Dallas Startup Happy Hour (Monday July 21 @ 5PM)
July 19, 2008
Are you interested in connecting with the local startup community? We are working to build a vibrant startup community here in Dallas every bit as interesting and dynamic as San Francisco, Boulder, Boston or Austin. The first step is engagement.
The first Dallas ’startup happy hour’ went so well we decided to make it a regular thing (every other Monday). We hope to see you at the INFOMART High Tech Bar at 5PM this Monday July 21st. If you need directions or help finding us feel free to call me at 214.550.2003 or if I am not available try our help desk at 214.550.2002 (during business hours only).
PLEASE RSVP on Upcoming.org here: Dallas Happy Hour (we need to make sure we can handle the turnout)
The last ‘Startup Happy Hour’ (still thinking about an official name) went off without a hitch. Around 5PM, Brad Merritt (CEO of WhiteBox and my partner), George Carter (inventor of Laser Tag) and I were the only attendees (except of course for Jennifer and Masha who agreed to help sign people in and hand out name tags). But within 30 minutes we had around 20 people. By seven we had upwards of 50 people (34 of which filled out Jennifer’s sign in sheet). I closed the tab around eight and there were still about seven or eight people. I was really surprised we had such a good turnout. The best part of the evening was the mix of people. The majority of people worked at startups. There were a few angel investors, perhaps not as many as we would like (it is July after all).
Startup Attendees included:
Charles Humphreyson Prova www.provagroup.com
Brian Wiblin Concepla Systems www.comceptasys.com
Jason Hudgins Droidworks http://blog.droidworks.com
Brian Lee Profit Stars www.profitstars.com
Ty East Symon www.symon.com
Carri Craver Nomee www.nomee.com
Justin Bigelow Adshuffle www.adshuffle.com
Marc Archin Web Algorithm, Inc. www.webalgorithm.com
William Watts Intelivox www.intelivox.net
Paul Sanderson Near Port www.webalgorithm.com
Jay Ramirez Marblehead http://blog.marbleheadllc.com
Marshall Lawrence Architel www.architel.com
Abdullah Jibaly Ayoka www.ayokasystems.com
Scott Whigham Learn It First www.Learnitfirst.com
Mark Blaskovich Ayoka www.ayokasystems.com
Paul Johnson Lomans Rx www.lomansrx.com
Kevin Theppharaj Architel www.architel.com
Stormy Shippy High Form www.highform.com
Micah Davis Roov.com www.roov.com
Andres Fabris Traxo www.traxo.com
Eknauth Persaud Ayoka www.ayokasystems.com
Andy Chen Traxo www.traxo.com
Brian Mann Rank One Sport www.rankonesport.com
Scott Ticer n/a www.scott&tieless.com
Charles Cecil MCG Group www.mcggroup.com
Scott Ryan Architel www.architel.com
Brad Merritt WhiteBox www.whiteboxco.com
Of course there were more, but they didn’t give us their name, URL and email…
How to read the Texas Startup Blog
July 19, 2008
I thought it might be helpful to point out how this website is organized (of course David Cohen is going to change it soon). The homepage http://www.texasstartupblog.com is set up like a magazine or newspaper website. My latest ’startup’ story is in the upper lefthand corner of the page. Below that are a few videos (I change them less frequently than I should). In the middle column you will see posts found on other ’startup blogs’ in the network. Finally, in the far righthand column you will find a search field (sometimes powered by lijit), a few ads (right now they are not connected to our ad server). Below that you will find jobs from our job board. Below that you can see titles of recent network stories as well as links to various category posts, archives and the other network blogs.
If you miss the OLD Texas Startup BLOG - i.e. emphasis on blog - you can set your bookmark to my ‘blog’ page found here: http://www.texasstartupblog.com/category/blog/ It looks just like a regular chronological blog. If you want to skip my personal and political posts you can set your bookmark to the ’startup’ category found here: http://www.texasstartupblog.com/category/startups/ If you want to read about my politics, exclusively, visit: http://www.texasstartupblog.com/category/politics/ I know some of you are tired of my complaints about airlines seats, pride in the USMC or my feelings about how McCain is a horrible choice for president - I hope this helps you get just the content you want.
News from the startup network!
July 18, 2008
I thought it might be smart to point to interesting posts I found on the other SpringStage startup blogs. Ingrid from the Caribbean Startup Blog has an interesting Q&A with Dwayne Black, the founder of Jampersonals.com, the largest Jamaican online dating site. Richard Stump from the Kentucky Startup Blog has a video from Matt Beck describing his startup called Pearlabs. Marc DeWalle from the North Carolina Startup Blog has a great Q&A with Jess Martin, the organizer of the RTP Startup Weekend. The South Carolina Startup Blog is announcing Tech After 5, a networking event for startups hosted by Phil Yanov. David Cohen of the Colorado Startup Blog has a post describing our job board and how it is much improved. Enjoy!
David’s little side project: earFeeder
July 18, 2008
David Cohen of the Colorado Startup Blog has a post titled, “Blast from earFeeders past” where he talks about his ‘little side project’ called earFeeder. Neat little application (acquired by SonicSwap a couple of months after he launched it) you can learn more about it in this facebook video. The irony in the project, for anyone who knows David:
At TechStars, I spend alot of time telling people to focus and not do side projects. Before they all write me to complain, let me clarify: this was a side project for me when I had no “main project”. At that time I was only doing investing because my previous startup (iContact) had just vaporized. So TechStars founders: hush, and focus.
Angel/Entrepreneur Meetup Committee
July 17, 2008
I wrote about my idea for an Angel/Entrepreneur Group in Dallas a couple of weeks ago. Things have progressed and I am in the process of forming a committee to organize the group.
Committee Members include:
Alexander Muse - Entrepreneur (vc backed)
Brad Merritt - Entrepreneur (bootstrapped)
Charlie Humphreyson - Angel (experienced)
Chris Ryan - Angel (starting)
Robert Bennett - Angel (experienced)
Paul Johnson - Entrepreneur (starting)
We are looking for two additional angels to join the committee prior to our first meeting. If you are interested in helping take my idea and turn it into something real please give me a ring at 214.558.1079. I have a couple of meetings with potential angels tomorrow, but I would like to finalize the committee by next week with the hope of having our first meeting the week after. Thanks for all your comments and your help.
When your business plan seems like candid camera!
July 17, 2008
Have I mentioned that I get more than my fair share of business plans and executive summaries each day? Recently I got a business plan that caused me to look over my shoulder and ask if I was on candid camera. OMG! It was the craziest thing I had ever read. I can’t share any of it with you because the person who sent it would immediately know I was talking about their plan. My question is simple: how can I explain how I feel about the ‘idea’ without pissing the entrepreneur off. Of course this is going to be the next Google I am sure - i.e. I am the worst predictor of startup success. Anyway, I would love some thoughts, comments or experiecne from you guys on how to encourage the entrepreneur without inadvertantly suggesting I liked his idea. Thanks…
ServiceGuy is live in Sacramento, now in 20 cities!
July 17, 2008
I pleased to announced we have launched ServiceGuy in Sacramento (FYI launch simply means we are accepting contractors, the numbers won’t go active until we have 10 contractors for a service in a city). If you are a contractor looking for a few extra leads please signup. Randy should be contacting various providers directly over the next few days. Need a cleaning person, computer guy, designer, electrician, handyman, landscaper, mover, painter, plumber, pool guy or realtor? Just click on a city and start dialing. Best of luck!
The choice: being right or getting what you want
July 17, 2008
Earlier this year I wrote about fairness in a post titled, “Life isn’t Fair and Mickey Mouse is a Rat.“ Ironically, while I have always realized life isn’t SUPPOSED to be fair, I still had a strong need to be ‘right’. I guess the fact that I understood that life isn’t fair made me MORE interested that people, at the very least, know that I was ‘right’. Several years ago (maybe four) I realized that being ‘right’ was costing me a lot. I talked to my pastor about it on a chairlift in Colorado and he suggested I talk to a counselor who was a member of the church. The problem was that I had realized that being ‘right’ was expensive, but I wasn’t able stop. Being ‘right’ has been an addiction for me. It has cost me money, friends and most importantly time; but I have nothing to show for it (except perhaps for a little righteous indignation).
Very recently I decided to try stop being right. I made a conscience effort and it has started to pay off (in little and big ways). For example, yesterday I was ordering cable for our new office space and when I mentioned that I had tried to order the cable online I was transferred to the internet sales group who wanted me to help them figure out why their online ordering system wasn’t working. Instead I politely hung up and called back in and simply suggested that I wanted to place an order. Within minutes I had placed my order and was back to doing something else. It was wonderful. The old, ‘right’ addicted me, would have stayed on the phone and argued with the internet group trying to explain why it wasn’t my job to help them figure out their internet problems. I had only mentioned it as a favor so that they could take a look at it LATER. Anyway, that was the old ‘right’ me, the new ‘get-it-done’ me simply determined the quickest way to get to YES and moved. Ah, it was such a minor thing, but added together a lifetime of minor things turn into real time.
My advice is to focus on what it takes to succeed, don’t worry so much about being right. Being right is for debators and politicians (not the politicians of old, but our new ‘right’ at any cost politicians).
Google released a ’secret’ SDK?
July 16, 2008
Ryan Paul from ars technica was shocked when he learned that Google “has been secretly making new versions of the Android SDK available to the Android Developer Challenge (ADC) finalists under non-disclosure agreements.“ If you are building for the Andriod platform you really need to talk to Google about getting the new version of the Android SDK. Duh! Reminds me of this scene from Casablanca:
Medication for Older Entrepreneurs
July 15, 2008
Entrepreneurs in their thirties or forties often marvel at 20-something entrepreneurs who seemingly can work for days without sleep. Now firmly entrenched in the mid-thirties, I am more and more aware of the limitations of my aging body. Of course much of my problem would be solved by more cardio, but I digress. Mike Arrington is writing about the hottest drug in Silicon Valley - Provigil. The perscription drug is labled for narcolepsy, but entrepreneurs find that it allows them to concentrate better, work longer hours and has the side effect of causing weight loss. The military has used the drug for F117 pilots with great success (pilots can remain effective for 88 hours without sleep on the drug). Mike jokes, “Perhaps some enterprising venture capitalist will start requiring founders of their companies to get a prescription in order to close on an investment.” (Note: I will NOT be filling a perscription for Provigil)
Raising venture capital while preserving your integrity
July 15, 2008
When do your fiduciary duties to your shareholders collide with your own integrity? Many of us who have been CEOs of venture-backed companies have realized at one point or another that the current round under the current terms is a ‘bad deal’ for the new investor. Even worse some of us realize that EVEN if we raise the current round things look grim for our business. So when does your integrity outweigh your duty to your current shareholders? Your lawyer (and I am not a lawyer) will tell you that you MUST serve your current shareholder despite your own opinion about the deal. But what would your pastor say?
Last week I was having a conversation with an entrepreneur/friend who recently filed Chapter 7. He had raised millions of dollars from local angel investors, but failed to close a professional round that would have kept the company alive. He was very close to closing a professional round, but even he realized it would have been a bad investment. Nevertheless he kept moving forward with the investors who ultimately pulled the plug. This happened to me back in the summer of 2001. We needed $100MM to break even, but instead we got a term sheet for $40MM. I knew we couldn’t make it with $40MM and I wasn’t sure $100MM would get us there. But the mantra, ’save the company’ kept beating in my ears. Of course I convinced myself that if we could raise the $40MM would could live to fight another day. Up until very recently I would have advised founders to ’save the company, save the company, save the company, save the company…’ Today I am not so sure ’saving the company’ is worth your integrity.
That was almost seven years ago and I would do things very differently today. On the expense side I would cut expenses (headcount) much faster than I did. I wouldn’t blindly follow the whims of investors against my own better judgement. And I wouldn’t propose a deal I wouldn’t be willing to invest in myself. I used to be COMPLETELY against personal guarantees and in general I think they are a bad idea, but as a personal test before you take someone elses money, ask yourself if you would be willing to sign a personal guarantee to take the funding (rarely are you in complete control so I highly advise against signing one). My advise to anyone in a similar position, if you can’t figure out a way to serve the interests of the existing shareholders as well as future shareholders you should resign. Explain to your existing shareholders that you can’t, in good conscience, raise good money after bad. Of course you should talk to your lawyer before doing anything so rash or crazy (I would and did).
You can’t read this post, NO YOU CAN’T!
July 14, 2008
Of course you can, but my point is that because I told you couldn’t read it you are more likely to read it, right? Seth Godin has a post about a topic my business partner taught me about years ago - scarcity. Scott Ryan, my business partner is perhaps one of the smartest people I have ever met. You might not realize it at first, but if you have known him for any length of time you would be VERY aware. Of course Seth Godin is a much better writer and I will leave it to him to explain:
Why be scarce?
- Scarcity creates fashion. People want something that others can’t have.
- Lines create demand. People want something that others want.
- Scarcity also creates word of mouth, because people talk about lines and shortages and hot products.And finally, scarcity drives your product to the true believers, the ones most likely to spread the word and ignite the ideavirus. Because they expended effort to acquire your product or service, they’re not only more likely to talk about it, but they’ve self-selected as the sort of person likely to talk about it.
Of course Seth has a warning for companies who use scarcity, “The danger is that you can kill long-term loyalty. You can annoy your best customers. You can spread negative word of mouth. You can train people to hate your scarcity strategy (Apple did all four this weekend).” His advice?
- Principle 1: Use the internet to form a queue. If you have a scarce product, you almost certainly know it’s scarce in advance. Instead of taxing customers by wasting their time, reward the early shoppers by taking orders online. A month before sale date, for example, tell them it’s coming. If you sell out before ship date, that’s great, because next time people will be even quicker to order when they hear about what you’ve got. (And you can do this in the real world, too–postcards with numbers or even playing cards work just fine.)
- Principle 2: Give the early adopters a reward. In the case of Apple, I would have made the first 100,000 phones a different color. Then, instead of the buyer being a hero for ten seconds, he gets to be a hero for a year.
- Principle 3: Treat different customers differently. Apple, for example, knows how to contact every single existing customer. Why not offer VIP status to big spenders? Or to those that make a lot of calls? Let them cut the line. It’s not fair? What’s fair mean? I can’t think of anything more fair than treating the people who treat you well, better.
- Principle 4: When things happen in real time, you’re way more likely to screw up. One of the giant advantages of the Net is that you can fix things before the whole world notices. Try to do your rollout in small sections, so you can fix mistakes before you hurt the very people you’re trying to embrace.
- Principle 5: Give your early adopters a forum to celebrate. A place to brag or demonstrate or show off or share insights and ideas. Amplify the heroes, which is far better than amplifying the pain of standing in line.
Good stuff. Did I tell you that the startup Scott founded was bought by Oracle for $300MM+? Yea, he is smart…
Intervoice hires new CEO: Robert Ritchey
July 14, 2008
According to Texas Tech Pulse: Dallas-based communication software publisher Intervoice Inc. reported Wednesday that Robert Ritchey, the company’s chief executive officer, will retire. Intervoice said Ritchey, whose retirement will take effect on Aug. 31, will remain on the company board and is a candidate for reelection at next week’s annual shareholders meeting. Jim Milton, Intervoice’s current president and chief operating officer, will transition to president and CEO effective Sept. 1, the company said. Ritchey joined Intervoice in December 2000 after serving as vice president and general manager of Honeywell Fire and Security Systems’ Integrated Security Systems division. Milton has been with Intervoice since January 2006. Prior to then, he held senior management roles with Digital Equipment Corp., Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and UGS Corp.
Apogee: Dallas based startup revives Duke Nukem
July 14, 2008
OMG! I remember my first job out of college at ICG where we played Duke Nukem! We had a Novell network and Duke Nukem used the same protocal. I loved hanging out late and playing the shoot’em up game with the IT guys. Dallas-based Apogee Software said it is going to revivie the popular game. These guys were the same guys who published Wolfenstein 3-D in the 90s. Wolfenstein!!! OMG!!! I feel like I am in high school all over. I am telling you, Dallas is really kicking some butt! Thanks Apogee!
Our expansion and how it affects you!
July 14, 2008
We should have our CO (certificate of occupancy) tomorrow on our expansion space at the INFOMART. We have talked about offering ‘coworking’ space and I think that it makes some sense. Instead of charging we have decided to offer scholarships to startups/independents that we like/respect/admire. So if you have a cool startup and need a few (1-4) desks as well as a rack (1-2 racks in our data center) the space is free. Just start hanging out with us and we will hook you up. Get it? Free coworking for cool entrepreneuers.
For the rest of you: if you want to host a Democamp, Barcamp, Refresh - this is the place. We can easily accomodate 40+ attendees with full AV setup (projectors, seats, refreshments and so on). The cost? ALWAYS FREE! Why? Because we love startups and entrepreneurs. Regardless of whether or not we agree about religion or politics we are here to help startups. We NEVER want to make money on your backs, instead we want to help you out. Get it? Hopefully this is making sense.
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iPhoneDevCamp set for August 1-3
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Boulder Women Engaging Tech
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Profile: Pearlabs and Dean alert
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Tech After 5
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An interview with Jess Martin, one of the organizers of the RTP Start-Up Weekend
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Startup Weekend
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Green Tech Meetup is Thursday night at CU
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KEF fund changes
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Revving the engine
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Blast from earFeeders past
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