I recently sat down with Ari Rabban, CEO of Phone.com, a company that offers cost-effective VOIP phone solutions and services to the SOHO market (small office/home office). Phone.com is a portfolio company of ff Venture Capital in New York City.
Ari is an experienced entrepreneur and it was great to get his take on what founders should look for in a partner and some advice he has for first-time entrepreneurs. Enjoy
00: 12 What is Phone.com
00:42 How the service works
01:39 How they got into the business
02:29 Ari talks about some of the things you need to get right as an entrepreneur
03:42 What he looks for in a partner
For the full interview click on the image of Ari just below:
I recently met with the entrepreneur who's trying to transform the way we share, discover and enjoy web video. Reece Pacheco, CEO of Shelby.tv and his team can take all the videos you've been linking to on facebook and twitter and pull them all together into a custom channel for you. They're making discovery and sharing a lot easier, more personalized and of course- enjoyable.
Reece also has a really unique background having traveled the world and worked in Hollywood for a while after his Brown University years and also having been a professional lacrosse player before diving into tech entrepreneurship! He also founded TeamHomeField with Joe Yevoli before launching Shelby.tv which is still going strong. Reece founded Shelby with his good friend Dan Spinosa who he met while they were students at Brown.
Everyone who knows him knows that Reece is an entrepreneur who is all about teamwork, hustle and making it happen- hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
A few weekends ago I sat down with Lee Hoffman, CEO of Veri at TechStarsNYC headquarters during a gathering they were having for the outgoing crop of TechStars companies. (That’s what all the noise is in the background). Many thanks to Dave Tischand his terrific team for setting this all up and accommodating us.
Lee is a very talented guy who is a both a developer and designer and I jokingly like to say that he and Reece Pacheco are part of a burgeoning “Brown University Mafia” that has descended in NYC of late. I not only learned a lot about Lee’s trajectory as an entrepreneur and about his extraordinary vision for Veri but unwittingly he ended up giving us all a master class on entrepreneurship through the telling of various stories of startups he was involved with, mistakes that were made and many of the ups and downs he's encountered.
Recently, in response to criticism he has been receiving, the editor and founder of TechCrunch, Michael Arrington, channeled his inner Colonel Kurtz and unleashed a terrific riposte regarding the absurd notion of objectivity in journalism and how he intends to handle disclosures and the like at TechCrunch going forward. The title of this piece had all the subtelty of a piano being hurled cartoon-style onto his detractors in the tech press from an upper storey: The Tech Press: Screw them All.
Along the way he ended up calling-out a number of his primary critics by pointing out that they themselves have plenty of conflicts (some of a semi-permanent nature) that have not been properly disclosed:
some excerpts:
"... there is no objectivity in journalism. The guys that say they’re objective are just pretending. Everyone is conflicted in different ways, and yet the “rules of journalism” don’t require any sort of transparency or disclosure unless it’s a direct financial conflict...."
"...The man who said just a week ago how horrible I am for investing in startups has financial interests in a whole slew of tech companies – “Disclosure: Current and past consulting clients and sponsors of Silicon Valley Watcher: Pearltrees, Intel, Tibco Software, Edelman, Infineon Technologies, SAP...”
"...Before I started TechCrunch I never understood how screwed up this whole news world was. It’s ugly as hell out there, people. These people, the tech press, just disgust me..."
Regardless of what one thinks of Arrington, (I do not know him personally), what is maginificent about him is that he has the courage to stand his ground and call-out some of the old guard on their sniffling pretensions. He's basically been eulogizing them to their faces and letting people know that much like Shelly's Ozymandias, only their colossal arrogance will remain. Good for him.
I also have an inkling that Arrington knows his Conrad - his jousting with the establishment is an echo for me of this exchange from Coppola's epic 1979 Film, Apocalypse Now
Kurtz: Did they say why, Willard, why they want to terminate my command? Willard: I was sent on a classified mission, sir. Kurtz: It's no longer classified, is it? Did they tell you? Willard: They told me that you had gone totally insane, and that your methods were unsound. Kurtz: Are my methods unsound? Willard: I don't see any method at all, sir. Kurtz: I expected someone like you. What did you expect? Are you an assassin? Willard: I'm a soldier. Kurtz: You're neither. You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.
Welcome to this week's conversation with entrepreneur Jonathan Glick, founder and CEO of his latest venture, Sulia- which I learned is in many ways the apotheosis of a nearly two decades-long career at the cutting-edge of content-creation on the web.
Jonathan is a true web pioneer having started his career at AOL during its infancy and then at iVillage with a subsequent stint running technology and product development for the New York Times, as CEO of his own venture-backed startup OuterForce, and as Director of Research Operations for the Gerson Lehrman Group.
Learn about Jonathan's rich experiences through those early days of content creation on the web all the way through to the launch of New York-based Sulia, a venture-backed, real-time media company focused on filtering Twitter into high quality content channels. He's amazingly candid and open about his entrepreneurial journey. Enjoy.
:16 - Developming his "arcane" skills at AOL in "those early days"
:50 - Meeting and joining the founders of iVillage
Welcome to this week's conversation with Dave Tisch, the irrepressible Managing Director of TechStars NYC.
Dave came over to talk just two days after organizing an absolutely EPIC Tech Stars Demo Day at Webster Hall. Eleven companies (that had been whittled down from 600+ applicants) presented in front of 750 NYC investors and entrepreneurs after several months of intense preparation and mentorship. The enthusiasm and energy was simply unreal and the place was bursting at its seams. I was in the crowd and was blown-away by the quality of the presentations and companies. Dave and his team had of course been busy making this happen for over 7 months. Each company obviously has its own story and I appreciate Dave taking the time to share a number of these with us and describing the unique experience of making the very first TechStars NYC a reality. Enjoy.
1:25 - What was the process behind bringing TechStars to NYC?
3:25 - What's the TechStars network and how does it differ from the regular TechStars model?
5:39 - How did the recent crop of TechStars grads make the roster and what's the application process like?
8:25 - Learn about Migration Box, one of the recent TechStars grads.
10:55 - Learn about Think Near, another recent TechStars grad.
12:42 - Do you have to already have funding to be a part of TechStars?
13:25 - Learn about Shelby TV, another recent TechStars grad.
15:33 - Learn about Veri, another recent TechStars grad. Why is the story behind their application to TechStars, Dave Tisch's favorite one?
18:45 - Why does Dave Tisch love being the first money in any deal?
19:03 - What's the best way to get Dave's seed fund, The Box Group, to notice your company?
20:20 - Dave talks about TroopSwap, one of the companies in the Box Group portfolio.
Get to know our first guest, the multi-talented writer, designer, entrepreneur and journalist, Shane Snow, and hear him discuss his new startup, Contently. We also talk about life in Silicon Alley's tech community, how he was influenced by his time at Columbia's Journalism School, about surfing in Hawaii and more. Enjoy.
I was talking to my friend and colleague Chris Wiggins today about the upcoming Hackathon. Chris, Evan Korth and Hilary Mason as you may know are the visionary founders of HackNY. If you haven't heard of it, it's perhaps one of the best opportunities for student hackers to dive into the startup scene and for startups to identify super-talented student hackers. Read all about it below and check out this awesome video to get a taste of what these hackathons are all about. Here's what you need to to do to apply:
ATTENTION ALL NYC-AREA STUDENTS AND STARTUPS:
hackNY is thrilled to announce the fall 2010 hackNY student hackathon October 9-10!
In April, more than 200 students from almost 40 NYC-area schools participated in the first ever NYC-area student hackathon. Some of NYC’s hottest startups presented their APIs, shared their datasets, and helped organize students into teams of coding monsters to work on projects of their own design. 24 hours of pizza, caffeine, and intense hacking later, teams demo’ed their code for appreciative judges from the NYC startup community. Winning teams presented at the New York Tech Meetup in front of an audience of hundreds of NYC area technologists, and several participants went on to join the 2010 class of hackNY Fellows, interning at NYC startups. For more about the Spring 2010 hackathon, see the FAQ or the movie by Eric Wu, official hackmeister of the Yahoo Developers Network.
The Fall hackNY hackathon will be October 9-10, back at NYU’s Courant Institute; we look forward to seeing what members of the NYC-area student hacking population will create!
Hackers: please hack on whatever you want but if you’re competing, we are only accepting hacks based on APIs or datasets presented at the start of the hackathon.
STARTUPS: Apply here to present at the Fall 2010 hackNY hackathon. You will be asked for your startup’s name, a description of the API or dataset or other tech you’d like to demo, and availability to help organize teams among the student hacking population.
ABOUT HACKNY: hackNY is an initiative founded to federate and mentor the next generation of NYC tech all-stars. During the summer we organize the hackNY Fellows program, including internships with NYC-area startups as well as a lecture series and housing. During the school year we organize student hackathons to introduce students to fellow members of the hacking population and to the exciting startups in NYC where their skills are enthusiastically needed. For more information just email info@hackNY.org.
Every entrepreneur who has sought to raise capital at some point in their career knows that sometimes it's just really hard to get other people to invest in your startup. Also, depending on who one approaches, the reasons for this difficulty can of course be anything and everything. Furthermore, although some angels or vc's will tell you exactly why they are passing- most will simply not tell you the whole story. So whether it's the economy, the market, the team, you, the technology or any other perceived weakness, the entrepreneur sometimes keeps spinning his wheels and doesn't necessarily see a pattern forming- (if there is one at all). In today's post, however, I'm going to highlight a very specific problem that I haven't seen discussed very often by way of the following real-life scenario:
I know one fellow who has been hawking an investment in his startup in the healthcare space for at least 18 months. Not a single angel or vc has shown a scintilla of interest. He nevertheless persists and shows up at every imaginable investor forum or event he can find. Some part of me admires his determination for sure, but another part of me wishes he would take more stock of his situation. In his case, I think investors shy away from him for two reasons. First, his technology is too early and un-proven and he needs to show more proof of concept. But secondly, I think the investors perceive that he does not really care too much about returning value to them. He talks past them in conversations and the impression he leaves is of a person who isn't after building a long-term relationship in the least. He's definitely throwing off the vibe by everything he says and does that he wants to conduct his "proof-of-concept" experiments on someone else's dime- and it doesn't matter where it comes from- so long as it's not from his own pocket. He certainly won't put any of his own savings in the mix nor will he approach his family and friends. If there ever were an example of a friends-and-family-round, this would be it. Yet by insisting on relentlessly going after outside investors, he's signaling that he's all about OPM (other people's money), and that he does not have confidence in the outcomes. This is definitely not the right approach or mind-set to have if you are looking to raise money.
In my experience entrepreneurs with a sense of loyalty and obligation to investors have the right mentality. My experience is that most entrepreneurs who actually do get funded, in fact, possess this mind-set. Ones that don't seem to get weeded out right off the bat or at least after their first venture.
An extreme example of this type of commitment was shown by Ev Williams, (currently CEO of Twitter), who returned all his investors' money after his effort with Odeo did not pan out as hoped. He then gave all of these investors the opportunity to invest in his next venture, which happened to be Twitter! On a much smaller scale, a first-time entrepreneur I backed who's efforts did not pan out recently returned 2/3 of my investment to me though he certainly did not have to do so. It was an impressive gesture that took me by surprise and I'm very inclined to back him on his next venture.
Of course these last two are extreme and unusual examples. But having been on both sides of this equation (as an entrepreneur raising money and as an angel investor investing in other people's ventures), I'm merely pointing out that investors have a keen eye for whether someone they back will feel a keen sense of commitment to the investment and the investors.
Everyone in the early-stage ecosystem knows this is a super high-risk game and we're all big boys and girls after all. But if there's even a whiff of the general lack of concern about someone's else's investment on the part of a prospective entrepreneur- most investors will pick up on it right away.
I was recently part of a pitch competition event which was actually pretty important for the entrepreneurs doing the pitching. I saw some things going on which frankly amazed me. Some were extremely humorous but frankly some troubled me because in several instances the presenters started royally pissing off a few of the judges. Obviously no one caused a scene or was carried out on a stretcher- but as a result, some young entrepreneurs with some very decent businesses blew themselves up and were eliminated in the closed-door session afterwards. I was of course inspired to write this only slightly tongue and cheek post with some real suggestions about how not to piss off people to whom you are presenting. I hope this helps.
Don't start all your responses to questions with the word "So". You really do come off sounding pompous and signal that you have never operated a business. ie., "So I conceived of this idea whilst swimming across the Hellespont with a good friend from B school", or, "Soooo we're thinking that the pre-money valuation is.....". This will mostly piss off any entrepreneur/investor in the room over the age of fifty.
Don't say "that's a good question" back to the person who asked you the question. It sounds completely inauthentic and ridiculous. One presenter said this to an 85 year-old guy worth $500M+ who has launched some massive businesses in his day. The old fellow reddened visibly but kept his cool (until the closed-door session afterwards where he unloaded on this presenter). Of course he asked you a good question you jackass! He doesn't need you to tell him that you approve of and are judging the quality of his questions. Just answer the damn question and stop pissing him off!
If one person is not really going to present don't have them on stage with you. Often in certain student business competitions "co-founders" just stand stiffly to the side of the main presenter, often scanning the faces in the room like a secret service officer working his detail. They look ridiculous and the question surfaces at some point in people's minds- why is this guy standing there? Is he a prop, is he packing heat, is he unable to speak, what value to the venture does he add? It just ends up making people feel uncomfortable and pissing them off.
If you are asked a question, don't bob and weave. Either answer the question directly or tell the questioner that you do not know the answer and will get back to him or her. Anything else is disrespectful and will piss off your questioner.
Try not to wear a tie, especially if you don't wear one every day- remember, startups are not a fashion show. If you don't wear a tie every day- you will definitely look like you are wearing a costume. Be and dress as you always do. Also, if you insist on wearing a tie, please don't show up with a massive tie knot, (like they wear in London), that has a larger circumference than your neck. It will definitely piss people off!
Don't give a canned talk with slick and practiced answers. Be prepared of course, but also be in the moment so you can really respond to the nuances of what happens during your pitch and the subsequent Q & A session. Be authentic or you will piss people off.
My point in all this is that you can have an awesome powerpoint and be super-prepared for your presentation- but if you piss off the judges/investors- all that effort has gone for naught!
HOW THE EVENING WILL WORK: We’ll have two rooms, a general networking forum in the Low Library rotunda and a private back room area where investors will be set up at individual tables. After checking in at the event registration desk, head to the private room to sign up for your investor meetings. Sign-up is on a first come, first serve basis, and each one-on-one meeting lasts 5 minutes, so arrive early and have your elevator pitch honed! After your investor meetings are over, return to the general networking forum where advisors and other entrepreneurs will be mingling. Light refreshments will be served. WHAT IS COLUMBIA HATCH MATCH? What defines a great networking event is meeting people you want to meet and having great conversations that stimulate action. Columbia Hatch Match is designed to help you do just that! Through active, facilitated networking, Columbia Hatch Match makes introductions and provides you with access to more than 30 advisors and investors in a format that’s convenient, efficient, and fun.
Fourteen years ago, Eugene Lang '40 endowed a Fund at Columbia Business School intended to help foster student entrepreneurship at his alma mater. Today the Lang Fund is part of a robust year-long process at the business school's Lang Entrepreneurship Center that culminates in the most promising ventures receiving seed funding. Our most recent venture-backed high-flier is Recycle Bank, which is backed by RRE, Kleiner, Sigma Partners, Coca-Cola, and others:
"RecycleBank is a company focused on recycling rewards. It does this by
measuring the amount of material each home recycles and then issuing
RecycleBank Points based on the amount of materials recycled. These
points can be used at participating local and national rewards
partners. These partners include Regal Entertainment Group, Green
Mountain Coffee, CVS Caremark Corporation, Whole Foods Market,
Starbucks and ActiveCause."
Hearty congrats to this year's recipients, all of whom worked incredibly hard. Below I am re-posting the announcement which was made here:
Olapic LLC: Olapic helps brides and grooms easily collect all the pictures taken by the guests during their wedding. Pau Sabria ’10, Luis Sanz ’10 and Jose De Cabo ’10
RightsCube: RightsCube
is the standardized source for all of the world's film and TV rights
information. More purchasing power for buyers. More monetization for
sellers. Josh Brody ’10
FSA-Store.com:
A new website for Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA’s) that allows
employees to spend and manage their FSA funds efficiently and with
ease. Jeremy Miller ’10
Peartree Preschool: Peartree Preschool is the first eco-healthy preschool in New York City. Denise Adusei ’10
The
four selected were chosen from 26 ventures submitted by students, who
presented their ideas at The Annual Spring Venture Showcase (formerly
The Lang Fund Final Event) in April. A group of evaluators comprising
over 60 mentors, faculty advisers, alumni, and administration heard
business plan presentations and made recommendations to the Lang Fund
Board regarding final funding decisions.
The
Fund makes an immediate initial investment, typically in the amount of
$25,000-50,000, in the form of a convertible demand note, in ventures
that meet its investment criteria.
