Startup Addict Musings

For the last decade VCs have been the most coveted “old-boys club” for the money-thirsty entrepreneur. They represent the holy grail of funding and the glimpse of success. Unfortunately, once a pioneer leaves 4 quarts of blood on the alter, 60% of the startup equity is vanquished.

Today venture captial continues to rise, yet the cost of getting a startup off the ground is trending down (at least for most startups). Angels and the more adaptable VCs (CRV and YCombinator) are jumping in with beta-testing money broken among many, many startups. Old School was large sums of money among fewer startups. Finding the next Google or Myspace is becoming exceedingly difficult in the crowded Web 2.0 space. According to the University of New Hampshire 2006 angel funding comprised of over $25 billion of the startup pie.

Micro-venture capitalists, informal private investing and peer-to-peer funding (like Startup Addict) will continue to lead this new paradigm. Determing if a startup is a failure or success before $3 million dollars in investment is evaporated. This is as beneficial for the entrepreneur as it is for the the investor. Gone are the days of million-dollar a month burn rates….sooo get down to business and then do it again.

Tags: VC by Startup Addict

We missed our deadline for launch by a little more than a week. The majority of the bugs will be under control and we can release the deluge of people on our pre-launch list. Entrepreneurs, Service Providers, job seekers, investors and advisors can finally sink their teeth into the most immerse social platform for starting startups.

Startup creation is similar to real estate “location” mantra, except the startup mantra is “networking, networking, networking”. No matter where you may be in the startup value chain or the startup process, you will be an essential piece of the puzzle at Startup Adddict.

Tags: StartupAddict.com by Startup Addict

Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows users to send “updates” via SMS on a mobile device of their status to the Twitter website. Widgets can be placed on other blogs and websites to state what a user’s status is at any given moment. If you’re not familiar with the buzz swirling around twitter over the past couple of months you certainly will when an acquisition takes place.

Twitter is an interesting animal to watch to see whether social networks and other similar sites will continue to develop their own micro-blogging functionality or if one will finally pull the trigger and acquire twitter. Facebook has certainly opted for to develop it’s own Twitter functions to work seamless with their social network. Clearly a smart move at the end of the day when you compare the costs of overhauling some internal code as opposed to acquiring a a red hot Web 2.0 company at premium retail. Twitter was founded by startup company Obvious Corp.

Tags: Startups by Startup Addict

XLNTads is a company that connects advertising agencies with user-generated ads. If a user’s idea is chosen by an advertising agency and participating brands you could put 20K in your pocket. Although there is some level of danger in user-generated content if you look at the recent Subway vs Quiznos lawsuit over user-created advertising. Brands participating in XLNT network should chose their content wisely. You can check out the full interview with Neil Perry the CEO of XLNTads.

Tags: Web 2.0 and Beyond by Startup Addict

Tags: Web 2.0 and Beyond by Startup Addict

Not exactly startup fodder, but I couldn’t help myself but post last nights game.

(Damon and Ortiz)

Tags: Splattered Thoughts by Startup Addict

We just posted the Startup Addict show open.

Tags: StartupAddict.com by Startup Addict

So you have an idea for a startup, now what? Well besides posting on Startup Addict, you first have to think about your value proposition. Why should customers care or pay for your idea? In a world of cheap technology and rapid innovation, startups are a dime a dozen. Thoroughly analyzing this question is paramount.

Check out a great posting on Under The Radar on essential qualifications to your initial business model.

Next is going to be figuring out your roadmap and formulating the dreaded business plan. A business plan (bplans.comfor ideas) should not be viewed as a boring stodgy process, rather it allows you to truly see the pros and cons of your original idea. You want to make sure your model is simulated and crafted long before your sitting in front of investors, whether that be friends, family, angels or VCs.

I will disclose, I have been a hypocrite on occasion to the essential business plan formula. As a self-funded (most of the time) serial entrepreneur, I tend to go with extensive research and business plan outlines out of the gate. I usually get a business model to a prototype stage or beyond and then the formal business plan is crafted. Whatever your approach on your initial business plan may be when comes time to scale your business having a concrete direction with a real competitive advantage is critical.

In order to stretch the long dollar, you will have to bootstrap all the major systems involved in a startup model.

Systems:

Operations & Management
Sales & Marketing
Accounting / Finance
HR
Legal

When it comes time to graduate from seed or prototype, those systems need to be handed to a competent team that will bring your business model to the next level.

Tags: Startups by Startup Addict

The general word is out that Startup Addict is a social networking platform for entrepreneurs with big ideas. Aside from pooling all of the strengths of a social networking community, the true power of StartupAddict lies in the funding section of the website. The reason why we always say “join the startup revolution” (beside being catchy) is because it truly transcends all historical funding and investment approaches. Traditionally four approaches exist for the entrepreneur:

1. Personal funds
2. Friends, family, associates
3. Angels
4. Venture Capital

The Funding section of Startup Addict focuses specifically on the friends, family, co-workers portion of funding and facilitates the process in a peer to peer lending format. The stranger in Ohio (lender) can fund an idea and entrepreneur he believes in located in Florida (Borrower). The goal ensures “no good idea is left behind” for the entrepreneurs that would have otherwise had doors shut in their face. The holy grail of funding is VC if you are willing to sacrifice equity; and that is certainly appropriate if an entrepreneur or startup is in the scale phase. Pre-seed and seed funding for startups needs a better approach and while VC’s are adjusting their business models like Y Combinator and Charles River Ventures Quickstart, Startup Addict is meets the need for the masses. Remember Dream Big. Be Great. We will make sure lack of funding doesn’t get in the way of that.

Tags: StartupAddict.com by Startup Addict

Because I’m such a Will Ferrell fan, I couldn’t help but write a quick devotional to his most recent (user-generated content) cause. FunnyorDie.com is a startup that showcases hysterical short clips that either rank well by being funny or obviously die-out. Will’s showcase piece is a clip of his 3-year old drunken landlord that is “laugh-out-loud” funny.

The business side of his stint is nothing to laugh at with over 1.5 million page views last week reported by Hollywood reporter…see Venture Beat.

Tags: Startups by Startup Addict