Archive for July, 2007
Single-person businesses top 20 million
Monday, July 30th, 2007In the ‘60s the saying was “turn on, tune in, drop out”. Well, that didn’t last, but today, we have the corporate version happening.
The “Drop Out” part meant that individuals would pursue self-reliance, choice, and change for themselves. Right now, the US Census Bureau reports that over 2,000 people a day in the US are going into business […]
Can a Startup Outside the Valley Get Valley Funding?
Thursday, July 26th, 2007Guy Kawasaki and I sat down last month to discuss if a startup outside of silicon valley can get funding from the sought after Sand Hill Road? Guy’s perspective stems from a career in the valley and funding startups. See more video interviews with Guy here.
Using an Investment Broker When You’re Outside the Valley
Sunday, July 22nd, 2007Ask the VC has an interesting counter post by Donna Murdoch of KeyStone Equities that is worth a read.
Donna’s letter is in response to Jason’s post “Are there Venture Capital Brokers?“.
Donna’s post, and I think the point is very well taken, is that in the Valley where the ins and outs of venture financing are […]
Why Viral Online Marketing Rarely Works
Wednesday, July 18th, 2007Most of the startups we see here on OTV don’t have a marketing budget. They plan to go viral. They plan to get blogs to talk about them. They plan to spread via word-of-mouth. That’s all fine and good, except that it rarely works. Why? Well, a new study […]
bOk - Ottawa, Canada
Monday, July 16th, 2007bOk is located in Ottawa, Canada. Basically, they provide free and cheap long distance calls through their service. Their service is initiated by using a text message to their service. I posted step-by-step details below (There are really only 3 steps).
It works like this:
1) compose a text message that includes your friend’s phone number. 2) send this text message to bOK […]
Why Europe Lags The Valley
Saturday, July 14th, 2007There is an interesting post and video about why Europe lags Silicon Valley. I have a decent perspective of European culture because I spent a summer in Denmark in 1999, studying International Business and lived with a Danish family. The odd thing about the Danish culture is that uber-achievement is not considered a […]
Startup Lessons from the Valley (Sonoma)
Friday, July 6th, 2007After my Bay Area visit, my group headed north to the valleys of Sonoma and Napa (we preferred Sonoma). We enjoyed many wine tastings (those small amounts add up) and brought back too much wine.
Although the trip was for pleasure and not business (hotel without wireless!), my vineyard experiences left me with a nice […]
It’s The Network, Not The Valley, That Causes Success
Thursday, July 5th, 2007I recently stumbled across the research of Annalee Saxenian. She has studied Silicon Valley and high tech hubs in other countries. She compared Valley companies to those in Boston during a time when Boston was much less successful, and determined that the collaborative networked nature of the Valley was a key to it’s […]
How to Create a Local High-Tech Hub
Sunday, July 1st, 2007One of the coolest essays on creating a tech hub was written by Paul Graham. How to Be Silicon Valley gives the recipe for cooking up the next tech hub. He makes a lot of important points about what creates a tech center, and what does not. Here are some of my key take aways:
1. A […]
