Startup News Archives - Page 3 of 53

3 Quick Lessons from the Startup World Series

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Last weekend in Houston, TX the best young entrepreneurs in the world gathered for the annual Rice University Business Plan Competition (RBPC), called the “Super Bowl and World Series for student entrepreneurs” by FORTUNE magazine. Since the competition began in 2002 it’s helped launch over 150 businesses that collectively raised $850 million. One of those businesses, Auditude, was started by SIVI co-founder, Nik Seet, and the company became the largest exit in the RBPC’s history when it was acquired by Adobe in 2011. The RBPC is not another academic exercise for “wantrepreneurs”; it’s the real deal for aspiring entrepreneurs.

The RBPC is also the spark that started SIVI. SIVI’s founders, Nik Seet and Ashok Kamal, met as RBPC alumni after returning to the event as sponsors and speakers. This year, Nik and Ashok also organized the inaugural RBPC Alumni Award as a way for former competitors to give back to the current crop. For more history and some startup advice watch the SIVI team present the Alumni Award at the RBPC’s culminating gala.

Photo by the awesome Shau Lin Hon of Slyworks Photography

Events like the RBPC provide a real-time case study for startup success. Here are 3 lessons distilled from this year’s competition:

ABC (Always Be Competing) – When you’re at a competition, conference or informal event, always be on. That doesn’t translate to annoying people with your pitch or requests for a meeting; it means treat everyone like a potential asset and every situation like an opportunity to connect. Be alert and respectful whether you’re presenting, eating lunch or going to the bathroom (keep your hands to yourself!). A former RBPC company, Scan, loves to tell the story of how they were waiting in the lunch line when they met the girlfriend of the guy who led them to raising several million dollars. This year, BetaGlide, a team from India, missed the finals of the competition but still turned a $100,000 prize into a $1,000,000 syndicate by networking with investors at the RBPC.
Move The Crowd – When pitching your startup, explain it in simple, concise and, dare we say, fun terms. Nobody likes a complicated, mechanical or canned pitch. People tune out fast if you don’t keep the language short and relatable. Practical references and visual aids also help to rise above the noise. The Elevator Pitches at this year’s RBPC ranged from amazing to dud. The most memorable ones were clever, clear and clean. Everyone remembers the pitches featuring the coin flip,banana and spit cup (seriously). For better or for worse, pitches are like gladiator fights; entertain in order to win.

Be Agile Without Being Wobbly – The more you present the more you get feedback. It’s critical to listen carefully and make adjustments. However, lots of feedback can lead to chaos, not clarity. The more people you speak to the more opinions – often contradictory – you’ll hear. To avoid whiplash look for patterns and listen most to your potential customers and the people who know your market.

Cheers to all of the 2014 RBPC participants and aspiring entrepreneurs everywhere!

Ashok Kamal is a social entrepreneur and co-founder of Bennu and SIVI. Connect with him on LinkedIn to discuss all things entrepreneurship, sustainability and fantasy baseball.

3 Bonus Speakers + Your Startup Avenue Fan Favorite

T-minus 15 days until the kickoff of Everywhere Else Tennessee.

And, like all great events, we have a few surprises in store!

First, we’ve added 3 new speakers to the lineup.

Danny Boice, CTO/Cofounder Speek

danny-boice Danny Boice is the Co-Founder & President of Speek. Speek lets users do conference calls with a simple link (speek.com/YourName) rather than using phone numbers and PINs. Danny attended Harvard, is a Forbes columnist, Adjunct Professor at Georgetown and was recently named a Tech Titan by Washingtonian Magazine. You can find Danny on Twitter @DannyBoice or LinkedIn here.

Steve Repetti, Managing Partner Crunch Fire Ventures

steve-repetti Steve has more than 25 years’ experience as an executive, inventor, investor, software developer, and technologist in the computer industry. On top of being the author of several award-winning programs, he is also the managing partner of the startup fund RadWeb Technology Partners, investor member of New World Angels, board member of the Miami Innovation Fund, and sits on the board of the Silicon Valley-based non-profit International Data Portability organization. He is also a member of the OpenAjax Alliance and the OpenWeb Foundation and frequently speaks on topics related to startups, crowd-funding, financing, advanced technology, Web 2.0, open source, data portability, and the real-time web. He also rode, and made the first investment in, the very first Startup Bus.

Jon Carnage

Startup Avenue Fan Favorite

There are some amazing startups in the Startup Avenue at Everywhere Else Tennessee. You met them last week, and spent the week voting on your favorite.

And, man, did y’all vote! 24,000 votes were cast, and it was a tight race. Congratulations to Wannado for being chosen as the Startup Avenue Fan Favorite. Wannado will join 3 other startups in a Pitch Competition on Friday, May 2.

We’ve also added one last startup to the Avenue.

Musistic is a Memphis-based music technology company whose product allows musicians to record with anyone, anywhere, anytime regardless of which recording software is being used. And the forthcoming Co-Lab, will allow musicians to expand their musical network by creating a global market place for musical talent and collaboration.

Meet all of our speakers and startups in just 2 short weeks. Grab your tickets here, if you haven’t already.

The Heartbleed Checklist: Your Guide to Life After Heartbleed

Unless you’ve been living under an Internet rock, you’ve heard about the Heartbleed bug.

If you haven’t heard about the biggest threat to the Internet since the NSA, here’s a good primer.

Oh, and speaking of the NSA, they’re involved, too, naturally.

So, what can you do about the Heartbleed bug? Yeah, not much, unfortunately. Common advice as been to change your passwords, but even that won’t matter very much after the fact.

Not every web service was affected by the bug. Big companies like Apple, Netflix, and Amazon say they were not affected because they don’t use Open SSL for security encryption. (Amazon Web Services, however, was affected.)

Check out the infographic below for more details on which companies were affected and what they’ve done so far:

Explore more visuals like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

Startup Grind Memphis Features Local Entrepreneurial Hero

Taylorpic Next week Startup Grind Memphis will host Taylor Berger for their monthly meetup. It will be held at the newly opened Cowork Memphis space on Tuesday, May 15. This is the 4th edition of Startup Grind Memphis.

If you’ve ever spent time in Memphis, you’ve probably encountered Taylor Berger. You may not have met him personally, but the businesses he’s started span across the city and have been a part of changing the dining landscape.

In 2010 Berger opened Yolo, Memphis’s first self-serve frozen yogurt store. (The Yolo stands for “yogurt local,” not “you only live once.”) Yolo became an instant hit in town, expanding into gelato and baked goods as well as opening stores around the city.

In 2013 he expanded into full restaurants with Chiwawa, a taco and hot dog place with the best patio and margaritas in Memphis. Later that year, Tamp and Tap–a coffee/craft beer bar–opened up downtown.

Along with the restaurants Berger has already been a part of, he is actively developing more new concepts to open in the coming years.

If you’re in the area, Berger’s talk is a must attend. He may “scale” a business the way we in tech think about it, but he’s no stranger to the hard work of entrepreneurship and community revitalization.

And, 3+ restaurants in as many years sounds like “scaling” to me.

Grab your tickets for Startup Grind Memphis here.

Plated’s Josh Hix Talks About the Shark Tank Effect

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When Josh Hix answered my call yesterday, it was easy to feel the fatigue through the phone.

“How are you,” I asked, smiling because I already knew the answer.

“Um,” he answered with a little laugh. “Tired.”

Entrepreneurs around the world know that feeling. It’s that crazy, intense, things-are-going-great-but-oh-my-god kind of fatigue. Plated’s Hix and his cofounder Nick Taranto know that feeling after their episode of Shark Tank aired. The segment ended with Mark Cuban offering the pair $500,000 in exchange for almsot 6% plus advisor shares.

After their episode of Shark Tank aired on Friday night, Hix and Taranto watched the traffic soar. According to Josh, they saw several months worth of traffic come in over the weekend. They also have several thousands of emails unanswered. (So, be patient with them, if you’ve emailed!)

As if the insane growth wasn’t enough, Taranto and his wife are also expecting their first child. They had a baby shower on Saturday, of all days!

Plated already covers about 80% of the country, an impressive feat considering it’s been less than a year since they graduated from Techstars NY. In the couple of days since the show aired, they sold out inventory around the country. Every market saw off the charts growth in both traffic to the site and sales.

The two cofounders filmed the Shark Tank episode in July of 2013, just a month after graduating from Techstars NY. Even before this weekend, they were already experiencing crazy growth.

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“Our metrics are already 10x what they were on the show,” Hix told me.

And, the growth continues.

The Shark Tank effect has been discussed in various places. Earlier this year, Cycloramic saw 100,000 downloads in the hour after the episode aired.

It’s not just companies that get funded, though. Eyebloc, the protective cover for your webcam, saw a huge bump in sales and funding on his Indiegogo campaign.

Before the episode aired, Hix, Taranto, and the team were gearing up for bump in traffic.

“You know it’s going to be big,” he said. “You just don’t realize how big until it actually happens.”

Apply to Southland & You Could Win a $100,000 Investment

Registration is now open to apply for Southland 2014 and the chance to win $100,000 investment. 10 teams will be selected to pitch to a rock star panel of judges that includes: Kirsten Green (Forerunner Ventures), Josh Kopelman (First Round Capital), Shervin Pishevar (Sherpa Capital) just to name a few.

We talked about the new version of Southland last October, when PandoDaily’s Sarah Lacy announced that Pando would be a co-producer of the event. At that time, Lacy told me excitedly about wanting to showcase startups that were unique and special in the South.

“There are some companies that can only be built in the South,” she said.

In addition to the 10 companies chosen to pitch, up to 50 will also present in the Southland Village. A team of judges picked by PandoDaily will judge the applications and make the selections

Startups applying to Southland must be currently raising money and can not have raised more than $1.5 million.

After the Pitch Competition on June 10th, the winner will be offered a $100,000 investment opportunity. The catch is that on June 11, they will have to negotiate the terms of that investment, live on stage in front of the audience.

Now, much like Shark Tank, the terms will be subject to follow up and due diligence, but the pressure will be on to negotiate will in front of the crowd.

You can apply to the Southland Pitch Competition here.

In the mean time, there are another 10 startups vying for your vote and a chance to pitch at the Everywhere Else Tennessee Startup Avenue. Go check them out and vote for your favorite!

Wanted: A Few Good Volunteers for Everywhere Else Tennessee

Have you been watching all the coverage of the upcoming Everywhere Else Tennessee?

Then you’ve probably seen all the killer speakers, started hearing buzz about the parties, and–of course–gotten excited about the BBQ. Memphis is a special place, and Everywhere Else Tennessee is set to be a one-of-a-kind event.

I’d love for you to be a part of it!

The Everywhere Else team needs help with registration, taking care of our startups, setting up, breaking down, and so much more!

As a volunteer, you’ll get an all-access pass to the premier national conference focused entirely on startups outside Silicon Valley. You’ll also have entry to all 3 parties and plenty of time to do some networking of your own.

Wanna help? There are only 10 spots left, so don’t wait to let me know!

Give me a shout at monica@nibletz.com.

Silicon Beach: California’s Other Tech Hub [Infographic]

Everyone wants to be the next Silicon Valley. Across the world, startups are trying to recreate the feel and success of the Bay Area.

350 miles south of the Valley, Los Angeles is already well-known for gorgeous beaches, perfect weather, and Hollywood. But, in the recent years the area–dubbed Silicon Beach–is making a name for itself in the tech world.

For one thing, there are currently 30 incubators in LA. (A few of them gave us some suggestions for getting in to the accelerator program here.)

There are also well-known, outspoken advocates for the area, like VC Mark Suster.

But, let’s not forget the acquisitions. One common test for an ecosystem’s maturity is the number and dollar amount of acquisitions. With last month’s Facebook acquisition of Oculus Rift for $2B, Silicon Beach is holding its own.

No place is really the next Silicon Valley, though. Every city is unique and, when they’re doing it right, bring their own flavor to starting up.

In LA, the average founder age is 38, four years older than their Silicon Valley peers.

Startups from Silicon Beach are also less likely to raise VC money. In 2013 Silicon Valley raised $12 billion from venture capitalists, compared with only $1.7 billion raised in Los Angeles. Whether this is by choice or necessity is a little harder to know.

Check out LA startup MovieLaLa’s infographic below for more details on the emerging Silicon Beach.

MovieLaLa_Silicon Beach Infographic

Shark Tank Shark Barbara Corcoran Brings Her Expertise to Skillshare

Yesterday Shark Tank‘s Barbara Corcoran launched a new class on Skillshare called Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship: Pitching Your Business and Yourself. The 8 session class walks students through the basics of entrepreneurship, including a discussion of what makes an entrepreneur great.

The class costs $19, and once you’ve purchased it, you have access to the materials forever.

“Throughout my many years of running businesses, I have been fortunate to experience success both as an entrepreneur and investor. I’ve learned that some people are well suited to be entrepreneurs, and others aren’t. Unfortunately, in most cases, it takes a lot of time, energy, and money to find out which side of that coin you fall,” Corcoran writes on the course’s landing page.

The class is billed for aspiring entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs who have gotten started and aren’t sure what to do next.

“I created this class on Skillshare to help you determine your worth as an entrepreneur and to help you position your business and concept for success.,” the website continues.

In addition to the materials and discussions, students also complete a final project, a 1 minute pitch video. They submit the video online and receive feedback and votes from other students working through the material. Of the top 20 most upvoted pitches submitted before May 14, Corcoran and her team will pick their favorite.

That entrepreneur will receive a 30 minute mentoring session with Corcoran, as well as her support through social media.

Not too shabby for $19.

Corcoran is, of course, a well-known entrepreneur and investor. Through Shark Tank, she’s invested in 22 companies, including Wild Squirrel Nut Butter.

Recently, Skillshare announced a subscription model for its online learning platform. Students can pay $10/month for access to hundreds of courses. Classes include fields like design, technology, and business. They all incorporate a project at the end, and many involve a prize from the teacher Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship.

Corcoran’s class doesn’t fall under that umbrella, but members do receive a 20% discount. You can enroll here.

Durham–And The Research Triangle–Open The Next Code School

This June The Iron Yard Academy powered by Smashing Boxes will host its first class in Durham, NC. The Iron Yard Academy is already a proven code school with locations across the southeast. Smashing Boxes is a local development shop in Durham.

The school will be the first in Durham and only the second in the Research Triangle.

The partnership is special because it combines the coding school experience of The Iron Yard with Smashing Boxes’ understanding of the local tech scene. That combination could propel ecosystems like the Research Triangle into a whole new sphere.

“The need for technical talent is even more concentrated in high-tech regions such as the Triangle. We’re hoping the school will solidify Durham as a training ground for skilled programmers and continue to attract high-growth businesses,” Smashing Boxes CEO Nick Jordan said. “Creating opportunity in the market for up-and-coming technologists is an essential part of continuing to build our thriving economy.

The Iron Yard Academy is an immersive program–12 weeks of teaching, mentoring, collaboration, and real development work. Regular lab time allows students to leave the academy with a portfolio of projects to shop around to potential employers.

The Iron Yard Academy even guarantees graduates a job–or their money back.

“The Academy is unique among code schools. Students will rub shoulders with real businesses and programming teams from day one,” said Eric Dodds of The Iron Yard.

Find out more at The Iron Yard’s website.

Centresource Throws A Party & Someone Wins a Ticket to #EETN

Last week #EETN sponsor Centresource Interactive Agency hosted their Spring Mixer.

And let me tell you, Centresource knows how to throw a party.

Nashville coworking space The Skillery hosted a pop-up coworking event at the Centresource offices in the afternoon. The Skillery is home to entrepreneurs in fields as diverse as graphic arts, freelance anything, and designers.

As The Skillery folks wrapped up the work day, people flooded into the Centresource offices, an old house in an up and coming Nashville neighborhood. The food was amazing! From a hot dog cart to a semi-celebrity chef, there was no shortage of unique things to munch on.

During the event, we hosted a Twitter contest for the funniest picture. Johnathan Jones (@thephotojones) won a free ticket to Everywhere Else Tennessee!

tweetcontest

But, the highlight of the night was Centresource’s slow motion video booth. When I got to the offices 2 hours before the event started, the film team was already hard at work making it just right. Many curtain straigtenings, furniture moves, and tinkering later, here’s what they produced:

[iframe src=”//player.vimeo.com/video/90299896″ width=”500″ height=”281″ frameborder=”0″ webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen]

Come hang out with the Centresource crew at Everywhere Else Tennessee April 30-May 2. (Early bird discount ending today!) Or at least make sure you get to Nashville for the Summer Mixer.

Can Hackers Ruin Your Online Reputation?

Can Hackers Ruin Your Online Reputation?

Remember earlier this month when the Fox News website went temporarily nuts? How about when PBS’s website was changed to feature the top story “Tupac still alive in New Zealand?” What about earlier this year when Burger King’s Twitter account got hacked?

It seems like every few months there’s a new case of high-profile hacking. Even in the case of Fox News, which claimed an “internal production problem” during routine site maintenance, a single misstep in security and oversight made it the temporary laughingstock of the internet. All it takes is one weak point — a cracked password, a backdoor vulnerability, a website glitch — and your company’s brand is suddenly out of your control.

Luckily for Fox, PBS, and Burger King, these trusted brands are unlikely to suffer any permanent reputation damage. How about you? For many small businesses, a single mistake is enough to sink them permanently.

Many hacks are invisible to the outside observer

Consider the recent WordPress Pharma Hack, which affected many businesses that had custom WordPress.org websites. This hack was designed to remain invisible, both by disguising its code to make it difficult to locate, and also by only appearing via search engine. When you pull up your company’s website, it looks great. When a potential customer finds you via Google, your website turns into a pharmaceutical ad. Do you have any idea you just lost a customer? Probably not. Is your potential customer going to trust your brand in the future? Absolutely not.

The Pharma Hack isn’t the only hack that’s designed to be invisible to the website owner. Other hackers exploit vulnerabilities and then lie in wait, choosing to eschew basic games like turning your website into a pharmaceutical ad in favor of tracking your — and your customers’ — valuable personal information.

Social networks make businesses even more vulnerable to hackers

Even if your website is completely secure, hackers still have access to your brand via social networking programs. More and more threats are coming in through social networking systems such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus. If your business’s Twitter password got compromised through a twishing attack, would you know? What would you do if you woke up to find your Facebook account spamming your fans, or promoting incendiary material? At best, you’ll become that day’s internet joke; at worst, you’ll lose all of the brand loyalty you’ve worked so hard to gain.

Prevention requires constant vigilance

How do you stop hackers from turning your business into their own personal playground? If PBS and Burger King can’t prevent hackers, how can you? Well, you start with a good defense: an internet security program like Trend Micro, a well-built website hosted on a secure server, additional plugins such as Akismet to deflect spam comments and potentially malicious links. (Nothing says “don’t take my brand seriously” like a blog section where all the comments are spammers chatting about someone’s sister’s friend making $600 an hour working online.)

Then, you apply constant vigilance. If your business is large enough, hire an IT team to monitor your server or your website for unusual usage spikes. (Many hackers live overseas, meaning that a savvy IT team is able to notice that people are manipulating your website during odd hours.) You keep track of the latest hacks, the latest phishing threats, and the latest social networking compromises, so you can avoid them. You also develop a plan for contacting customers and clients if you do become hacked, to explain the situation, reassure them that their personal information is safe, and maintain the integrity of your brand.

Will hackers continue to find ways of sneaking onto websites? Undoubtedly. But you’re the only one who can make sure they don’t destroy your business. Don’t let the hackers take control; whether or not your site gets hacked, you are always responsible for your business’s online reputation.

a16z Deputy Chief of Staff, Techstars, & YEC Join the #EETN Lineup

We’re coming down to the wire with the Everywhere Else Tennessee Conference. We have some great new panelists to announce tonight, including members of the Techstars Patriot Boot Camp and the Young Entrepreneur Council.

Tickets are going fast. Make sure to get yours by Monday, March 31 to guarantee the early adopter price of $150.

Now, for a few announcements we’re super excited about:

Andreessen Horowitz Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Lyons will be joining us in Memphis this year. Naithan Jones will be interviewed by Chris, discussing the decision to move from the Midwest to Silicon Valley. During the discussion Nait will talk about the decision to make such a big move, the challenges he faced, and what benefits he’s seen from the move. Nait will also talk about lesssons he learned building an online marketplace.

taylor-mclemore

Taylor McLemore is the Founder and Director of Techstars Patriot Boot Camp, a 3 day program designed to help veterans get mentoring and coaching in starting a company. Previously, he was the CEO & Founder of Prediculous, which was acquired by Sporting News. Taylor will lead a panel of veterans-turned-entrepreneurs as they discuss what it’s like to be in the military and start up. He’ll be joined by

Tameesha Desangles is a Memphis entrepreneur and the founder of WeddingWorthy.com. She has a background in ecommerce marketing, but is passionate about entrepreneurship. She was chosen as 1 of 20 women to represent female military entrepreneurs at the 2013 Inc5000 conference. She’s currently completing the Risingstars program while building WeddingWorthy.com.

Mark Morris is a veteran dedicated to continuing to serve our country through web and mobile technology. Currently, he’s the founder of MyGigline, which aims to solve the problem of communicating available resources for the military community.

scott-gerber

The Young Entrepreneur Council is an invite-only organization that helps entrepreneurs succeed. Founder Scott Gerber will lead a panel discussing the “Everyday Entrepreneur.” Panelists include

Sumi Krishnan is the Founder & CEO of K4 Solutions, which she started while still in school at Virginia Tech. Now the company has 220 employees and works with customers like the USDA and the US Army.

Jake Stutzman is the Owner and Chief Creative Officer at Elevate LLC, a digital design agency in Omaha, NE. (Check out eetennessee.com for a sample of the awesome work he does.) Jake has been doing brand design for 14 years, working with both startups and established, global brands. Last year, Jake won the Silicon Prairie News Designer of the Year award.

John Hall is the CEO of Influence & Co, which helps companies position their key figures as thought leaders in the industry. Influence & Co was recently named to Forbes Most Promising Companies of 2014. John loves speaking and writing, sharing his experiences with other entrepreneurs.

Derek Weber is the President of goBRANDgo! Based in St. Louis, they are a strategic branding and marketing firm for $2M-$50M companies. They specifically combine the quality of an expensive agency with the convenience and price of contractors, perfect for growth-stage companies.

$1.5 Million Investment for Cloud-Based Recruitment Software Creator

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Businesses are being offered new ways to find staff as investment floods in to fund the advancement of recruitment software. Software producer Workable has raised $1.5 million from Israel and London-based Greylock IL towards a project that is creating software to enable cloud-based recruitment for small and medium-sized businesses.

Greylock IL is an affiliate of Greylock Partners, which invested in the LinkedIn social networking site in its early days and now counts Richard Hoffman, LinkedIn’s co-founder, as a partner. The $1.5 million will be added to $950,000 already raised by Greece-based start-up company Workable and take the total amassed so far to $2.45 million.

More investment is being sought for the future, with the company setting its sights on the US, where 60 per cent of its current customers are based.

What is cloud-based recruitment software?

So who is the product for and what is the answer to the question, “why should I be using cloud based recruitment software?” This software allows businesses to use online tools to manage recruitment, including creating job listings and posting them on a range of different networks.

Workable claims it also allows businesses to employ professional recruitment services but still enables them to stay in touch with the process and the applicants their vacancies attract.

Filling a gap in the market

There are various businesses offering this expertise, but Workable claims to be unusual in that it is focusing on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The company says that much of the software currently available is for bigger business with more than 1,000 employees, and there is a niche in the market to supply smaller companies, which may actually be the fastest growing.

Workable’s current customers include start-ups such as Conversocial, a social media management platform, messaging service Intercom, TransferWise and Vend. Nikos Moraitakis, the company’s co-founder, said that the software is not just useful for technology companies but also for any business that needs a simple-to-use recruitment tool.

He said that Workable’s customers already include a dance studio, a bakery and a dog spa. The company’s revenue is said to be growing month-on-month by 30 per cent and its customer base is believed to be increasing at a similar rate.

As well as offering simple recruitment solutions, Workable’s software offers a collaboration aspect to enable a complete team to be involved in recruiting. More features also look set to be added, such as video capabilities.

The company, which has London and Athens offices, also aims to expand the number of site options open to recruiters wanting to post job vacancies. The human resources technology market is currently said to be worth around $14 billion.

Cloud-based software allows businesses to load just one application onto their system rather than having to install a suite on every computer their staff uses. This application then allows the company’s employees to log onto a service that is based on the internet and acts as a host to the programs that staff will need to use.

This is known as cloud computing and current examples include such email services as Gmail and Hotmail.