Naomi Kokubo
Question: My startup is launching a new website. It’s in “alpha” right now. I need to test it out before it goes to public “beta”. What’s the best way to test a new website on a budget? I can’t afford costly focus groups or expensive usability studies.
Answer by Naomi Kokubo, Editor of Founders Space
Today, as part of incubator roundup, we’re featuring Dave McClure’s 500 Startups.
If you haven’t heard of it already, 500 Startups provides early-stage companies with funding ranging from $10K to $250K via seed investments. They offer a startup accelerator program and new micro-fund models, like the Twilio Fund. With over 160 experienced startup mentors around the world, a cool creative workspace in the heart of Silicon Valley, and a vibrant community of startup founders, we think 500 Startups is a winner!
Here’s a bit about their philosophy:
Is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) a mystery to you? Well then, take a look at this presentation by Ryan Spoon of Polaris Ventures.
ZestCash
Okay, so angel investors are ignoring you, VCs won’t give you a second meeting, your credit card is maxed out, and you can’t get a loan from any bank. What do you do? First off, pay-off your credit card. The interest will kill you. Next, look for an alternative.
One option is ZestCash, a financial services technology startup that serves the needs of the underbanked. It has just secured $73 million in its second round of funding. ZestCash doesn’t pull any information from credit burrows. Instead, it uses non obvious variables, like cell phone payment records and how much time applicants spend on our site, to offer loans to its customers.
App Cooker
Just heard about App Cooker from a friend, and it’s a pretty nifty tool. Whether you’re an indie developer, an established company or an amateur, App Cooker helps you shape your iOS application ideas.
It’s pretty easy to use. Just start with an idea, a sketch or an icon, then utilize the App Board to organize and inspire your work as you go. It’s easy for anyone to use yet achieves professional standard results. App Cooker is a good solution for planning and perfecting your projects until they are ready for production.
With hundreds of thousands of apps currently in the Android Marketplace, it can be difficult for game developers to break through the clutter and have their games seen by the public. To help developers gain exposure, Hooked Media brings Get Discovered, a worldwide competition for Android game developers that gives them a unique chance to win both wide scale distribution through Best Buy’s App Discovery Center™ and seed funding from Trinity Ventures, a top Silicon Valley venture capital firm. The winner will also receive an online advertisement package from VentureBeat, one of the industry’s most widely-read blogs.
Raj Gavurla
by Raj Gavurla of LiiiVEN, Inc.
Entrepreneurs have an idea they research and chisel into service and product. To make a significant difference in the marketplace acquiring a client is needed. Why a client? To help them, gain revenue, and find new ways to apply service and product.
There are five approaches to acquire a client:
That’s right. Coding is no longer some boring, arduous task. It’s now become a game thanks to Treehouse. They’ve developed a Facebook app called Code Racer that let’s players compete at coding.
Code Racer is a multi-player live coding game that teaches newbies how to code a basic website using HTML and CSS, and tests intermediate and advanced users on their coding speed and agility. Players race against each other and the clock to complete coding challenges, unlocking weapons and rewards along the way.
Startup Engine
Start Engine, the small L.A.-based accelerator, is now the focus of a new reality TV show. That’s right, you’ll get all those horrifying startup moments memorialized on video for the world to watch. If this sounds like a cheesy idea, welcome to reality TV. The show, which comes from Cameron Casey, producer of the TechStars reality program on Bloomberg TV, will capture entrepreneurs on video as they participate in the accelerator program.
Besides selling your soul to Hollywood, here’s what you get when you join Start Engine:
Codecademy
Well, I have the answer… learn to code yourself. That’s right. Codecademy is a hot new startup that teaches you how to code. It’s an easy way to learn how to program javascript. It’s interactive, fun, and you can do it with your friends. I recommend it to any frustrated founders who need to get something done but don’t have the cash or the patience to employee an engineer at Silicon Valley prices!
I think every founder will want to try this one out. BetaBait is a great idea. It’s a way to get early adopters to beta test your web, mobile and social applications. The service is 100% free and only takes a few minutes to submit your beta bait. I think I’ll try it out right now!
How it works:
Every day startups run into a major problem before they can publicly launch. They need beta users and testers. These people play an important role in helping the startup work out bugs, create new features and even turn into the first customers. However, in the past, founders and marketers have not had an organized and convenient way to find these testers without spamming email databases, social networks and personal contacts.
Alan Moore
by Alan Moore. Bloodstone 2011
Introduction
In No Straight Lines: making sense of our non-linear world author Alan Moore argues we have arrived at the edge of the adaptive range of our industrial world. At the edge because that world, our world is being overwhelmed by a trilemma of social, organizational and economic complexity. We are in transit from a linear world to a non-linear one. Non-linear because it is for all of us socially, organizationally and economically ambiguous, confusing and worrying. Consequently we are faced with an increasingly pressing and urgent problem, WHAT COMES NEXT? And also we are therefore presented with a design challenge: HOW do we create better societies, more able organizations and, more vibrant and equitable economies relevant to the world we live in today? No Straight Lines presents a new logic/literacy and inspiring plea for a more human centric world that describes an entirely new way for true social, economic and organizational innovation to happen.
Naomi Kokubo
Question: One of our founders asked us, “We’re starting the company with founders residing in more than one state. Are there any laws that we should be aware of?”
Answer by Naomi Kokubo, Editor of Founders Space
I’m a big fan of Startup Law 101 series: http://www.grellas.com/faq_business_startup.html
You need to look at the securities law surrounding the founder’s stock purchase and what is known as “blue sky” laws:
http://www.grellas.com/faq_business_startup_012.html
My take away from reading this webpage is: the key securities law concern for any stock issuance by an early-stage startup is to make sure that the offering fits within an exemption to the registration requirements.
Let me start by saying Android has come a long way in the past year. It has actually caught up to iOS. So which one should you get if you’re looking for your next phone?
Android Pros:
* Great operating system
* More flexible than iOS
* More customizable than iOS
* Many more phone choices
* Phones support LTE, while iPhone is still stuck in 3G land
* No shortage of apps
* More carriers support Android
* Most Android phones have bigger screens
* Many Android phones are now free with a 2-year contract
Ethan Stone
Question: Where can I download good templates for boilerplate legal agreements, such as NDAs, Board of Advisor agreements, employment agreements, and other typical things a startup would need?
Answer by Ethan Stone, Stone Business Law
Let me start with a couple of caveats (yes, I’ll give you some links at the bottom).
First, I’m not your lawyer and this answer doesn’t establish an lawyer-client relationship. I’m giving a generic answer to a generic question to educate the users of this site.
