Startup News Archives - Page 8 of 53

Launch TN Announces 2014 Venture Match Program

Last week public/private organization Launch TN announced its 2014 Venture Match program, a tour of events throughout the state that seeks to match entrepreneurs with the investors or corporate partners that can help them go to market.

The program shifts format and focus depending on the region of the state they visit. In Nashville, they focus on tech companies and typically offer pitch events. In east Tennessee, where the Oak Ridge nuclear plant is located, many of the entrepreneurs are focused on energy, and in Memphis there is a lot of discussion about medical devices. Launch TN hopes to cater to the needs of each community and provide them the resources they need.

Jim Stefansic is the Director of Commercialization at Launch TN. When we spoke on the phone, he explained that many of the entrepreneurs they encounter are inventors or university faculty. They may not have the business savvy or experience pitching investors that we’re used to in the startup world. Launch TN provides a safe place to mentor and think about how the technologies these men and women develop can become true businesses.

This year’s events will be held in partnership with several organizations across the state, including the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee Research Foundation, Vanderbilt, Memphis Bioworks, and Start Co.

“The Venture Match program is an excellent forum to increase the number of commercialized technologies and high-growth startups in our state,” Launch TN CEO Charlie Brock said in a statement. “This initiative will continue to help build new networks and opportunities for collaborative, innovative thinking across the state.”

Like many other startup ecosystems outside Silicon Valley, the Tennessee community is still in the early days of what Brad Feld estimates to be a 20 year commitment. There’s a lot going on in Tennessee, of course, which is one reason we chose to host our semi-annual conference there.

Tennessee may still be testing and iterating as an ecosystem, but programs like Venture Match hope to bring out the technology and entrepreneurs that live in the state.

Newspaper Startups Will Compete in First Ever Pitch Contest

Last week the Newspaper Association of America announced the 8 startups that will pitch at the associations annual conference in Denver. This is the first time such a pitch contest has been held, signalling that newspapers may have finally realized that journalism is changing.

Companies submitted their applications in December, and a committee narrowed them down based on innovation, creativity, and usefulness to the newspaper companies.

“We were blown away by the overwhelming response to our Accelerator Pitch program and are thrilled to announce these participating companies,” NAA President and CEO Caroline Little said in a statement. “The companies will showcase exciting new ideas as we continue to transform the entire newspaper industry. This program is a unique opportunity for these startup companies, and everyone in attendance at NAA mediaXchange will be able to see the future of our industry on display.”

The 8 companies chosen will pitch industry officials at the annual conference, held in Denver on March 16-19.

Cinemacraft – “As the newspaper industry gets more and more into the video content business, particularly with the increase of mobile video consumption, Cinemacraft helps publishers gives their users a top-notch and immersive video viewing experience.”
City Portals, LLC – “City Portals, LCC provides a partnership approach to newspapers for building a substantial growing business in both online and mobile. Our relationship includes a complete and cloud-based platform as well as a full suite of services for quickly creating a market-dominant digital media business.
Ebyline – “Ebyline provides publishers with a virtual newsroom environment that challenges the concept of a physical newsroom altogether. In short, our business is about improving content economics.”
Guarantee Digital – “Guarantee Digital provides while label Digital Agency services to a growing list of media partners in over 30 markets in the United States. We give our partners the ability to offer the essential web, social and mobile marketing and services local merchants need to reach today’s connected consumer.”
MediaWorks – “MediaWorks brings Big Data to publisher media. The goal is to bring the power of data driven solutions to a publisher’s advertising offerings, which ultimately translates to stronger advertiser ROI.”
saambaa – “saambaa is revolutionizing how local publishers deploy and monetize mobile apps. Our technology makes it easy for publishers to transfer their entertainment content into a branded, native mobile entertainment app for iPhone or Android.”
Simpli.fi – “Our In.Finity Programmatic marketing platform is the first platform purpose-built for unstructured data. The fundamental differentiating capabilities around unstructured data empower Simpl.fi to serve the unique needs of the local media company and their advertisers.”
SocialNewsDesk – “SocialNewsDesk is the only social media management tool designed specifically with the needs of a newsroom in mind. SocialNewsDesk enables the newspaper company to manage its entire social strategy from a single web-based application.”

20 Most Active Seed Investors Outside Silicon Valley

We all know the names that come up when we talk about the most active early stage investors: 500 Startups and Andreesen Horowitz.

However, when CB Insights released their list of the 150 most active seed investors of 2013 earlier this month, we couldn’t help but notice than an awful lot of the top funds were outside of Silicon Valley. Perhaps this is to be expected. After all, despite the mythical size of the Valley in startup culture, it’s actually a pretty small area. And everywhere else is, well, big.

Still, when 15 of the top 20 most active seed funds are not based in the Valley, it might be time to take notice. It’s probably no surprise that New York had the most number of firms in the top 20. New York is quickly becoming seen as the other tech hub in the United States. However, cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Las Vegas are also represented, and in the expanded list Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Phoenix all made a showing.

Of course, there’s plenty of debate over whether or not so many seed funds are a good idea. (Series A crunch, anyone?) The great news about so many seed funds popping up around the US is that more and more entrepreneurs are getting a shot at testing our their ideas.

And that will ultimately prove to be a good thing for all of us.

20 Most Active Seed Investors Outside Silicon Valley

Lerer Ventures–The New York-based venture firm is the most active seed investor everywhere else, and they were 4th overall. The guys at Lerer Ventures also run the incubator SohoTechLabs.
First Round Capital–Often credited with innovation in a field usually afraid of change, First Round Capital focuses on provided services and mentorship, as well as cash, to the companies they invest in. The First Round Review is a great resource for founders looking to better understand startup life.
Innovation Works–Innovation Works is focused in southwest Pennsylvania, making it the first on our list with a regional focus. They also run the AlphaLab accelerator.
Atlas Venture–Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Atlas Venture focuses on early stage technology and life sciences. They’ve been in the game for awhile, raising their first fund in 1986.
Connecticut Innovations–This private/public partnership has been operating in Connecticut since 1989. They partner with other investors to provide seed funds for startups and small businesses around Connecticut.
Founder Collective–This New York fund boasts that every investor has also started a company, giving them an advantage in helping entrepreneurs. Some of their companies include Buzzfeed and Makerbot.
Great Oaks Venture Capital–Also based in NYC, Great Oaks focuses on verticals like e-commerce, adtech, mobile and social. Some of their investments include Storify, OKCupid, and ModCloth.
Red Swan Ventures–Forget the “unicorns.” This New York firm is looking for the “red swans: great companies most of us never saw coming.” Some of those “red swans”? Birchbox, Warby Parker, and Bonobos.
RRE Ventures–This is a multi-stage firm in New York, but they’re still one of the most active seed investors in the country. At the early stage, they’ve invested in the Skimm and Datadog, among others.
CIT GAP Funds--This nonprofit works with other investors to coordinate investments in Virginia-based tech companies.
ENIAC Ventures–ENIAC claims to be the first seed stage fund focused exclusively on mobile technology, raising their first fund in 2009. Based in New York, the firm has invested in companies like Localytics, Thumb, and Shake.
Maveron–Seattle-based Maveron focuses solely on consumer businesses. They had a big win last year when Zulily rocked their IPO.
Vegas Tech Fund–Of all the community-based funds, Vegas Tech Fund is probably the most famous. Powered by Tony Hsieh, they are focused on revitalizing downtown Las Vegas.
NewSchools Venture Fund–This Boston-based nonprofit is focused on transforming education, especially for lower income kids. They invest in edtech as well as charter schools.
ff Venture Capital–Another firm based in New York, ff Venture focuses on pouring in resources and mentorship to its portfolio companies. They run an accelerator, and also make a point to keep money back for follow on funding within its portfolio.
Greycroft Partners–Greycroft also seeks to serve its entrepreneurs, keeping its fund small but boasting of access to networks that would rival the big firms. They’ve seen some big wins like Braintree, paidContent.org, and The Huffington Post, to name a few.
Bessemer Venture Partners–Bessemer prides itself on seeking out new industries and opportunities. Some of their big areas of focus right now are Brazil, cleantech, and cyber security.
Upfront Ventures--A discussion of active venture funds would not be complete without Mark Suster’s fund out of LA. Suster is famous for his bluntness, and companies like awe.sm, DataSift, and MoonFrye benefit from the industry experience found at Upfront
Index Ventures–Based in England, Index Ventures they’re different because they are true partners, instead of free agents under the same umbrella. They focus on companies in tech and life scienes.
Resolute.vc–The last company in our list is also based in New York and sees itself as a service to entrepreneurs, not just a paycheck. They’ve invested in companies like Barkbox and Homejoy, among others.

Rackspace Cofounder Looks to Bring Mexican Entrepreneurs to San Antonio

Geekdom–the San Antonio coworking space founded by Rackspace’s Graham Weston–announced today that they are partnering with HeroX to launch an entrepreneurial challenge aimed at helping Mexican businesses with their US expansion plan.

Dubbed the San Antonio Mx Challenge, the contest will award $500,000 to the team that creates and implements a repeatable business model that will help Mexican companies come to the US, specifically to San Antonio.

With the Mexican economy growing, the folks in San Antonio want to be on the forefront of partnership with Mexican entrepreneurs as well as American companies looking to expand into Latin America.

“This challenge will be the catalyst between the San Antonio startup ecosystem and Mexican entrepreneurs wishing to expand into the US,” Rackspace cofounder and Chairman Graham Weston said in a statement. “We are already famous for this in San Antonio. Now we are going to show the rest of the world.”

The challenge will run for 26 months, with teams able to enter as late as January 2015. Participants will earn points through a number of ways:

Number of Mexican companies they attract over 2 years
Total combined revenue for those companies each year for 2 years
Sustainability of the companies
Sustainability of the model

The challenge will be run through the HeroX platform. A spinoff of XPRIZE, HeroX seeks to solve world problems through incentivized contests and challenges.

“I am proud to see the first competition launched on HeroX. It has been my dream for years to offer a platform that allows anyone to use incentive competitions to solve problems and drive innovation,” said Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairmand CEO of XPRIZE and Co-founder/Board Member of HeroX. “By bringing in solutions from anywhere, I’m convinced that competitions like this one will have a bright future for social issues and for driving innovation faster than we can imagine.”

There are various events during the 2 year competition, including a summit this September. The first year leaderboard will go up April 2015, and the final winner will be announced (and awarded $500k) on May 4, 2016. Find out more or register for the challenge here.

The “Must-Attend Conference for Entrepreneurs” Everywhere Else Tennessee is headed back to Memphis this Spring. We’ve released the early adopter tickets, and they’re going fast. Don’t miss your shot by signing up here!

Survey Says: Low Salaries Equal Startup Success

There’s a fair amount of debate about how much founders should pay themselves. In 2008 Peter Thiel famously said that the lower a CEO’s salary was, the more likely the startup was to succeed:

The CEO’s salary sets a cap for everyone else. If it is set at a high level, you end up burning a whole lot more money. It aligns his interest with the equity holders. But [beyond that], it goes to whether the mission of the company is to build something new or just collect paychecks.

Not that collecting paychecks is a bad thing. Other experts argue that when founders take too little money, they can be distracted by the needs of every day life. This is particularly true when founders have children depending on their paycheck to do little things like–you know–eat.

Earlier this week Compass published some data on this very question. Their survey data indicates that startups who pay their founders on the low side are more likely to succeed than ones who pay high salaries.

Additional research showed that, globally, 73% of founders pay themselves less than $50,000/year. This included funded, as well as non-funded, startups. Even in Silicon Valley, most founders pay themselves less than $50k and a vast majority less than $75k. Despite the high cost of living there, the Compass survey indicates that most founders are far from living large.

Despite the opinion of some, this data would indicate that cost of living does matter in the life of a startup. Possibly a lot. Considering that the average age of a founder is 40, not 20 as the outliers in the industry might lead us to believe, it’s safe to say that most entrepreneurs have family and life obligations that demand a decent salary. Even younger entrepreneurs can benefit from a lower cost of living, making their seed stages last longer when they aren’t based in a high-cost tech hub.

The moral of the story? You know we’re the voice of startups everywhere else, and that means we think it’s awesome to build a company outside Silicon Valley. There are a lot of factors that go into a location decision, but when $50,000 is a good salary even in Chicago (instead of near poverty in the Valley), why wouldn’t you consider it?

After all, if Peter Thiel says it…

Speaking of everywhere else:

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange “Comes” to SXSWi in March

Yesterday SXSW announced that controversial figure Julian Assange will take the stage via satellite interview on Saturday, March 8. He will engage in a “live conversation” with The Barbarian Group’s Benjamin Palmer.

On the off chance you’re unaware of this saga, Assange is the founder and editor-in-chief of Wikileaks, started in 2006 but made famous in 2010 when the site posted American diplomatic cables containing classified information. Living in England at the time, Assange was served a European Arrest Warrant from Sweden on charges of rape and sexual assault. When his appeals to English courts were finally defeated in June 2012, Assange took refuge, saying he feared that Sweden was just trying to turn him over to the US.

Presumably, he will be addressing the SXSW crowd from his current residence in the Ecuadorian embassy.

Whatever your thoughts on the twists and turns of this case, the inclusion of Assange in the SXSW lineup is perfect timing. Since his publication of classified documents, Americans have become familiar with terms like PRISM, MUSCULAR, Edward Snowden, and the NSA. We’re also suddenly aware that before too long the government could even know what temperature we like our homes to be.

Considering all the discussion of privacy and government encroachment, it’s safe to say Assange’s session will be well attended.

You can find a full lineup for the 2014 SXSWi here.

Branch Sells to Facebook for “Around” $15 Million

Want to know how quiet your critics?

Well, you buy them up of course!

This morning The Verge broke the story that Facebook is acquiring New York-based startup Branch for $15 million. While early reports indicated that the Branch team expected to be building out their product at Facebook, a Techcrunch update clarified that a Facebook rep says the acquisition is for talent only.

Branch is (was?) a link-sharing service that allowed you to have conversations about anything on the Internet, then publish those conversations on a blog or website. Most recently it launched Potluck, an iPhone app that allowed you to discover news bites and talk about them with friends in-app.

Last year, Branch CEO Josh Miller wrote a popular post on Medium calling Facebook an “irreversibly bad brand.” He pointed to the fact that his teenage sister makes a point to visit the social network as little as possible. Our CEO Nick Tippmann had a similar experience with younger siblings, where he was informed that “Facebook is for old people.”

A few weeks ago, however, Miller wrote that he was “bullish on Facebook.” Still, bullish or not, the post offered some–ahem–healthy criticisms of his future employer on things they could do to improve the News Feed. There’s little doubt, given the length of time it takes to make an acquisition, that Miller wrote the more recent post while in talks with the social network.

Fair enough. Even after a $2 million raise, Miller and his cofounders are most likely experiencing their first day as millionaires today, and they have nice jobs at Facebook to add to the deal.

Branch isn’t the only startup trying to disrupt the way we consume news. Quibb is another popular (if exclusive) service that allows industry professionals to share links and discuss them. And then, of course, there’s always Twitter, which seems to work well for everyone. Branch is hoping to bring Facebook back to the news game.

Perhaps we’ll be seeing fewer cat memes in 2014?

The “Must-Attend Conference for Entrepreneurs” Everywhere Else Tennessee is headed back to Memphis this Spring. We’re releasing the first 50 tickets for 50% off exclusively to our newsletter subscribers on Jan 14th. Don’t miss your shot by signing up here!

32 Most Influential Investors of 2013 (Outside Silicon Valley)

Investors. We love to talk about them, to watch what they’re doing, to know who they’re talking to. Even for startups choosing to bootstrap, investors can often have a lot of influence in the way you think about markets and ideas.

But, who should you listen to?

To help you figure that out, we made a list of the most influential investors to watch in 2014. With so many out there, we had a few criteria we used to decide who to include:

Outside of Silicon Valley. Obviously, Nibletz is the voice of startups everywhere else! While we pay close attention to lots of Valley investors, like Paul Graham and Dave McClure, this list is specifically for investors who choose to live/invest everywhere else.
We looked at CB Insights’ most active investor list from 2013.
We considered the founders of active funds that are creating some buzz in the investing world.
Personal brand. A lot of investors are active on Twitter or blog regularly. We took into account how each investor’s personal brand is growing.

Lists like these are always subjective, of course, but these are the investors we’ll be watching in 2014. (And you should, too!)

Alexis Ohanian–@alexisohanian

Co-founder of Reddit and New York based investor Alexis Ohanian is a prolific angel investor. His investments include Couple, Teespring, Crowdtilt, and Hubspot.

Andy Dunn–@dunn

Andy Dunn is the co-founder and CEO of Bonobos and Red Swan. He’s based in New York, and his investments include Birchbox, Coinbase, Warby Parker, TaskRabbit, and Hailo.

Andy Weissman–@aweissman

Andy Weissman is also a partner at New York’s Union Square Ventures. He’s also the founder and COO of Betaworks. His investments include Twitter, Path, Codecademy, Bit.ly, Tweetdeck, Tumblr, and StockTwits.

Andy White–@leanstarter

As a Partner in the Vegas Tech Fund, Andy White lives and breathes Las Vegas. His investments show that: BoomStartup, DropShip, AngelList, and 500 Startups, among others.

Bijan Sabet–@bijan

Based in Boston, Bijan Sabet is another blogging VC with good industry knowledge. He’s the founder of Spark Capital, and his investments include Foursquare, OMGPOP, Tumblr, Twitter, and Runkeeper.

Brad Feld–@bfeld

If you’ve been around the startup space for a minute, you’ve heard of Brad Feld. He literally wrote the book(s) on startup culture. Based in Boulder, his investments include Makerbot, Fitbit, Zynga, Mile High Organics, and Yesware.

Brad Keywell–@bradkeywell

As the cofounder and director of Groupon, Brad Keywell has been around the Chicago scene for awhile. As a cofounder and managing partner of Lightbank, he continues to invest in the area. His investments include Udemy, Zaarly, Boomerang, and Benchprep.

Charlie O’Donnell–@ceonyc

Charlie O’Donnell is a New York based investor at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. He blogs at This is Going to Be Big. His investments include GroupMe, Refinery29, editorially, and Chloe + Isabel

Chris Hollod–@chrishollod

LA-based Chris Hollod manages A-Grade Investments, theVC fund Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary, and Ron Burkle. His major investments include Foursquare, Uber, Zaarly, Warby Parker, Chegg, Flipboard, and Dwolla.

Chris Sacca–@sacca

Chris Sacca spends his time in Truckee, CA, where he’s the Managing Director of Lowercase Capital. He’s a prolific investor, but some of the big names include Uber, Kickstarter, Turntable.fm, Instagram, Path, Charbeat, and Facebook.

David Cohen–@davidcohen

As a founder/CEO of Techstars, David Cohen is well known for championing startups everywhere else. He’s also a blogging VC. A few of his investments include Twilio, Uber, Bondsie, and GroupMe.

David Tisch–@davetisch

David Tisch is former Techstars director, and he now helps run and invests through the Box Group. His diverse investments include Fab.com, ID.me, Boxee, IFTTT, AngelList, Kitchensurfing, and Skillshare.

Eric Hippeau–@erichippeau

Eric Hippeau was once the CEO of The Huffington Post. Now the New York-based investor is a partner at Lerer Ventures. His investments include Buzzfeed, Yahoo, The Huffington Post, and PandoMedia.

Fred Wilson–@fredwilson

With his daily blogging about all things in the industry, it’s a no-brainer that Fred Wilson would land high on the list. Wilson is a managing partner at Union Square Ventures in New York. His portfolio includes Twitter, Zynga, Etsy and Disqus.

Greg Bettinelli–@gregbettinelli

Greg Bettinelli is a venture partner at LA’s Upfront Ventures. He’s also the cofounder of the MuckerLab accelerator and has worked in leadership at eBay, StubHub, and HauteLook. His investments include Foodzie, Chromatik, and Trunk Club.

Izhar Armony–@izhararmony

General Partner at Boston-based Charles River Venture, Izhar Armony has also had some big hits. He invested in Twitter and Yammer. His portfolio also includes Zynga, Zendesk, and Qualcomm.

Jeff Bussgang–@bussgang

Jeff Bussgang is a cofounder of UPromise and literally wrote the book on VC (Mastering the VC Game). The Boston/New York-based investor has invested in oneforty, Simple Tuition, Crashlytics, and SavingStar, among others.

Joanne Wilson–@thegothamgal

The wife of Fred Wilson is a businesswoman and investor in her own right. Like her husband, she regularly blogs about startup life. Her angel investments include Daily Worth, Kitchensurfing, littleBits, LE TOTE, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Lover.ly

Joe Medved–@joevc

Joe Medved is a partner at Softbank Capital and an adviser at the Brandery. He also gave one of the most informative talks at Everywhere Else Cincinnati in October. Joe’s investments include Rap Genius, Thumb, CrowdTwist, and FlightCar,

Jonathon Perrelli–@perrelli

Another fan favorite at Everywhere Else Cincinnati, Jonathon Perrelli is an active investor in the DC Tech scene. His investments through Fortify VC include Introhive, Social Tables, Fleksy, and The Trip Tribe.

Jonathon Triest–@jtriest

Detroit-based Ludlow Ventures is “angel and seed stage investing without the ego.” As the Managing Partner, Jonathon Triest’s investments include uBeam, EatSprig, Chalkfly, and AngelList.

Josh Kopleman–@joshk

While Josh Kopelman is technically in the Valley, First Round Capital has offices in New York and Philadelphia, and they’ve been so influential in seed stage investing, we couldn’t leave them out. Kopelman’s investments include LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Path, and Mint.

Josh Linkner–@joshlinkner

Josh Linkner is the author of the book Disciplined Dreaming and the founder of Detroit Venture Partners. He blogs here. His investments include Miso Media, Stylecaster, UpTo, and Quikly.

Lee Hower–@leehower

Once on the founding team at LinkedIn, Lee Hower is now the cofounder and partner at Next View Ventures. He also blogs regularly about what he sees happening in the industry. Based in Boston, his investments include Swipely, Goodsie, thredUP, and Crunched.

Mark Hasebroock–@dundeevc

Mark Hasebroock was another awesome speaker at Everywhere Else Cincinnati. As a member of the Dundee Venture Capital team, he’s invested in Graphicly, TripleSeat Software, and MindMixer.

Mark Suster–@msuster

Mark Suster is well-known in the startup world for his blunt take on everything, but as an entrepreneur-turned-VC, he’s seen a lot. He shares his opinions and wisdom at his blog, Both Sides of the Table. His investments include Treehouse, awe.sm, MakeSpace, and DealMaker Media.

Michael Arrington–@arrington

The TechCrunch founder now blogs at Uncrunched and invests from Seattle and the Valley. His many years in the industry has made him an astute and vocal fixture. Arrington’s investments include PandoMedia, Zaarly, Couple, and Codecademy.

Mike Brown, Jr–@mikebrownjr

New York-based Mike Brown Jr is a General Partner at Bowery Capital. His investments include Codecademy, Newscred, About.me, Bit.ly, and Betaworks.

Mo Koyfman–@mokoyfman

Mo Koyfman is a General Partner at New York’s Spark Capital. His investments include Skillshare, Warby Parker, Kitchensurfing, Aviary, and FundersClub.

Nitesh Banta–@nbanta

Nitesh Banta is an investor at General Catalyst Partners and the founder of Rough Draft Ventures. Based in Boston, some of his investments include Airbnb, Hubspot, KAYAK, Warby Parker, and Thumb.

Shari Redstone

Shari Redston is the cofounder and managing partner of Advanceit Capital. She was a media executive and currently holds the Vice Chair positions on the boards of Viacom and CBS. Advancit Capital has invested in Skift, Oyster, Bottlenose, and Newscred.

Steve Case–@stevecase

The co-founder of AOL is now a regular startup champion and investor. He founded his VC firm, Revolution. His investments include Zipcar, Runkeeper, Uber Media, and LivingSocial.

Calling All Pot Startups: A Venture Fund Just for You

It’s been a week since recreational marijuana became legal in Colorado. After years of lobbying, an historic vote in 2012, and a year of haggling over the details, weed enthusiasts lined up to ring in the new year at the new retail stores. Iraq War veteran Sean Azziriti bought the first bag.

A whole new (legal) industry, with the expectation of almost unlimited growth in the coming years as more states legalize…sounds like the perfect scenario for startups.

That’s what High Times Magazine thinks, too.

The 40-year-old magazine is a staple in toker culture. Besides the print magazine and website, the company also hosts the Cannabis Cup in cities across the United States and Amsterdam. Even during the hottest years of the war on drugs, High Times published issues and continued to host events.

And now they’re supporting startups.

The High Times Growth Fund will raise money to “invest in compelling businesses across all areas of the rapidly growing domestic cannabis market.” The HTG Fund is looking to raise $100 million and wants invest $2-5 million in each company.

“What we are looking to do is provide capital and credit to companies that are established and have grown and reached their potential as much as they can without access to traditional capital markets,” fund managing director Michael Safir told the Denver Post.

He went on to say that fund will consider growers, but the main focus will be on ancillary companies.

“If you are running a cannabis business, you aren’t getting (a Small Business Administration) loan, you don’t have bank accounts,” he said. “It’s hard to grow when you don’t have the tools.”

While the HGT Fund will operate like a venture fund, there are other organizations handling the angel side of things. The Arcview Group operates an angel network for accredited investors to invest in cannabis startups. They estimate the industry growing by 64% in 2014, and that’s without mass legalization at the state level.

All the buzz around marijuana this week tends to forget one thing, though. It’s still against federal law to grow, possess, or smoke it. While it’s assumed federal authorities will turn a blind eye to users and companies within states that have legalized, no one really knows for sure yet. That kind of instability may make it difficult for some investors to take the risk right now.

Of course, more and more Americans are in favor of legalization, making it seem inevitable. Perhaps this is the perfect time to get in the business.

The “Must-Attend Conference for Entrepreneurs” Everywhere Else Tennessee is headed back to Memphis this Spring. We’re releasing the first 50 tickets for 50% off exclusively to our newsletter subscribers on Jan 13th. Don’t miss your shot by signing up here!

Memphis-based Start Co Brings Entrepreneurship to Everyone

There’s a lot of buzz in the startup world about how startups stimulate job growth. A healthy company that employs dozens to hundreds of people works wonders for a local economy and culture. See Zappos and Las Vegas.

With that in mind, a lot of organizations are popping up in different regions with the goal of encouraging entrepreneurship and stimulate economic growth. We’ve written a lot about Start Co, recently about their partnership with the Ohio-based Jumpstart America.

Yesterday, Start Co and Jumpstart America unveiled a plan to increase entrepreneurship in the Memphis area. Called MEMx the plan includes several regional leaders in business and the local community.

Memphis regularly lags behind the rest of the nation in economic indicators, and much of the money injected into the city are “poverty dollars.”

Start Co and their partners are determined to change that.

“MEMx plan partners have an aligned vision to advance entrepreneurship in Memphis through this new approach that encourages an entrepreneurial mindset and appreciation across the community,” Start Co’s co-president Andre Fowlkes said in a statement. “To help Memphis establish the building blocks of a thriving economy, it’s absolutely critical that we’re deliberately inclusive in our efforts.”

MEMx will seek to build on Memphis’ unique strengths and opportunities, find the region’s entrepreneurial potential, and continue to learn how to best grow the Memphis economy. The next steps include fundraising and expansion of some current initiatives already in place, like the local accelerators, which are currently accepting applications.

In the startup tech world, we often get very focused on individual companies and their products. Start Co is unique in that they are thinking about how to best help their city first and are leveraging local tech entrepreneurs to do it.

At Nibletz, we are very familiar with the city of Memphis and the Memphis startup scene. It’s a great city, with so many exciting growth opportunities. In recent years the food scene and the live music scene have both exploded, bringing health and vitality to areas that many people had given up on. The success of MEMx could help Memphis grow its economy as quickly as its culture has grown in the last few years.

By the way, there’s another great startup event happening in Memphis this spring:

The “Must-Attend Conference for Entrepreneurs” Everywhere Else Tennessee is headed back to Memphis this Spring. We’re releasing the first 50 tickets for 50% off exclusively to our newsletter subscribers on Jan 13th. Don’t miss your shot by signing up here!

Glympse Partners with Chevy to Make Your Car More Connected

Yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show Chevrolet announced the launch of their new AppShop, which will include Seattle-based Glympse.

Glympse also announced a partnership with Jaguar Land Rover. The company already partners with Mercedes-Benz.

The Glympse app allows users to share their location with friends in real time for a short period. Have a coffee with a good friend, but afraid you’re going to be late? You can choose to let them track your progress, so they know how far away you are. The company is backed by Menlo Ventures and Ignition Partners and has raised $7.5 million.

While the app itself is a simple idea, and one many people could dismiss, as we move into an “Internet of Things,” Glympse is well-positioned. As our tendency to use our phones while driving rises, so do deaths at the hands of distracted drivers. Many car companies are moving in the same direction as General Motors. In theory, a car connected with our favorite music, news, and location apps will keep the cell phone put away and our hands on the wheel.

“We listen to our customers, and they want more choices like they have with their smartphones,” Alan Beaty, senior vice president of Global Chevrolet, said in a statement. “They’re telling us they want more integration, more options, and more control in a safe manner.”

That’s great news for Glympse, which has been busy adding partners in the last year. Verizon, Samsung, Mini Cooper, BMW, Ford, and Garmin (among others) are already partners with access to the Glympse platform.

Along with Glympse, Chevrolet announced 9 others apps in their AppShop:

iHeartRadio
Priceline.com
The Weather Channel
NPR
Slacker Radio
Tune In Radio
Kaliki
Cityseeker
Eventseeker

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Startup Travel Program Brings Canadian Founders to San Francisco

Even though we focus our coverage on startups outside of Silicon Valley, no one can deny that the Valley is the leader in the tech space. Decades ahead of other ecosystems, Silicon Valley is the model for every other city trying to become a tech hub.

While cities everywhere else shouldn’t try to be the “next Silicon Valley,” there’s obviously great benefit in learning from what’s happened there and in San Francisco. Despite up-and-coming venture funds, accelerators, and networks all over the world, for now that part of California is still the hub.

With that in mind, Volta Labs in Halifax is sending startup teams to San Francisco to learn, network, and soak up life in a full grown ecosystem.

Eligible companies will be from Nova Scotia and meet the following criteria:

Have a product in the IT sector
Be less than 3 years old, with fewer than 10 employees
Have received less than $250,000 in funding
Provide a pitch deck/demo

The program will cover 75% of expenses, up to $5,000 for the teams to stay at least two weeks.

“Getting people to San Francisco and New York may lead to fundraising, partnerships, or customer acquisition,” program champion Ben Yoskovitz said on his blog. “But in my mind, the primary goal of a Startup Travel Program is to have entrepreneurs experience an amazing startup ecosystem and bring some of that back with them.”

Yoskovitz goes on to say that the program does guarantee that Rolodexes will be opened for traveling teams. The idea isn’t to be handed a network, but to provide finances and let the teams make things happen while they’re on the ground.

There will never be another Silicon Valley. But leaders in budding ecosystems can learn a lot by experiencing the culture there and thinking deeply about how it translates back to their hometowns. The idea isn’t imitation, but continued growth and innovation.

What You Can Learn About PR from Dave McClure

Agree or disagree with him all you want, Dave McClure knows how to make a scene. He’s notorious for speaking his mind and saying what everyone else is thinking, but no one else will say.

Last night, Dave posted the tweet above to reach out to women founders for the Women 2.0 PITCH event. Women 2.0 CEO Shaherose Charania replied to his tweet with a laugh and a <3.

Soon after Dave’s tweet, though, New York investor Sarah Kunst replied:

Regardless of who you think is right and wrong in this situation, we can all learn a lot from the way Dave McClure handled the it.

Engage your critics

It would have been easy for Dave to ignore Sarah’s tweet. Or at least acknowledged it and gone about his evening. As a big investor in women, unsexy, and startups everywhere else, McClure hardly needs to justify his own thoughts on women in tech.

Instead, he spent most of the night talking to and retweeting his harshest critics. One woman he retweeted said she had lost respect for him and 500 Startups.

Now, personal attacks are one thing, but calling out the company is another. Again, it would have been easy for Dave to ignore or dismiss this tweet about his accelerator, which had nothing to do with his personal Twitter account. Instead, he gave his critic a platform and announced to all his followers that the 500 Startups brand was being doubted.

Throughout the evening, Dave asked questions and tried to understand the criticism. I don’t know of anyone who thinks he’s sexist, but he quickly admitted that if he offended one woman, he might very well have chosen his words incorrectly.

Which leads us to the next lesson:

‘Fess up and try to fix it

Immediately, Dave admitted that he could have been wrong. He explained what he meant, but he listened to the people criticizing him and learned from how they felt. After a couple of hours of this, he tweeted:

Same heart, different words. After understanding the problem, Dave didn’t try to defend himself or stand his ground. He changed his wording so that the most women would hear the message.

He ‘fessed up and tried to fix it. (Here’s looking at you, Snapchat.)

The other lesson learned from Dave McClure about good PR? A little controversy goes a long way. You all know about the Women 2.0 PITCH event now, don’t you.

Editor’s Choice: Top 10 Nibletz Posts of 2013

Pop the champagne!

It’s the last day of 2013, which is a little crazy. It’s been a busy year for Nibletz, and we are planning for an even better 2014.

We covered some great startups this year, from all over the country. We attended tons of great events and met smart entrepreneurs all over the country. Here are some of our favorite posts from this year:

Dave McClure: Buying a House is Far More Risky Than Investing In Startups

Why do investors have to be “accredited” when almost anyone can risk their money on buying a house?

5 Rules for Naming Your Startup: Memphis Firm Offers Support Advice in SXSW Panel

Startup names are a mixed bag, but Archer Malmo gave advice to the crowd at SXSW in March.

FortifyVC’s Carla Valdes Knows What It Means to Have It All

This interview features a woman who does it all. (And watch for some exciting stuff coming from Carla in 2014!)

This Pitch From DC Startup Speek Results in a Monkey Tattoo on John Bracken’s Ass

Cofounders sometimes do mean things to each other. Like announce the other one will get a tattoo if they win a pitch contest.

Tony Hsieh, Founder of Zappos and Downtown Project, On Startup Communities

Whether it’s a huge company or a whole city, Tony Hsieh has a few things to say about starting up.

Do Women-Only Initiatives Actually Help Women

In one of my first posts as Editor-in-Chief, I take issue with women-only initiatives.