It’s tough keeping up with the macro forces that can shape the strategy and execution of startups. Here’s a few things to keep an eye on as the talent wars continue and products and services are developed and refined. Software is still big. Software in the cloud is bigger. It’s not realistic to think many startups will come out of the gate with enterprise software tools, but it’s a steady growth opportunity. And it’s not [...]
This is my fifth startup, and I’ve learned that as a team you can’t have hard work without hard play. In the crucible of building a company, don’t forget to step back and make the non-work connections with your team. That makes better work possible. As part of the culture at Mass Relevance, on the last week of each month, we go out for a half day for what we call “Fantastic Friday”. Last week [...]
As you can imagine, I receive tons of emails from people who all seem to have one question on their mind; how can I raise capital for my startup? People see capital being raised all around them, and they want to know the secrets to fundraising for their company. Unfortunately, I’m only one person. I can’t help everyone. Also, the only thing you get from me is my opinion. Certainly there is plenty of other [...]
If you’ve been a part of the entrepreneurial scene in Austin at all, you’ve probably been part of a RISE event. The Relationship and Information Series for Entrepreneurs (RISE) has brought together thousands of entrepreneurs over the past five years to come together and share information and knowledge at their annual event in Austin. They keynote speakers have been tremendous, including Roy Spence and Red McCombs. In its first year in 2007, RISE held 40 [...]
mobileTech Tuesday, by Steve Guengerich It was good to see the announcement in Austin’s paper of record, the Statesman, today about the launch of Catapult Systems‘ mobile business. Last Thursday, at the Austin Tech Happy Hour, I caught up with founder and CEO Sam Goodner for a few minutes and he talked about Mobile Alchemy and the expectation of making the announcement official this week. (By the way, as if you needed it, this is [...]
The Austin chapter of the Rice Alliance is holding an event with 10 entrepreneurs who will be pitching their early-stage business to a panel of VC and Angel judges. The panel includes the likes of local VC partner Mike Dodd (Austin Ventures) and Tim League (Founder of the Drafthouse). The night will also include a panel discussion about “How to Make the Most of Austin’s Entrepreneur Scene for Your Start Up.” When: Tuesday, June 28 [...]
Animated Knots By Grog, a popular knot tying smart phone application with over 100 knots, celebrated its 1st anniversary on the Apple App Store with the formal announcement of its 2.0 application. Along with 30 new knots, Animated Knots also has new imagery throughout, with rephotographed animations for better quality and consistency, and several other great new features. Over its year on the App Store, Animated Knots has been a consistent top-10 reference app and [...]
The folks at Austin-based NaturallyCurly.com announced today that they’ve raised some additional funding. The news isn’t even warm yet, and the San Francisco Chronicle is already pooping on the news saying that this is a sign that investors will fund anything. They are writing as if two grad students just fleeced some desperate VC out of a check based on a fancy powerpoint deck. The reality is far different. This is the third round of [...]
SolarWinds, a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held TriGeo, a provider of log and event management software, for $35 million cash. The company expects the acquisition to close in the third quarter of 2011. “Upon completion of the acquisition, the addition of TriGeo’s offerings to our portfolio should give SolarWinds the opportunity to respond to our existing network and [...]
SpareFoot, the online self-storage marketplace, launched a unique project and blog series called Adventures In Storage, designed to familiarize employees with their product in the most entertaining way possible. The new mixed-media “reality series” documents the start-up’s 18 employees as they experience the process of renting and moving into and out of self-storage units. CEO Chuck Gordon coordinated the nine-week project, in which duos of employees moved a growing pile of possessions from one storage [...]
