startup

Startups at SXSW: Lots of buzz, little substance

For all the hype that Highlight received during SXSW Interactive, the app pretty much went silent when it came to the music part of the conference. Awareness of Highlight among techies was high, but it just never made it to the outside world. I'd like to say that this is surprising, but really, it's not.

Buzz apps seldom achieve osmosis between the tech world and the real world. Those that do sometimes find fame and fortune, but the majority just swirl around the industry vacuum before pivoting into oblivion. It's a problem.

One of the most basic … Read more

Startup Secret 51: Do it like Draw Something

"Usually, features make things worse."

--Don Porter, CEO of OMGPOP & creator of Draw Something

About a week before Draw Something was acquired by Zynga for $180 million, I spoke with the creator of the game and CEO of the company, Dan Porter. He dropped this little Startup Secret. It's hardly unique. We hear it all the time in different variants: build the "minimum viable product." Or, "Ship early, ship often." And my new favorite: "If you're not embarrassed by your first version, you shipped too late."

Now that Porter'… Read more

Startup pitches post-JOBS Act: Pump up the volume

Here's one likely outcome of the JOBS Act that passed the Senate last week and is on its way to becoming law: The noise from startups vying for investor attention is going to go up.

Maybe way up.

A key provision of the Act makes it okay for a company to publicly talk about the fact that it's raising money -- something that, while often ignored, has been a lingering threat among the booming startup world. When the rule barring general solicitation goes away, any hesitancy to hawk one's business will vanish.

How could that play out? … Read more

Startup Secret 50: Wait for the right one

"Hiring a compromise is a false economy."

--Jon Reynolds, CEO, SwiftKey

Hiring is a CEO's most important job, especially in the earliest days of a company. Jon Reynolds, founder of SwiftKey, has the story of not doing this the right way and having to pay to to fix the mess it made. It worked out for the best, but he thinks it proves the rule.

As with many startups, in the early days Swiftkey had a good demo but the product wasn't ready to back it up. In December 2009, with Mobile World Congress approaching and … Read more

JOBS Act clears Senate, one step from becoming law

The JOBS Act has passed the Senate. In a 73 to 26 vote today, an amended version of H.R. 3606, which opens startup investing to individuals ("crowdfunding") and gives young companies more flexibility in filing to enter the public stock markets, cleared what is probably its last major hurdle before becoming law.

An amendment to increase investor protections in the crowdfunding section of the bill, Amendment 1884, passed the Senate earlier today. It increases restrictions on raising money from individuals, including a sliding scale of investment caps. And the bottom of the scale, individuals making less than $… Read more

Seven startup sins to avoid

I've seen thousands of startups fail, but they almost always fail for the same reasons. Most entrepreneurs fall into the same traps over and over again, despite how easy they are to avoid.

At the London Web Summit earlier this week, I told an audience of European entrepreneurs the seven mistakes I believe most often destroy promising startups.

These are my seven startup sins. Avoid these common mistakes at all costs:

1. Losing focus: If you're like the typical entrepreneur, you probably have hundreds of new ideas for your startup. But you must resist the urge to build … Read more

JOBS Act debates getting more focused in Senate

The JOBS Act, a collection of regulatory changes that would make crowdfunding legal and make it easier for companies to become publicly traded, has been wending its way through congressional proceedings this week.

Today, two Democrat-sponsored Senate amendments to the House version of the bill--one to increase consumer protections in the crowdfunding section, and another unrelated amendment to reauthorize funding of the export/import bank--failed to win necessary votes in the Senate to be attached to the act.

The JOBS Act passed the House easily on March 8 by a 390-23 vote, and its supporters hoped that it would sail … Read more

Join top Silicon Valley investors, hear their fund-raising secrets

See that giant building above? That's the headquarters of CBS Interactive, home to CNET, in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood. And if you've ever wondered what's inside--keep reading out-of-towners, this is for you too--now's your chance to find out.

On Thursday, March 29 at 6 p.m. PT, CNET will host three of the biggest names in venture investing to talk about how you--yes, you, guy with the messenger bag walking past our office--can fund your entrepreneurial dreams.

In addition to the staples--wine, beer, and light grub--we'll have three longtime Valley players--Dave McClure of … Read more

Startup Secret 49: Asphyxiation is a solid strategy

"Get your free users to build a moat around your business."

--Michael Simon, CEO, LogMeIn

Michael Simon is a sneaky, sneaky man. He's attacking a well-established part of the industry, the remote desktop space. This is a market that Cisco Systems and Citrix have held onto for years, with their paid products, Webex and GoToMeeting.

Along comes Michael's company, LogMeIn, with Join.me, a super-simple, super-free screen-sharing app. Sure, there are paid upgrades (custom URLs for the sharing link, bidirectional sharing, etc.), but the free app is very strong. (Strong enough that I have this request: … Read more