Posts filed under 'Events'
August 30th, 2010
Sarah Allen will talk about bootstrapping a mobile startup at the Bootstrapper’s Breakfast Wednesday September 1 at 9am at Boudin Bakery, Embarcadero 4 in San Francisco. Sarah is a serial entrepreneur who is using her software development consulting business, Blazing Cloud, to bootstrap a mobile-focused startup, Mightyverse.
The Mightyverse blog offers this overview of the service:
Mightyverse is for people interested in language. We are building a database of words, phrases, and sentences translated from one language to another, including jokes, slang, lyrics, localisms, technical terms — anything you can imagine expressing.
Earlier Sarah was one of the co-founders of CoSA, The Company of Science & Art. The founders consulted part-time using their own software libraries to bootstrap a product business. This led to the creation of After Effects (acquired by Aldus, and subsequently Adobe).
August 29th, 2010
I will be giving a short presentation on “Feed Readers De-Mystified–Tips For Keeping Informed” at the September 23 Lunch & Learn Webinar hosted by People on the Go.
I will outline some important ways to monitor information about your business and industry on the web. The web has become the primary medium of business communication and information gathering: it is imperative that you learn to monitor new developments and relevant events for your job or business. We will explore a range of tools and time saving tips to keep abreast within your industry of clients, competitors, and relevant developments. This session will explore:
- Popular Feed Readers
- How they can help you stay current
- Limitations and Shortcomings
- Demo of the tools including
Some related blog posts:
This is a great overview by Dorai, I like his his five phase model for intelligence gathering and will address the first two–discovery and tracking–in my presentation:
There are about five stages in this process. This is a spiral model where you continuously enhance/refine every step based on what you learn from other steps.
- Discovery – Discovering Relevant sources of Information
- Tracking – Continuously monitoring these sources and discovering more in the process.
- Filtering – Filtering the noise and gaining the information most relevant to your business
- Extracting – Transforming information from free form into some kind of useful structure to distribute internally.
- Sharing – Sharing information at different levels of granularity, refining it and deriving actionable intelligence.
August 27th, 2010
Theresa Shafer and I are giving a talk on “10 Tips on How to Choose a Business Partner” on Monday, September 13, 2010, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm at the Women In Consulting (WIC) South Bay meeting.
We will outline some important tips and considerations when choosing a partner, sub-contractor, or alliances members that will help grow your business. We will explore a range of working relationships including employees, contractors, alliances, partners and co-owners. We will look these relationship roles and tips for structuring these deals.
This session will explore:
- Difference between employees, contractors, alliances, partners and co-owners
- Defining the relationship roles
- When to decide to partner
- What partners need from you
- How to pitch to a partner
About the Presenters
- Theresa Shafer is a hardware engineer and a mom, with a do-it/done methodology.
- Sean Murphy has taken an entrepreneurial approach to life since he could drive. They have served as an advisor to dozens of startups, helping them explore new options and bring their businesses to new levels. SKMurphy, Inc., focuses on early customers and early revenue for software startups, helping engineers to understand business development. Their clients have offerings in electronic design automation, artificial intelligence, web-enabled collaboration, proteomics, text analytics, legal services automation, and medical services workflow.
Location
Los Gatos Lodge, 50 Los Gatos-Saratoga Road, Los Gatos, CA 95032; 408-354-3300
(Off of Hwy 880 at the Hwy 9 exit)
Cost (includes meeting, meal, beverage, dessert)
- WIC Members: $23 preregistration, $28 at the door
- Non-WIC Members: $33 preregistration, $38 at the door
- Price includes meeting, meal, beverage, and dessert
Register: https://www.kintera.org/AutoGen/Register/ECReg.asp?ievent=338196
(Note: advanced on-line reservation closes Thursday, September 9, 2010, 12 Noon)
August 24th, 2010
I mentioned on August 12 in “Signup For ‘Will Work For Equity’ at Silicon Valley Code Camp” that I had submitted the following session for this year’s Silicon Valley Code Camp (Oct 9-10 at Foothill College):
Will Work For Equity – the World Startups
Are you considering joining a startup? Sean Murphy, CEO at SKMurphy, will host a panel outlining important tips and issues to consider if you are investing your time in a startup. This session will explore: difference between employees, contractors, alliances, partners and co-owners; defining the key roles in a startup; what partners need from you; how to pitch to a co-founder.
I can now announce the panel of three startup CEOs who will offer their perspectives on the issues and answer questions from the audience.
- Peter Hoffman CEO of Interactive Mobile Solutions. IMS helps event planners enhance their attendees’ conference experience through an innovative, mobile technology solution called ConferenceConnect. Peter has over 25 years of creating and directing conferences and leadership symposiums in education, non-profit and corporate environments. Most recently he was Senior Manager for Apple Higher Education Advocacy and Leadership. Peter has also held positions as Vice President of Events and Marketing for the Community College Foundation and Executive Director for the Ohlone College Foundation.
- Merc Martinelli CEO of Verdafero. Verdafero Inc. has developed a SaaS platform that can be used for sustainability planning, energy efficiency and carbon management services for small and medium enterprise businesses. Merc is an experienced tech executive who previously worked at Cisco Systems where he led the new product introduction department within the multi-billion dollar Enterprise Line of Business. Earlier in his career he held leadership positions at KLA Instruments and was a pilot in the USAF.
- Matt Cameron CEO of Corporate Catapult. Matt is a native of New Zealand (they even have colour TV there now) currently residing in San Francisco. He started his first business at 25 (a food delivery service) and is now on his fourth start-up: Corporate Catapult Inc, a career acceleration tool that is presently in private alpha. On occasion he will admit to having also worked for Hewlett-Packard, Wang, IBM and EDS in sales roles. Most recently, Matt was employee #6 for Salesforce.com Asia as Regional Sales Director.
This will be an interesting panel if enough folks vote to include it in the final program. Vote here.
August 20th, 2010
Second Derivative’s Great Demo! seminar on September 15, 2010 helps frustrated sales, marketing and presales professionals and entrepreneurs improve their skills and gain dramatic results. Peter Cohan helps organizations like Keynote Systems and Phreesia put the “Wow!” into their demos to make them crisp, compelling and successful.
“I believe everyone on the team will find that your training and demo workflow has been extremely effective – we are confident that we’ve closed business directly as a result of applying Great Demo! practices. The Sales Engineers started using what they learned in the training and were amazed at the results! Their respective Account Managers were so amazed they all went out and bought the book, now we will be doing a training for the whole sales force!” reported Robert Hughes, Global Director of Solution Consulting at Keynote Sytems, the leading provider of on-demand test and measurement products for mobile communications and the Internet.
“Peter Cohan’s Great Demo method really works. It helped us win DEMOgod, and it has allowed us to explain our offering much more clearly to prospects.” Chaim Indig, CEO, of Phreesia, the leader in patient check-in, with a network of thousands of clinicians nationwide.
Co-sponsered by SKMurphy, the Great Demo! Workshop is now available in an open enrollment format. These Workshops are perfect for individuals looking for sales and demo skills training.
During the full day Workshop at the Moorpark Hotel in San Jose, California, Peter Cohan will present tips and best practices for demos whether face to face, in a webinar, as a screencast, or as a self-running demo.
This highly interactive, practice-driven training class outlines a framework for the creation and delivery of improved demos and presentations to enable increased success in the marketing, sales, and deployment of software and related products. Attendees can also bring their demo and have it critiqued.
Limited spaces are available on a first come, first serve basis. To reserve a seat in the seminar please contact us by visiting http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2010/04/14/great-demo-workshop-on-sept-15-2010/
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Peter Cohan, Principal at The Second Derivative
Website: www.SecondDerivative.com, Community Web Site: www.DemoGurus.com
Peter Cohan is the founder and a principal of The Second Derivative, a consultancy focused on helping software organizations improve their sales and marketing results. In July 2004, he enabled and began moderating DemoGurus®, a community web exchange dedicated to helping sales and marketing teams improve their software demonstrations. In 2003, he authored Great Demo!, a book that provides methods to create and execute compelling demonstrations. The 2nd edition of Great Demo! was published March 2005.
July 18th, 2010
Mark Florant joins us as a guest speaker this Tuesday’s Bootstrapper Breakfast® at Coco’s in Sunnyvale. He will talk about business development for early stage startups. Mark will share some lessons learned working with early stage startups, including three he is currently assisting with sales and market development: Aquabella Organics, WSpider, and 360iCoach.
Mark’s expertise is establishing a market for a new product by building strong relationships. He has experience both with large organizations– such as IBM, Cisco, Hitachi, and Intel–and with successful start-ups like LightLogic, where he was VP of Worldwide Sales.
There are three Bootstrapper Breakfasts this week:
- Tuesday July 20 7:30am at Coco’s in Sunnyvale
1206 Oakmead Parkway, Sunnyvale, CA 94085
- Thursday July 22 7:30am at Athens Burger in Dublin
6999 Dublin Boulevard, Dublin, CA 94568
- Friday July 23 at 9am at Red Rock Coffee In Mountain View
201 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA 94041
June 14th, 2010
The Silicon Valley economy continues to test bootstrapping entrepreneurs cash management skills. I took a look at Silicon Valley bankruptcy case filing statistics for the last decade (in particular for the San Jose court) prompted by two recent articles in the San Jose Business Journal:
May-1-2009 “Chapter 7 Bankruptcies up 35%”
“We’re really seeing it across the board,” Murray said, from venture-backed technology companies whose investors have cut capital to hotels, restaurants, residential real estate developers and even a golf course. “It cuts across the entire economy.” The ripple effect is noticeable. “We get calls from some of our clients’ vendors saying if they don’t get that payment, we’re going to be forced into the same situation that the client is in,” Murray said. “What can we say? It’s unfortunate for everybody.”
Jan-29-2010: “Bankruptcy Lawyers Work Overtime To Keep Up”
“I’m seeing people every day who in a normal world would never ever meet with a bankruptcy attorney,” Michael Malter of Binder & Malter said. “I’m meeting people who tearfully tell me they’ve never missed a payment on anything in 30 or 40 years, and now they don’t know how they’re going to make ends meet. It’s a horrible plight, and I don’t see any end to it.”
Statistics are available here at http://www.canb.uscourts.gov/files/sjarchives.pdf
| 2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010
est* |
| 6,132 |
6,316 |
7,382 |
8,237 |
7,952 |
9,635 |
2,722 |
4,454 |
7,692 |
11,494 |
15,890 |
I derived the estimate for 2010 based on the ratio of the first four months of claims to the total claim count in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Each year the January through April claims averaged about 29% of the year’s total.
|
2010 |
2009 |
2008 |
2007 |
| Jan |
977 |
656 |
412 |
269 |
| Feb |
1,039 |
744 |
581 |
323 |
| Mar |
1,366 |
1,000 |
607 |
338 |
| Apr |
1,226 |
935 |
614 |
367 |
| Tot |
4,608 |
3,335 |
2,214 |
1,297 |
| YrTot |
15,890 est |
11,494 |
7,692 |
4,454 |
Ratio of first four months
to annual total. |
0.29 |
0.29 |
0.29 |
0.29 |
The 2009 bankruptcy count was 39% more than 2003, the worst year of the dotcom meltdown, and the first four months of 2010 are running 38% above the first four months of 2009. Very sobering.
We have invited Rick Kadet of The Brenner Group, Inc to tomorrow’s Bootstrapppers Breakfast in Sunnyvale to to discuss Effective Cash Flow Financial Strategies for early stage entrepreneurs. Rick will provide a five minute overview of key principles that will be followed by our regular round the table discussion.
Rick is Vice President and Senior CFO Management Consultant with The Brenner Group, Inc., where, since 1998, he has engaged with over 60 valley firms as part-time CFO or financial advisor. Rick works with client firms on executive staff level financial management, financial reporting to boards of directors, financial and business planning, raising venture and debt capital, facilities, business infrastructure, business systems and risk management.
Whether you are actively bootstrapping a startup, considering entrepreneurship, or keeping a weather eye on the possibility of involuntary entrepreneurship as your next career stage, you are welcome to RSVP and join us. Please bring your questions and lessons learned.
Bootstrappers Breakfast meetings bring together entrepreneurs who are serious about growing their business and gives them a chance to compare notes on operational, development, and business issues with peers.
Postscript: I overlooked this article in the San Jose Business Journal “Bankruptcy Filings Surge 40% This Quarter over last year” which indicates the San Jose filings may understate the degree of distress in Silicon Valley because many are headquartered in Delaware and filing there instead of locally:
John Murray, managing partner of Cupertino-based Murray & Murray PC, said consumer bankruptcies are up “dramatically,” and while business filings have also jumped, he expected a bigger spike in corporate, Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection cases in the San Jose court.
He said many companies based in Silicon Valley are incorporated in Delaware, so they’re filing for bankruptcy there. According to Murray, those courts are more favorable to bankrupt companies, and attorneys’ fees are usually approved “without question,” so a firm’s lawyer is more likely to suggest filing there.
Nevertheless, the economy has “lambasted” corporate America, and Murray’s law firm still handles bankruptcy filings from a range of industries. Currently, his clients include a semiconductor equipment company, a golf course, a restaurant, an online catalog firm and a residential real estate developer.
“A lot of companies are just throwing in the towel,” he said.
Update Mon-Jun-14: Rick Kadet has published a guest blog on “Bootstrappers Benefit From a Simple Financial Model” that offers tips for the practical challenges bootstrappers face in managing cash and other resources.
May 24th, 2010
Cash Flow management and taking into account assets and resources is challenge for all businesses. Rick Kadet of The Brenner Group, Inc will be our guest at the Bootstrapppers Breakfast®, Tuesday, June 15 to discuss “Effective Cash Flow Financial Strategies” for early stage entrepreneurs. Rick will present a short 5-10 introduction to set the stage for our roundtable discussion.
Rick is Vice President and Senior CFO Management Consultant with The Brenner Group, Inc., where, since 1998, he has engaged with over 60 valley firms as part-time CFO or financial advisor. Rick works with client firms on executive staff level financial management, financial reporting to boards of directors, financial and business planning, raising venture and debt capital, facilities, business infrastructure, business systems and risk management.
Prior experience to The Brenner Group includes CFO and operational positions at Versant Corporation, a data base software firm for whom Rick managed its 1996 IPO; InfoSpan Corporation, an information management software firm where he was acting CEO for one year, Cadre Technologies, Inc. a software tools company and Sarama Industries, an electrical products manufacturer. Rick began his career with General Electric Company, and graduated from GE’s three-year Financial Management Training Program. Rick is a graduate of Arizona State University.
Bootstrappers Breakfast brings together leading edge entrepreneurs who eat problems for breakfast and are serious about growing their business. Have some questions ready and join us for the lively discussion.
April 25th, 2010
Overview
The Startup Lessons Learned Conference (#sllconf) was Friday April 23rd, 2010. This post is an effort to capture press coverage and blog commentary on the conference that will be of use to entrepreneurs. I will update it periodically through the end of May 2010 as I become aware of new blog posts. Please feel free to contact me and suggest a post you have found useful.
The conference was streamed live to more than 60 locations by Justin.tv, their video archive is at http://www.justin.tv/startuplessonslearned/all If you missed the conference and are planning to watch the videos I would encourage you to read this blog post first: “Tips for Getting the Most Out of the Startup Lessons Learned Conference (SLLConf)”
Welcome and Opening
by Eric Ries, Startup Lessons Learned Blog
Keynote: To Agility, and Beyond
by Kent Beck, Three Rivers Institute
Continuous Deployment Case Study: WiredReach
by Ash Maurya, WiredReach
Agile Development Case Study: Grockit
by Farb Nivi, Grockit
Case Study: But Does It Scale?
by James Birchler, Brett G. Durrett, and Tim Fitz, IMVU
Panel “But What About Design?”
Conversation: “Getting to Plan B”
with Eric Ries and Randy Komisar, KPCB
Minimum Viable Product Case Study: Aardvark
by Damon Horowitz and Max Ventilla of Aardvark/Google
Pivot Case Study: Flowtown
by Ethan Bloch and Dan Martell of Flowtown
Pivot Case Study: KISSMetrics
by Hiten Shah, KISSMetrics
Customer Development 2.0: Why Accountants Don’t Run Startups
by Steve Blank
Is Customer Development Marketing? Food on the Table Case Study
by Manuel Rosso, Food on the Table
Customer Development Case Study: Dropbox
by Drew Houston, Dropbox
Customer Development Case Study: PBWorks
by David Weekly, PBworks
Customer Development Panel: But Who Should Actually Get Out of the Building?
Summaries & Overviews That Apply to More Than One Talk or Session
- Startup Lessons Learned Conference Notes – Fri, April 23, 2010 by Troy Angrignon, (@troyangrignon), Ali Sohani (@alisohani), Grishma Govani (@strangeloops), Sarah Allen (@ultrasaurus), Kevin Donaldson et. al.
- Kevin Donaldson “Summary of Startup Lessons Learned Conference“
- Mathew Mahoney “Twitter Recap of Startup Lessons Learned Conference“
- NYT: “The Rise of the Fleet Footed Startup“
- Nathan Artz “Tricks Learned from Startups Lessons Learned Conference“
- SLLConf on slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/sllconf
- Adam Wiggins “Startup Lessons Learned“
- Steve Blank “Woodstock for Entrepreneurs: the Startup Lessons Learned Conference“
- Anand Rajaram “Drinking from the Fire-hose – Lessons I learned from the Startup Lessons Learned Conference : Part 1“
- Michael Denomy “Startup Lessons Learned Conference“
- Deyan Vitanov “What’s Bugging Me About the Lean Startup: Promoting a Mindset of Marginal Incrementalism“
- Kurt Carr “My Lessons Learned” Intro, Part 1, Part2
- Alan Cooper “To Pivot, Or Not To Pivot“
- Richard Jordan “Live Blogging Startup Lessons Learned Conference“
- Damien Detcherry “Review of the lean start up conference: ‘Start up lessons, San Francisco, April 23th, 2010′“
- Tristan Kromer “Top Takeaway From Startup Lessons Learned“
- Tristan Kromer “Customer Development with Network Effects“
Remote Sites Recap
I will update this list periodically through the end of May 2010 as I become aware of new blog posts. Please feel free to contact me and suggest a post you have found useful.
April 22nd, 2010
I cam across an interesting conference going on today that seems related to tomorrow’s Startup Lessons Learned Conference: the Lean Software & Systems Conference with a hashtag #lssc10. It looks like this is the second year and last year it was held in Miami in 2009. It’s managed by the Lean Software and Systems Consortium.
Don Reinertsen gave the keynote on “The Easy Road to FLOW Goes through a Town named LEAN.” He is co-author (with Preston Smith) of “Developing Products in Half the Time” and “Managing the Design Factory: The Product Developers Toolkit” and more recently “The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development.” I last blogged about him in 2008 “Don Reinertsen: Priorities Are The Last Refuge of the Inumerate.”
I will track blog posts for this conference through the end of May, it looks like it may be addressing many of the same lean software development principles that the SLLConf folks are trying to implement in their startups.
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