It's like the Beatles, but in reverse...and with slightly less hype. Mimeo.com has launched a site for the United Kingdom - www.mimeo.co.uk
It's like the Beatles, but in reverse...and with slightly less hype. Mimeo.com has launched a site for the United Kingdom - www.mimeo.co.uk
Posted at 11:59 AM in Random | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
It’s good to see Larry Cheng has posted a list of current Blogs by Venture Capitalists. It’s interesting to compare the 2009 list to the VC bloggers list from 2006 and the VC Blogger List from 2007.
Posted at 12:46 PM in Start-Ups, Startups, Venture Capital | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 08:11 PM in Data Visualization, Investing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Next NY’s “Jumpstarting Sales in Your Startup” panel last night featured Mark LaRosa of QuotaCrush and Jeff Stewart of Urgent Career. Though the group was lively to begin with, the question that generated the most buzz - "What are the best ways to get past a gatekeeper?" - was such a classic that I had to post the best responses.
Here’s the best of the best that came out of the crowd last night:
Give the gatekeeper the benefit of the doubt. Most salespeople assume that an assistant doesn’t have the time, judgment, or influence to help them, and therefore ask immediately for the decision-maker. Huge mistake! Treat every assistant with the courtesy and respect of a CEO. Doors will magically open for you.
Got any more of your own? We’d love to hear them in the comments.
About the Guest Blogger: Lauren Gilchrist is Urgent Career's "Jill of All Trades," managing operations ranging from finance to marketing to strategy and beyond. A young entrepreneur interested in the intersection of sales and technology, Lauren plans to contribute regularly to Urgent Career's growing web presence as an authority on all things sales. Look for more of Lauren in the coming weeks.
Posted at 06:23 PM in Persistence, Sales and Selling, Start-Ups, Startups, Urgent Career | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Eric Janszen does a masterful job articulating the conditions needed for a massive innovation bubble. His article is required reading for any entrepreneur looking change the world. The move away form oil will be as big as the transformation from animal power to steam, or transformation from steam to oil.
The Tulips Bubble of 1637 is the classic example of an asset bubble. More recently the assets of real-estate, oil, and gold have all had their bubbles. I believe asset bubbles are a natural occurrence given our collective human nature. (I wonder if algometric trading amplifies or dampens our human propensity for froth and panic.)
But innovation bubbles are a different organism. Innovation bubbles are the markets (our collective intelligence) realization that technological change is afoot. Canals and Railroads are the classic example form the 1800. More recent examples include Radio, Automobiles, TV, and the Internet. Fortunes will be made and lost, but in the wake of the bubble a new technology will have taken root.
I can’t wait to see what technologies replace oil and coal, and even more so; I can’t wait to see what entrepreneurs make it happen. Will it be microbiologist hackers modifying algae to produce cheep fuel? Maybe nanotechnologists will invent cheep solar cells that are super efficient. Perhaps some grad student is about to drop out of college to commercialize his ultra-capacitor thus ending the need for batteries.
Moving away from oil will take dozens of new inventions and business models; I am just glad Eric Janszen gives us a roadmap.
Posted at 09:23 AM in clean-tech, Entrepreneurship, Green-Tech, GreenTech, Investing, Science, Start-Ups, Startups, Technology Commercialization, Venture Capital | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
In Mike Nichols’ 1967 classic “The Graduate”, Dustin Hoffman’s character gets “just one word” of advice: “plastics.” It was a sign of the times; the groundbreaking technology was changing everything from consumer goods to space equipment.
Today, a new generation of materials is looking to graduate to the status of plastic. The problem with plastic is its lifecycle. Plastic production is dependent on oil; therefore, the supply chain is susceptible to the vulgarities of economics and geopolitics. Plastic disposal often involves landfills, which come at an astounding expense. The race is on for a greener, cheaper, and more profitable alternative. Scientific drama will unfold, fortunes will be made and lost, and in the end, plastic will take its place among lead, iron and slate as just another material. Algae-based, fungal-based, mineral-based and cellulosic alternative are all in the race.
Paper byproduct Arboform looks like plastic and even employs injection-molding - just like plastic.
The final product can resemble highly polished wood or have a more matted finish and look like the plastic used in most household items.
The transition from Plastic is a saga worth watching, I look forward to the next “New New”.
Note: Greensulate also looks promising.
Posted at 11:09 AM in clean-tech, Film, Green-Tech, GreenTech, Science, Technology Commercialization | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
There is nothing more important for a tech start-up than attracting great employees. As the economy slows, it becomes slightly easier to attract exceptional talent which is great news for start-ups.
The first dozen hires are usually the most critical because this core group will set the culture for the next 100 hires. A hiring mistake early on can set your start-up back months (or worst). When possible this core group should be recruited from existing relationships. Ideally people you have worked with, or have worked directly with people you respect and trust. The problem with this approach is it limits your choices to a much smaller pool of talent, and does not scale as your company grows. That’s where job boards can be handy, especially in a shrinking economy.
As a general rule of thumb I find that the best employees are usually already happily employed. In a growing economy, that means a founder must be super persuasive to get them to join his/her start-up. But in a shrinking economy, like the one we are experiencing now, even capable talent is hitting the job boards.
2005
First Choice – Candidates I have worked with, or have worked with close associates
Second Choice – Candidates currently happily employed elsewhere
Third Choice – Candidates from Job Boards
2009
First Choice – Candidates I have worked with, or have worked with close associates
Second Choice – Candidates from Job Boards
Third Choice – Candidates currently happily employed elsewhere
I have compiled a list of the top 50 Job Boards, ranked by traffic. A mix of well written job postings can yield hundreds of resumes and a handful of viable candidates.
1 Craigslist http://www.craigslist.com 40,500,000
2 Monster http://www.monster.com 27,000,000
3 CareerBuilder http://www.careerbuilder.com 12,600,000
4 LinkedIN http://www.linkedin.com 7,800,000
5 Indeed http://www.indeed.com 7,000,000
6 Simply Hired http://www.simplyhired.com 5,100,000
7 Snag a Job http://www.snagajob.com 3,600,000
8 USAJOBS http://www.usajobs.gov 2,800,000
9 EmploymentGuide.com http://www.employmentguide.com 1,200,000
10 The Ladders http://www.theladders.com 1,000,000
11 Beyond http://www.beyond.com 982,000
12 Top USA Jobs http://www.topusajobs.com 867,000
13 Jobs.com http://jobs.com 864,000
14 Dice.com http://www.dice.com 848,000
15 JobFox http://www.jobfox.com/ 670,000
16 jobster.com http://www.jobster.com 630,000
17 thingamajob.com http://www.thingamajob.com 565,000
18 Vault http://www.vault.com 556,000
19 JobIrn http://www.jobirn.com 517,000
20 JobCentral http://www.jobcentral.com 476,000
21 Yahoo! HotJobs http://www.hotjobs.com 418,000
22 Job Bank USA http://www.jobbankusa.com 416,000
23 FlipDog http://www.flipdog.com 370,000
24 HigherEdJob http://www.higheredjobs.com 297,000
25 Net-Temps http://www.net-temps.com 264,000
26 GoJobs.com http://gojobs.com 263,000
27 NationJob Network http://www.nationjob.com 231,000
28 JuJu.com http://www.juju.com 220,000
29 America's Job Bank http://www.jobbankinfo.org 207,000
30 sologig http://www.sologig.com 186,000
31 brightfuse.com http://www.brightfuse.com 163,000
32 Job Target http://www.jobtarget.com 155,000
33 xing.com - Europe http://www.xing.com 136,000
34 jobscore.com http://jobscore.com/corp 130,000
35 Prohire.com http://jobs.prohire.com 112,000
36 College Recruiter http://www.collegerecruiter.com 98,000
37 climber.com http://www.climber.com 93,000
38 Work Tree http://worktree.com 74,000
39 yotify.com - linkedin alerts http://yotify.com 73,000
40 6figurejobs.com http://6figurejobs.com 72,000
41 Employment911.com http://www.employment911.com 71,000
42 Jobthread http://www.jobthread.com 71,000
43 CareerSite.com http://www.careersite.com 65,000
44 Jobs2web.com http://www.jobs2web.com 62,000
45 Trovix http://www.trovix.com 62,000
46 smuz.com http://smuz.com 59,000
47 VisualCV http://www.visualcv.com 56,000
48 CareerShop.com http://www.careershop.com 51,000
49 The Interview Exchange http://www.interviewexchange.com 51,000
50 Real Match http://www.realmatch.com 50,000
Posted at 06:09 AM in Entrepreneurship, Recruiting , Start-Ups, Startups, Technology Commercialization, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Looks like Dogbert also expounds the benefit of portfolio diversification.
Posted at 09:01 AM in Investing, Random | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Last week I blogged about falling solar panel costs. Several readers theorized offline that the economic downturn might slow production and lead to further panel shortages, thus raising costs and slowing adoption. Good news. This morning my friend in the semiconductor industry forwarded me this iSuppli study indicating that prices are expected to fall a record 20% in 2009.
“In 2009, average prices for panels for new installation contracts will collapse to the US$2.50 to US$2.75 per watt range by the end of 2009, down from the current level of US$4.20 per watt. – iSuppli”
In addition to the advances in solar electric production, we are also seeing advances in power storage, including nano-capacitors.
All this activity further validates my underling theory: we have seen this game before (CPUs, Memory, and Storage). The solar game is just like the computer hardware game, and the winners will be businesses and consumers.
So I ask… who are the Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, Andy Grove, Steve Jobs and Jack Simplot of solar?
also related: Wall Street and Solar
Posted at 12:47 PM in clean-tech, Entrepreneurship, Green-Tech, GreenTech, mogulographies, Technology Commercialization | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Back in October, I blogged about the dropping price of solar and the inevitability of cheap electricity.
This Report illustrates the massive 40% increase in global solar panel production capacity. The report indicates that “incentive schemes and technical advances are having a positive downward impact on photovoltaic costs.” Market value is estimated to reach €40 billion by 2010 while prices for customers continue to drop.
Though today solar is an immaterial component of global energy production, if production keeps growing at 40%, solar could get very big fast.
There is a nice summary at mokkikunta
Posted at 06:05 PM in clean-tech, Data Visualization, Green-Tech, GreenTech, Technology Commercialization | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)