting your startup funded. We receive hundreds of emails every week asking questions about funding. People really want to know how to get funded and what a startup needs to do to get funded. Access to capital and access to talent are still the most prevalent issues facing startups “everywhere else”.

The good folks over at funderandfounders.com have compiled a great infographic that takes a look at a hypothetical startup and the way they get funded.

The infographic chronicles the most common funding steps for startups that actually make it. We’re all too familiar with the statistics on startups failing. Taking a startup through idea stage, cofounder stage, family and friends, angel round, seed round, Series A, and then eventually (hopefully) IPO.

Of course there are a lot of startups that will fail, a lot of startups that will choose to bootstrap, and some startups that can go direct to revenue. Whatever your path, the infographic below is a fair representation of the funding process. The accompanying article at fundersandfounders explores each stage indepth.

source: Fundersandfounders.com

Now check out Billion Dollar Startups In A Beautiful Infographic.

500 Startups Is Looking For The Unsexiest Startups, Everywhere

500 Startups the name brand accelerator out in Silicon Valley, that takes great pains to bring cohorts together from around the world, is looking for the “unsexiest startups”. 500 Startups founder Dave McClure is a ninja, renegade and pirate and would take a martian founded startup if they had a good product, a good team and the possibility of growing with one of the best mentor networks in the universe. Now, that startup doesn’t even need to be sexy.

500 Startups knows that even unsexy startups, bring home the bacon. 500 Startup is hosting a conference specifically for those ugly startups, ok not ugly but “unsexy”.

“Even Silicon Valley, the mecca of innovation, sometimes misses the point. While everyone drools over “sexy” consumer verticals that often lack business models, some of the most high-growth, profit-wielding companies are incredibly underrated and overlooked.Covering SMB/Enterprise, financial services, communications, email, data, infrastructure, and more, unSEXY is a 1-day conference about tech startups and companies who are actually doing something incredibly sexy—they’re making money!” 500 startups wrote on their page for the event at unsexy.coTop speakers from some of the most successful unsexy startups in the world are tapped to speak at the one day conference happening August 9th in Mountain View. Isaac Saldana (SendGrid), Rashmi Sinha (SlideShare), Jeff Lawson (Twillio), Ken Gullicksen (Evernote), Doug Wormhoudt (Lovely), Patrick Collion (Stripe), Matt Tucker (Jive), and Kathryn Minshew (The Daily Muse) are all slated to speak at this first of it’s kind startup conference.They’ll be speaking on topics like:

GET UR BLING ON: Strategies for Marketing, Branding, & PR
MAKIN’ BACON: SaaS, Freemium, Subscription, & More
DESIGN THAT CONVERTS: UI & UX for the SMB/Enterprise
CUSTOMER ATTRACTION: Acquisition in Fragmented Markets
BABY GOT BACKEND: New Tools for HR, Finance, Operations, + more
SOFTWARE HEARTTHROB: Building Raving Fans in Non-Consumer Markets
SCALING WITHOUT FAILING: Solutions for Customer Service

and more.

You can register for Unsexy.co right here.

And this huge startup conference is specifically for startups everywhere else!

Cory Booker And Terry McAuliffe Tap St.Louis Startup Givver For Campaign Fundraising

Givver, St.Louis startup, Cory Booker, Terry McAuliffe

(image: salon.com)

We already know that Cory Booker, Newark NJ Mayor and Senate candidate, is one of the most socially connected and startup friendly civil servants. He ranks up there on the Nibletz’ list with DC Mayor Vincent Gray and Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel. To date Booker has over 1.4 million followers on Twitter and uses the social platform daily to keep up with his constituents.

Booker has been looked upon as the next Barack Obama. He’s well loved across New Jersey for his accessible approach to his citizens. He regularly responds to people on social media. It was well documented that during Hurricane Sandy, Booker invited residents into his home to wait out the storm.

Booker is now running for the US Senate in a race many say he has a good shot at winning. He is running for the seat left vacant when Frank Lautenberg died in office earlier this year.

Booker has reportedly raised $5 million dollars to date, and as with any campaign any donation big or small is always welcome. To make it easier, Booker was looking for a platform that would enable his Twitter followers to easily donate to his campaign via Twitter. The platform he chose for this mission was St. Louis startup Givver.

Givver allows Twitter users to donate by tweeting amounts to the service. Users must sign up for Givver first, but once they are signed up, donating via Givver is just as easy as donating to the Red Cross through a text message.

ABC News reports that Booker told his followers about Givver with a tweet on June 14th saying “Help me reach $100k goal by tomorrow. You can tweet to #give $5 to our Senate campaign – sign up at givver.com/cory-booker-for-senate #Booker4Senate.”

“The folks at Givver reached out to us and helped us get set up just to see how it goes,” said Larry Huynh, a member of Booker’s digital team.

“When the idea and the platform was brought to our attention, we said, ‘For sure, let’s give it a go.’ With his huge presence on Twitter, it really made sense that we were providing folks who are supporters of Cory Booker any mechanism to support the campaign in any way they see fit,” Huynh added.

Booker isn’t alone though. Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe has also turned to Givver to let his constituents easily donate via Twitter as well. While progressive with his social media strategy, the McAuliffe campaign pales in comparison to Booker’s. McAuliffe currently has 10,911 followers on his Twitter account.

“We’re honored to have Mayor Booker on because he’s such a … thought leader on social media,’” Givver founder Chris Sommers told ABC News. “The next generation of donors and givers … are not writing checks with frequency and obviously not with the dollar amounts that some older people are. But, at the same time, they’re actually looking for something in return.”

Source

Fortify VC’s Carla Valdes Knows What It Means to “Have It All”

On the outside, it looks like Carla Valdes has a life any woman would want. Husband, kids, interesting job. She’s beautiful and pulled-together, and it definitely seems like she “has it all.”

And she’s okay with that illusion.

“I’m great with the world thinking I’m pulled together,” she laughingly told me over Skype. “But, really I’m just like any other mom trying to make it all work.”

“It all” for Valdes is a day that typically starts before dark. She’s up at 4:30 so she can head into her office with Fortify Ventures by 5:30. The commute is anywhere from 1-2 ½ hours depending on traffic, but her husband’s teaching and coaching gig keeps them in their current location, close to family. There aren’t many phone calls to make that early in the morning, so in her head, Valdes makes lists of all the things to do that day. Around 6:30 she talks to her 2 kids—ages 5 & 3–before they head off to school.

When she finally gets into the office, the day could go a thousand different ways. As a General Partner at Fortify, Valdes oversees the accelerator, The Fort. She also plans events, participates in investor relations, and works on deal sourcing. Despite meetings throughout the day, she also joins us all on the quest for inbox zero. She tries to leave the office by 3:30 so she can be home by 5-5:30.

Jonathon Perelli, Managing Director of Fortify, knows he has a stellar partner on his team. He confided over email:

Carla Valdes is the hardest working unsung hero I’ve ever had the opportunity and pleasure to work with. Her enthusiasm for entrepreneurship is contagious and she has a passion for startups that is second only to her passion for her children. Carla’s impact goes well beyond the Fortify portfolio and Washington, DC region. She is a firecracker whose strong heart and sharp mind are fantastic assets and having her as a partner has been a blessing.

After a full day, Valdes does the evening dance we all know and love to hate. Dinner (healthy, if she’s lucky), baths, story, bed. She often falls asleep with or before her kids, alarm set to do it all again the next day.

Yup, it seems like she has it all. But, like any of us, Valdes can point out the things she’s missing.

When I spoke with her via Skype this week, she had the luxury of working from home and was at a local Starbucks for the afternoon. This rare break from the killer commute was only possible, though, because her kids were at the beach for the week. With the kids gone, she and a few interns were working out of her house, and she was excited to feel so productive. But…

“You always have parental guilt,” she pointed out. “The kids are at the beach, and I’m missing the fun. But if they were here, I would feel guilty they weren’t at the beach.”

Parental guilt aside, Valdes doesn’t plan to quit any time soon. Like many moms, she knows if she didn’t work, she would go crazy.

For women that feel the same way, Valdes has a few tips:

At work, don’t be too nice. It took her awhile, but she finally realized that the polite behaviors—offering drinks, stepping out for a call—made her seem like a secretary. While these behaviors come natural to many women, it can make others second guess your role in the deal and not take you seriously.
Let the men think you’re pulled together. Valdes thinks the whole conversation about women and work is good for women to have in small circles. It’s good to know we’re not alone in our struggles. But, as far as anyone else needs to know, this whole thing is effortless.
Forget what you think a perfectly balanced life looks like. It’s like when you give a speech. You may think you bombed it because you forgot this point or didn’t put in that punch line. But the audience doesn’t know what you meant to say. Give yourself a break on those things you think you should be doing and focus on the things you have done.
Get some “me” time. Valdes admitted she’s actually not the best at this herself. Still, once every month or so, she gets a pedicure all by herself—no kids allowed. “Even if the laptop’s on my lap!” she laughed.

In the middle of a national conversation about work/life balance, Carla Valdes just does it, with a lot of grace. She knows it won’t be perfect, but that’s okay.

Follow Friday: 50 Startup Related Twitter Accounts To Follow Everywhere Else

It’s Friday again which means it’s time for Follow Friday. Now we don’t do the traditional #FF and shout outs on Twitter. That’s so 2009. Instead, every week we compile a list here at Nibletz that is relevant to our readers and community.

Last week we ran a list of 50 500 Startups Mentors which you can find here. The week before that we did 100 Techstars mentors.

This week we have a list of 50 startup related Twitter accounts worth following. This is by no means a ranking, and with all the people we know from social media (we have over 130,000 followers across our accounts), we are going to miss some. But no worries; we’ll be running more of these. On to the list.

Brad Feld- The author of the Startup Communities bible, investor through Foundry, founder of Techstars.
Dave McClure– The sith lord at 500 Startups, and passionate startup rockstar for everywhere else.
Fred Wilson– Founding partner at Union Square Ventures, godfather of NY’s VC scene and great bloger here.
Scott Case– Founding CTO at Priceline.com CEO of Startup America
Marc Nager- CEO at StartupWeekend/ Up Global
Steve Case– Founder of AOL, Revolution and Founding Chairman Startup America
Kauffman Foundation– KC based organization that supports many startup efforts
Startup Weekend– Self explanatory
Up Global– The official Twitter account for Up Global
.co The fine folks at .co
1871 Chicago’s big startup hub
1776 Washington DC’s startup hub
EntreCenter Nashville’s Entrepreneur Center
LaunchYourCity Memphis’ Startup community hub
Capital Factory Austin’s big startup hub
Jonathon Perelli, Managing Director Fortify.vc and The Fort
Jason Fried founder 37 Signals
Case Foundation– Steve Case’s philanthropic and startup focused organization
Sarah Ware, Founder of 500 Startups backed Markerly, and Nibletz contributor
Danny Boice, CTO at Speek and Rockstar Startup dude.
Mike Arrington founder of TechCrunch, and CrunchFund
Jason Calacanis co-founder TechCrunch Disrupt, now founder Launch
BuiltInChicago great resource for Chicago startups
TechCocktail awesome Las Vegas based startup news and events company
MG Siegler, TechCrunch contributor, Former CrunchFund, Now Google Ventures
Anil Dash Awesome NYC startup guru
One Spark- The world’s first and largest crowdfunding festival (Jacksonville, FL)
Ashton Kutcher- Actor, Director and Startup investor
Paul Berry, founder of RebelMouse, check out my rebelmouse here.
Howard Lerman founder at Yext
Gabriel Weinberg, CEO at DuckDuckGO
Techstars- global startup accelerator brand
Ycombinator- One of the nation’s leading accelerators
Dreamit Ventures Philly,NY, Israel, Austin startup accelerator
Brad Horowitz Partner Andreessen Horowitz
Eric Ries, Mr. Lean Startup
Dan Primack Fortune Magazine
Aaron Levie Founder and CEO at Box
Sean Parker Founder at Napster, crazy startup guy
Mark Cuban, ABC Shark Tank Shark, owner Dallas Mavericks, CEO Radical Investments
David Sacks, founder Yammer
David Tisch, Managing partner Box Group, formerly TechCrunchNY
Brandery Cincinnati’s premiere startup accelerator
Ark Challenge, Arkansas’ startup accelerator
Tech WildCatters, Dallas based startup accelerator
Donna Harris, co-founder 1776, Startup America
500 Startups, 500 Startups
AngelList, the place to connect with investors and other entrepreneurs
CoFoundersLab the best place to find a cofounder
Silicon Valley Bank, the startup bank (no matter where you are)

Bonus: Follow the nibletz team
Official Nibletz Twitter
Startuptechguy, Founder, Content Director
Ntippmann Co-Founder
Monicajselby Managing Editor

Twitter Image: Fantom-Xp.com

Voices Heard Media Helps Brands (Including Startups) Engage Their Customers

These days, customers expect more from brands. Gone are the days when we make a purchase and walk away. Now, we often spend time and effort researching major purchases, and we care about the companies where we choose to spend our money. With the advent of social media, we have come to expect a high level of engagement with the companies we love.

Tony Runyan puts it this way: Two-way communication is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity.

But, that engagement can be expensive and difficult for companies to maintain on their own, which is where Voices Heard Media comes in.

Voices Heard Media provides a suite of plugins that increase customer engagement. Their products include apps that handle contests/sweepstakes, trivia/quizzes, social media streams, live Q&A sessions, video polls, and conversation around a brand. They work with big names like Disney, Food Network, and Fox Sports.

Will Overstreet founded Voices Heard Media in 2007. In his former gig as an Atlanta Falcon and sports broadcaster, Overstreet noticed that a simple conversation with a fan increased the likelihood that the fan would buy a jersey, listen to a show, or tell friends and family about Overstreet’s brand. He realized that there had to be a scalable way to take that kind of interaction into the digital world.

Tony Runyan joined the company in 2008 and made the initial big sales they needed. Now the VP of Product, Runyan develops new products, among other things.

So, what can the Voices Heard Media products do?

When I ran into them at the Southland Summit last month, I recognized the Food Network site on their display computer. The company wanted to increase engagement on their site, so they had Voices Heard Media create a Q&A session with the most recent The Next Food Network Star winner. The idea was simple enough: visitors sent in questions over one week, then Aarti Sequeria answered them. But the magic happened when, after the event closed, it still continued to drive traffic and interactions on the site.

All products from Voices Heard Media work on a company’s website, mobile site, and Facebook tab. The company sees this flexibility as absolutely necessary in today’s digital world.

They may work with some of the biggest names in the country, but they also handle smaller, local-focused companies like news outlets, political campaigns, and creative agencies.

Their prices are pretty startup-friendly, too, starting at only $50 for a basic package. And they can bring the same expertise they’ve built with big brands to your new company.

Check out Voices Heard Media and see how they can help your startup engage your audience.

Why You Shouldn’t Learn To Code For Your Startup

I get emails like this one all the time:

I am wondering if I could ask for help for a friend. Mike, a good friend of mine, has been working on a startup idea. …He is looking for really great co-founding developers who can help him build out the product in a short period of time. I am wondering if you could tap into your network for leads. Many thanks in advance!

I wish I could help. It can be very difficult for a non-technical entrepreneur to find a technical co-founder if he/she doesn’t already have friends who code. And these days, just about everyone would tell Mike to skip the talent search and learn how to code himself.

Journalists in TechCrunch, Business Insider, Fast Company and dozens of other publications, including VentureBeat, write frequently about how you, as a non-technical founder, are up a creek if you don’t learn how to code. Even Harvard Business School students are learning how to code – despite paying very good money to learn business skills. In short, if you’re starting an Internet company, you can’t go anywhere without hearing about how important it is to know how to code.

Silicon Valley has followed suit. In the last two years alone, online education companies have developed a variety of courses to teach programming skills. Companies like Coursera, Udacity, Udemy, Treehouse, Codecademy, EdX, and Lynda, are just a handful of the many companies serving the programming education market. For those who prefer to learn in person, there are now a wealth of choices in developer training camps too, including Hack Reactor, Coder Camps, Dev Bootcamp, and the Hackbright Academy. These camps hold class every day for several weeks, teaching basic front-end and back-end skills.

The real reason startups fail (hint: it’s not bad code)

On the surface, it would seem the solution for finding a technical co-founder is to become one yourself.

But you have to question whether turning non-technical entrepreneurs into developers is really the best solution for starting a company. Startups become successful when they have users and customers — and they die when they don’t. Tech startups don’t fail because they have poorly written code. If you look at TechCrunch’s deadpool of startups, almost all listed companies failed because they ran out of money. They didn’t have enough users to make their business model work.

I started my first company, Beat the GMAT, without knowing how to program at all. Didn’t matter: I built a loyal following of prospective MBA students for my blog first, which was focused on solving GMAT problems. Later, this audience became active participants in my first forums. Finally, I hired developers to build the most recent version of my site before selling it to Hobson’s. Had I focused on building the site first, I’m not sure that’s how things would have panned out.

Don’t get me wrong: Increasing the opportunities for people to learn is great, and those who want to learn how to program definitely should. But if you’re learning how to code merely to launch a startup, you’re wasting valuable time.

The economic tenet of comparative advantage suggests that people should become really good at their core skills, use them effectively to make money, and then hire others to complement their skills. So, if you are mediocre at acquiring customers and know nothing about programming, shouldn’t you work to become awesome at customer acquisition rather than become a bad developer? I would’ve expected Harvard Business School to understand this better than anyone.

Paying it forward

In the Valley, entrepreneurs and investors often talk about how so many seed startups fail because they can’t get enough customers to become profitable. But we shouldn’t just talk — we should do something. That’s why Elizabeth Yin and I started Hustle Con: to teach non-technical entrepreneurs tactical tips in acquiring customers to build a sustainable business. Others, such as Noah Kagan, have done the same in creating his course called “How to make your first dollar.” And, there are a smattering of meetup groups trying to teach marketing and sales for startups.

But we can do better. If you know something about lead generation, sales, and marketing, I encourage you to pay it forward and teach other entrepreneurs to improve their customer acquisition skills. And finally, to the would-be founders out there: Stop talking about learning how to code, and instead, start hustling.

Eric Bahn is the co-founder of Hustle Con, a one-day conference on July 9, 2013 in Mountain View, CA. Hustle Con features successful entrepreneurs who will talk about how they grew their companies from $0 to $5M in just a couple of years, how they raised money, and how they grew an audience before releasing a product. Join us with this special code to get 25% off: yec-hustler

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.

Sequoia’s Aaref Hilaly believes everyone should know how to code.

The 2-Second “Rule”: Or,What Your Startup’s Homepage Should Really Do

I’m not sure where it originated, but there’s an oft-quoted “rule” of marketing in startup circles that claims the first priority of a website is to explain what the company or product does.

It goes a little something like this, as captured in a recent comment on a Hacker News post:

It took me about 7-10 seconds to understand what your product is. I should be able to understand within 2 seconds.

When put this way, statements like these sound like truisms that a logical person may agree with, even repeat. But really, the whole notion that your homepage’s messaging should try to quickly explain what your product does is totally misleading. This isn’t a rule at all.

Certainly, plenty of studies show that there is indeed a small amount of time during which you must capture a visitor’s attention. But if that’s true, wouldn’t you rather say something meaningful and interesting versus spouting out a basic description of your features?

I’d suggest opting for something that’s both true to your brand and useful to your visitors. Getting straight to the point about what you do is largely unnecessary, since visitors will have some idea of that anyway.

Are most of your site’s visitors arriving with zero context of who you are and what you do? How is that even possible?

Users land on a site with a specific intent, either to purchase something or to explore a solution. The primary goal, at least of the homepage, should not be to educate all visitors on what your product does, since most will already have some idea. So a primary goal should be to move them to the next step of the decision making process.

Let’s consider the main ways in which most visitors will arrive at your site:

1. Search – the visitor is seeking something specific

2. Social – the visitor has clicked a link, typically with accompanying context from those in their network

3. Display – your copy and layout, likely with a clear marketing message, enticed the visitor to click

4. Email – similar to display, something about your messaging compelling the visitor to click

In each situation, people have a pretty good idea of what they’re getting themselves into when visiting your site. So really there’s potentially only one scenario in which explaining what you do is the top priority:

1. Randomness – most of these visitors won’t be in your target audience anyway

Optimizing for random visitors is obviously ill-advised, so we’re left with the four previous inbound channels. And all of those imply context, some level of understanding on the part of the visitor as to who you are and what you do.

So does the 2-second rule really apply?

I’d say no. Focus less on these kinds of false aphorisms and spend time understanding potential users, how they arrive at your site, and how your homepage can pull them one step further in the process of choosing your solution.

Still need help? I’m offering free 30-minute Google Hangout office hour sessions to take questions about startup branding and messaging. No strings attached. Get in touch if that interests you.

Patrick Woods is a hybrid ad man/startup guy. As director of a>m ventures, he connects startups with awesome branding, PR, and marketing strategy.

*Originally posted on Medium.

**Nibletz Media, Inc is an a>m ventures portfolio company.

Now check out 5 Rules For Naming Your Startup

Here It Is, The Secret To Entrepreneurial Happiness

During our childhood years, measuring success was as simple as counting gold stars and smiley face stickers. In high school and college, we relied on report cards. But how do we determine success now, as entrepreneurs?

In Southern California’s bustling startup scene, known as “Silicon Beach,” many professionals leave the comfort of a steady paycheck to pursue the American dream of starting something they can call their own. And after numerous conversations with like-minded entrepreneurs, we found that many of these entrepreneurs measured their venture’s success not in dollars, but by their own satisfaction or happiness.

It’s no secret that money can’t buy happiness. In fact, according to an oft-cited study by Stanford University economist Angus Deaton and psychologist Daniel Kahneman, once you’re pulling in a salary of $75,000, any additional dollar earned does nothing more to increase personal life satisfaction.

So if happiness cannot be bought — and yet we use it to measure our business success — what can we do to attain it? Over the last decade, researchers in Positive Psychology have discovered a number of behaviors that boost happiness. To boost your own, practice these four behaviors:

1. Create a social circle of like-minded entrepreneurs.

Two heads are better than one when it comes to problem solving. A team of entrepreneurial peers can see what escapes our own attention, point out pitfalls ahead of time, and become a sounding board for critical decisions and actions.

Commit to creating a circle of like-minded entrepreneurs in which no money is exchanged between members.

2. Give your time away.

Many entrepreneurs think that devoting every waking moment to their company will ultimately be the key to success. But when you spend time helping others instead of yourself, your sense of time expands.

Professor Cassie Mogilner, a researcher on happiness and time management atthe Wharton School, explained this recently: “The results show that giving your time to others can make you feel more ‘time affluent’ and less time-constrained than wasting your time, spending it on yourself, or even getting a windfall of free time.”

Whether it be through mentorship, volunteering, showing interest, or lending an ear to a friend, giving time to others expands your sense of time and results in greater life satisfaction.

3. Set attainable goals.

The art of goal-setting can take years to master. As entrepreneurs, we all have big goals, and to experience success we have to learn to break large goals into smaller goals that are within our daily reach.

Try creating one goal per day that you want to accomplish outside of your day-to-day emails and meeting commitments — then do everything in your power to turn this into a lasting habit.

4. Practice gratitude.

There are a variety of ways to practice gratitude that entrepreneurs can easily incorporate into their daily routine. One approach is to set aside time every week to write thank you notes, sent via snail mail or over email.

If you thank a client, that’s expected. But if you thank someone for an unexpected task, research from Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky at the University of California suggests that your mind becomes more sensitive to positive interactions — and less sensitive to negative ones.

By practicing gratitude, you will begin to cultivate a chronic state of happiness.

Happiness is the new gold standard.

The traditional gold standard for measuring professional success is money, yet entrepreneurs almost always cite happiness as the highest-priority goal for attaining success.

Do you already practice any of these four happiness-promoting behaviors? If not, try integrating them into your daily practice today.

And guess what? Happiness can also lead to better health, more energy, productivity, and yes — more money.

Dmitriy Katsel is the founder of Spring Theory, an organization that matches corporations with universities in semester-long collaborations to explore solutions to big challenges. Sara Gershfeld, behavior analyst and founder of LoveMyProvider, also contributed to this article.

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.

Google for Entrepreneurs Backs Manos Accelerator For Latino Founders

It’s no secret that Silicon Valley is full of preppy, white guys. Organizations across the country are trying to improve the startup odds for women, blacks, and–now–Latinos.

On July 1, Manos Accelerator and Google for Entrepreneurs announced a partnership to increase the number of Latinos in the startup ecosystem.

The first program will start in August and run for three months. After the application phase, which ends in July, the accelerator will invite 6-8 teams to join them in San Jose for intensive mentoring and co-working. They are looking for high-tech companies with at least 1 Latino founder.

“For decades, Silicon Valley has been known as the model for entrepreneurship. But there has been an ongoing gap for Latinos to be active participants of this startup ecosystem,” said Dr. Jerry Porras, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, in a press release. “Manos Accelerator has designed a robust program where they identify and mentor aspiring Latino entrepreneurs who are creating innovative solutions to real-world problems.”

Manos, which gets its name from the Spanish word for “hands,” is interested in not only finding the next great tech company, but also in increasing Latino entrepreneurship in the Valley and everywhere else. The slogan is “Dream Big, Believe More, Act Now.” That’s something ever entrepreneur can get behind.

They are accepting applications from across the country, but of course selected teams have to move to San Jose for the duration of the program.

“It made perfect sense to establish Manos Accelerator in the Capital of Silicon Valley. We want to create a vibrant community of Latino entrepreneurs that attracts the brightest and most talented. We want all aspiring Latino entrepreneurs in the US and Latin American countries to know that they now have a place to go for turning their innovative ideas into reality.” said Edward Avila, Co-founder and CEO of Manos Accelerator, in the same press release.

Google for Entrepreneurs, which is also sponsoring the NewMe PopUp Accelerator, is growing a name for itself in the under-represented parts of the tech community. Mary Grove, Director of Global Entrepreneurship Outreach at Google said: “We are excited to be partnering with such a great organization to provide resources to increase the number of Latino entrepreneurs in the global tech community. Our mission with Google for Entrepreneurs is to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship around the world and we believe in supporting the current and future entrepreneurial leaders in our communities.”

Are you a Latino founder with a great idea? You can apply to Manos Accelerator by July 31.

NewME PopUp Finds Some Great Entrepreneurs In Memphis

In February the NewME Accelerator announced a nationwide tour, a series of PopUp Accelerators. The program–which will visit 13 cities by the end of 2013–is sponsored by Google for Entrepreneurs.

Last weekend the PopUp Accelerator camped out in Memphis, TN. They ate a little BBQ, saw a little Beale Street, and met a lot of entrepreneurs.

And Memphis showed its best at the Sunday Demo Day. Whether they are testing for bacterial infections or selling wedding supplies, the founders were passionate and excited. Many of them already had traction and customers.

“There were so many great founders in Memphis that is was such a hard decision picking the winner . . . Additionally, the amount of talented entrepreneurs was exciting to witness, from non-profits to social enterprises to for-profit ventures we were impressed with the talent there and are looking forward to staying in close contact with them,” Angela Benton, CEO of NewME, said in an email.

So, who were those winners, and what did they win?

3rd place, with $22,000 in products and services, went to Brit Fitzpatrick of MentorMe.

2nd place, and $36,000 in products and services, went to Richard Billings of Screwpulp.

And 1st place went to Charleson S. Bell of BioNanovations. 1st prize was $46,000 in products and services and a spot in the August cohort of the full NewME Accelerator in California.

NewME focuses on accelerating businesses founded by minorities and women. Acceptance to the program doesn’t include seed funding, but participants have access to the vast network Benton and her team have cultivated. Besides Google, that network includes Ben Horowitz and several top-ranking Twitter employees. Utilizing this network, almost all of the companies in the last 4 cohorts have raised significant funding.

The PopUp Accelerator in Memphis was sponsored by Start Co and the FedEx Institute of Technology. Start Co also runs the local accelerator the Seed Hatchery, which most recently accelerated both MentorMe and Screwpulp.

“We were happy to partner with NewMe to bring their POPUP Accelerator in Memphis, TN. I was really impressed with all the entrepreneurs that pitched and we hope to work with them going forward at Start Co,” said Eric Mathews, founder and co-president of Start Co.

There’s always something unique about hosting people from out of town. When we look at our world through the eyes of a visitor, we begin to see things differently.

That’s exactly what happened with NewME in Memphis. Seeing the excitement of the NewME team re-energized Memphis founders and pulled the ecosystem a little closer together. New founders mingled with veterans, and everyone walked away with new ideas and new energy.

I also discovered some awesome startups. Look for coverage of those exciting companies in the coming weeks.

This huge conference for startups “everywhere else” is also in Memphis.