Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Berkeley Ventures Opportunitiy

This was forwarded to me. Might be of value to some of you working on starting a company with intentions of ending up in the Bay Area. Note that we have an incubator here at Duke, the DUhatch Student Business Incubator.

-Howie

----- Original Message -----
From: Julio Ramirez jramirez@berkeleyventures.com
Sent: Mon 06/29/09 2:42 PM
Subject: Fwd: Berkeley Ventures Opportunitiy

Hello Adam,

My name is Julio Ramirez and I am Director of Business Development at Berkeley Ventures. We are a new incubator out of Berkeley focused on helping startups in the tech, software, mobile, clean tech, and gaming space. We offer incubator space, access to mentors and advisers, connections to local talent/resources, and a year round program to help these companies grow.

Although the summer has already started, we are still accepting applications, and would appreciate if you could send out our information to your members. Below is the information about our program. In addition, we can be contacted anytime at info@berkeleyventures.com or 510.325.5845.

Thank you and looking forward to it,

Julio

The Power of a Startup Community

Berkeley Ventures is an incubator which helps serious entrepreneurs bring their innovations to the world. We specialize in bringing very early stage companies or first time entrepreneurs to market. Incubated businesses have an 87% survival rate and up to 70% are profitable or receive the funding they need. Berkeley Ventures combines industry expertise, comprehensive networks, and all-inclusive facilities to help our businesses thrive.

Work side by side with fellow entrepreneurs

Learn from the experiences and challenges of others
Create synergies with innovative companies
Build a strong social network with your peers

Be part of the Berkeley Venture network

World class advisors including CEO's, investment bankers, and venture capitalists to help grow your business
An extensive network to help recruit additional team members
Access to talented resources at UC Berkeley and Stanford

Seed funding is available for select companies

Seed money ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 per startup is available for select companies
Berkeley Ventures will receive an equity stake ranging from 3% to 9%

Complete office solutions for your business

Entrepreneurs receive private office space including all utilities, online, copy, and printing services
Multiple conference rooms and private offices which can be used for quiet meetings, confidential calls, or collaborative work
The office layout is flexible in meeting the needs of your business and promoting interaction
Our building's 30 kw of solar panels, one of the larger installations in Berkeley, provides a perfect development lab for solar IT companies

Live at the center of technology and innovation

The SF Bay Area leads the nation in startups, angel and VC funding, and IPO's
Access to the most talented pool of technical and business people of anywhere in the world

Incubator Application

Submit inquiries and applications to "application@berkeleyventures.com". To submit a first stage application please send:

1. A 2-3 page business plan summary (financial projections optional). Summary should include industry analysis, competitive advantage, revenue model, and go to market strategy.

2. Resumes of each team member. We will be in touch and let you know of the second stage in the review process. Please feel free to visit us online at http://www.berkeleyventures.com or call (510) 325-5845.

 --  Julio Ramirez Business Development Berkeley Ventures 727 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94710 510.325.5845 jramirez@berkeleyventures.com

--
Howie Rhee, MBA
Managing Director
Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Room E167J
919-923-7113 mobile
hwr2@duke.edu
www.fuqua.duke.edu/centers/cei

Watch our video: www.fuqua.duke.edu/wakeup

Duke Entrepreneurship Links:
- Entrepreneurship at Duke - www.EntrepreneurshipAtDuke.com
- Weekly Education Series - www.dukeDEES.com
- Connect with Duke Entrepreneurs - www.dukegen.com
- Find a startup - www.startupmatchmaker.blogspot.com
- Duke Start-Up Challenge - www.dukestartupchallenge.org
- Entrepreneurship Week - www.eweekatduke.com
- Twitter - http://twitter.com/EshipAtDuke
- Blog - www.howierhee.blogspot.com
- Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/EshipAtDuke
- LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/howierhee
- Entering the Duke Start-Up Challenge? See example business plans - email me for a copy of Business Plan Pro (advert)
- Resources from Intuit at http://smallbusinessunited.com (advert)
- Learn VC - www.learnvc.com (advertisement)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Forbes - America's Most Promising Companies

Interesting "Call for startups" that provides some analysis for your startup.

-Howie

America's Most Promising Companies
Meet America's Most Promising Companies
Brett Nelson, 04.30.09, 10:00 AM ET

How promising is your young business? The world wants to know.

That's why Forbes.com is teaming with The Venture Alliance (TVA), a boutique investment adviser to early-stage companies, to identify America's most promising companies.

Many company lists are based on but a few metrics (if that many). But that's not remotely how professional investors evaluate the health and potential of any growing company. TVA has developed a scoring algorithm based on a vast range of variables that determine a company's potential--and, ultimately, its worth to investors--including: financial projections, current capitalization, market position, market opportunity, intellectual property, management team and others. TVA crunches that data (which it collects by surveying young companies) and reduces it to one "fundability score." Companies that score well, theoretically, have a better shot at raising money than those that don't.

Click Here to Fill out the America's Most Promising Companies Survey.

Forbes.com will use TVA's proprietary algorithm to generate a list of America's Most Promising Companies. This list will carry true intellectual weight because it will be grounded in the kind of real-world analysis typically performed by professional investors.

We need as many entrepreneurs as possible to fill out the survey on which the list will be based. The benefit for participants is four-fold:

1) After filling out the survey, they will be given a qualitative assessment (in graphical form) of how their business stacks up to the ideal business in their industry/stage of development.

For a fuller explanation of the graph's terminology, click here.

2) The act of completing the survey will force them to think a lot more critically about their business.

3) They will be under consideration to appear on the Forbes.com list of America's Most Promising Companies, as well as the opportunity to win a business consultation with a celebrity entrepreneur.

4) Upon further due diligence, the highest-scoring companies may receive a funding term sheet by TVA--a precious commodity in this credit-starved environment.

Thank you for filling out the survey. It just might be the best investment you'll ever make in this economy.

More on the 12 categories in the TVA "radar graph":

Market Opportunity: Investors tend to look for huge markets (at least $500 million) to exploit or a market that is growing at a rate far exceeding the norm (at least 10% per year).

Marketing/Sales Strategy: Investors want to see tangible evidence that the company can peddle its product or service.

Competition: Investors want a balance between having competitors (which implies that others see a similar opportunity) and a host of well-heeled challengers that could crush you.

Entrepreneurial Experience: Does the team have any experience in building or running a company? Have they paid back previous investors who took a risk on them?

Management Team: Investors look for a team with an impressive track record that leaves little doubt they can accomplish their goals.

Founder Commitment: The more time and money founders invest, the more convinced investors will be about their faith in the venture.

Directors and Advisers: Successful companies are able to attract both quality board members and advisers--not just resumes, but those who are committed to adding value to the company.

Financial Projections: Investors want to see promising--and reasonable--financial projections.

Investment Value: Investors want to understand how a company will use their money--and if that strategy has a chance of generating good returns.

Accomplishments: A catch-all bucket. One crucial element: Securing agreements with the right strategic partners that will fuel a company's growth.

Corporate Structure & Ownership: The type of corporation, location and ownership structure of a company often plays a large role in attracting investors.

Intellectual Property: Patents, trademarks and copyrights are attractive barriers to entry.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Young Entrepreneur Cram Session

Thanks to our friends at Intuit (thanks Kira!) for making this opportunity available to us. Be sure to sign up before all the slots are gone.

-Howie

http://www.smallbusinessunitedblog.com/where-small-is-now/2009/06/

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR CRAM SESSION - RSVP NOW!

By Jason Wisneski - June 18, 2009

I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison a couple of years ago and have been working at Intuit since. I've had the opportunity to work in Intuit's Small Business Group, so I now view entrepreneurship in a different way than I had before.

Many of my friends from college have gone on to work for other companies but a few have started their own business. Now when I talk to them or when I go into a new store for the first time, or try a new product, I can't help but wonder how that business got started. What's their story? What pushed him or her to take that idea and make it into a running business and what have they learned? Could I start my own business some day?

Well now is the time to answer some of those questions. Join me on Wednesday, June 24th at noon PT, for a "Young Entrepreneur Cram Session." In this one-hour online event, you will hear from other young entrepreneurs on how they started their businesses, what challenges they faced and how they overcame them. You will also be able to ask questions and share your own advice.

Featured panelists include:

• Michael Adams, who founded Eddie's Energy Bars based in Richmond, VT. makes all natural, no preservative energy bars that are locally homemade and community supported. The company was recently named one of Entrepreneur Magazine's 100 Companies to Watch.

• Melissa Baswell, owner of Mountains of the Moon, a Chicago-based sustainable design and apparel organization aimed at creating chic, high-quality eco-friendly clothing. Melissa was also one of our Small Business United Grant Competition winners.

• Kavin Stewart, co-founder and CEO of LOLapps, a provider of easy-to-use tools that allow anyone to create and customize applications on social networks. Beginning operations in early 2008, they now have 44 million unique visitors using their tools.

This exclusive event is open to the first 100 who register, so sign up herenow!

If you aren't able to attend the Cram Session, no worries. You can follow the event #YECram on Twitter, look for updates on the Small Business United Blog, or hear others' stories and share your tips atwww.SmallBusinessUnited.com.

Jason Wisneski is on Intuit's small business communications team. A Gen Y-er himself, he is looking forward to moderating the Young Entrepeneur Cram Session next Wednesday, June 24th.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Lifebushido seeks to hire 10 MBA Year 1 summer interns

Received the following email.

-Howie

Lifebushido is seeking to hire 10 MBA students for a unique entrepreneurial non-paid summer internship for 10 weeks during Jun-Aug 2009 for 10-40 hours per week.

MBA Interns will work on one of 10 ventures involving business, creative, or social entrepreneur focus including going from concept to launch to revenue in 10 weeks. Lifebushido is building a global network of people working part-time from home with flexible hours using their unique talents. See http://www.lifebushido.com/mba.

We seek to be connected to the core group of your students who have an entrepreneurial interest who are passionate about starting their own business within 1,000 days of graduating. Lifebushido was started in 2006 by Steve Kantor, who previously sold his $2 million revenue software company in 2004 to Vocus (VOCS). Steve's background is at: http://www.lifebushido.com/stevekantor.html.

We have designed a great opportunity for MBA students, primarily Year 1, who have a passion for entrepreneurship and like to move fast. Interns can work flexible hours from anywhere in the world. Our company is 100% virtual, around the world.

Friday, June 5, 2009

CED: STREAK and FastTrac - looking for companies

Received from our friend Dhruv Patel over at CED.

This would be good for those of you with a startup idea looking for extra help/guidance.

Previously we've had several Duke students in FastTrac, including the founders of Advanced Liquid-Logic (Vamsee and Michael), who found their CEO in the program (Rich West, one of the speakers).

Howie

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dhruv Patel <dpatel@cednc.org>
Date: Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 3:56 PM
Subject: CED: STREAK and FastTrac - Need you assistance
To: hwr2@duke.edu

Hi Howie:

Hope you are doing well and having a great summer! I would like your help with STREAK and FastTrac programs beginning in July and September, respectively. We are now actively recruiting companies for the programs and would like to ask you to advise us of any good companies who you think might benefit from one or the other.

As a refresher, FastTrac is for very early stage Tech & Life Sciences companies who have not completed a full business plan, refined their elevator pitch, or, in some instances, even decided that the entrepreneurial world is for them. If they've raised any money it's generally been family and friends. The course takes them through a step-by-step process whereby they complete a comprehensive business plan, refine their elevator pitch, and prepare the initial investor presentation. It includes all the fundamentals of identifying the market, analyzing the opportunity, creating go-to-market plan, financial forecasting, human resource staffing and other issues. In addition, we break up the class in groups by industry focus and development stage to facilitate mentoring by experienced coaches. This 10-week course costs $595 for the first person and $299 for a second or third from the same company.

STREAK, on the other hand, is for companies who have "graduated" beyond FastTrac level and are seeking constructive feedback and critique of their investor presentation and business plan, generally just prior to beginning their fundraising efforts in earnest. To qualify the company must submit their completed business plan along with their investor presentation and a panel of experts, in a one-hour session, will listen to and provide feedback on the presentation. The cost of participation is $100.

In addition, I have attached program flyer for both programs. Please forward the information to companies that you think maybe a good fit or please introduce me and I will walk them through the process of applying for the programs. Thanks in advance for any help you might provide.

My best,

Dhruv

Dhruv Patel

CED

919.226.0476

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Facebook, VCs give 18 developers seed money

Excellent option for those trying to get money for their internet startup.

-Howie

-----------------

http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2009/05/25/daily59.html?s=du&ed=2009-05-29&ana=e_du_pap&t=printable

Facebook has announced the names of 18 Internet startups that have won seed funding, a chance to participate in a 10-week incubator program and the opportunity to get even more venture funding down the road.

The companies were chosen from more than 400 developers and entrepreneurs from around the world who applied in a competition sponsored by Facebook, Accel Partners and Founders Fund. The two venture funds will invest more than $500,000 into the companies in exchange for equity.

Two non-profits that will not get funding were also chosen to participate in the incubator program, which will be run by Dave McClure of Founders Fund.

The incubator program will operate out of one of Facebook's Palo Alto offices from mid-June to the end of August, at which point all of the startups will present to Silicon Valley angel and venture capital investors.

According to Facebook's Web site, the companies and nonprofits selected include:

Frintro: Find friends of friends to date...or play matchmaker! If you're single, you can search your friends' friends and ask for intros. If you're taken, you can set friends up. Friends of friends are the best people to date. It's social dating via friendly intros.
Funji: Funji is an avatar-based social networking app for the iPhone and iPod touch, satisfying users' desire to express themselves and communicate with others in a fun, creative way. The team has more than five years of experience in the mobile market in both South Korea and the US.
Gameyola: Gameyola is a distribution and monetization platform for casual Flash games. Flash games currently monetize poorly, but Gameyola solves this problem by providing Flash developers tools to sell virtual goods and to acquire users through social channels.
Life360 (private beta): From keeping track of your kids to protecting your identity and getting back your lost stuff, Life360 is the place you go to keep your family safe, secure, and prepared for daily life.
MyChurch.org: Churches create their own social networks on MyChurch.org. They extend their community between Sundays with tools to connect and engage their members. Over 30,000 church congregations are represented on MyChurch.org.
Navify: Navify is a visual encyclopedia that combines Wikipedia articles with images, videos, and comments. It is the only general encyclopedia that allows you to listen to music videos, watch movie trailers, and browse news and celebrity photo galleries.
Nutshell Mail: Simplify the way you manage Facebook and other social networks. NutshellMail consolidates activity from all your accounts into a single email digest delivered on your schedule. Don't let email alerts clutter your inbox. Get informed, not interrupted. Get the Nut!
Networked Blogs: Bring your blog to Facebook, and Facebook to your blog. Pull your Feed to your profile and business pages, add widgets to promote your network, and read the news from blogs you follow on the largest community of bloggers and blog lovers on Facebook.
Paradise Paintball 3D: Paradise Paintball is the first game developed on Cmune's next-generation social gaming platform. It is the first casual, 3D multiplayer FPS game on Facebook, Apple Dashboard, and Mac and PC. Play with up to eight friends and buy virtual items to enhance the gameplay.
Photos I Like: Photos I Like is a digital media sharing and discovery site emphasizing lightweight social content, self-expression, and communities.
RentMineOnline: Combines the success of resident referral programs with the power of social networks. Residents refer their community to friends through social networks like Facebook, and email to earn rewards and live with friends.
RUNmyERRAND: RUNmyERRAND is a social networking inspired web and mobile marketplace that provides people and businesses an easy and trusted way to get everyday tasks done in their own hyperlocal community.
RunThere: RunThere is a social-networking service for runners and cyclists. Users can map and measure their favorite routes (no GPS required), keep a running/biking log, and find athletes and routes nearby
Sortuv: Sortuv lets you start with something you like, and discover more. Instead of searching for a "great restaurant" just say what you mean: "Find me a place sortuv like Spago in Seattle". Check them out on the Web, on the iPhone, and on Facebook.
TravelBrain/GeckoGo: Travel Brain by GeckoGo helps you track (and show off!) your travels, share experiences with others, and discover new places to visit. Learn from the knowledge of over 600,000 travelers, and get expert guide info from their Bradt Travel Guides partnership.
Weardrobe (private beta): Weardrobe is a fashion-focused community for discovering different ways to wear clothing. Weardrobe provides a platform for people to share reviews of their own clothing, post photos of their looks, catalog their closet and search for style inspiration.
Workstir: Workstir is a community that connects users with trustworthy local service providers. Anyone can post a job and choose a provider with confidence by browsing their past reviews. For businesses, Workstir provides a wealth of jobs in their area of expertise.
Worldly Developments (private beta): Worldly Developments is building online services that will help you connect with the people, places and events in your local community. Its first product makes it a snap to plan, promote, and communicate around group activities.

Non-profits*

Samasource: Sama is Sanskrit for "equal" – Samasource finds and trains reliable QA professionals to test Facebook apps with a user-friendly interface that lives on Facebook Platform. With Samasource, developers lower costs, reduce poverty, and improve their applications.
Vittana: Vittana enables you to lend directly to students in the developing world, $25 at a time. Their mission is to bring student loans to the developing world through the power of person-to-person microlending.

Email Patrick Hoge at phoge@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4949