Although I'm not doing a degree or certificate which would be good, but is a little bit too time-intensive for me right now, I'm learning computer science online through Stanford. That's how I came across these cool Webinars that I thought I'd share with my readers.
Better, Faster, Cheaper: Bridging the gap between great ideas and great products Speaker: Kurt A. Beiter, Stanford University October 15, 2009 9:00-10:00AM pacific
Course Description Bridging the gap between great ideas and great products
If you are looking to improve the competitiveness of your company's products by addressing new value propositions, life-cycle cost and quality issues, join us on Thursday, October 15, to explore a range of topics including:
CVCA: Consider all your stakeholders
Use of case scenarios: What do your customers really want?
QFD: It's all about the requirements
Probabilistic NPV: What's it going to cost me?
AFMEA: That didn't just happen, did it?
Robust design: Make sure you want the peach before you look at the fuzz...
The webinar is open to all and is highly recommended for teams interested in enrolling in the dfM course while working on a real project from your company.
Despite the economic gloom and doom, the honorees on this year's 30 Under 30 list are building wildly successful ventures with the help of their peers, parents, professors, and patrons. Why enlisting these loyal tribes of support has become so important in the start-up world -- and how the smartest companies foster that same loyalty among their customers.
Getting By with a Little Help from Their Friends By our count, about two-thirds of young entrepreneurs enlist partners to start their companies. More and more, it seems, they're content having many people wear many different hats, rather than trying to go it alone. So what's the downside?
Who's Next Keep an eye on these eight rising stars. They are transforming the Web, empowering other start-ups, and turning your conference room into one big whiteboard. A sneak preview of the latest generation of ambitious entrepreneurs.
The Upstarts Are Coming! Entrepreneurs seem to be getting younger and younger. But why? And how big an impact are they having on the future of the U.S. economy? The new book,Upstarts! How GenY Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit From Their Success, attempts to answer those very questions. An excerpt.
I've updated the definitive list of organizations putting on tech events in London. Spend three months going to these, and you'll be well networked. Please let me know if I'm missing something.
I am releasing an external version of my research for Hult and Seedcamp. This presentation analyzes and ranks 32 EU countries based on three factors that make a country great for web startups: being tech-oriented, having an entrepreneurial culture, and possessing sufficient resources. The best places to start up in Europe are the following countries: Finland, France, Germany, Netherland, Sweden, and UK.
Note on Scribd Formatting Issues: Please download as PPS for original version.
Defragmenting the EU’s Web Startup Environment Taige Zhang taige@seedcamp.co Hult International Business School, Lond April 23, 20 Overview • How tech oriented is the country? • How lively and developed is the web entrepreneur and startup scene? • What and how much resources are there for web entrepreneurs? High-tech Exports Non-tech focused economies Somewhat tech focused economies Tech focused economies High-tech Patents Non-tech focused Research and Development Somewhat tech focused R&D Tech focused R&D Technology in Population Percentage of Population with Internet Access at Home Low tech-savvy Population Medium techsavvy Population Highly tech- savvy Population Programming Expertise in Population Large programming workforce Source: Eurostat Medium programming workforce Small programming workforce Tech-oriented Countries Entrepreneurship in Innovative Countries Entrepreneurship Score Composition Source: Based on data from GEM Adult Population Survey 2008 Locations of Startups in Europe Country Ireland Luxembourg Finland United Kingdom Denmark Iceland Netherlands Belgium Switzerland Sweden Country Startups Per Capita 1.46089E-05 1.42363E-05 7.69119E-06 6.71944E-06 6.35041E-06 6.24025E-06 5.88147E-06 5.77227E-06 5.71414E-06 5.18368E-06 Total Startups 414 193 183 119 97 66 62 51 48 44 United Kingdom Germany France Spain Netherlands Ireland Belgium Source: http://www.crunchvision.com/ Source: Crunchbase, Map by Crunchvision Italy Sweden Switzerland Web Tech Entrepreneurship Level Countries with insufficient data: Luxembourg, Turkey, Malta, Latvia, Cyprus, Iceland, Slovenia, Norway, Portugal, Estonia, Austria, Finland Web and High-tech Entrepreneurship European Tech Clusters Clusters Ranked by Size Size 3.95 Spec. Focus 1.73 3.24 1.55 1.63 Paris, FR % % Milan, IT % % 2.40 1.46 1.53 2.24 1.37 1.63 Amsterdam, NL % % Madrid, ES 2.19 1.46 4.10 % % Oxford, UK % % 2.19 3.68 2.85 2.19 2.56 1.89 München, DE % % Inner London, UK % % 1.95 1.69 1.96 1.85 1.75 1.19 Rome, IT % % Barcelona, ES 1.78 1.06 2.51 % % Stuttgart, DE % % 1.76 2.25 3.81 1.69 3.41 3.59 Karlsruhe, DE % % Stockholm, SE % % 1.68 3.21 1.31 Danmark, DK 1.50 1.18 2.53 % % Budapest, HU % 2.27 % Cluster Ranked by Spec Focu Quality Size . s 4.10 2.19 Oxford, UK 2.19 3.68 2.85 % % München, DE % % 1.76 2.56 3.81 Karlsruhe, DE 1.69 3.41 3.59 % % Stockholm, SE 1.15 3.21 3.12 % % Zürich, CH % 2.8 2.51 % 1.78 Stuttgart, DE 1.50 2.25 2.53 % % Budapest, HU % 2.27 2.28 % 1.25 Brighton, UK 0.99 2.04 2.46 % % 0.79 Southampton, UK % 2.2 2.70 % Oslo, NO % % 0.79 2.42 3.14 0.73 2.81 4.28 Dresden, DE % % Regensburg, DE % % 0.61 3.83 2.96 Székesfehérvár, HU 0.54 2.65 2.77 % % 0.24 2.48 3.37 Györ, HU % % Malta, MT % 3.02 % Source: European Cluster Observatory Science and Tech Doctorate Students Science and Tech Human Resources Financing Resources: VC Source: The 'Who is Who' of PRO INNO Europe Cost of Labour Price Levels Countries with insufficient data: Luxembourg, Turkey, Malta, Latvia, Cyprus, Iceland, Slovenia, Norway, Portugal, Estonia, Austria, Finland Availability of Local Resources Resources for Web and High Tech Startup Best Places to Startup in Europe Thank you Appendix Availability of Local Resources Well supported Regions Developing Regions Web Tech Entrepreneurship Level Countries with insufficient data: Luxembourg, Turkey, Malta, Latvia, Cyprus, Iceland, Slovenia, Norway, Portugal, Estonia, Austria, Finland
Four American girls. Two balding French men. French country side moving across the window.
Taige types on his laptop. The round girl sitting beside him is taking too much space.
Taige (v.o.): Mini-Seedcamp Paris is over. For my first Seedcamp event, it was pretty good. The food was pretty good. Spending my birthday in Paris was pretty good. I would be attending a Marie Curie Hospital University lecture now if I didn't have to go back to London.
Yeah. It would be great to attend a French pre-med lecture. I got a sample last night and it was just a warm feeling, like picking up a musical instrument after several years and still being able to play. I stayed over in the latin quarter, university district. It was great to actually live in a Parisian apartment, instead of a Marriott or yha hostel, where I usually stay. Paris is like London in many ways in how antiquated some parts are. Yet, the pastry smells surprise and delight you as you walk pass a garbage truck.
I'm finally understanding why Seedcamp has so many great mentors. It's great for mentors because they get 1) the opportunity to mentor and give back to the community. In fact, building the startup ecosystem seems to be the main objective of Seedcamp. And the mentors are like the symbiotic counterpart of the producers, the entrepreneurs that take abiotic and create innovation that feed our GDP growth and prosperity. So mentors are like the spikey spikes that grow on shrubs that prevent herbivores from destroying them. Or a better analogy. Like myrmecinae ants that live and protect the vegetation they inhabit. 2) Mentors benefit by networking opportunities that allow them to meet other VCs, angels, established entrepreneurs, service providers such as PR agencies and lawyers specializing in venture. 3) They are able to source deals from these events. They meet entrepreneurs and they see business opportunities. So there's a lot mentors get out of it. Plus who doesn't like traveling to Europe's most innovative cities and meeting the brightest the country has to offer?
Startups benefit a lot through the validation and opportunities provided by Seedcamp. The VCs I remember are Index, Eden, Balderton, Atomico, IBM, Avlen (a Paris one), Wellington partners, and that's it.
But the whole voting for your favorite startup was the most unscientific method I was ever involved with. I think even my fashion show voting where we used playing cards and boxes was better. Wait the most unscientific, I think was one where we just listened to the loudness of the claps for the standup show I put on in high school. But this was close.
I feel bad for some startups who weren't able to fully explain their ideas to the audience. They need some business guys. Curiously enough, there were many older entrepreneurs here. Like in their 30s or have kids. You don't see much of that in the US where the guys are 21-26. I asked a few people and did my own thinking and concluded that 1) the media didn't really cover this space well, didn't make it glamorous 2) startup costs are higher 3) trust in young people less and 4) fear of failure is higher.
Two startups I'm excited about are Musicovery and MxM. Their businesses seem to be quite viable with a good team.
Tonight I went to my first startup event in London. It was a party hosted by Huddle/ www.drinktank.co.uk. I am happy to find that there's a vibrant startup community here in London like in the bay area. It's pretty awesome to discover the entrepreneur and VC scene where I feel very much at home. Basically, I feel at home there and at fashion shows. And at home.
Of course, there are differences. Like in London, they are much more better dressed, drink more alcohol, and have kinkier business cards. Also the crowd is more diverse. Similarities lie in the connection to California (almost everyone has been to SF, San Jose, Palo Alto, etc) and the complete dearth of women.
It's like this:
(Includes the conversation with bartender)
So it's pretty awesome that I'm pulling at this thread, already met some cool people. I learned about more startup events in London such as Seedcamp, Open Social Music, Open Coffee, MeetUp (same as back home), Social Media Cafe, and Social Innovation. I also noticed like PE events, Oxford alumni dominate. I wonder where all the Cambridge alumni parties are?
I’m going to start a roughly weekly post about upcoming events I think you should be aware of. As many of them as possible will be relevant to startups, Web 2.0 and getting funding. Most of them will be UK/Ireland but some will be European too. Don’t expect lots of info - I’ll just be putting out links for you to check out. Feel free to send me others you think are relevant (no guarantees I will though). So here we go:
16th May Going Solo A conference for independent professionals (read, bloggers, socmedia peeps - here’s a video) 10% discount code: TCUK Lausanne, Switzerland
21-23 May Thinking Digital The Sage, Gateshead (final discount on tickets runs out in two weeks)
1. Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible 2. Share your idea. The more you share, the more you get advice and the more you learn. Meet and talk to your competitors. 3. Build a community. Use blogging and social software to make sure people hear about you. 4. Listen to your community. Answer questions and build your product with their feedback. 5. Gather a great team. Select those with very different skills from you. Look for people who are better than you. 6. Be the first to recognise a problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Address the issue in public, learn about and correct it. 7. Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open. 8. Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans. They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case. 9. Don’t plan a big marketing effort. It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product. 10. Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.
Today, I spoke with Russell Pyne, founding VC of Atrium Capital where I did an internship for two months. He provided me with some insightful advice.
[What I've Learned from Russell Pyne]
Finance, financial modeling, and analysis are generic skills.
Find your strengths then pursue it passionately. I've seen too many people follow their passions and fail because they just weren't meant to do it.
You need to be more aggressive in pursuing your start ups. You need to go to their doors with your resume. Keep calling them every week. They might have a conference coming up and need some help, if you're there, they'll take you. And if none of them are responding, then they're not growing enough and then you should really reconsider if you want to get into social travel.
It's increasingly hard now to be a VC as a generalist. You need technical expertise and experience. There's a lot of competition.
You can be both a specialist and a generalist. A lot of start ups have positions that are very general. You have to be able to wear a lot of hats. But if you stay in that industry for 2-5 years, you'll be an expert. Pick a growing industry and start from there.
In the past 15 years, we haven't done a single deal with a person we didn't know before or that wasn't referred by another VC or was introduced by a professional.
Deal flow is the key.
We hire people that are successful and know their industry and bring them in as junior partners. For example, we are looking to get into social networking and so we're looking for someone with experience from facebook, etc.
We travel to universities and learn about the newest technologies and talk with professors and industry leaders. And we do presentations.
Some VCs like TA Associates and Summit Partners hire recent grads to develop deal flow and for a supportive analyst role. It depends on the structure.
The Young Entrepreneur Awards (YEA) are held annually to highlight Canada's best and brightest young entrepreneurs and to recognize their innovative spirit and business acumen. The 2007 YEA ceremony will take place on October 16 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, during Small Business Week®.
1. Your idea isn't new. Pick an idea; at least 50 other people have thought of it. Get over your stunning brilliance and realize that execution matters more.
2. Stealth startups suck. You're not working on the Manhattan Project, Einstein. Get something out as quickly as possible and promote the hell out of it.
3. If you don't have scaling problems, you're not growing fast enough.
4. If you're successful, people will try to take advantage of you. Hope that you're in that position, and hope that you're smart enough to not fall for it.
5. People will tell you they know more than you do. If that's really the case, you shouldn't be doing your startup.
6. Your competition will inflate their numbers. Take any startup traffic number and slash it in half. At least.
7. Perfection is the enemy of good enough. Leonardo could paint the Mona Lisa only once. You, Bob Ross, can push a bug release every 5 minutes because you were at least smart enough to do a web app.
8. The size of your startup is not a reflection of your manhood. More employees does not make you more of a man (or woman as the case may be).
9. You don't need business development people. If you're successful, companies will come to you. The deals will still be distractions and not worth doing, but at least you're not spending any effort trying to get them.
10. You have to be wrong in the head to start a company. But we have all the fun.
11. Starting a company will teach you what it's like to be a manic depressive. They, at least, can take medication.
12. Your startup isn't succeeding? You have two options: go home with your tail between your legs or do something about it. What's it going to be?
13. If you don't pay attention to your competition, they will turn out to be geniuses and will crush you. If you do pay attention to them, they will turn out to be idiots and you will have wasted your time. Which would you prefer?
14. Startups are not a democracy. Want a democracy? Go run for class president, Bueller.
15. You're doing a web app, right? This isn't the 1980s. Your crummy, half-assed web app will still be more successful than your competitor's most polished software application.
+10 More Startup Commandments
1. You will have at least one catastrophe every three months.
2. Outsource effectively, or be effectively outsourced.
3. Do you thrive on stress and ambiguity? You'd better.
4. The best way to get outside funding is to be successful already. Stupid but true. But you, cheapskate, don't need money, right?
5. People will think your idea sucks. They're even probably right. The only way to prove them wrong is to succeed.
6. A startup will require your complete attention and devotion. Thought your first love in High School was clingy? You can't take out a restraining order on your startup.
7. Being an entrepreneur requires a healthy amount of ignorance. Note I did not say stupidity.
8. Your software sucks. So what. Everyone else's does also, and re-architecting is the kiss of death for a startup. Startups are no place for architecture astronauts.
9. You do have a public API, right?
10. Abject Terror. Overwhelming Joy. Monstrous Greed. Embrace and harness these emotions you must.
I had the idea to create a web2.0 site for travel organization with social networking functions. I know it's a lot better to join a start up than to create one from scratch. But strangely the several startups I've contacted have basically ignored me. I don't know how many thousands of people they get approached by trying to join, but I feel like they're more on guard than a hot single chick at club. I know my friend got a business development job after 700 business cards but he was willing to join anything. So far, I have two criteria: one is it's an idea I had or believe in (i.e. online doc sharing, travel org, suggestionbox) and it's not out of California (I did make one exception). I don't care too much about the team because I assume they are high quality to have the initiative to get it started and get funding. It's sort of like how girls assume guys are high quality because they have girlfriends.
Can someone explain how this process works? I am stuck.
Although I don't have the years of work experience, I don't know one start up that can't benefit from an avid team member devoted to the cause; especially if he's just out of college and a bit naive.
How does an emotional support network help male entrepreneurs? I am still pretty naked out here in the valley, and it gets chilly at night. So it was fortunate I ran across this quote I saved on my Netvibes page. From Networking Around the World from BusinessWeek:
How does an emotional support network help male entrepreneurs?
It's difficult to say exactly why emotional support networks of male entrepreneurs facilitate revenue growth, but I can suggest a few reasons. Getting praise and encouragement from their friends boosts self-confidence of entrepreneurs. Also, emotional support may indicate high social legitimacy and approval for starting new ventures, and therefore lift the social standing or informal status of entrepreneurs, which can be an asset itself.
Those entrepreneurs who receive more emotional support may develop greater psychological resources such as persistence, perseverance, and risk tolerance. And those network ties may provide not only emotional support but generate other resources and benefits such as finance, supplies, product ideas, and introduction to new clients and distributors.
I wonder what I was thinking when I left one and everything in Toronto to move out here this summer to get into VCs and start ups. It seems unreal. Who I was back then and who I am now. I must had a huge ego back then. Now I feel pretty bad sometimes*. I have some friends (Brian, Joanna, Jin, etc) who like me have just started life after college in a new city or country tell me how it's so hard to adjust. Now add that to not having a job and no support network. And mood congruence sets in. I don't think I've ever listened to so much country music in my life....
Guess what just started playing on my Pandora? Life ain't always beautiful by Gary Allan. Now that is pretty amazing. Lyrics:
Life ain't always beautiful Sometimes it's just plain hard Life can knock you down, it can break your heart
Life ain't always beautiful You think you're on your way And it's just a dead end road at the end of the day
But the struggle makes you stronger And the changes make you wise And happiness has it's own way of takin' it sweet time
My life under construction sign, taken in August in Toronto (click to view):
I have been entertaining the idea of graduate school, considering MBA, Master of Finance, and Master of Entrepreneurship. Yeah. I spelled it right!
The tally so far: My mom wants me to do graduate school. My friends don't want me to. And Kanye West doesn't want me to.
Now Yahoo jumps in and starts giving me advice with The Master's-Degree Debate: Better to Wait?:
Real World First, School Later
On the other hand, many people do not achieve a firm grasp on their goals until they have some career experience, says Ben Baron, vice president of graduate programs at Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions.
"Many people make the decision to return to graduate school after working in 'the real world' for a while, as they have developed interests over the years that may have nothing at all to do with their undergraduate education," says Baron. "A graduate degree is necessary training for a new field."
Interesting Article for those in between jobs, this is a fantastic opportunity!
100 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies from CNN. They ranking leaders of the tech revival.
And the winners are...
Despite talk of froth and bubbles, the tech sector continues to surge. The 100 companies on our annual list are all posting impressive results. (more) 1. Akamai Technologies 2. iMergent 3. Palomar Medical Technologies 4. InterDigital Communications 5. CyberSource 6. Perficient 7. Lam Research 8. Ceradyne 9. F5 Networks 10. Armor Holdings
Top job growth Want to work at a B2 100 company? Camera-chip maker Omnivision Technologies boosted its staff by 89% last year. Find out who else has been on a hiring spree. (more) • Apple • aQuantive • AMD • Red Hat • Netflix
Best stock returns iMergent's stock returned an impressive 334% in 2006. See who else saw their shares spike. (more) • Digital River • Akamai • Nvidia • Priceline • Garmin
