ProTip: Attachments not links
March 14, 2010
Here’s a ProTip for anyone sending their pitch to an investor by email.
Use attachments instead of download links.
Why? Because many investors are busy and often only get to “catch up on email” on planes. And planes usually have no connectivity. Additionally, with attachments, we don’t have to wait for downloads.
It takes me way longer to answer a cold pitch email that has links than it does to answer one that has attachments because of this phenomenon.
Gigabit Fiber in Boulder
March 6, 2010
Google has put out a call that looks like this:
Google is planning to launch an experiment that we hope will make Internet access better and faster for everyone. We plan to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We’ll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.
From now until March 26th, we’re asking interested municipalities to provide us with information about their communities through a Request for Information (RFI), which we’ll use to determine where to build our network.
Boulder is making a concerted effort to convince Google to build out gigabit internet services here. We’d like to see a substantial portion of the city participate in this and show support for the selection of Boulder for this test. In order to show your support now, spend a few minutes over on BoulderFiber.com.
Imagine what this amazing tech community could do with gigabit web connections. You can’t imagine it, and that’s the point. Having such services will help us to attract innovators to our community, improve educational opportunities for our kids, and build amazing bridges between other communities and NOAA, NIST, and world-changing companies based here in Boulder.
Perhaps Noah said it best:
If Google wants gimicks, they can go elsewhere. If they want a city to show what fiber can do, Boulder’s here. #boulderfiber
Head over to BoulderFiber.com now and let Google know that this is exactly the place that they’re looking for.
University of Colorado Denver – Annual Business Plan Competition
CU Denver’s Bard Center is hosting their 10th annual business plan competition on June 10th, and it’s open to all early stage Colorado based companies which have not yet received significant Angel or Venture Capital funding.
Orientation for the 10th Annual Bard Center for Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition is coming up on March 11, 2010 at 5:30PM at the Bard Center. More than $100,000 in cash and in-kind awards will be provided to help the top 6 companies launch or grow their businesses. Check it out!
Beers with Brad (Feld, that is)
February 4, 2010
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KGNU is having a Beers with Brad (Feld) event, a benefit for KGNU at the Twisted Pine brewery (in the brewery itself, not the tasting room!) on Feb. 18th – 6-8 pm. It’s the first BWB event in Boulder in a very long time. If you like beer, and you like Brad, you should go.
The details are available at http://beerswithbrad.eventbrite.com/, or twitter @beerswithbrad.
Help! The proposed “software tax” stinks
January 27, 2010
You may have heard by now that Governor Ritter is rushing a new tax on software through legislation at an unprecedented rate, with an effective date of March 1, if passed. The bill proposes a new tax on any software purchased or installed in Colorado. Yes, a tax on software. Wait, it’s worse.
It’s unclear that this new tax is even constitutional as none of us will be given the chance to vote on the issue!
We’re making huge progress in making sure Colorado is known as a great place to build software companies. Colorado is now on the map as a friendly place for software companies to build and sell their products. We’re seeing software company M&A activity and employee growth here when most states are not. Now the Governor wants to undermine our efforts without even asking the voters what they think? We all need to react and talk some sense into them, and fast.
Let’s look at some specific impacts that a tax like this would have:
- Comcast estimates an increase in cost of nearly $1.5 million per year to its Colorado operations.
- Qwest estimates an increase in cost of nearly $700,000 per year to its Colorado operations.
- Leading companies like IBM, Qwest, HP and Comcast have major operations in other states. With this new tax, they’d be smart to divert capital and jobs to more business-friendly states like Utah and Wyoming. That means fewer new jobs here.
Governor Ritter: We’re trying to create jobs here by funding innovative companies. We want them to come here. And they’re coming here, because we’re so supportive of them. Please don’t undermine our efforts to make Colorado an amazing place to build software companies. Trust me, they’re going to stop coming here. And that means people like me (and area VCs) are going to invest less here. That is so unbelievably disappointing at a time when we’re making fantastic progress and so many good things are starting to happen.
We don’t have much time. Take these actions TODAY. Not tomorrow – now.
- Call Governor Ritter’s office (303-866-2471) to voice your opposition to HB 1192. (If your call is received by someone who says they don’t know what you are referring to, please tell them it is HB 1192, and that it IS a new tax on software not only to our industry but every single business who uses software or employes people who use software in our state. This bill will cause jobs and professionals to move out of Colorado.)
- Call and email the House Appropriations Committee Members especially Reps. Kathleen Curry and John Kafalas to voice your opposition to HB 1192.
- Post on Rep. John Kafalas’ Facebook page in opposition of HB 1192.
- Tweet from your personal and corporate Twitter accounts in opposition of HB 1192. Ensure all tweets include the hashtag #noCOsoftwaretax.
- Update your Facebook and LinkedIn status’ with one of the sample status updates or your own status update in opposition of HB 1192.
- Post on your personal or professional blog in opposition of HB 1192.
- Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper TODAY in opposition of HB 1192.
- Encourage all of your employees/colleagues to take these same steps.
- Forward this blog post your network about HB 1192 and encourage them to voice their opposition.
Thanks for your help, and to the CSIA (more there) for leading the charge on this. Let’s let our legislators know that this won’t have the intended effect and that’s it’s a stupid idea that will set our innovation economy back significantly.
How I use Plancast
January 26, 2010
I’m loving Plancast. It’s a very powerful social discovery tool. Here’s a quick overview of how I use it.
I put in any events that I’m attending that are “significant” that I think my friends might like to know about. I love how easy it is to put in a future plan. It’s just 3 fields (what, when, where), and takes 3 seconds. People that subscribe to my plans then know about those events and can easily “join me” with a single click. Try it here.
At first I found all the email notifications a little annoying. Every time someone that I follow creates a plan, I get an email. You can turn that off, which I’ve now done. But the key is to grab the iCal feed. It’s hidden in the upper right hand corner. Grab that link, and create a live calendar subscription that refreshes once an hour. Then what you have is pure AWESOME.
plancast ical feed
I usually leave the PlanCast calendar turned off, but this is particularly handy when I have some free time and want to see what’s going on, or when I’m traveling. The only thing that would make this better would be the ability to filter the iCal feed – e.g. only those events in the Bay area in one calendar, and Boulder events in another one.
Plancast is still really new, but it’s showing great potential. It does one thing extremely well, and it does it with real simplicity in terms of the experience.
Startup2Student at CU
January 17, 2010
If you’re a Colorado company looking to hire interns or full time, check out Startup2Student on March 11th, 2010. This was a great event last year, and I expect that Ben Limmer who’s organizing it will make sure it’s even better this year.
The event is held on campus, and it’s an easy way for students to engage with startups. Part of the original mission here was simply to expose students to entrepreneurial companies. I know that this led to several direct hires last year, but perhaps more importantly it built awareness on campus about the lively startup scene in Boulder. And that’s never a bad thing.
If you’re a student looking for work or internship, or a Colorado based software/tech company, head here to learn more.
Open Angel Forum – Colorado bound!
January 15, 2010
By now, I’m sure most of you have read about the ongoing debate about charging entrepreneurs to pitch. I’ve tried to put together a chronology of links about this, but I’m sure I’ve missed some great ones. You had:
- An angel group that makes me vomit – Brad Feld (97 comments)
- Jason Jihad: Keiretsu Forum Must Be Stopped – Jason Calacanis (14 comments)
- Why startups shouldn’t have to pay to pitch angel investors – Jason Calacanis (174 comments)
- It’s ridiculous startups have to pay to pitch – Scobelizer (37 comments)
- Paying to Pitch – Fred Wilson (125 comments)
- An offer to Funding Universe – yours truly (28 comments)
- Why it’s ok to pay to pitch – Andrew Hyde (18 comments)
As with many things, it’s easy to bitch. So when I heard that Jason Calacanis was attempting to actually do something about it, my ears perked up. I started following his new concept, the Open Angel Forum. By email, I somehow got myself invited and I flew to LA yesterday for the inaugural Open Angel Forum. It was held at a beautiful home with one of the angels playing host (thanks Matt!). It was a great event and both the angels and entrepreneurs seemed to really love it.
Jason describes the Open Angel Forum this way: “The Open Angel Forum (OAF) is dedicated to providing entrepreneurs with free and open access to the angel investors that they need. We are firmly committed to fighting against “pay-to-pitch” schemes.” You can read the full mission and rules here.
While it’s hugely important that OAF is free to entrepreneurs, there are a few other things that strongly attracted me to the format of the Open Angel Forum. First, each chapter was to be organized by a well-connected angel investor and was to be limited to about 15-20 angels in attendance. Every one of those angels had to qualify as someone who has made at least four angel investments “of note” in the last 12 months. Because of this, the turnout in LA was truly stellar. It wasn’t just locals – many others had flown in like I had. Ron Conway, Chris Sacca, Shervin Pishevar and many more joined an awesome local crew including Mark Suster, Matt Coffin, and many more. Jason did a good job of sticking to his guns, turning down a bunch of late requests by angels to attend. Because of that, it was a manageable but top notch crowd of about 20 very active angels. Frankly, I was pretty blown away and honored to even be there.
Next, rather than some artificial process for selecting companies to pitch, the local OAF chapter just collaborates to invite companies that they’re seriously considering funding. Essentially, all the presenting companies are sponsored by one of the angels in attendance. This stops the angel group meeting from being the typical “watch and snicker” event which is not helpful to anyone. Rather, every single one of the companies presenting is a legitimate investment opportunity. Certainly, I think there’s a place for “unknown” companies to present at angel groups, but I’ve always said that if you can’t impress just one member of the group, perhaps you really shouldn’t be there. Pitching to a room full of strangers is also generally not helpful. In fact, this is one of the core things we teach at TechStars about the fundraising process.
But then came a moment at the Open Angel Forum last night where I knew this was a fantastic event that had to be replicated. I think it was the founder of Backupify, who, right in the middle of his pitch took a swig from his beer. I remember thinking to myself “I’ve never seen THAT at an angel event before.” Trivial right? I don’t think so – this was the first angel event that I’ve ever attended where the entrepreneurs who were presenting actually seemed comfortable. Relaxed even. I think it was a tribute to the atmosphere. Sipping your beer while presenting sort of became an instant tradition at OAF.
I’m proud to announce that Jason has asked me to run the Colorado chapter of Open Angel Forum. I instantly jumped at the chance to try this in Colorado, and I fully intend to transplant the “sip of beer” tradition here. I’m announcing today that the first Open Angel Forum Colorado (OAFCO) event will be held on February 3rd in Boulder. Jason Calacanis will be attending in order to help us kick it off right, and I’ve also talked him into talking about the Open Angel Forum and why startups should avoid paying to pitch at the February 2nd New Tech Meetup.
At the first OAFCO event on the evening of February 3rd, we expect a similar format: 10-15 angels and 5 companies. If you’d like to attend as an angel investor, please let me know. Likewise, if you’d like to present your company at the first OAFCO event, please fill out this form. Note that presenting companies and angels don’t have to be from Colorado. Like the LA event, I’m hopeful that we’ll have great angels and companies from all over the country at the first Colorado meeting. If it’s interesting to you, come join me, Jason Calacanis, Brad Feld, and many more investors at this special first OAFCO meeting in Colorado. There are also tickets available for service providers – as Jason explains on the Open Angel Forum web site – this is how the event is supported. Only five tickets are available, so if you’d like to attend and help sponsor the event, head here before they’re gone.
I’m excited to try this new format out here in Colorado. There are a bunch of other chapters being started in cities all over the country, but I won’t steal their thunder. Suffice it to say that each chapter is being run by some great local investors. So again, I feel honored to be given the baton for Colorado.
I’d welcome your thoughts in the comments!
Boulder is showing the world about mentorship
November 15, 2009
During the last TechStars summer, we were visited by representatives from two foreign governments: Singapore and France. Both had heard about something interesting happening in Boulder. Each came and observed the program for a half day or so, looking for a productive exchange of ideas and opportunities.
During the summer, I was invited by the Singapore government to visit their country and I jumped at the opportunity. I love to travel to places that I’ve never been before. They also invited Andrew Hyde to come along, which made the trip even more fun.
Singapore is pretty much as far away as you can go in the world from here. It’s a beautiful place with very warm, tropical weather. The total population is about 4 million. As you’ve probably heard, it’s very clean and there is a very low crime rate. It’s an extremely international city, and you can find an amazing variety of food there. We ate at a Korean BBQ place that was out of this world. See my Everlater trip for my notes on my visit.
We met with various government organizations, incubators, and startups. What was shocking to me was the sheer volume of funding, programs, and services for startups. It’s quite easy to get government funding to launch your startup in Singapore. There are about 10 incubators there to support you once you get going. Unlike in the United States, immigration is easy – nearly anyone who wants to live in Singapore can just move there. It’s only necessary to fill out one form to start a business in Singapore. It’s an amazingly business friendly place.
One of the government officials described the situation to me this way. He said that from a funding perspective it was as if you had walked into a restaurant where you were the only customer, but where there were about 16 waiters and staff waiting to serve you. It’s that awkward feeling of over-supply of servers (funding) and undersupply of customers (startups).
I actually (respectfully 
) disagreed. I saw a very vibrant and young web2 entrepreneurial community. Sure, it wasn’t huge, but it had plenty of critical mass.
I think it was something else that was actually lacking. And it was part of why I had been invited.
Everyone was telling me that the few web startups that were there were mostly learning on their own. There wasn’t a strong visible culture of mentorship in the community. They were hungry for the benefit of some of my experience building and working with startups. Perhaps insatiable would be the better word.
All of the government funding support in the world can’t create deep, engaged mentorship out of thin air.
On my trip, I met one of the founders of Match.com, who happens to be from Singapore. I asked him why there wasn’t more mentorship, and he thought that it was a simple lack of supply of experienced mentors who had been there and done that. You got the feeling that a few of them were certainly trying.
E27, a great startup organization there, had invited me to do a talk on my final night in town. I tried to focus my talk on entrepreneurial ecosystems, comparing what was happening in Singapore (as far as I could tell) to what had happened in Boulder over the last 15 years or so. I encountered the usual “Silicon Valley envy” and challenged the entrepreneurs in the room to start a new culture of mentorship. I asked them not to wait until they were rich and successful, but to mentor someone else now. Today. They had all learned things that they could share with others in their community. Certainly, I also asked those that had startups that had been or would be successful in the future to go above and beyond in helping others follow in their paths by mentoring them, angel investing, and by creating visibility for their community. I think it was fairly well received, although the cultural differences there are evident.
One fact that consistently blew my mind was that everyone in the web startup community in Singapore, on the other side of the world, had heard about little old Boulder. They knew something was happening in the startup scene here. And they were looking to us for inspiration, knowing that they too will never be Silicon Valley, but still wanting to be the best Singapore that they could be just like Boulder is becoming the best Boulder it can be.
When I got home and reflected on this great trip, I was reminded that we need to keep doing more of this right here in Boulder too. I was inspired by the fact that we’re an inspiration to others around the globe. How amazing is that?
So…. Hey you – yes you – go be a mentor to somebody that you can help. Today. Keep helping others a core part of what our community is all about. The payback is truly mind-boggling.
Mentorship is on the rise in America. I’m proud that TechStars has been some small part of the inspiration for that when it comes to web startups. I’ve already been to a few other cities here as well, answering their questions about what’s going on in Boulder. Soon, I’m off to England and Denmark to work with local communities there on improving their own entrepreneurial ecosystems. So far, a pattern seems to be emerging.
Want your town to be the best it can be? Create a sustainable culture of mentorship, and participate in it.
Robert Reich and Add-on-Con
November 8, 2009
Robert Reich has done an amazing job building the new tech meetup here in Boulder and now in Denver. I was at the earliest of those meetups, when there were just 10-15 people there. Now there are 300+ and standing room only at every event, it seems. It’s now a fixture here in Boulder, and Robert deserves much of the credit for that.
Now Robert has put together at conference called Add-on-Con which is focused on browser add-ons. It’s happening in Mountain View, CA on December 11. They’ve just added a closing keynote called “The future of the web browser” which will be moderated by Douglas Crockford and featuring representatives from Microsoft, Mozilla and Google. They’ve also created a program called Sandbox which is designed to help new companies get exposure to the community and the browser vendors. Finally, they’ve created a game with the goal of facilitating name and face recognition of people attending the conference.
Robert was kind enough to offer me a discount code for anyone reading this who’d like to attend. Use “DCohenaddoncon09″, it takes $50 off of the $150 registration fee.
