Archive for the ‘Web Visions’ Category
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
Seeing projects and companies develop over a weekend is certainly an interesting phenomenon and says a lot about what hardworking and focused individuals can accomplish. With that however, the question still remains as to what is really needed for startups, especially web startups, in the current state of the web and economy.
First and foremost, the question of money and funding always comes up and usually when it’s not needed. Web startups in particular obviously do not, in their initial stages, require a great deal of capital and this a good thing. Case in point, Startup Weekend groups manage to come together and with copious quantities of coffee, put together working applications or projects that only require hosting etc. Granted, at later stages in development when scaling becomes an issue (a good problem) capital does become necessary but still not to the extent that say a biotech or semiconductor company might need.
So, outside of money and absolute essentials (hosting, servers etc.) what really is needed? Well, clearly the most important asset for a seed-stage startup would be the people and founders. Their vision and sweat equity put into the company will ultimately determine it’s future outcome. Further, with the current state of the economy and the severe drought in M&A transactions, IPO’s, and investments overall (great WSJ numbers for private equity article), it seems that monetization strategies are more important than ever. Even if your application would be a perfect fit with X company, the M&A exit strategy no longer remains as viable an option as it once was (last year). Being able to produce revenue — and profit — that prove your application’s worth will likely become more important as ad revenue/unique visitor strategies become harder to execute.
In any case, startups require a great deal more than the few things I’ve discussed here but it certainly is interesting to consider what becomes more essential over time especially as it relates to major shifts in the economy and development community.
Popularity: 12% [?]
Posted in Web Visions, funding |
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
In the news lately it seems that we are constantly barraged with stories covering the suffering economy, hard financial times, the impending exodus of the baby-boomer generation, and layoffs as a result of any combination of the factors listed above.
With that, it seems natural to conclude that that state of entrepreneurship and startups will change, although it is hard to say for how long and in what specific way. This topic has been discussed at length throughout the startup community but for the most part, the discussion skews towards the age trend in hi-tech startups. Surprisingly enough, out of this discussion came the revelation that in fact, the average age of new tech-entrepreneurs is 39 (Paul Kedrosky chart and post here).
I for one was rather surprised with the average being 39, but given the trends that are occuring in the economy and workforce, it makes total sense. Further, with this trend I think there are some great opportunities that exist for tech startups to move outside common paradigms that prevent some innovation from occurring. As more and more begin to migrate from corporate America with years of experience (and complaints) startups will hopefully be able to fill the major voids that exist in industry no matter their scale. For those younger entrepreneurs that do not yet have ‘management’ experience, the influx in new and highly experienced managers will be very beneficial to the startup ecosystem.
Naturally this phase will have to pass, at least partially, but for the time being the startup community should benefit a great deal from the changes occurring the economy locally and abroad. Being a part of Startup Weekend, I am extremely excited to see how this trend will continue to effect weekends that are organized and hope to continue promoting tech development and awesome communities at each event.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Posted in Web Visions, entrepreneurship |
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Over the past several weeks there have been some interesting posts surfacing about about web 2.0 boredom, the dead or dieing exit market, and topics surrounding the usefulness of applications currently being developed. An interesting post by Fred Wilson regarding web 2.0 investments really got me thinking about for what reason, if any, are the majority of popular apps developed. Certainly there are some reasons that fall outside the scope of money and ‘fame’, but there aren’t many. The push to develop things that matter is certainly there and several companies are trying to truly create economic growth and development with these applications but it is hard to say if/when that will be successful. The immense amount of data and development that does exist could provide enormous opportunities for people/communities that are not currently being reached in the web 2.0 sphere.
In the same light, ReadWriteWeb had an interesting post that basically mirrors these same thoughts occurring throughout the industry.
While a healthy dose of social media is fun and sometimes informative, it rarely taps into our desire to feel as if what we’re doing has meaning or purpose. Being “social” online tends to be a casual activity where you make friends or share news, and not one where you’re fighting to solve the world’s problems.
Whether or not current applications will be able to shift towards promoting social well-being is one question and whether or not they should is an entirely different one. Developing for fun is a great thing and saying that the web should be one way or another defeats the purpose of its structure. There will always be a place for new, fun, and maybe totally useless applications because they are needed and essential to the web culture.
Above all, it has been very interesting and rewarding watching the greater Startup Weekend community play a role in building applications on both sides of this issue.
Popularity: 17% [?]
Tags: web2.0
Posted in Web Visions |
Friday, February 22nd, 2008
One of my favorite parts of working with startups is the educational value it presents. You learn an amazing amount in a short period of time. There are not many events out there that both are extremely focused and spot on valuable to the web and startup world. In steps my discussion on Web Visions. From everything I hear, this is one of those events.
This year Web Visions will be May 22-23 (notice, that is right before the Portland Startup Weekend). A few people are already flying for the Startup Weekend (and many more are coming into town for Web Visions. By scheduling it this way, you can do both events.
Fly in for Web Visions (take a look at the amazing schedule), stay for Startup Weekend. Learn and connect at Web Visions, put it to action at Startup Weekend.
Or something like that.
Make a trip to Portland for two amazing back to back events.
Popularity: 63% [?]
Tags: portland startup weekend, Web Visions
Posted in Web Visions, partnerships |
