Naked Juice with Vulcan Steve Hall ....interpret that!

Steve Hall   Naked juice
A picture or two should help you interpret the post title.  
I had coffee and juice with Steve Hall yesterday. Super fun. Steve is a really smart guy who understands where technology and business intersect. He convinced me to try evernote. It's the third software product for the week I'm going to give a trial month to -- Quora, Evernote, and The Shared Web.

In my opinion, the rate of change of the web seems to be increasing. I can't keep up with all the new ways to post, share, and consume.  Can you?  

My first experience of Quora was awesome

The following is a question and answer I found on Quora in the first 2 minutes of using the site. I am blown away by the quality of content and community on the site.  I am reposting but must attribute the content to Quora and Isaac Hall, Founder of Recurly. 

Question: Why is Dropbox more popular than other tools with similar functionality?

"As a co-founder of Syncplicity, a service that competes with Dropbox, this question has been on my mind for years. We launched within a few weeks of Dropbox, we had multi-folder synchronization & read-only sync, and we were a few years older than the Dropbox kids. I'm very proud of the service we put together and am happy to see the service shift towards businesses, yet Dropbox kicked butt. Here's why:

Before launching their service, Dropbox created a video that had tons of geeky references. It showed off a product that wasn't finished and had a few flaws. It showed a binary diff sync of an image... binary diff is great, but it only works if the file isn't compressed. So, it only works on bitmaps and who the heck is sync'ing bitmaps? The video spread quickly and got their name out before anyone heard of our company. Instead of making our own video, we were upset that binary diff wouldn't do anything for JPEGs or other compressed formats that consumers tended to use. Who the heck is sync'ing images saved from Microsoft Paint?

Next, we had issues getting the press excited at launch. We built a fantastic Windows client. 3 years ago, everyone was running Windows*. We were so excited to show the press, yet they *all* had Macs. Walt Mossberg wouldn't write about our product because it was PC only. Months after we hired our PR agency, we found out that they had never even used our product... because they too only had Macs. It's pretty hard to pitch a service when you haven't used it.

* Actually, I had a Mac and wrote all my code in a Parallels VM on my Mac. It always made me a little sad that we didn't have a native Mac client for a long time. Thankfully, the company has a Mac client today.

For a while, we couldn't believe Dropbox was so viral while we weren't. We opened our beta so anyone could sign up while people had to beg for a Dropbox invite. The closed beta worked incredibly well for Dropbox. We opened up our beta at the insistence of our PR agency -- "No way the New York Times will write about you if you have a closed beta". (It turned out that the NYT also doesn't write about you if you're PC only.) If your service is really popular, having a closed beta helps you create pent up demand and control the number of users joining on a regular basis so you can scale the backend appropriately.

In the end, it really came down to one incredibly genius idea: Dropbox limited its feature set on purpose. It had one folder and that folder always synced without any issues -- it was magic. Syncplicity could sync every folder on your computer until you hit our quota. (Unfortunately, that feature was used to synchronize C:Windows for dozens of users -- doh!) Our company had too many features and this created confusion amongst our customer base. This in turn led to enough customer support issues that we couldn't innovate on the product, we were too busy fixing things.

After I left Syncplicity, I ran into the CEO of Dropbox and asked him my burning question: "Why don't you support multi-folder synchronization?" His answer was classic Dropbox. They built multi-folder support early on and did limited beta testing with it, but they couldn't get the UI right. It confused people and created too many questions. It was too hard for the average consumer to setup. So it got shelved.

If you're starting a new company, the best thing you can do is keep your feature set small and focused. Do one thing as best as you possibly can. Your users will beg and beg for more functionality. They will tell you their problems and ask you to fix it. My philosophy is that they're right if their feature request is right only if it works for 80% of your customers. Until you have a lot of resources, stay focused on your core competency.

The best part about having a simple product is that it's easy to sell & easy to support. If your product is too complicated, you'll spend all day on customer support & bug fixing. I've been there -- it's no fun.

In closing, I want to give props to my previous Syncplicity co-workers. They worked their butts off competing against Dropbox. They're crazy smart and we built a great service together. They're still working on it and they've got a great business solution. As for Dropbox... Drew, Arash and the rest of the team are absolutely brilliant. Their success is no accident. File synchronization is incredibly difficult. Building a product that millions of consumers can easily understand without RTFM is even more challenging. They're my inspiration for my current company.

If you want to understand more, read everything you can about the lean startup movement. And have at least one seriously amazing product person on your staff if that's not you."

If you're mind isn't blown yet -- I don't know what will blow your mind in terms of first experiences. Go logon now to Quora

Lunch with Greg Gottesman

Greg Gottesman photo 
 
Had lunch today with Greg Gottesman of Madrona. We ate at Portage Bay Cafe and I had a great cheeseburger. We debriefed on the past class of TechStars in Seattle as well as Founder's Co-op and RevenueLoan. We also chatted about PHPfog a deal that both founder's co-op and Madrona participated. Thanks to Greg for his help with TechStars and for paying for lunch. 

Checking back in

It's been too long since my last post. I've just been swamped with TechStars, RevenueLoan, and Founder's Co-op to come up for air and write a post. I finally have  moment this morning. I've used the entire morning to make appointments: dentist, doctor, hair cut....maybe a pedicure too? 

Excited to see the light at the end of the TechStars tunnel. DemoDay is next week. I suspect my blog will get more attention then. 

TechStars demoday tickets in short supply!

Only 10% of tickets remain for TechStars Investor Day on November 11th.  In 13 days the inaugural class of TechStars Seattle will unveil their companies and demo products.  If you're an interested investor and haven't registered yet, email kayla@techstars.org to rsvp before we sell out.  Hope to see you there - it's going to be a great event!

An inbound email to RevenueLoan

I thought I'd share this from an inbound email inquiring about the possibility of a RevenueLoan:

"We are not interested in dilution at this time, we have no venture and would prefer to keep it that way. Hence, flexible financing against our future subscription payments is very attractive. We have a major product launch (product is entering beta) at the end of this year and this will require additional funding upfront."

On the surface, this sounds like there may be a fit....look forward to talking to this entrepreneur!

Brad Feld's Daily Deals is worth checking out

 

I've got a favor to ask. One of our fellow Techstars teams is working on daily deal marketing, and launched a store today for one of the TechStars founders (Brad Feld). On the store you can purchase a $50 voucher for $25 that can be used at a website that has lots of great outdoor clothing, shoes and gear. It doesn't matter where you live... they can ship anywhere. 
Please support these guys on their big launch today....click here

 

Open Angel Forum and TechStars DemoDay in Seattle - be sure to register now!

As many of you know, I'm busy trying to cultivate the start up scene in Seattle!  Thus, my endeavors -- Founder's Co-op, RevenueLoan, and TechStars.  I am deeply passionate about helping entrepreneurs and early stage companies get capital to grow!  

About a year ago, I became aware of an initiative run by Jason Calacanis called Open Angel Forum (OAF).  The program tries to marry high quality angels with high quality angel investment opportunities at NO cost to the entrepreneur.  This kind of event resonated with me a lot - I attended OAF in Boulder and thought it was great! I've known Jason since the 90's and I recently agreed to host Open Angel Forum the night before TechStars DemoDay in an effort to attract more angels to the Seattle event.

So it's my pleasure to announce --  two exciting angel events for investment opportunities in Seattle – ever! Hosted back-to-back on purpose, this is going to be a two days of angel and entrepreneur events in Seattle!  These events are invite only so follow instructions below!

I) November 10th – Open Angel Forum, 7pm.

Join Jason Calacanis, myself and many other angel investors for the first meeting of the Seattle chapter of the Open Angel Forum!   We'll have food and drinks while hearing 5 minute pitches from 6 start up companies.  We're planning for plenty of fun and time for networking - even a poker game after!   Register online here: Angels, Entrepreneurs, Service Providers. 

 

II) November 11th – TechStars Investor Day, 9am.

Ten exciting new companies from the TechStars class of 2010 in Seattle will give short eight minute presentations highlighting the business and investment opportunity. The style is fun and entertaining, it's a different kind of pitch event that includes amazing opportunities for networking as well.  This event is invitation only and registration is required. Please email kayla@techstars.org if you’d like to attend or if you have any questions.

 

Simplicity As a Compliment to Powerful...introducing Big Door's 5 minute gamification process!

We all know that making things easier for users is the right thing to do, but here is a real-time case study of that concept.  Our portfolio company BigDoor announced their public beta in June and since then they have had over 500 publishers and developers register to use their platform. That's an impressive number, but while their stuff is flexible and powerful it has also been relatively difficult to use.  Until now.  They have been hard at work to create a simple oboarding process for new partners and also significantly simplifying the initial implementation.  Gamification isn't a one-size fits all solution, but most websites have similar needs in the beginning.  So BigDoor has taken the approach to build all of the bells and whistles for their power users, but at the same time they have now made the initial install brain dead easy.  They announced this big improvement to their platform first thing this morning, with the headline "BigDoor Launches the Five Minute Gamification Process".  So far today they've had 97 new publishers and developers signup just this morning, and it's not even 9:00 AM on the west coast yet.  
It will be interesting to watch how this day unfolds for them, but this is a real-time example of how simple can be a great compliment to powerful.  Click here and gamify your own site in 5 minutes.

Free beer for job applicants.... Do I have your attention now?

Below is a very smart job posting written by comrade Randall Lucas for RevenueLoan. I'm sharing it with you all so you can of course refer candidates...but more importantly I think it's a great example of how to attract quality candidates to your startup. You have to stand out and be creative from the get go!

Holy ***, you're good!!

You are a smart and aggressive jack-of-many-trades (but Marketing particularly tickles your fancy).

We are a small startup arrogant enough to think we are a threat to the $96.4 TRILLION dollar global banking industry.

(Yes, it's a long-shot.  But we're the good guys, and Goliath loses in the end.  In the meantime, David needs a posse, and you need a challenge.)

We should talk.

NON-NEGOTIABLE JOB REQUIREMENTS.  You:
... must not possess a top-tier MBA.
... never worked at a big company (or hated it if you did).
... got A's in classes you liked, and C'd in ones you didn't even show up for.
... have a Mac laptop.
... speak French, Russian, Esperanto, and Pig Latin.
... hate typos and prefer the Oxford comma.
... are amazing at finding info with Google.
... are amazing at getting info from strangers on the phone.
... could land a 737 if the pilot and co-pilot both order the fish (oops).
... can sweet-talk your way into getting discounts for your employer.
... once took 2nd place in a Karaoke contest.
... can tell when to ignore "requirements" and fake it 'till you make it.

(You're also smart enough to know that most startups are broke.  However, we're more handsome and charming than most startups, so we've banked a round of financing from top-tier investors.  Don't worry, we can pay you, but reluctantly and not very much, and only as a part-time contractor right now.)

Scared off yet?  Wait till you hear about the work environment.  You'll work with our team of three in the middle of a basketball-court sized shared space, along with 15 other companies.  (And/or from home, if you/we want.)  It's noisy and chaotic.  But that means you'll be schmoozing, boozing, and/or
flirting with 15 CEOs, including ours, which you think is pretty cool.

You thrive on challenge and ambiguity.  Improvise and expedite.  Perfect is the enemy of the good.  Real artists ship, and all that.  We're lovers, not fighters (respect to the fighters).  But we gotta give it up for how Eldridge's squadmates answered his questions on dealing with ambiguous
situations:

"well, handle it ... it's your call, buddy."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_8dlK4rLmU#t=8m35s

"be smart, make a good decision."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQv6GJyE8YM#t=3m52s

If you can put up with this much weirdness, then you're probably strange
enough to come be overworked helping us do:

- marketing communications
- Web site content
- Web analytics, keywords, SEO, etc. etc.
- finding and setting up conferences, events, speaking engagements
- beautiful print and Web collateral

Oh my God, I'm already excited for you.  You're going to have so much
fun and learn so much.  Email quick!

Your elevator pitch should follow a simple "mad-lib"

T.A. McCann of Gist fame spoke with the TechStars founders today and shared some solid ideas about building products with the customer in mind.  One key takeaway that I felt was especially relevant as the founders dig into the product development phase was:

 

Your elevator pitch should follow a simple "ad-lib": We focus on ______ (target customer) who need _________ (market need), so we provide _________ (feature set) and we charge them ______ (business model). This standardized elevator pitch actually simplifies some of the challenge that the founders have been facing in explaining their business to mentors.  His idea is to adjust the answers to the blanks until the statement feels exciting and feels like it accurately describes what you do.  I couldn't agree more and hope the founders take this to heart as they hone their business plans.

 

Thanks to T.A. for coming by!

Driving mentors to the airport is an easy way to get the feedback you need and want

You can call it aggressive, cheap, crazy....but you should also call it effective. 


I got the following email from Neil Patel ....one of the TechStars in Seattle mentors:

As you guys are probably seeing, mentors are spending less time with the companies. It isn't that we don't care, it's that we are just busy.

One smart thing that one of your techstar CEO's did with me, Phil, is that he started taking me to the airport and picking me up. Which for me is almost once a week. The reason I think this is smart is that he gets 30 minutes of advice each way (dropping and picking).

I save a few bucks by not taking the train and I save time as it takes roughly an hour when you take the train.

You guys should encourage your other students to do the same thing as well. I know they will love the advice... I already have Andy Liu on board and I will be connecting him with a few CEOs who would love his advice. When I mentioned this to a few of the TechStar CEOs, they loved the idea.

You guys should try to create some sort of board of something in which this process can be streamlined. I bet you that a lot of mentors travel a lot. And that your students want more advice from the mentors.

Bill Lovely Sr. and the value of mentorship

I learned that Bill Lovely Sr. died this past week.  Made me sad. I will remember him fondly. 

During the summer of my freshman and sophomore year at Brown University, I received an internship from on of my parents friends -- Bill Lovely Sr.   He was one of the managers at a brokerage house in Boston, MA named Kidder Peabody.  I was into the stock market and wanted to learn more. I don't remember much from the internship other than the commute from S. Easton to Boston in the morning and at the end of the day.  Bill was a charming, charismatic Irishman who could bend a tale about the history of Boston, the banking industry, and politics with the best of them.  Each morning he drove me to and fro work -- and would talk about life. I was bushy taled and hung on every word. I'll never forget he used to tell me that "you'll lose your liberalism when you lose your baby fat".  Hasn't happened yet and my baby fat is long gon -- but I loved the quote.  At route, I always felt like Bill Lovely Sr. liked me -- and that meant a lot to me.  I'm not sure why he liked me but the approval of an elder man other than my father was important personally and professionally. Thanks Bill. Rest in peace. 

Playing "hot or not" with investors

This morning I was recapping with the TechStars founders about their first 2 weeks and preparing them for what to expect in the next 11 weeks and beyond.  One question raised is how to deal with raising funding.  In addition to some other advice I offered, I made a strange analogy:

 

A key part of getting financing is managing your reputation: gaining traction and momentum in the technology and venture community is like....becoming the popular kid at school. 


In high school, I learned (the hard way) that if Jane tells Cindy that Tommy is "hot," it influences Cindy's view of Tommy and after this occurs a few times....guess what.... Tommy becomes the most popular (i.e. hottest) kid in the class.  This high school process of "who is the hottest" is pretty similar to what occurs amongst investors with startup companies.

 

In addition to developing a great product that customers want to use, having a business plan, and being able to pitch well etc., it is equally important to generate strong buzz about your company among the venture and technology community.  Sometimes an off-handed remark at a cocktail party from one angel to another saying "have you seen what XYZ company has been up to? It looks cool (i.e. hot) to me" is all you need to get your company some traction with investors.