Thursday, June 30, 2011
gulfnews : Key events after Hariri assassination
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Jg
Explanation: How Brain Training Can Make You Significantly Smarter | How Life Works
Check out this website I found at howlifeworks.com
Jg
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
SCA Tork: Green business plans are profitable
Check out this website I found at scaglobalhygieneproducts.org
Jg
3 ways angel investors differ from venture capital - Related Stories - SmartBrief on Entrepreneurs
3 ways angel investors differ from venture capital
Still confused about the difference between angels and venture capitalists? Tim Berry writes that both groups expect pitches that hit the same points, but angels are more willing to consider over-the-transom submissions, more open to small deals and -- just maybe -- more interested in helping a business that's out to save the world.
Planning Startups Stories blog | 6/20
This story published in SmartBrief on Entrepreneurs on 06/27/2011
via smartbrief.com
Jg
La Révolution Numérique de l'UMP en 45 propositions #umpnum
La Révolution Numérique de l'UMP en 45 propositions #umpnum Ces propositions se déclinent en 4 axes majeurs: 1- Un internet neutre partout et pour tous 2- Une politique qui mise sur la responsabilité des acteurs 3- Une information renforcée afin de lutter contre l'illettrisme numérique
via capecalm.tv
Jg
The 1M/1M Incubation Radar: Happy Grasshopper, Safety Harbor, Florida | Sramana Mitra
--> Tags: -->The 1M/1M Incubation Radar: Happy Grasshopper, Safety Harbor, Florida
Wednesday, June 29, 2011 No comments
Staying in touch with past and present customers is important. In today’s business environment, this means that having an effective email marketing campaign is equally important. Enter Happy Grasshopper, today’s Incubation Radar company. Happy Grasshopper is the easiest way to keep in touch with your sphere, according to founder, Dan Stewart. Its team of writers create timely, interesting email messages that actually get read and responded to. The team loads a new message into a customer’s account every three weeks for him to edit and approve before it is sent. Full reporting on deliverability and open rates is also provided in real time. For the first quarter of 2011, the company’s open rate was 198.2% higher than that of Constant Contact for the real estate market segment.
A customer at the CRM company that Stewart founded in 2007 and is still involved in, who taught marketing classes to real estate agents and brokers, gave his students advice that guided some early decisions in the development of Happy Grasshopper. The customer advised his students to stop sending “boring email, like marketing reports and newsletters,” and recommended that they send “fun, relationship-building, conversation-starting messages” instead. Stewart recognized that creating message content was a major pain point for the end user and Happy Grasshopper is a solution to that problem.
A serial entrepreneur, Stewart is also a multiple Inc. 500|5000 honoree. He founded Happy Grasshopper as a side venture in October 2010. In March 2011, the company was formally incorporated. When the company was founded, there were five distinct options (keep-in-touch services, canned content services, sponsored tools, CRM marketing tools with integrated drip services, and DIY email marketing tools) available to sales professionals who wanted to stay connected to their contacts. Happy Grasshopper believes it has an advantage over these tools in four areas: ease of use, reach, pricing, and content.
Happy Grasshopper is easy to use. Many tools can effectively be used to keep in touch, but they are often complicated, provide too many options and lead users in the wrong direction.
Reach is Happy Grasshopper’s largest competitive advantage over every competitor in the keep-in-touch marketplace because the messages the company delivers aren’t about real estate, says Stewart. That eliminates the need to group, plan out different campaigns or update statuses. “It is a one-size-fits-all solution.”
Pricing is another advantage because the company prices its services well below many of its competitors. While priced evenly with other email marketing tools, the content and automation that Happy Grasshopper provide come at no extra charge.
Happy Grasshopper takes a different approach to content from its competitors by providing friendly, engaging content that yields higher read and response rates than other systems on the market, as opposed to industry related marketing content.
- DIY email marketing tools – Provide templates and let the user send mass messages to her database. Providers include Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, iContact, Mad Mimi, Emma, aweber, Exact Target, and Vertical Response.
- Canned content services – Provide users with industry specific articles that they can redistribute in email or newsletter form. Some providers send them for their customers, some simply provide the content. Providers include ToolsforRealEstate.com, readytogonewsletters.com, enewslettersolutions.com, and reamark.com
- Sponsored tools – Providers such as Lowes, NAR, and CAR offer systems that will send real estate related messages to the user’s database. These messages contain the branding of the realtor who is sending them as well as branding of the sponsoring organization. These tools are often free, but provide few to no customization options to the user.
- CRM tools with integrated drip services – Providers include: ixactcontact.com, netrealintouch.net, sharperagent.com, topproducer.com
- Keep-in-touch services – A wide variety of products are available that provide keep-in-touch services. The tools include Send Out Cards, stayintouchsystem.com, and kitmarketing.com
The clear contrast that Happy Grasshopper offers is rather than requiring their customers to become expert email marketers, the company’s team of writers do all the work. Companies like Constant Contact and iContact, for instance, teach subscribers how to create and manage email marketing campaigns. As a result, each provider presents its customers with a staggering amount of choices. Since many real estate agents and Realtors don’t feel comfortable drafting their own messages and sending content on a regular basis, they don’t always get real value from DIY email marketing systems.
Happy Grasshopper users can choose from hundreds of existing templates or they can create their own. They can view multiple examples of many different types of messaging and they can educate themselves with extensive libraries of how-to videos. Additionally, the platforms require users to determine not only what they send, but when and how frequently to send. It’s not surprising that many customers are overwhelmed with choice.
“What we’ve learned is that many small-business people don’t have a clear idea of what they want from their email marketing,” said Stewart. “Instead, they have a general idea that email can be an inexpensive way to market their businesses, but don’t really know what results to expect. They often start enthusiastically and work very hard on their first few sends, before falling into what Gartner calls the ‘valley of disillusionment’ – due to low open rates and high unsubscribes.”
Happy Grasshopper offers clear contrast to these companies. Rather than requiring customers to become expert email marketers, the company’s team of writers do all the work for them, for as little as $9 a month. The team writes, schedules and sends every message. All customers have to do is approve them and make any desired additions or changes before they are sent.
Happy Grasshopper is currently 100% focused on the real estate vertical. Other top segments include insurance and financial sales.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2008, there were 517, 800 people in the U.S. working as real estate brokers and sales agents. Multiply that by a rate of $228 per user per year for a total available market of more than $118 million.
When adding two additional top target segments, insurance and financial sales, the market expands to almost $290 million. The total number of people employed in sales roles within the U.S. is 14,500,000, representing a total available market of $3.3 billion.
Happy Grasshopper has been generating revenue since its second month of operation, and revenues are, roughly, doubling every month. “[That] is really easy to do when you start at zero,” said Stewart.
MRC for June should be almost $4,000. Initially, the company launched with a totally free account option that was limited to 50 contacts. That option was replaced with a $9-a-month-for-100-contacts plan in mid-May, and revenue growth has accelerated.
Happy Grasshopper is an entirely bootstrapped company. Stewart, along with long-time colleague and cofounder of Geo-Logical, Inc., Chad Dudeck, funded Happy Grasshopper with profits from Geo-Logical, which has about $10 million in revenue.
Endorsements like those from Beaverton, Oregon, real estate agent Todd Clark, as well as being featured in Realtor magazine’s “Cool Tools” section helped Happy Grasshopper to acquire hundreds of new customers. The company continues to attract new customers through press coverage, blogging efforts, channel partnerships and its affiliate program. The company’s website receives 50,000 page views per month. It has 1,500 users and 197 paying customers. Customers get three plan options: $9 a month for 100 contacts, $19 a month for 500, and $29 a month for up to 2,000 contacts. The $19 a month Basic plan is the most popular, says Stewart.
To achieve growth goals, the founders will need to raise more capital than Stewart and Dudeck can provide on their own. One growth strategy that is set to begin in late July 2011 is a referral plan that the founders modeled after Dropbox’s successful plan. Each time a user refers Happy Grasshopper to a new customer, that customer will receive one free month of service.
The founders have no clearcut exit strategy in mind at this time. The team remains committed to working together and adding value to Happy Grasshopper.
Recommended Reading:
Deal Radar 2009: SilverpopThis segment is a part in the series : The 1M/1M Incubation Radar
. La Grande Dame . MyOnlineToolbox Pompano Beach, Florida . SurgeForth . Altitude Fasique . Reftree . Phitch . Sock Monkeys Clothing . Temetic Research . Techcello . Ringio . Fabulousyarn . Norton Scientific . Tissuepro . Actifio . Off The Quad . Hospitality Star . FreeLunched . LOGOPremiums . Standing Cloud ,Boulder, Colorado . InnovizeTech . CionSystems ,Redmond, Washington . Hireplug ,India . CrowdEngineering, Pisa/Silicon Valley . OnTrack Imaging . ShopSocially, Mountain View/London . Vimagino ,Bangalore,India . Kir DeVries ,Maryland . Ecomowers . VOI ,Ft. Lauderdale, Florida . PerBlue ,Madison, Wisconsin . Careerealism . GrillGrate, Cartersville, Georgia . Bizosys, Bangalore, India . FreshDesk, Chennai, India . Happy Grasshopper, Safety Harbor, Florida
via sramanamitra.com
Jg
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Cheap flights from Dallas to Frankfurt at Skyscanner
We make every effort to ensure the price you see on Skyscanner is the price you pay with the airline.
Prices on Skyscanner always include an estimate of all mandatory taxes and charges. The final price you pay for your tickets may vary as a result of additional options offered by the airline, such as luggage allowances or travel insurance.
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via skyscanner.net
Jg
Monday, June 27, 2011
Research: News: Stanford GSB
Researchers Complete Largest Academic Study of European Venture Capital
January 28, 2004
STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS—The European venture capital industry is much more integrated than previously believed, with significant links to the United States, and increasingly emulates U.S. investment practices, according to a new academic study. However, some aspects remain distinctively European, such as the prominence of banks and corporations as investors. Removing barriers to cross-border investments could give a substantial boost to the industry.
These were the conclusions of leading researchers from Bocconi University, the University of Turin, and Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. Their just-completed Survey of European Venture Capital is the largest academic study of the industry to date, including more than 1,300 investment companies and more than 150 venture capital funds operating between 1998 and 2002.
The authors were Laura Bottazzi, associate professor of economics at Bocconi University; Marco Da Rin, assistant professor of economics and finance at the University of Turin; and Thomas Hellmann, assistant professor of strategic management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Their study results are summarized in their report, "The Changing Face of the European Venture Capital Industry: Facts and Analysis."
It is often believed that European venture capitalists are purely local investors who do not venture beyond their country borders. "The study disproves this belief, showing that the European venture capital market is surprisingly integrated," says Hellmann "First, 27 percent of all venture firms in our sample have a secondary office in a foreign country. Second, 25 percent of all venture capital firms have partners that come from a foreign country. Third, 24 percent of investments are made in foreign companies."
The fraction of deals with foreign investors is particularly high in industries such as financial services (42 percent), media and entertainment (34 percent), or telecommunications (31 percent). The United States is by far the most popular destination for foreign investments, accounting for almost a third of all foreign deals. There are multiple additional links between the European and U.S. venture capital market. For example, as much as 34 percent of all European venture capitalists had some work experience in the United States.
The project profiled European venture capital firms by linking data on investment deals to the partners in charge to document the interrelationships between human capital and investment styles. The unique study shows that partners with a higher academic degree are more likely to make early stage deals and investors with a master's or doctoral degree are much more likely to sit on the board of directors. Having professional experience prior to venture capital also leads to a seat on a board: Almost all venture capitalists who sit on a board have prior experience in finance, and three out of four also have a science education.
Although European venture capitalists are often described as conservative and noninterfering ("hands-off") compared to their U.S. peers, the new study suggests that the stereotype is changing and that Europe is now home to a variety of investment styles. For example, 60 percent of all deals are seed or early stage investments, indicating a healthy risk tolerance. In terms of getting involved with their companies, 68 percent of European venture capitalists sit on the board of directors and 69 percent of them monitor their company on a monthly or weekly basis. Forty-two percent report that they help to recruit key managers for their investment companies.
The European venture capital industry is also undergoing change. Where older venture capital firms tend to have more conservative investment styles, new entrants tend to be more risk tolerant and get more involved. The data shows that new entrant firms invest more at the seed stage and monitor their investments more closely. The average age of a European venture capitalist is 42 years, and researchers found no difference in the age of partners in new entrant firms as opposed to the old guard. Partners in new entrant firms are also more likely to have a business education and a master's degree. All of these characteristics help to explain why the new entrant firms adopt investment styles that resemble more closely those of U.S. venture capital firms.
A unique feature of the European market is that a significant number of venture capital firms are owned and managed by banks and corporations. Prior research has shown that in addition to financial goals, such firms may also have strategic objectives. The study data suggests that in Europe, corporate venture capital firms invest more in early stage companies as compared to bank-owned venture capital entities. Partners in these corporate firms have relatively less venture capital experience, although they are more likely to have a master's degree and/or a science education. By contrast, partners in bank-owned venture capital firms are more likely to have a business education. Most strikingly, bank venture capital firms also invest much less in early stage deals and are less likely to frequently monitor their firms or have a partner sit on the board of directors.
The study generates many important and novel policy implications. The first and most important finding is that human capital is a key driver of the investment activities of venture capital firms. Improving the availability of postgraduate education, including executive education or other professional training, is likely to have a very positive effect on the level of professionalism in the industry.
Second, the extent of cross-country activity within Europe-and across the Atlantic—shows promising signs of an integrating market. European venture capitalists clearly consider it important to be able to invest outside of their own country. Simplifications of tax rules and cross—border investment regulations are likely to have a strong beneficial impact on the integration of the European venture capital industry. Third, the study documents a wide variety of behavior by different types of venture firms. "It is very important that healthy competition among these different approaches to venture financing be encouraged," says Hellmann. "Measures that reduce bureaucratic red tape or increase the limited partners' ability to invest in all types of venture firms, and also across borders, are likely to serve this purpose."
Related Information
For more information about Prof. Hellman's research go to:
http://strategy.sauder.ubc.ca/hellmann/.For more research on venture capital go to:
http://web.econ.unito.it/darin/
via gsb.stanford.edu
Jg
Forbes Talks With the “Father of Angel Investing in NY,” David Rose — NYConvergence.com
David Rose, chair of the New York Angels and the “Father of Angel Investing in New York,” according to Crain’s New York Business, recently sat down with Martin Zwilling of Forbes to discuss his career. Aside from being an investor, Rose describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur” who has founded many companies, including Internet infrastructure provider for angel investors, Angelsoft.
Rose says angel investing, “requires a mindset that can accept an enormous risk of failure, an ability to stick to at least a ten-year plan, and a willingness to continue executing on your plan despite losses early.”
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Jg
Local Startups Try Out for the “Pitch Olympics” in New Jersey — NYConvergence.com
At the Venture Association of NJ’s (VANJ) “Elevator Pitch Olympics” late last week in Whippany, NJ , startups gave 2-minute minute pitches to a panel of angels and VCs, who judged both the quality of pitch and the company’s fundability, providing advice about both. VC’s were urged by moderator Leonard Nuara of Greenberg Traurig, LLP to be honest with investors in order to teach them something about their presentations and to help their companies.
VC’s and angels voting included Steve Brotman, managing partner of GSA Venture Partners; Carol Curley, managing director of Golden Seeds, LLC; Carter Weiss, Managing Director of Silas Capital; Paul Lewis, an angel investor and serial entrepreneur; Katherine O’Neil representing the Jumpstart NJ Angel Network, and Jean Sullivan, a founding principal of Stardust Partners.
A handful of NY and NJ tech companies participated in the afternoon pitches, along with some tech companies from other areas. Among the “contestants:”
- CFO-Book Inc., based in Princeton, offers B2B social media productivity tools for bankers using a cloud platform. The product solves a problem for banks, helping them keep in touch with their small business customers
- InnRoad, a Southampton NY-based cloud software firm that lets independent hotels compete with larger chains using a single integrated platform. The company already has 220 customers for its system
- Ladybug Teknologies, based in NY state, pitched wirelessly networked kiosks that let social drinkers test their alcohol levels at each bar they visit. The kiosks leverage social networking
- Hoboken, NJ-based Netbook Navigator pitched a line of Windows operating system-based tablets that run most of the Microsoft applications already being used by consumers and business
- Pheonix Bankware, a NJ company, was back at VANJ, perfecting its pitch for software that controls and monitors risks at small and medium sized commercial banks.
Tech company NewsIT, from the Washington DC area, won the “Olympics” with a pitch by CEO and Founder Melinda Wittstock for a mobile social network for aggregating, creating and sharing news based on content created throughout the web, including social networking sites.
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Jg
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Incubator Summit: Which Startup Incubator / Accelerator is Right for You? | Erik Pettersen's Random Drivel
This morning I had the pleasure of checking out a panel discussion at the Computer History Museum on how to choose the best incubator for your startup. Thanks to Orrick for sponsoring the free event.
On the panel:
Speaking of Dave McClure, I have a lazyweb request: Can someone edit together a McClure ‘fuck’ supercut (like the Big Lebowski The Fucking Short Version ) of all Dave McClure’s obscenities across his most significant talks/videos? I can’t believe this doesn’t exist yet – Although, this morning I only counted 5 ‘fucks’, 3 ‘shits’, and 5 ‘assholes’ out of him.
- Adeo Ressi: Founder Institute
- Kindra Tatarsky: Astia
- Cameron Teitelman: StartX
- Chris Yeh (moderator): VP of Marketing PBworks
Here’s my condensed version of the highlights of the discussion and a few of my own take aways.
Which incubator is right for you?
First of all there is no clear consensus terminology wise as to what constitutes a startup incubator vs accelerator,etc. For the sake of my sanity, I’m going to arbitrarily refer to all these programs that help fledgling startups/entrepreneurs as incubators.
Each incubator has it’s own approach, niche, and core beliefs about what entrepreneurs need to succeed and what selection criteria makes for the highest rate of successful incubates (is that actually a word?!). Some of these niche targets will obviously make you or your startup unfit for submission. For example you’d need at least one founder that’s a registered student at Stanford to be accepted into StartX, likewise you need at least one female co-founder or C-level executive in order to apply for Astia.
Assuming you’ve got your gender, scholastic, and other issues sorted out you’ll want to decide what the critical needs for your business are.
An incubator may offer one or more of the following:
- Seed funding
- Mentorship
- Office Space
- Shared services/resources (e.g. legal, PR, design, accounting,etc)
- Community / Camaraderie / Support
- Networking/Connections (future financing rounds, demo day, program alumni, etc)
Each incubator has it’s own philosophy and rational for which suite of services it offers startups. They all offer mentorship, community, and networking. Founders Den (although it doesn’t position itself as an incubator per say) focuses more on co-working (office space), mentorship, and community. Founders Institute focuses more on an intense curriculum and recommends & refers entrepreneurs to best of breed local services / co-working opportunities. 500 Startups strives to offer all the above (if you consider design the shared service in this case). Y Combinator (not on the panel) offers seed funding, mentorship, etc, but doesn’t provide office space.
A show of hands poll of the audience seemed to indicate that people were more interested in funding (or help with funding) than office space or mentorship.
Speaking of funding, Adeo Ressi had stated that it’s “easy” to raise money. When the moderator (Chris Yeh) asked the audience if they agreed – no one raised their hand to indicate that they thought raising funds was easy.
Adeo Ressi qualified his comment saying that it’s “easier” and it’s a process oriented outcome. He likened it to borrowing money to buy/build a house. It’s a lot of work, but if you’re diligent and push through the paper work/process and have some traction/viable product you’ll get your funding.
Once you’ve figured out the best fit for the nuts and bolts, consider also the less tangible elements of each incubator – their style, their personality. Founders Institute definitely has a much more regimented, disciplined feel which definitely shows its colors in the approach and curriculum. Some entrepreneurs need, and thrive in that more structured environment. Other entrepreneurs would be better suited to a more chaotic free wheeling ‘just do it’ dynamic culture.
Let the right one in!
Those are the things I think you should consider when choosing an incubator, but what traits are the incubators looking for in a candidate entrepreneur?
StartX was looking for extreme focus & open to feedback (from customers)
Founders Institute: Average age 31 – 34, desire more female applicants, people who are frustrated with the status quot and have a tech related idea burning inside them. Like the older applicants that have had success in a profession with the perspective of a problem. Vocational skills are highly desirable. Social Science criteria scored from their predictive admissions test, personality traits such as openness, ability to process feedback from the world, fluid intelligence – the ability to measure and understand a rule set very quickly and apply it. Ability to deal with competing priorities, and finally a moderate amount of agreeableness… not too friendly, and not a total dick… someone with a certain amount of stick-to-it-ness.
500 Startup’s criteria is to look for evidence of product success and customer development. They are looking for entrepeneurs who are customer focused and the customer mission should be extremely clear… They prefer simple business models like subsciption or lead gen.
An alpha version of the product with evidence of traction and usage validation from unbiased customers. Paid conversions can’t hurt your case as well.
Preference entrepreneurs with 5 to 10 years experience or more… at 10 to 15 years experience and can’t raise initial capital on your own, there might be something weird going on there. Like to invest in unusual entrepreneurs that other investors shy away from, like couples – consider it an arbitrage opportunity to get under valued and under priced.
Quotable Quotes:
Dave McClure, ‘We don’t mind assholes who build good products and “get” customers (needs)’
Dave McClure modified Paul Grahams slogan, ‘Make something people want’ to be ‘Make something people want… to pay for’
Bonus links:
- Video from the incubator summit – how to choose the right incubator for your startup (June 21 2011)
- Where can I find a comprehensive list of startup incubators in the US?
- What are all the startup incubators/seed programs/accelerators in the San Francisco Bay Area?
- Seed companies and their startups list – google spreadsheet
- Geoff Clapp’s blog coverage of the event – The Great Incubator Debate
Jg
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
LinkedIn Connections with InMaps
Visualize LinkedIn Network Connections With InMaps LinkedIn users know the power of the networked professional. Now you can see what your professional LinkedIn network looks like and see how all the connections are connected to each other. LinkedIn has introduced a new product called LinkedIn InMap
via localfind.biz
Jg
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Tech Coast Angels Partners With Bridges to Italy to Mentor Entrepreneurs and Share Business Model | Virtual-Strategy Magazine
TCA Chairman to Keynote at International Conference and Participate in Mentoring Program and Award, Empowering Entrepreneurs and Investors on Both Sides of the Atlantic
IRVINE, Calif., June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Tech Coast Angels (TCA), the angel investment network known for its mentoring and development of entrepreneurial companies in Southern California, today announced it will extend its mentoring and educational capabilities to entrepreneurs in Southern Italy through a partnership with Italian-American non-profit organization Bridges to Italy. Mike Napoli, TCA chairman, will serve as the keynote speaker at its conference on June 20, 2011 at the TechNest incubator at the University of Calabria (Rende), and will present on the topic, "Fundraising: Is Your Company Ready for U.S. Investors?" The conference aims to raise awareness among international angel investors and venture capitalists of Southern Italy's high-tech potential.
"I'm thrilled to speak with the top entrepreneurs and investors in Southern Italy and have the opportunity to help them understand the American funding process, the ways that start-ups are judged by investors, and the issues angel investors look at in the U.S., so that I can help attendees improve their funding potential," said Mike Napoli, chairman of TCA.
Napoli will gauge investment opportunities among Southern Italy's leading entrepreneurial businesses, in areas including but not limited to renewable energy, nano-materials, biotech, and information technology. Napoli will evaluate business ideas from fifteen research groups and entrepreneurs from a broad cross section of Southern Italy. All participants have been admitted to Brains in Motion, the executive training program launched by Bridges to Italy to cultivate American-style business skills and stimulate a global entrepreneurial attitude among Italian researchers.
Italian participants will enjoy a unique opportunity: after completing an e-learning program offered by Bridges to Italy in conjunction with the University of California, Irvine, they will put their newly acquired skills to work at once by making presentations directly to Napoli and other angel investor members of TCA, which has recently been ranked by PricewaterhouseCoopers' Shaking the Money Tree as the leading investment group in Southern California and is the largest angel investment network in the United States.
With five regional networks in Southern California and over 250 members, Tech Coast Angels in 2010 funded more than thirty new high-tech companies and invested over $40 million, both within its membership and through synergies with other venture-capital organizations.
"Although venture capital and expertise are the key drivers of high-tech sector growth in the U.S., approaching top American investors is still a complicated process, especially for entrepreneurs based overseas," says Bianca Dellepiane, the founder and President of Bridges to Italy. "Complications grow exponentially for innovators based in Southern Italy, where networking opportunities are fewer compared with elsewhere in Italy and Europe. For this reason, we thought it important to hold this meeting in Calabria instead of Milan or Rome, to promote awareness of the region and establish a dialogue between a leading American investing group and the highly talented research teams involved in Brains in Motion, our executive training program. Our investors are also looking forward to meeting with Mike to learn more about the successful TCA business model and to see how it can be emulated and integrated into the investment process in this region."
Continued Napoli, "I'm looking forward to meeting with and mentoring entrepreneurs and investors from Southern Italy and to sharing the TCA business model globally to help expand the opportunity for startups in Italy to obtain funding in today's market."
Cooperation between Tech Coast Angels and Bridges to Italy will continue in Southern California, where the winner of the Brains in Motion competition will be selected by a panel of experts including the president of Enel North America and members of Tech Coast Angels. The winner will be awarded the opportunity to present at networking events at each of the five Tech Coast Angels locations in Southern California.
"This sort of networking marathon is expected to greatly increase visibility and investing opportunities for the winning entrepreneur, who will meet, in just five days, hundreds of potential investors and business partners. The result will be the kind of amplified exposure that no Italian start-up has ever enjoyed — and, indeed, that is almost unheard of even for U.S. start-ups," adds Ms. Dellepiane.
The Bridges to Italy meeting will take place at the TechNest incubator launched by the University of Calabria in late 2010 as a part of a strategy fostering innovation as a key element in the region's economic growth. Participants will be welcomed by Riccardo Barberi, technology transfer officer of the University of Calabria and coordinator of the CRESCITA program ("Knowledge, research, and development for the launching in Calabria of high-tech companies"); Giovanni Latorre, the Provost of the University; Renato Pastore, the President of Confindustria, the Italian employers' association; and the President of the Italian branch of Bridges to Italy, Domenico Quaglio.
"Southern Italy and Southern California today enjoy even closer ties in the areas of higher education, knowledge and innovation. This is the goal that the Italian branch of Bridges to Italy has been pursuing since its launch in Rende last year," says Mr. Quaglio. "Now, along with our local Italian partners — the University of Calabria's TechNest incubator, the Paolo di Tarso Foundation, and the Mediterranean Foundation — we are strongly committed to highlighting the technological assets of these southern regions by bringing together a highly qualified scientific regional network and the very competitive U.S. market that Bridges to Italy can help entrepreneurs approach in effective ways, thanks to its presence in Los Angeles, California."
About Tech Coast Angels
Tech Coast Angels, www.techcoastangels.com, is the largest angel investor network in the United States. Its members provide funding and guidance to more early-stage, high-growth companies in Southern California than any other investment group. TCA members invest in companies in a wide range of industries, including clean technology, consumer products and services, digital and social media, financial services, hardware and software technologies, and life sciences and healthcare. TCA members give companies more than just capital; they also provide counsel, mentoring and access to an extensive network of potential investors, customers, strategic partners and management talent. TCA has more than 250 members in five networks in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Westlake/Santa Barbara and the Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties). More information on Tech Coast Angels can be found at www.techcoastangels.com, www.facebook.com/techcoastangels or twitter.com/techcoastangels.
SOURCE Tech Coast Angels
Copyright (2011) PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved
Jg
Monday, June 13, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Bootstrapping A Latin American Social Networking Powerhouse With 50 Million Users: Sonico CEO Rodrigo Teijeiro (Part 3) | Sramana Mitra
--> Tags: -->Bootstrapping A Latin American Social Networking Powerhouse With 50 Million Users: Sonico CEO Rodrigo Teijeiro (Part 3)
Sunday, June 12, 2011 No comments
Sramana: So you essentially stopped your business and went to school at USC. How did that transition go for you?
Rodrigo Teijeiro: My first semester at USC went well; I got all As. The problem was that I had too much time on my hands and it was a bit boring. I told myself that I had to do something else besides study. I wanted to find something that leveraged my know-how in technology, project management, and e-commerce. At the same time I could not spend much capital and it had to be virtual.
One day while my girlfriend was in Buenos Aires on a trip, she called me collect. That cost me $120. This was in 2002 and that figure really hit me. I had to either change girlfriends or I had to find a new way to communicate. I started investigating the call card business and found out that I could get calls to Buenos Aires for two cents. The call quality was perfect, and they went over VoIP. I spent a month doing research and analyzing the providers. By June I had opened a Delaware-registered company and by September 2002 I had an online site called TarjetasTelefonicas, which essentially means “CallingCards.”
I did that with two programmers in the Ukraine who were charging me $150 a month. The graphic design was done by my girlfriend. I would serve as customer support. When I bought calling cards, I bought some at face value and put them on the site after scrapping and putting the pin on the site, just to see if anyone would buy it.
Sramana: Were you focused on acquiring customers from Buenos Aires?
Rodrigo Teijeiro: I was acquiring them from anywhere, such as foreign-born people in the U.S. I was going to forums and Yahoo! Groups. I would get into small chats and then just push my domain.
Sramana: Did that technique work?
Rodrigo Teijeiro: It did. I also did some very basic SEO and some AdWords. I pushed it as much as I could through any means possible. The interesting part was that the first day I put it online I sold three cards. By the fifth day I was selling $500 worth of cards. The problem was that when I looked at the server logs, I found that one IP address was buying 95% of all of the cards. The IP address was from a foreign country and they were committing fraud. They had stolen credit cards and were buying these calling cards on the site.
I had to close down the site and change the purchase process. After that I kept buying more cards from different parts of the U.S. When I started getting more cash, I would go directly to the distributor. I always had to receive the physical cards, scratch the pins, and upload them to the database by hand. I was too small to get a direct deal.
Sramana: What was the business model? How were you making money?
Rodrigo Teijeiro: The business model from day one was to resell a card that I had purchased from a kiosk at face value, so essentially I lost money. I just wanted to see if I could do it. I eventually got to the point where I went to the distributor and ultimately the technological provider. At the end of the story, today, I pay only for the minutes consumed. That is a dramatic difference. Once you go to the supplier you are essentially getting a 20% margin, but you had to pre-pay the card. By the end I was able to charge $10 and then only pay for the minutes consumed. Today the business has a gross margin of 46 percent.
This segment is part 3 in the series : Bootstrapping A Latin American Social Networking Powerhouse With 50 Million Users: Sonico CEO Rodrigo Teijeiro
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via sramanamitra.com
Jg
Friday, June 10, 2011
From the Perspective of an Angel Investor
One of the ideal ways to begin a search for startup funding offered by angel investors is to view the process as if you are one. Investors have plenty of money they are willing to invest in new businesses, but they will first want some assurances that risk is as low as possible given that new companies have an inherently higher risk to begin with. If you imagine yourself as the investor, then the risk becomes much easier to assess in advance while searching for business funding. The first step is to insure you provide answers in the business plan to what would be logical and normal questions about risk.
Any business plan that is prepared for the purpose of finding business funding can use this approach. It doesn’t matter if you are looking for equity partners, angel investors or venture capital. Read your business plan with a critical eye and ask yourself if you would be inclined to approve funding if it was your own money at risk. If you follow a typical business plan format, you have covered the obvious issues like marketing and profit projections, but have you really thought through the plan in the same way a funder would?
It’s difficult to be objective when you have a great idea for a new business, and you believe that it will take the market by storm. Yet it’s important to remember that no one will fund your business until the business concept and plan have been thoroughly scrutinized. Considering your request for funding from the viewpoint of the angel investor can help you keep a sharp edge on the proposal so that it remains focused and on target.
Ask the Question: Am I the Only Investor?
Pretend you are an angel investor who has been asked for money for an untried business. The first questions that will be asked include the following.
· Are there other types of funding that would be more suitable for the business?
· Are business loans an option?
· Has the entrepreneur been searching for funding for a long period of time?
· Have other investors shown an interest in the business?
· Could the risk be minimized by bringing in multiple angel investors?
· Can the entrepreneur prove he or she is qualified to operate this business and able to provide a well developed business plan?
These are the kinds of questions you need to ask yourself as you analyze your business idea and plan. Angel investors willing to provide startup funding will want a wealth of information that includes financial projections, a marketing plan, names of qualified managers, organizational chart, analysis of strengths and weaknesses, and potential long-term funding needs.
Ask the Question: When Can I Expect to Break Even?
It’s a fact that entrepreneurs will have trouble attracting a variety of investors that include angel investors, venture capital and equity partners when they fail to consider the needs of the business after startup. In the excitement of actually starting the business, the new business owners fail to focus on the level of investment needed to keep the business going. The Small Business Administration is the first to say that a capital shortage is a major reason businesses fail.
Ask yourself this question: When can the new business expect to break even?
Ask the Question: Are You Ready with Answers?
Pretending you are the investor as you develop a business plan makes good sense. Answer the questions you would ask if it was your money that would be used to make business loans or other types of investments. If your business plan leaves too many questions unanswered then you can be certain that angel investors will label the venture as too risky.
Get more info about finding angel investors for your business venture at the Funded website or visit the Funded blog at http://www.funded.com/blog.
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Jg
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