UPDATE: Ignite Clean Energy business plan competition
January 6, 2009
There is an upcoming event at the Council for Entrepreneurial Development in RTP that involves some cool stuff:
- Startups in NC
- Clean Energy ideas
- A business plan competition
Here is the deal: Ignite Clean Energy (ICE) is an initiative to foster renewable energy technology firms. Since 2005 ICE has been organizing a business plan competition for entrepreneurs in the clean energy industry. The event this week at the CED is a teambuilding event and information session aimed at clean energy startups looking for advice and investment.
WHAT: Ignite Clean Energy Team Building Event
WHEN: Wednesday January 7th from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
WHERE: MCNC, 3021 Cornwallis Road, RTP, NC
Register here — fee depends on your CED membership.
We plan to blog live from the event and will have some updates later today or tomorrow.
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UPDATE: If you’re interested in clean and green energy, check out today’s WUNC’s “The State of Things” radio show about “The Carbon Free Home”.
Event: “Reboot your Work”, by TriUPA
January 5, 2009
The Triangle Usability Professionals Association is holding a 1-day personal productivity workshop on Jan. 12th and 13th. Though not strictly for entrepreneurs, it teaches the skills required for getting more done (tell me you can’t use that!).
“In this fast-paced full-day workshop, you will learn modern techniques to juggle and prioritize all the information constantly coming at you: dozens of projects, round-the-clock demands for your attention, and the perpetual overload of email and IM.
You’ll apply the concepts using hands-on exercises at the individual, small group, and large group levels. You’ll leave with a solid system for doing your job more productively, with less effort, and a greater sense of control.”
Registration fee depends on membership, starting at $50 for the full day. The workshop will be held at the CED.
Full details here.
What you should be reading
December 16, 2008
There’s a lot of good advice out there if you want to start a business. And these days a lot of it is on blogs. Marc Dangear tracks about 350 blogs that discuss different aspects of entrepreneurship. He lists the top 150 (based on influence ranking, not traffic) on his own blog and we’re happy to be # 56 (just below our blog affiliates in Texas, Colorado, New Hampshire and Kentucky).
Check it out and here’s just the top 100 for some happy reading for the holidays!
1 http://www.techcrunch.com
2 http://www.venturebeat.com
3 http://blog.guykawasaki.com
4 http://www.gigaom.com
5 http://www.alleyinsider.com
6 http://www.readwriteweb.com
7 http://www.avc.com/a_vc
8 http://www.pehub.com
9 http://paul.kedrosky.com
10 http://www.entrepreneur.com
11 http://www.valleywag.com
12 http://www.scobleizer.com
13 http://www.thefunded.com
14 http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com
15 http://redeye.firstround.com
16 http://www.buzzmachine.com
17 http://www.smallbiztrends.com
18 http://www.venturehacks.com
19 http://www.socialedge.org
20 http://upandrunning.entrepreneur.com
21 http://blogs.openforum.com
22 http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content
23 http://www.informationarbitrage.com
24 http://blog.entrepreneur.com
25 http://www.instigatorblog.com
26 http://networking.entrepreneur.com
27 http://vestpocketconsultant.entrepreneur.com
28 http://www.gapingvoid.com
29 http://lsvp.wordpress.com
30 http://www.howardlindzon.com
31 http://inspired.entrepreneur.com
32 http://weekend.entrepreneur.com
33 http://www.vcconfidential.com
34 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting
35 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing
36 http://www.texasstartupblog.com
37 http://fiveyearstoolate.wordpress.com
38 http://www.coloradostartups.com
39 http://www.markpeterdavis.com/getventure
40 http://www.startupnorth.ca
41 http://www.business-opportunities.biz
42 http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com
43 http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org
44 http://campusentrepreneurship.wordpress.com
45 http://www.billionswithzeroknowledge.com
46 http://www.getentrepreneurial.com
47 http://www.nextbillion.net
48 http://philanthropy.blogspot.com
49 http://www.tacticalphilanthropy.com
50 http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet
51 http://www.newhampshirestartups.com
52 http://www.kentuckystartups.com
53 http://www.techflash.com
54 http://www.davidcrow.ca
55 http://www.bootstrapme.com
56 http://www.northcarolinastartups.com
57 http://vcmike.wordpress.com
58 http://joi.ito.com
59 http://www.ocvcblog.com
60 http://www.startupprincess.com/wordpress
61 http://blog.acumenfund.org
62 http://startup.partnerup.com
63 http://www.startupmeme.com
64 http://blog.timberry.com
65 http://www.thefrankpetersshow.com
66 http://www.growthology.org/growthology
67 http://www.montrealtechwatch.com
68 http://www.innoeco.com
69 http://founderresearch.blogspot.com
70 http://canentrepreneur.blogspot.com
71 http://bizcoach.blogspot.com
72 http://ben.casnocha.com
73 http://www.gifthub.org
74 http://www.askthevc.com/blog
75 http://www.startupcfo.ca
76 http://blog.ecairn.com
77 http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs
78 http://blog.socaltech.com
79 http://www.mvmpartners.com/blog
80 http://www.nivi.com/blog
81 http://www.allantyoung.com
82 http://coheda.typepad.com/israel
83 http://www.christine.net
84 http://www.vcrants.com
85 http://www.tjacobi.com
86 http://blogs.forrester.com/colony
87 http://www.adeoressi.com
88 http://commonangels.wordpress.com
89 http://vcinjerusalem.typepad.com/vcinjerusalem
90 http://wallen.typepad.com/wallen
91 http://thoughtsprevail.blogspot.com
92 http://www.infochachkie.com
93 http://www.afpr.com
94 http://www.epicchange.org/blog
95 http://blog.bootuplabs.com
96 http://www.skollonline.com/blog
97 http://www.dorm-room-biz.com
98 http://www.vccafe.com
99 http://marktomarket.typepad.com/marktomarket
100 http://blog.marsdd.com
Watch out QVC, IndieShopping.tv is here!
December 12, 2008
Do you remember those channels in your cable line-up where they sell stuff live on the air? Think QVC and HSN. Frankly, I had forgotten about them since I stopped channel surfing about 5 years ago when I got a Tivo. So when I ran into IndieShopping.tv I had to go check if shopping networks still exist (don’t worry, they’re still there).
But stay with me here, this is not about just another home shopping network. Its a new twist on the concept that promotes small business and puts some social media tools to very effective use. IndieShopping.tv was started by in Charlotte to sell beauty products from small independent manufacturers via the web using live video streaming, a chat room and click-to-buy.
The site is only just launching — the first live show is Dec. 12th at 12:15 EST — and its still a bit rough. When you listen to the test video on the site, you hear them working out the best way to run the live event. Maybe your customers should not know that you’re still trying to figure out how to run your shop, but I actually enjoyed that part. Seeing a startup coming together live is fun — it reminded me of the startup weekends.
And they are addressing a need that is not being met. The QVC’s of the world won’t carry products from small independent producers because they can’t meet the volume requirements and handle the expenses related to appearing on these shows. And when small producers sell on their own website, they need to work hard to get traffic to their site. IndieShopping.tv becomes the on-line live market place for these companies. If they did their homework and have a good business plan, and they execute well, I think they can be very successful.
Lets follow them for a while and see where this goes. I think this model will be copied and we will see others popping up doing similar things.
Social Media and Startups
December 11, 2008
I have been wanting to find out more about social media and recently I had the opportunity to sit down with Wayne Sutton for a discussion about blogs, social networks, on-line video, and the broad array of online gidgets and gadgets that go with it.
Wayne is a Social Media Strategist and Technology Evangelist. Besides his own blogs, Wayne-Sutton.com and Social Wayne, he runs Social Carolina, and iPhones in RTP.
He is also the co-host of the social media podcast Talk Social News together with Kipp Bodnar. And that is in additional to speaking engagements and staying connected with everyone who is somebody in social media. Wayne was also the co-organizer of the RTP Startup Weekend earlier this year, together with Jess Martin.
We spoke at some length about the meaning and importance of social media, for individuals and companies. About how some companies get it right and execute well in the social media space (example: Ford) and others don’t (example Krispy Kreme).
I had two objectives that I wanted to explore with Wayne:
-
What is the importance of social media to startups?
-
What are the opportunities for startups in social media?
Lets start with some basics. Social Media is the use of various internet tools for sharing ideas and information among large numbers of users, where all can contribute. (That’s my definition based on a variety of discussions and write-ups about it, the best of which I thought was Ben Parr’s. That means that we can all participate in an online experience that is part discussion, part connection (anything from LinkedIn to dating websites), part commerce for all (think eBay). You could say its the ultimate democratic equalizer – online we can all be equal.
For startups, and businesses in general, it’s a challenge and an opportunity at the same time. Its a whole new set of activities to engage in and decisions to consider. On the other hand, its a real inexpensive promotion strategy that, if well executed, can reach a very narrow and specific target segment. If you’re running a start-up and you can find the time to learn and execute a social media campaign yourself, there are many options to get help. Put “social media consultant” in Google and you will get a long list of companies ready to help you. Obviously, some better than others, so buyer beware.
We’re really in the midst of a major transition in how business is done. Consumers, especially the younger ones, don’t want to be sold anything. The marketing message gets lost in a sea of media channels and an audience that increasingly only tunes in to non-linear and interactive media (internet, Tivo, YouTube, Twitter, etc). Technology has empowered the consumer to say “I will only watch what I choose to watch”.
So if you want to get your message out it needs to be meaningful, relevant and entertaining. I believe consumers have always lived in the long tail, but today’s technology allows us to find our messages in our part of the long tail. Perhaps a bit of a tangent, but social media is a complex concept (try explaining it to your parents!).
So is social media important to startups?
Its probably possible to start a business and ignore social media as a tool to grow your business. But if you do, you’ll leave a lot of money and positive brand awareness on the table. And worst case, your competitors will steal your business because they did a better job connecting with your customers.
If you embrace social media as a tool to reach out to your customer base – to connect and listen – it will help you build a strong relationship with this group. The other important consideration is that using social media is a very low-cost way to build brand awareness and you can go head-to-head with much bigger competitors without needing an enormous budget.
What about the other question… are there opportunities in social media for startups?
There are, but keep in mind that the whole social media field is very early in its life-cycle. There is an avalanche of small apps and many offer the same or similar functionality. Unless you’re living social media the way Wayne does, most people don’t want to sign up for numerous different apps that do similar things. So there is going to be fall-out and consolidation. But if you like risk with a potentially high upside, there are still many opportunities.
Wayne and I discussed what the best opportunities are in social media. There seems be real opportunity for apps that consolidate the numerous apps that do similar things. Nobody wants to use 5 different IM applications. There are some such solutions out there already, like Pidgin and Adium that consolidate IM conversations. But what about consolidating the many email accounts we have? A new application is expected to come out in beta in early 2009, called unblab [www.unblab.com] that will help you manage multiple email accounts and generally manage your daily load of email. But these are only the tip of the iceberg. A few years ago there was no Twitter, a few years from now there will be many new apps we can’t even imagine today.
If you want to understand more about social media and what it can do for your startup, contact Wayne via any of the social media apps he uses.
Last chance for the KY Startup Weekend
November 18, 2008
You can still sign up, but you have to be fast. The Startup Weekend in Lexington, KY is this weekend, starting on Friday evening at 6:00 PM through Sunday night. Sign up here, and read more details here.
You can read more about the Startup Weekend concept in my recent post.
Reflecting on the RTP Start-up Weekend
October 15, 2008
The RTP Startup Weekend took place in Raleigh on July 11-13 2008 and was widely reported on, not just here but also by the likes of MSNBC and CNBC. It’s been three months since then, so I thought it would be interesting to look back and ask one of the participants to reflect on what happened. I interviewed Taylor Barr, a self-professed social entrepreneur local to the area who talks about his experience with the startup weekend.
NCSUB: What made you decide to participate in the RTP Startup Weekend?
Taylor Barr: I have always been excited about the idea of eventually creating a sustainable business, let alone in a matter of a few days. I heard about the concept from a few friends and thought it would be an exciting challenge.
NCSUB: Thinking back, how different was the Startup Weekend from your expectations?
TB: Since this was the first time I had attended a Startup Weekend, and the first one of it’s kind in the Raleigh-Durham area, I really had no expectations. I assumed it would be a bunch of intelligent entrepreneurs looking to share ideas and build a useful product or service. My expectations were exceeded by the amount of participants it drew to the area; some people even traveling from out of state to attend! I was also amazed at the amount of organization and planning that went into the entire event (a well deserved thanks to organizers Wayne Sutton, Jess Martin, and Jason DiMambro for making it happen.)
NCSUB: How many people did you know going in? How many friendships did you make that still last today?
TB: Going into the event, I knew some of the organizers and a few others that I met at local networking events. I was lucky to work on a project with a diverse amount of participants with all types of backgrounds.
NCSUB: What idea(s) did you work on?
TB: I primarily worked on one project during Startup Weekend. Our main goal and idea was to create the Barsforus.com website. The website helped consumers take the guesswork out of finding bars and nightclubs that suited their needs. Maybe the individual is looking for a jazz lounge with outside seating or a place that had great live music and a good wine selection. The Barsforus.com website shows a map of all the bars in a specific area, allows you to choose criteria based on what you are looking for in a bar, and limits those down to the locations that contains your search criteria.
NCSUB: What role did you play on the team?
TB: I worked side by side in business development and also pitched in wherever I could. One thing I quickly learned about Startup Weekend was that there were no clear definable roles in each team. I believe as an entrepreneur you must be adaptable and pinpoint the areas of the project that need work. Whether it be running around to bars to gather information for a database or just writing an initial pitch for the company, you must be flexible to jump in and contribute. Most of my time was spent finding answers to questions such as “how can we drive traffic to the site?” or “what would be a sound revenue model for the business?”
NCSUB: What happened to Barsforus.com?
TB: The website is still running today and several of the original members of the team are working to expand the information listed to new cities. I have since pulled away from the business based on time and my interest in a few other ventures.
NCSUB: Besides starting a business, what are the benefits from the Startup Weekend concept, for yourself and for the startup community?
TB: The Startup Weekend concept and many other events geared towards entrepreneurs are great in the fact that they encourage others to get out and test the waters. Many entrepreneurs are stuck with the fear that barriers such as time, money, entry to the market, etc. will discourage their ideas from even coming to fruition. Events such as Startup Weekends allow individuals to pool together their thoughts and get others to help kick-start their ventures. Beyond the individual benefits, I believe Startup Weekend brings together a tremendous sense of community. I have seen a positive outlook in the startup community both here in North Carolina, as well in other cities across the US.
NCSUB: Was there anything that did not work too well, that should be done differently?
TB: I think many of us who attended Startup Weekend could come up with a few things to do differently. I myself thought the event came together quite nicely.
NCSUB: Would you participate again or recommend it to others?
TB: Sure. I would recommend Startup Weekend to others, young and old, who are passionate about working with others to create innovative products and services.
NCSUB: Finally, one that’s a bit of a thinker. I have found that the people most likely to succeed at founding a startup are strong-minded, individualistic people that don’t fit any structure or organization that is imposed upon them. Not the type that would easily work in a team, allow their ideas to be diluted in any democratic voting process or follow someone else’s lead. Yet cooperation, collaboration and team work are so essential to the Startup Weekend concept. How do you see this potential conflict?
TB: I truly believe that there is not one set of behavioral traits that make a successful entrepreneur. Many entrepreneurs are in fact, “strong-minded, individualistic people” and many are not. I consider successful entrepreneurs to possess three traits: persistence, passion, and the ability to inspire others. In addition to the three traits, they must be able to listen to others and delegate responsibilities (many people discount this part). If you are able to work with others and share your passion, I think you will be much more successful in the long run.
TB: For most of the individuals I met at Startup Weekend, they truly embraced this concept without letting their personal motives get in the way.
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If you participated in the RTP Startup Weekend, I welcome your comments and reactions. And I’m especially interested in hearing what happened to the businesses that were started.
If you missed the RTP Startup Weekend, or can’t wait to do it again, there is a Startup Weekend coming up in Kentucky on November 21-23. More news about that coming soon!
Local Marketing Executive Launches Full Service Agency to Support Small to Mid-Size Business Growth in the Triangle
October 2, 2008
Here is a local startup that specializes in marketing services for startup businesses. They have been growing their business since early 2008 and just officially opened shop. Here is their press release:
# # #
Local Marketing Executive Launches Full Service Agency to Support Small to Mid-Size Business Growth in the Triangle
M-pact Marketing to provide a full scope of marketing strategy and marketing execution
RALEIGH, NC – October 2, 2008 – M-pact Marketing, a full service agency devoted to growing small to mid-size businesses in the Triangle, today announced the opening of its Raleigh office. The agency, founded by veteran marketing professionals, provides fully integrated marketing services from innovative strategy to execution.
“The Triangle is a popular location for entrepreneurs and start-up companies,” said David Buffaloe, president at M-pact Marketing. “They understand the value of strategic council and positive return on investments, which M-pact delivers in a unique full service approach working as their client’s marketing team or as an extension of their marketing department to help them take business to the next level.”
Buffaloe created the agency after working more than 15 years in the marketing profession namely growing small size companies. Prior to M-pact, he served as vice president of Marketing at First Research where he was instrumental in taking them from grassroots marketing to over 83,000 total users, which ultimately led to the acquisition by Hoover’s, a D&B Company. Before First Research, Buffaloe was a key player in helping DataFlux, a SAS Company, become the leading provider of data quality and data integration solutions. Similarly he assisted in creating the BuildNet marketing team and leading all of their marketing promotions.
M-pact Marketing currently serves several start-up businesses in the Triangle including growth businesses such as AddressDoctor, Local Eye Site, Schedulefly, MemberHub and Zift Solutions. The full service agency provides tailored programs from stand-alone solutions to fully integrated support.
“M-pact delivers top-notch strategy and executes growth generating marketing campaigns and plans,” said Brad McCorkle, president of Local Eye Site. “They understand the balance of working with limited resources while meeting growth goals, which we can immediately identify with and appreciate.”
About M-pact Marketing
M-pact Marketing is the premier marketing services agency geared to supporting small to mid-size businesses in the Triangle. Offering a wide variety of marketing services, the agency focuses on developing and growing a company through innovative strategy, marketing plans and execution. Based in Raleigh, M-pact employs marketing professionals with more than 30 years in marketing, design and communications. Key clients include AddressDoctor, Zift Solutions, Schedulefly, Local EyeSite, MemberHub, On the Fly and WR Chocolatier. To learn more visit www.m-pactmarketing.com.
# # #
Can you hand me the business section?
July 29, 2008
I’ll keep this short. Although maybe not as short as the News and Observer’s “business pages”. But let me start by giving a full disclaimer: this post is mostly a rant about the scanty business coverage the Raleigh-Durham daily newspaper provides.
Let me illustrate the situation. This past Sunday’s business section of the N&O consisted of 6 pages and that seems to be pretty typical. It’s actually not the “business section”, it’s called “Work & Money” and there seems to be no “Business” section as such. Which, I guess, means that “Work & Money” not only needs to cover business issues, but also employment issues (though not Help Wanted) and personal finance.
Let me describe what you get:
- Page 1 is local content: tips for getting a good deal when buying a car, office etiquette, some local iPhone application developers.
- Page 2 is mostly “scrap”: reader talk-back, an editorial about minimum wage, a poll about personal finance, some ads.
- Page 3 is all personal finance stuff. Not relevant if you’re looking for local business news.
- Page 4 and 5 look familiar. The kinda stuff you read in the Wall Street Journal. Wait, this is the WSJ… inside the N&O. OK, that’s one way to fill a paper, you copy whole pages from another paper. (It even says “Wall Street Journal” at the top of the pages).
- Page 6 is the continuation of 2 articles from page 1 and has two short stories about new phone services, neither of which has a local angle.
So I get it — it’s a cost-cutting issue. The paper had to reduce resources to stay profitable. But its a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. As you reduce the content, you start to loose readers. Which in turn may force you to cut your costs further. Etc.
Maybe I’m spoiled having read the Sunday business sections of papers like the Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, Arizona Republic and others. But I can’t help but feel that strong coverage of local business helps maintain and promote a strong local business climate. And everyone benefits from a strong local business climate, whether you read the business section or not.
So I’ll use the “Work & Money” section to swat flies and look for local business news elsewhere.
The role of the media…
July 20, 2008
Put the term “RTP Start-Up Weekend” in the search field on the web site of the News & Observer Newspaper (the daily that covers Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) and you get one (1) result, which is actually coverage of the coverage. It’s about 130 words to tell the reader that NBC is covering the “RTP Start-Up Weekend”, a very local event that’s all business. I could find no actual coverage in the N&O.
I’ve only lived in NC about 2 months, but I quickly dove into the N&O “business pages” to get a sense of the local start-up scene. Yes, I put “business pages” in quotes, because I could barely recognize it as that. It’s actually called “Work & Money” and today (Sunday, July 20th 2008) it was a very skimpy 6 pages (which seems to be the norm). I found nothing that I would consider of value to a local business owner. Now I know that the N&O has suffered recent budget cuts and staff cuts, so let me acknowledge the difficulty of running a daily newspaper publication. And I won’t debate how I think they should spend their resources, because not enough resources simply means some things don’t get done (unless you innovate your way out of the cost structure).
The pity, or is it irony, is that NBC sent a camera crew to cover the start-up weekend and was in town for a good part of the weekend, while the local paper chose to skip it (more or less). You might jump to the conclusion here that paper publishers like the N&O are loosing ground (and readers) to the “newer media” like CNBC. But maybe the media is just diverging because the physical aspects of consuming a publication like CNBC are so different from a newspaper like the N&O. Sometimes I don’t want to sit behind my computer and the newspaper experience is nothing like a Google news search — in a good way. Just like video didn’t kill the radio star, our consumption of newspapers is simply changing. For the N&O and others like it, the challenge is to find a new business model. And for the reader it means we have to change our expectations…
Anyway, here’s some actual coverage of the RTP Start-Up Weekend by CNBC.
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