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Category: Portland

Ten things to think about before pursuing funding for your startup

Rick Turoczy on August 5, 2008

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend “Lunch with a VC” hosted by Carolynn Duncan of FundingUniverse and Epic Ventures. Carolynn took the time to field questions from a number of Portland startups and consultants on what it really takes to get a venture capitalist interested in investing in your company.

(If you’re interested in all the gory details about wooing a VC, Carolynn has a great post called “Checklists: What kind of funding are you eligible for?“)

I thought I’d hit the high points, to help you get your head around what it’s going to take.

Think about these 10 things before you think about pursuing outside funding for your startup

  1. Have you really solved a problem? Just because you see a problem doesn’t mean you’re the person to solve the problem. It’s far easier to criticize existing solutions than it is to invent your own solution. And even if you do invent a solution to that problem, there’s no guarantee that that’s a business.
  2. Are you mentally prepared? Pursuing VC funding isn’t about self esteem. It’s about business. If you want someone to review what you’re doing and give you positive feedback, Silicon Florist may be a better candidate than a VC. A VC isn’t here to build you up or inflate your ego. A VC is here to figure out how you’re going to make money so that the investment firm can make money.
  3. Are you ready for the oversight? Angels invest their own money. VCs invest other people’s money. As such, they’re going to have different types of involvement. And different kinds of goals. What kind of involvement and what kind of goals? Read on, gentle reader. Read on.
  4. Can you deliver on the promise? Angels look for incremental gains. VCs look for exponential gain. But, rest assured, when it comes to investing, everyone’s goal is to make money. Angels are looking to invest time and money to get more money than they had. VCs are looking to invest far larger sums to make an exponential amount on their investment. Why? To make up the for the other crappy companies they picked that are failing to return anything.
  5. Can you give up control? Angels are going to want more control because it’s their money. Why? Well, VCs invest other people’s money. Angels invest their own money. While both of those parties are going to be extremely interested in what you’re doing with their money, it’s highly likely that the Angel is going to be more involved—because Angels will be especially interested in keeping an eye on their personal money.
  6. Can you tell the story of the money? The old adage hold true: It takes money to get money. As a rule, VCs don’t fund ideas. They generally fund things that are already making money. For VCs, an investment is an accelerator. They invest money in order to help the company make more money faster. Not making money yet? A VC might not be the right target.
  7. Are you ready to make the VC pitch? To an investor, the “product” the investor is buying is the business. Not the actual product that the company sells. If you’re thinking of pitching a VC, don’t do the usual “show up and throw up” product demo of features and functionality. Give the potential investor a pitch on your business, moreso than that the product, itself.
  8. Are you planning ahead or are you too late? Always pursue funding before you get desperate. Why? Well, two reasons. First, no one likes the stench of desperation. And second, it takes 3-6 months to do the due diligence on the deal before you can get stuff going. Don’t wait until it’s too late to begin the conversation. Better yet, begin the conversation before you need anything, at all. Work on your pitch and test drive it.
  9. Are you ready to play the numbers game? How much of the final entity do you want to own? Take this into consideration… do you want to own 100% of a $1 million company, or do you want to own 51% of a $500 million company? If additional investment is going to make for an exponentially larger pie, then it might be wise to take a cut of the bigger pie, rather than try to horde the smaller pie. Angels and VC are interested in helping you build that bigger pie, so that everyone wins.
  10. Are you foregoing a “great” funded company in favor of a “good” company that you control? A dead company doesn’t help anyone. The longer you can reasonably put off funding, the better off you will be. But don’t kill your company to retain control (see ). If garnering additional funding ensures the fulfillment of your idea—even at a loss of control—funding may be the way to go. Bootstrap what you can, but not if it means the loss of your pursuits.

And that’s what I took away. But as always, that’s the high-level. For the deep dive, see Carolynn’s post.

Hopefully this overview helps. Interested in getting more feedback or answering different questions? Carolynn is planning to do this on a regular basis, here in Portland.

It would be great to have you at one of the future events.

Lunch 2.0 at the Art Institute of Portland

Rick Turoczy on August 3, 2008

Hot on the heels of SplashCast’s possibly haunted Lunch 2.0 announcement, comes another Lunch 2.0. I told you I had a busy Friday.

The Art Institute of Portland will be opening its doors for Lunch 2.0 on October 15, just over a week after their Fall term begins. It’s in the Pearl, right across the street from the Portland Armory.

Big thanks to Bram Pitoyo for making this happen. Did you know he is a graduate of the Art Institute, as is Lunch 2.0 veteran Gaia Borgias Brown? I’m sure there are others you follow on Twitter who will be happy to return to the hallowed halls.

OK, the skinny:

aiipdx.pngHosts:  Art Institute of Portland

Where: 1122 NW Davis, Portland, OR, 97209

When: October 15, 2008 from 12:00 to 2:00 PM

RSVP on Upcoming

Thanks to Allena Baker and Lulu Hoeller for securing a gigantic space for this Lunch 2.0. Bring your friends and colleagues and look forward to learning something new about the Art Institute, meeting some new people and seeing your old Twitter pals. Oh, and check out the exhibit on your way in or out or both.

One last programming note, I’ve spoken to a few potential hosts who were interested in September and/or October lunches. Fear not, there’s no clause in the Lunch 2.0 bylaws requiring no more than one event per month.

So, we can work around the upcoming lunches, no worries, or we can look ahead to November.

Lots of lunches coming up, so here’s the quick and dirty schedule:

SplashCast to Host Lunch 2.0, Friendly Ghosts Invited

Rick Turoczy on August 3, 2008

Last Friday I signed up two more Lunch 2.0 hosts at two very cool places in Portland.

First, SplashCast wants to show off its new(ish) office space in Old Town, and not just any building in Old Town, the old Merchant Hotel.

You know, the same building that Old Town Pizza inhabits, directly above the infamous Portland Shanghai Tunnels, the haunted one. That building.

While the Merchant’s old lobby is the home to OTP now, SplashCast is up on the third floor, presumably occupying space that once was one or two guest rooms way back in the day. Kim Ramage has done a great job fixing up the space, and she’s eager to have you all come by for some lunch. So, now the skinny:

splashcast.jpgHosts: SplashCast

Where: 226 NW Davis, 3rd Floor, Portland, OR, 97209 (we’ll have signs and spirit hosts to guide you)

When: September 17, 2008 from 12:00 to 2:00 PM

RSVP on Upcoming

The space isn’t huge, so the RSVP if you’re definitely coming. We’ll turn off the list at 60 or so; if you’re not sure, decide on that day and cruise by later. The crowd generally thins out after 1:00 PM as people head back to work.

As always, if you want to nom veggie or vegan, add a comment on the Upcoming event indicating your culinary desires.

In case you missed it, Rick is celebrating his first birthday as the Silicon Florist with a Lunch 2.0 on August 13 at CubeSpace. RSVP for that event here, and stay tuned for another Lunch 2.0 announcement for October.

Vidoop launches Skunk Works 2.0

Rick Turoczy on August 1, 2008

Vidoop Skunk Works 2.0In the midst of World War II—likely a bit before all of our times—Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin) funded a highly creative group of engineers, focused on developing the next generation of aircraft. Shrouded in secrecy, the project turned out concepts that continue to influence the aircraft at which we still marvel today.

And which, with all likelihood, continues to secretly burn the midnight oil constructing concept craft that will provide the transport of tomorrow.

The project, according to Wikipedia’s entry, was affectionately dubbed the “Skunk Works,” after a popular comic of the day:

The term “Skunk Works” came from the Al Capp comic strip Li’l Abner, which was popular in the 1940s. In the comic, the “Skonk Works” was a backwoods still operated by Big Barnsmell, known as the “inside man at the Skonk Works”. In his secret facility, he made “kickapoo joy juice” by grinding dead skunks and worn shoes into a smoldering vat.

So why the history lesson? Did I change the blog focus to have more of a Lost Oregon vibe?

No. But, tarry a moment longer, gentle reader. Bear with me. Please allow me to explain.

Why, in the name of all things AJAX-y, would I ever try to equate this sort of old-school aircraft engineering concept with anything occurring in the Web 2.0 world of today?

Because, I’ve long held the opinion that Portland-based Vidoop—with its hires like Scott Kveton and Chris Messina coupled with its continued incubation of some very cutting edge projects—is well on its way to creating Skunk Works 2.0.

And Kveton and Messina aren’t alone. Vidoop has hired up a laundry list of talent. A list that bled Tulsa dry and caused them to look for other markets. And now, they’ve been hiring a very intelligent group of folks here in Portland.

But what Vidoop is doing with those people is as interesting as any of the projects on which they’re working.

You see, Vidoop is giving them space. Giving them free reign. Giving them autonomy. And allowing them to be creative. Or to continue the creative works that they may have been pursuing elsewhere.

Only they’re giving them more resources with which to work.

And today, they formalized that ad hoc effort of the last 4-6 months a bit more with the announcement of Vidoop Labs.

Still not making the Skunk Works connections? Well, the intuitive leap becomes far less difficult when you consider this little snippet (also from the Wikipedia “Skunk Works” entry):

[Skunk Works was an] organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, tasked with working on advanced or secret projects.

Ah ha! Now, it’s starting to work.

I mean, what better way to describe Vidoop’s early focus on OpenID, its adoption of the DiSo efforts, and its funding the development of efforts like Emailtoid and EAUT (Yute!).

Vidoop is clearly pursuing something unique. A Skunk Works of its own. A development organization that pushes the envelope for the Open Web. That dreams up what could be. That lives free of the bureaucracy that tends to hamper more thoughtful and progressive projects. That seeks to fund and feed those projects that may not otherwise get the care and feeding they deserve.

And that’s happening right here in Portland.

And with the launch of Vidoop Labs, the Vidoop folks have begun formalize an umbrella for the projects already underway:

Today we are launching Vidoop Labs as a central place where we will be showcasing existing and future technology projects that we believe will help take the Internet and its users to a better place. Since most of these projects are open source in nature, I’d like to encourage everyone to get some code on their hands. We are all in this together!

Now, granted, one major difference between the original Skunk Works and Vidoop Labs is the veil of secrecy. Vidoop Labs is churning quickly and fairly transparently, if the Emailtoid to EAUT progression is any indication.

And I expect that trend to continue.

Not to get all Pollyanna, but man, what a great experiment.

Get a bunch of smart people in a room. And let them create. Let them do what they do best. And see what comes of it.

Not knowing, at the outset, what you’re going to get. But having utmost confidence that the team will deliver something creative, well engineered, and valuable.

If that’s not the kind of work I’d like to see happening in Portland, I don’t know what is.

Interested in more information on the rocket surgery occurring in your own backyard? Take a look at Vidoop Labs, with its sections for Emailtoid, EAUT, DiSo, and the inevitable “coming soon.”

Marshall Kirkpatrick promoted to VP at ReadWriteWeb, fiance

Rick Turoczy on July 31, 2008

Portland-based blogger extraordinaire, Marshall Kirkpatrick, is well-known for his investigative skills, his objective reporting, and his almost Barnum-esque flare for hinting at the “big news” he’s just about to publish.

So when @marshallk sent the following tweet on Thursday night…

Marshall Kirkpatrick hints at two big stories

… hinting at news that he had already queued up nearly a week before, a whole bunch of us waited with near-breathless anticipation for the news to drop.

And at 7:00 PM Pacific time, the news broke.

So what’s up with Marshall? Two things.

Let’s do the business thing first and the personal thing second, because I’ll probably get all gooby and misty by the end of this thing.

Marshall Kirkpatrick joins ReadWriteWeb full-time as Vice President of Content Development

Marshall has served in a part-time role as Lead Writer at ReadWriteWeb for nearly year, helping the publication climb the ranks of the tech blogs—and truly all blogs—to crack the top 10 of “most linked” blogs worldwide and to a near-permanent residence in the top 10 of the Techmeme Leader Board.

Marshall’s effect on ReadWriteWeb has clearly been felt. And, as such, his promotion to Vice President of Content Development is both timely and well deserved. Bringing him on as a full-time employee will only strengthen his ability to contribute to the publication.

So what will this new role entail? And does it mean we’ll see less of Marshall’s posts? Richard MacManus, RWW founder, described Marshall’s new role:

The grand title reflects Marshall’s senior position within ReadWriteWeb, where he will be responsible for driving a lot of our upcoming content developments. These include premium content, publishing system enhancements, and more magic things. Marshall will also continue to be ReadWriteWeb’s Lead Writer, so don’t worry his writing isn’t taking a backseat at all. He will be going full-time at RWW sometime over the next couple of weeks.

There’s no telling what Marshall has up his sleeve. But, before too long, we’re sure to see some of that Kirkpatrick magic beginning to wend its way into regular rotation on RWW:

I am really excited about getting to bring some of my other ideas to fruition with a team of good people and Richard’s support, though…. I think many of you will really like what you see us come up with over at ReadWriteWeb.

In my opinion, this is a shrewd and necessary move for the ReadWriteWeb team. Embracing one of the leading bloggers in the industry and giving him more control over the content on the site will only help RWW continue its ascent in the tech blog world.

That, and I never get tired of hard workers getting just rewards for their efforts.

I know. Call me crazy.

But here’s the even bigger news…

Marshall Kirkpatrick announces his engagement to Mikalina Wiswall

Tech jobs come and go. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started chasing the next shiny Web 2.0 bauble.

So that’s why it’s I take a distinct pleasure in reporting truly important news like Marshall’s and Mikalina’s engagement.

Marshall puts the announcement in context:

Most important, I’m getting married to my partner Mikalina! Many of my work contacts here on the blog haven’t met Mikalina but many of you have. She’s wonderful and I love her very much.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with Marshall as a consultant, as my blogging mentor, and—yes—even as an entrepreneur on the receiving end of his objective reviews. But for all of that fun, learning, and excitement, I always feel luckiest about the fact that I get to count Marshall among my friends.

And there’s nothing better than seeing friends happy.

(See? I told you I’d get all gooby.)

So congrats to Mr. Kirkpatrick on two very exciting—and life altering—announcements. I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.

And, I can’t tell you how much I love it when this kind of stuff hits Techmeme.

Enhance your monitor tan: Summer Coders’ Social

Rick Turoczy on July 30, 2008

It’s no secret that one of the best things about Portland is the summer weather. (Although the past few days have been working at doing a pretty job of keeping that secret.) It’s also no secret that the more technically inclined spend more time absorbing rays from their respective monitors than they do from that burning orb in the sky.

So, if you’re a coder and you need something enticing to draw you away from the dull glow of your favorite machine, look no further than the Summer Coders’ Social, a language and framework agnostic gathering of Portland’s coding community, this Sunday, August 3, at Laurelhurst Park.

The first Coders Social was last December, Winter Coders Social (photos). It was the result of many of the scripting language User Groups “Taking the month off” from their regular meetings and instead “having a party”. The event was a great success so we thought we would do something this summer. Coders Summer Social is the outdoor, sunny, successor of that winter event. The goal is a very casual, geek social event. BBQ, games, and conversation.

C’mon. That code will wait for a few more hours. Why not take a few minutes this Sunday to hang out with some other coders?

Sponsor Mozilla will provide hamburgers, hot dogs, and vegetarian BBQ fare. The rest? Potluck. You’re a coder. Go build something in the kitchen, too. Beverages are your responsibility, as well.

For more infor mation on the event, see the Summer Coders’ Social wiki. To RSVP, visit the Summer Coders’ Social on Upcoming.

Jive Software introduces Clearstep, an online community for social and Enterprise 2.0 folks

Rick Turoczy on July 30, 2008

Jive ClearstepPortland-based Jive Software has been a bit quiet as of late. Which is always a good sign that folks are up to something.

Part of that “something” was clearly their move to a new office space. And this morning, we discovered another part of that something in the form of a new offering, Clearstep:

Clearstep is the first of its kind online community, powered by Jive’s own Clearspace product, for social and enterprise 2.0 practitioners. Now these professionals have a place to interact, share best practices, and gain access to a much wider range of perspectives on common community and collaboration issues. Clearstep is intended for all social and enterprise 2.0-focused professionals, including Jive customers.

Gia Lyons, Jive’s Director of Social Enterprise Evangelism… Um. I’m sorry. Where was I? Oh yes, Gia Lyons describes Clearstep as the “best business hook-up hotspot”:

Ever wish you could find someone working on social media or Enterprise 2.0 efforts at other companies, same as you? Wish you could pick their brain about how the heck they justified the implementation cost? Found that elusive ROI? Tricks to get employees to use it? Best way to communicate your new online community to your brand fanbase?

The fringe benefits for Jive hosting the site are immediately evident. Not only do they get a bunch of leading social media specialists talking it up about enterprise adoption of social media in Jive’s backyard, they also get those experts having that conversation while using Jive’s product.

Which, aesthetically, I might add—thanks to the work of Michael Sigler and his design team (specifically Chris Kalani)—is one of the most beautiful corporate Web apps around.

Jive Clearstep

It’s an interesting experiment, to be sure. But the question for me remains: Do people involved in social media experts—especially those within the enterprise—like talking to one another as much as they like talking to non-expert social media types? That remains to be seen.

[Update] Gia Lyons was kind enough to stop by and clarify this point. The community is actually for everyone—not “experts” as I had incorrectly concluded. So this truly becomes a social network focused on social media, open to anyone who is interested in participating. Obviously, the community was seeded with experts because, well, I mean who else would you seed it with?

Interested in participating in the Clearstep community?

If you are someone interested in social media expert pursing that ever elusive “Enterprise 2.0” and Clearstep has sparked your interest, why not consider joining the community and giving it a test drive? Clearstep registration is currently open. Jive has done a great job of seeding the community, pre-launch, so that there is plenty of existing content in which you can root around.

For more information, see the Jive press release announcing Clearstep, Jive’s numbers, and recent hires.

Got lunch plans? Why not have “Lunch with a VC” today?

Rick Turoczy on July 30, 2008

Seems like Silicon Florist has lunch on the brain as of late. What with looking for Portland Lunch 2.0 hosts and hosting a Portland Lunch 2.0 in August. So, clearly, mentioning another lunch or two won’t hurt.

Okay, let’s do that.

If you don’t have any lunch plans today, you might want to take the opportunity to swing by CubeSpace at noon to have “Lunch with a VC.”

Come hang out with Epic Ventures to learn more about VC funding. Bring questions! We’ll have 45 min. of Q&A, then head out to lunch as a group.

Carolynn Duncan of Epic Ventures will host this first-of-many-to-come event as a way of introducing herself to the Portland startup and entrepreneurial community.

Can’t make the lunch? No worries. You can still get to know Carolynn by following her on Twitter or following her blog.

And lunch isn’t all she has in mind. There will be some other capital-related activities that she’ll be kicking off in the near future as well.

For more information or to RSVP, visit Upcoming.

No such a thing as free lunch? There will be when Silicon Florist hosts Portland Lunch 2.0

Rick Turoczy on July 29, 2008

After all of this posting about Portland Lunch 2.0 and attending Portland Lunch 2.0 and acquiring Portland Lunch 2.0, it seemed only proper that I actually put my money where my mouth is. So I thought it might be nice if I actually took the dive and hosted a Portland Lunch 2.0.

And I would really, truly be honored if you had a few moments to attend.

I’m planning to hold it August 13. And CubeSpace has been kind of enough to offer up space for the event.

I’m really hoping you can make it.

Do I sound desperate? Good. Because I am.

Rest assured, I’ve got a couple of other things up my sleeve. So, hopefully, there will be a free lunch and a little bit more.

But in any case, it would be really nice to see you. I mean, we’ve been so busy this summer. And I want to make sure that you’re doing okay. Oh, and I want to have you meet some of the other folks who make Portland such a cool place for startups.

Silicon Florist turns one

One other thing? Holding this event in August is kind of special to me, because one year ago this August, I woke up at 2 AM, registered a surprisingly available URL, and started Silicon Florist.

So, this is a celebration of sorts. An anniversary. Or a birthday. Or whatever you want to call it.

It would be great to see you on August 13. Please take a moment to save the date by RSVPing on Upcoming for this get together. And soon, there will be more exciting news about what’s happening. Maybe.

Tell your friends. Everyone is welcome. Techie or not.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

P.S. If you’re a Web-based, Web-oriented, or Mobile-based startup in the Silicon Forest—whether I’ve had the opportunity to cover you or not—why not take a few moments to send a logo to siliconflorist at gmail? I’d like to see if we can’t work on getting your name out there at this event.

Reminder: Mobile Portland on the iPhone App Store

Rick Turoczy on July 28, 2008

iPhoneEveryone is still all gaga over the newest release of the Apple iPhone 3G. We can’t seem to stop talking about it.

And while 3G battery life seems to be the biggest complaint, the biggest win—without a doubt—has been the release of iPhone Apps and the Apple App Store.

And tonight at Mobile Portland, long-time Apple proponent and founding organizer of iPhoneDevCamp, Raven Zachary, will be discussing the “iPhone App Store Opportunity,” providing his insights into this new vehicle for interacting with the Apple platform and its users:

In his talk, Raven will provide a basic overview of the process of developing and distributing software for the iPhone and iPod touch, and share some key findings and metrics gathered in the two weeks since the launch of the App Store. What does the App Store mean for third party mobile developers?

The event will be held at the AboutUs offices in Portland’s Olympic Mills Commerce Center, 107 SE Washington St., Suite 520. Things get started around 6:00 PM.

For more information on the event or to RSVP, visit Mobile Portland on Upcoming. For more on the organization behind these events, visit Mobile Portland.

 

 

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