January, 2010

posts — 2 Comments
30
Jan 10

Y Combinator and TechStars Officially "Seed Accelerators"

Per an article on the Techvibes Blog, Bootup Labs, “along with Y Combinator’s Paul Graham and TechStars’ Brad Feld have agreed to drop the ‘Incubator’ term for good in favor of ‘Seed Accelerator’.”

“Seed-stage Accelerator” is the term that I’ve long used for these programs and it’s good to see that the programs are now going to brand themselves as such, to better differentiate them from conventional business incubators, which typically have a bad name among entrepreneurs and investors.

I’ve been collecting some information on why incubators have such a poor reputation among entrepreneurs and investors for a future post.  The National Business Incubation Association makes incubators sound pretty good, though.

Why do incubators have a bad reputation?  Any good links to incubation horror stories?

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30
Jan 10

joeconyers:

caterpillarcowboy:

mikehudack:

gbattle:

@cdixon aka Chris Dixon challenging VC’s and entrepreneurs who don’t blog.

I think the supply/demand balance has changed in the last 3 years. Startups are now choosing VCs for the small amounts they need, not the other way around, and a lot of judgments about how “entrepreneur-friendly” a VC is is made via their public online presence.

Build a brand, folks. It’s part of your job now.

Caterpillar Cowboy’s last sentence is important – already just weeks after starting to blog again in earnest, I’ve already seen the power of using blogs and Twitter to get in touch with people who share my views.  People who I wouldn’t otherwise have any way of getting in touch with.  It’s all about building a personal brand for yourself.

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29
Jan 10

Time Horizon Does Matter

Link: Time Horizon Does Matter

Very thought-provoking post on how the time horizon of investment strategies can have an important impact on investment decision making.

link — 3 Comments
29
Jan 10

Dear MBAs who want to work at startups – from This is going to be BIG!

Link: Dear MBAs who want to work at startups – from This is going to be BIG!

Love the post. This is fantastic advice for anyone who wants to work at a startup and for MBAs who are ready to move into the 21st century as far as networking. 

Every entrepreneur who’s deeply engaged in running the business has problems to solve and trying to figure out how to get a new employee excited about working on those problems takes time away from other tasks. If someone came to me and already laid out a plan for how they could tackle one of our current issues or something that’s coming down the road, it makes it such an easy decision, because now, rather that needing to explain what it is they would need to do, it’s clear they’re already thinking on the same wavelengths as my team.

The ideal startup hire should be seeking out products that they love (and use) and engaging directly with the team via their discussion forum, Twitter, Get Satisfaction with ideas and suggestions for the product.

I’m surprised more MBA programs haven’t started encouraging their students to put more effort into blogging as a networking tool. All that thinking and writing that goes on in classes – what better outlet for that than a blog focused on how you want to apply the skills and getting input from the community into your ideas. And even if you don’t want to work at a startup, there are plenty of connections to corporate America that can be made via social media, as well.

Hopefully both MBAs and MBA programs are reading this post!

Edit: Link updated.

link — No Comments
28
Jan 10

VeloCity – University of Waterloo Entrepreneur Bootcamp

Link: VeloCity – University of Waterloo Entrepreneur Bootcamp

Interesting new summer “dormcubator” program for students from the University of Waterloo:

The VeloCity Entrepreneur BootCamp (VEB) will enable top student entrepreneurs to fast track the launch of their technology-based startups. Selected students will be mentored by some of Canada’s most experienced and successful entrepreneurs. They will live rent-free at VeloCity and will work out of office space provided at no charge by the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo’s research and technology park.

…

The students will each receive $3,000 (up to a maximum $9,000 for each team) and own 100 per cent of their intellectual property. As well, they will attend seminars and workshops on important business-related topics. It is the first nation-wide, residence-based program of its kind in North America.

More information in this press release.  Interested students can apply here.

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