Thompson Going to Run! (duh)
August 31, 2007
Sarah Stirland has the story in Wired titled, “Fred Thompson Pre-Announces Himself, Hoping for a Multiplier Effect.” Most interesting part of the story? She used one of my photos from Fred’s visit to Dallas earlier this summer. Not one of my best photos, but hey who’s complaining?
Barcamp Dallas IV ~ 9/29/07
August 30, 2007
Mark your calander, Barcamp Dallas IV has been scheduled for September 29th, 2007 (Saturday). The location is still TBD (if you can host 75-200 all-day guests just add your info to the wiki). What is Barcamp? I will reprint from the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to Barcamp Dallas‘ below:
Background:
The original BarCamp was held in Palo Alto over the weekend of Aug 19th, 2005. Follow-ons have been held in Toronto, New York, Amsterdam and Las Vegas. You can read about it in Wired, Wikipedia or News.com. The idea is that the organizers provide a venue, some projectors and a blank schedule board. The attendees fill in the schedule with activities and presentations and create the actual conference content. Of course, the quality of the event depends on the quality of the attendees, but experience with previous BarCamps (and predecesors like Open Space Technology) show that when presented with the opportunity, people will rise to the occasion.
What to do at Barcamp:
The most important thing you can do a BarCamp is meet fellow technology geeks. Don’t wait to be invited, just walk up to people and introduce yourself. Well, wait for a pause in the conversation first. Many people will be wearing name tags with lists of their interests, it’s perfectly appropriate to start a conversation based on a shared interest. If there’s a group discussing something you’re interested in, walk up and politely join the conversation. If you’re part of a conversation and you see someone at the fringe hanging back, invite them to join in. At BarCamp, there are no spectators, only participants. One of the best ways to participate is by giving a presentation. You should do a presentation. If you don’t like the idea of getting up in front of a group (or don’t think you’re "expert" enough to speak on a topic), then schedule a "group conversation" about a question or topic that interests you. If you’re having trouble picking an idea for a presentation, post your ideas on a page on the wiki and ask for suggestions. There will be slots for 20 minute and 45 minute sessions. If you absolutely don’t want to do a presentation/conversation, don’t sweat it too much, there are other ways to participate, see the Wiki for details.
Why Dallas?
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, Northern Virginia, Seattle, Boston, Portland, Austin, San Diego, Silicon Valley. Notice anything missing? Despite an abundance of geeks (Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit here), Dallas does not normally appear on lists of leading technology communities. It’s up to you to change that. Although the best way to change things is to immediately go off and found your own startup, you could also start attending events like Refresh Dallas, or visit the geek-friendly art at Paul Slocum’s And/Or Gallery, or throw your own event. If enough geeks in Dallas start acting like it’s a tech center, then Dallas geeks will start to get the recognition they deserve.
Start-up Idea: Real Home Inspections
August 28, 2007
If you have ever purchased a house in Texas you likely paid a TREC (Texas Real Estate Commission) inspector to provide you with an inspection report. The inspection is required by most mortgage companies (some do their own inspections depending on the value of the property) and is conducted during the ‘option period.’ My thesis is that TREC inspections are so cursory they provide buyers the wrong information.
Our realtor desperately wanted us to use one of several inspectors he knew. I realized fairly quickly that my best interests and my realtor’s best interests weren’t necessarily aligned. He wanted to make sure we hired a ‘reasonable’ inspector who wouldn’t throw a wrench in the deal. I, on the other hand, wanted to make sure we knew exactly what we were getting into. After asking a few friends for referrals I hired an inspector that works for a residential real estate investor. Once we scheduled the inspection the selling realtor freaked out, she said she wasn’t comfortable with just any inspector and required that we give her his name. After turning over his contact information she asked for his TREC number, only after we supplied it did she agree to allow the inspection to go forward. Interestingly our realtor called the inspector prior to the inspection to ‘prep him’, but I only learned about that call later.
The inspector who examined our property spent nearly the whole day (it was a fairly big house with 6900 square feet) detailing issues he uncovered with the roof, vents, electrical systems, ice makers and so on. There were lots of questions I had, but the questions were not on the TREC form and as a result not covered by the inspection report. I think I paid $750 for the VERY detailed report, but had very little real informaiton to help me decide to buy the property. The report was very accurate, but its accuracy actually helped obscure potentially major issues. For example, I have five HVAC systems in the house and two of them are functioning to spec according to the report, but the report doesn’t say that they are so old that ‘to-spec’ is completely unacceptable and I will have to replace them to the tune of $10,000 (18 month payback).
The Idea: REAL Home Inspections for Pre-Existing Homes
What if you could hire a REAL home inspector (perhaps in addition to the basic TREC inspection) to help you estimate the likely lifespan and cost of ownership of the homes major systems? What if he interviewed the buyer to determine how they intended to use the house, i.e. ‘we are planning to replace the kitchen, put in gas and add twenty new lights.’ Instead of spending his time checking the faucets, GFCI outlets and electric cooktops the REAL inspector would help you determine how much it might cost to pipe gas to the area you want the new stove and if the current electrical panel could handle the additional lighting load you planned. He could look for the ‘gotcha’ budget killers before you buy. By the end of the REAL home inspection he could give you an estimated cost of the kitchen remodel and other planned projects. He might also inform you that the SEER 10 HVAC is working fine, but is so inefficient that you should add in the cost of replacing it with a more energy efficient model before moving in. Get it?
Okay, so someone needs to start this sort of service. Let me know if you do and I would gladly provide an afternoon of free consulting to help you build the offering. Deal?
ServiceGuy News and Staff Additions!
August 27, 2007
We launched ServiceGuy on August 6th after three months of development as I explained in a post titled, "ServiceGuy, better late than never!" We have had a few bumps throughout our launch. First, our VoIP provider flaked on us and we had to get our SIP from someone else (if you sell SIP or IAX connections by the minute please call me). Next, our theory on how users would be able to figure out the sign-up process was wrong. We had to redesign the process and I am happy to announce everyone seems to be getting the hang of our new system. Just when we thought we had all of the bugs figured out it was brought to our attention that we didn’t give the service providers any instructions on how the call would be connected (we just played a beep). Turns out it helps if you tell them what to do when they hear the beep ~ sorry about that. Anyway, most of the bugs have been worked out and we have been watching more and more local providers sign-up each day. Oh, and everyone loves the ServiceGuy voice (countrified Texan cartoon voice).
Interestingly, we had planned to roll out ServiceGuy as a service with the ’secret’ goal of sell private label versions to folks like Sherwin-Williams paints. The idea was simple: offer the referral service to professionals who use your paints and locate the referral numbers on your do-it-yourself webpage. We would build a custom version of ServiceGuy and run it as a managed service for their brand. Funny thing is that we never got the change to pitch the idea; instead two different groups approached us with our own idea and as a result we have been struggling to ramp up our staff to handle the projects (I am pleased to welcome Brad Merritt and Candice Mercado to the team).
In the meantime, if you are in the Dallas area and need a ‘guy’ check out ServiceGuy:
- Dallas Cleaning Services - 214.635.4721
- Dallas Computer Services - 214.635.4701
- Dallas Design Services - 214.635.4705
- Dallas Electrial Services - Coming Soon (no providers are in the system)
- Dallas Handyman Services - 214.635.4709
- Dallas Landscape Services - Coming Soon
- Dallas Moving Services - 214.635.4713
- Dallas Painting Services - 214.635.4715
- Dallas Plumbing Services - Coming Soon
- Dallas Pool Services - 214.635.4703
- Dallas Realtor Services - 214.635.4719
Web 1.0 v. Web 2.0 (or “Blogfight”)
August 27, 2007
Mark Cuban and Fred Wilson are in, what Valleywag calls, "a classic blog battle." Owen Thomas has the complete story in a post titled, "Blogfight: Mark Cuban vs. Fred Wilson." The battle is well covered, but Owen remarks on the marks of a good blog fight:
- Change the subject
- Make it personal
- Assert superior knowledge
Of course, Mark insists that he is Web 2.0 (only he doesn’t brag about it). From the post:
Is the Internet boring? Well, generally speaking, duh. Except, of course, when blogging luminaries get into a scrap over whether it is. Billionaire entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban started things a month ago when, in an offhand sentence, he declared the Internet "dead as a growth platform" because of a stagnation in the speed of home broadband connections. He reiterated his comments to Portfolio.com, and then repeated them on his blog. Say something often enough, and people start to notice. People like Web 2.0 venture capitalist Fred Wilson. A classic blogfight — observing the three rules of the genre — ensued.
PodServe For Sale on eBay (No Reserve)
August 27, 2007
PodServe has just been put up for sale on ebay, here is the listing. We have decided that a retail facing podcasting application is not the best use of time for the Big in Japan team. Launched shortly after Odeo (recently sold for $1MM), PodServe was picked by INC Magazine in 2006 as "Best for Podcasting". The application was presented at Under the Radar 2006, held at Microsoft, and won the Peoples’ Choice award as well as the Best in Show award. The application was reviewed and covered by hundreds of publications including such Web 2.0 mavens as Mike Arrington from TechCrunch.
The application allows users to create accounts, create podcasts and upload recordings for free. Our original intent was to create a ‘pro’ level account whereby users would pay a monthly or yearly fee to use the service with enhanced features such as statistics. Additionally, we thought we would include third-party ads on the web pages and possibly within recordings. We never moved forward with these ideas because we became distracted by third-party requests to create custom forms of the application. PodServe served us well from this standpoint, but we have neglected the application. We almost never update the application or respond to support requests. Early this year we stopped accepting new users (we will turn user sign ups back on for the sale).
Recently a new version of PodServe was written and is now completed (bug testing is still required) and we are faced with the daunting task of launching PodServe 2.0. Our team, sitting around the conference table, decided that we don’t have the resources or passion to commit the time necessary to migrate PodServe 1.0 into PodServe 2.0 at this time. Our thought? What if someone else wanted to take over the application and build a real business around podcasting? What if we could find someone interested in monetizing the application?
Application Stats:
- 5,701,609 subscribers to podcasts
- 6,000,000+ in browser listeners to podcasts
- 5551 podcast authors registered
- 5286 podcasts uploaded and hosted on PodServe
Application Location:
- PodServe 1.0: http://www.pod-serve.com
- PodServe 2.0 (unpublished, not tested): http://www.railsaddict.com:8101/home
- Screenshots on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexmuse/tags/podserve/
What’s Included:
- Name & Trademark
- SourceCode
- Copyright
- URL
- 6 months of hosting (to allow you to migrate system to another host ~ less than $1,000/month in costs)
FiveRuns Q&A at Austin Startup Blog
August 25, 2007
Brian Menell, the author of the Austin Startup Blog, has a nice piece about FiveRuns titled, "Q&A FiveRuns." The company provides enterprise management for folks programing in the Ruby on Rails framework. We first profiled the company back in June of 2006 in a post titled, "FiveRuns Profile." First thing I noticed was their logo. It seems to have changed (new vs old):
.
Wiki Advice from Architel
August 21, 2007
More and more companies are using Wiki’s to manage data, information and communication. Architel has a post titled, "Wiki as an alternative to documentation and email." Check it out.
Start-up Profile: Thoof
August 20, 2007
Josh Morgan pinged me via IM last week and asked why I hadn’t blogged about Thoof (an Austin based start-up). Mike’s guys in the Bay Area covered Thoof on CrunchBase a while back. Josh explained Thoof as a,
"user generated news and information service that learns about what you are interested in and delivers news that you care about. They are based in Austin and led by Ian Clarke (of Freenet and formerly Revver). Ian recently moved to Austin, from Edinburgh, Scotland, to start Thoof. The other piece of Thoof is the ability for users to improve correct or update articles to try and mollify the ‘angry mob’ from determining relevance and controlling the distribution of news. The last piece is the personalization algorithm that Thoof has developed that learns what type of stories you find most interesting. Thoof (www.thoof.com) rolled out in June, they have been steadily adding new features. These new features are part of the constant innovation that founder Ian thinks is critical to creating a really usable source of trusted news."
CrunchBase indicates that Ron Conway was an early investor and that Austin Ventures and Ron invested $1MM in a seed round back in June of this year. My thoughts? I am just too busy to even take a look, sorry Josh!
Wireless Seed Stage Forum 10/17/07 (Austin)
August 17, 2007
Starr Million Baker (have you heard a cooler name?) IM’d me today with an opporuntity for wireless start-ups looking for capital (or investors looking for wireless start-ups to invest in). Here are the details:
The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), together with the Austin Wireless Alliance (AWA), is hosting the first Wireless Seed Stage Forum on October 17, with the purpose of filling a void in the wireless industry, bringing together wireless start-ups and seed stage investors. While it is being held in Austin, this event is open to wireless start-ups nationally and globally (and of course, all over Texas). All the company needs to do to participate is submit its business plan and the nominal $500 fee by September 4 (registration form can be found at www.seedstageforum.com). The cool thing about the submission is that just that one step guarantees the company some level of participation (I’ve detailed out those levels below).
- Level I – Pitch: Selected companies will take the stage to conduct a 10 to 20 minute pitch to relevant seed stage investors. In addition, two members from each selected company will be invited to attend a VIP dinner with key investors and industry executives taking part in the 2007 Texas Wireless Summit. Chosen start-ups in this category will also be given two free passes and demonstration space at the 2007 Texas Wireless Summit, as well as networking and feedback opportunities throughout the event. Lastly, wireless industry experts will vote on the best business plan presented from this group.
- Level II – Attend: Selected companies will be invited to attend the Wireless Seed Stage Forum, thus securing valuable networking and feedback opportunities with wireless industry experts and seed stage investors. Chosen start-ups in this category will also be given two free passes and demonstration space at the 2007 Texas Wireless Summit.
- Level III – Promote: Selected companies in this category will be provided with feedback and constructive advice on their business plans and discounted pricing for the 2007 Texas Wireless Summit. Additionally, each investor attending the Wireless Seed Stage Forum will receive a copy of every company’s one-page overview with contact information.
How To: Make Your Own VC Referrals!
August 17, 2007
You need a referral to get most VCs to return your call. If you are trying to raise capital from VCs you will need to talk to them over the phone to a) gauge their interest in your business, b) see if your business philosophies mesh and c) to schedule the ever important face-to-face meeting. When I was in money raising mode in the late nineties there were over 1,000 venture capital firms across the United States. I must have talked to more than 100 of them, scheduling meetings with perhaps half of that many. I could get less than 10% of venture partners to even return my call without a referral.
Today, lots of people call me and ask, "do you know such-and-such at such-and-such venture firm, I need a referral." In some cases where I know both the entrepreneur and the venture partner I will make a call to grease the wheels. In other cases I may just say, "you can use my name and explain that I recommended you call." It all depends on how well I know the entrepreneur or the VC. Bottom line, in my experience, without a referral you aren’t very likely to receive a return call. With a referral your success rate will be 50/50 based on the quality and type of referral.
For those of you who don’t know me and need a referral to a specific VC I recommend a simple way to "Make Your Own VC Referral."
- Step One: Determine which firms you want to talk to. Based this decision on which firms have previously funded deals in your space.
- Step Two: Figure out which partner at your target firms you want to work with. Based this decision on which partners managed the deals you used to decide which firm to call.
- Step Three: Contact the CEOs of the companies the VC partner funded. Let the CEO know that you are considering working with one of their VCs and suggest that you plan to talk to the partner they work with. See if he will answer a few questions about his experience with them. Usually a CEO will return your call very quickly. Ask him real questions that might help you determine if, in fact, you really want to work with the firm and partner you found on the Internet. Hint: not every VC is fun to work with.
- Step Four: Contact the VC partner (i.e. leave him a message) and explain that you had a chance to talk to such-and-such CEO of his portfolio company. Tell him that based on that conversation he sounds like just the sort of investor you are interested in working with. Ask him if he would be interested in getting together for coffee to discuss your business. More often than not you will get a return call.
Get it? By following these simple steps you can create your own referral. Of course, don’t be deceptive, the VC will soon realize that you don’t really know his CEO and that is fine. You are obviously the sort of business person that does his homework. You are just as concerned about him as he should be in you and your business.
One side note, if you ever see that "submit a plan" button on a VCs website run away. NEVER, EVER submit your business plan blindly to a VC. You don’t want to be ‘that guy.’ Always send your plan to a real person, someone you have actually talked to. It would be like putting a "Submit Termsheet" button on your website. If you actually got one from someone who obviously knows nothing about you would you take it seriously (assuming you can make payroll next month). Good Luck!
Transitioning from start-up phase to build-up phase
August 14, 2007
When exactly does a company cease being a start-up? Answers.com suggests that a start-up is a "business or an undertaking that has recently begun operation: grew from a tiny start-up to a multimillion-dollar corporation." We have been starting-up Architel since late 2001, but I always considered the business to be a ’start-up’. I am not sure why, but recently my feelings changed. Now that we have brought in ‘real’ operators the business seems to have transitioned to a new phase. Of course, I still classify the business as small (under $10MM). The feelings and emotions around this change must be like watching your child go off to college.
I call the second phase, the ‘build-up’ phase. The build-up phase is where the warts begin to show. During the start-up phase you had to keep your fears and concerns bottled up less someone figure out that you didn’t really know what you were doing. In the back of your mind you knew all about the flaws and weaknesses with your business, but you had enough passion to muscle through the problems. In build-up you will have to lay all of your cards on the table and allow your operators to understand what is really going on. Fortunately, if you hired well, your operators will have been there and seen that before. What you thought were your deepest, darkest secrets are simply problems to be solved. Let your problem solvers do their jobs.
During build-up the business has grown to a size and complexity that you can no longer just ‘will’ things into action. Your old habits may actually screw up the process. You will need to step back and let your operators drop a few balls. If you run in and undermine them (i.e. save them) you will slow the transition from start-up to build-up. You might even run off the very operators who will help you take your business to the next level. It has been hard to step back and let someone else steer the ship at Architel, very hard. I have screwed up a few times (maybe more than a few), but I am confident that we have the right team for a new chapter in the business.
Ironically, just when you think the hardwork is behind you, i.e. once you let go and let the operators run with the ball, the really hardwork begins. Now that you are no longer working ‘in’ the business your operators need you to work ‘on’ the business, helping them shape and define products within the new context they are shaping. The old ways, the old justifcations, the old models won’t necessarily work given the new set of circumstances they have created. Your operators are breaking the old mold and you need to help them create a new one. You can’t let them do this for you. Why not? You are the founder and the creator. You need to make sure the DNA of the start-up can still be found in the build-up. Get it?
Timothy Ferriss: Ruining Lives Four Hours at a Time!
August 9, 2007
Ever heard of a booked titled "The Four-Hour work Week"? I have firsthand experience how this book (if you follow it’s advice) can ruin your business and personal relationships. I have had a casual business/personal relationship with someone (who doesn’t read my, or anyone else’s blog) for more than five years. Recently he read Timothy Ferriss’ "The Four-Hour work Week" and our relationship became so strained I wonder if it will ever recover. Just prior to reading the book he became a client of one of our companies, but after reading Timothy’s book my team explained he was simply impossible to work with (he is no longer a customer). I didn’t put two and two together until I picked up the book myself. I suddenly realized he was taking Timothy’s advice to heart. What sort of advice?
This 20-something kid outlines a life of lies, manipulation and isolation. For example in chapter seven Timothy suggests that readers, "Learn to be difficult when it counts." He explains that having a reputation for being hard to deal with will encourage others to give you preferential treatment. Really? Perhaps in the short term you might have limited success, but what are you giving up? How many possible relationships and opportunities are you forgoing for a quick win? Doesn’t it seem like we are living in a world looking for a quick fix? In that same chapter he suggests that you "act like an imbecile" in an effort to get what you want. The CEO of Architel (our IT services business who services my associate) worked directly with my associate and explained chapter and verse how he followed a gameplan outlined in the book. My associate doesn’t answer his emails anymore, he has a girl overseas answer them. He doesn’t answer his phone or return calls. His business is failing because he can’t interact with the very people he is hiding from. He is a mess and slowly but surely he is disconnecting from the world around him. Sure he may only work a few hours per week, but to what end? More vacation time? What is wrong with building lasting and valuable relationships with people outside of your immediate family? Who will go to his funeral? Is life about having more time? Or is life about people? Perhaps we should spend more time, not less, on how to get along with our fellow man…
Don’t get me wrong, there are lot of little hints in the book that could help everyone work smarter, but the costs are too high. The life outlined by Timothy is sad and loney. My suggestion? If you are interested in ‘lifehacks’ start reading Merlin Mann’s blog instead. Merlin’s got a few grey hairs on Timothy, and his advice is really helpful. His latest project is called Inbox Zero (action-based email) check it out here. Also, check out David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done (GTD).
ServiceGuy, better late than never!
August 6, 2007
We have been swamped with projects, but finally launched ServiceGuy in limited release this afternoon. Limited release? We only launched in Dallas and for now only have four services available: computer support, pool cleaning, design and moving (we might launch the rest tomorrow if all goes well this evening).
What is ServiceGuy? I wrote about it back in May in a post titled, "Quick Project: ServiceGuy Referral Network" when I was having trouble finding a pool guy. The idea is simple: You need help now. You don’t want to wait to receive a call back. You don’t want to wait for an email response. You don’t want to create an account or provide demographic data. You want to talk to a service provider in your area right NOW! Just call the ServiceGuy number for your area and the service you need. Your call is then connected to a service provider. No voicemail. No email. No accounts. Just a direct connect to someone who can help you right NOW!
Phase one of our launch is focused on seeding each service with providers. We need to find a minimum of 25 providers in each category before phase two can begin. Phase two of our launch is focused on getting consumers to call our providers. Once we have Dallas up and running we will launch other markets in quick succession.
VooDoo Venture Capital: How much to raise?
August 6, 2007
Over the years I have written several posts discussing how much money a startup should raise. The obvious answer is ‘as much as you possibly can.’ The right answer is completely related to so many different factors no one can give it to you without understanding your specific situation. That being said, Dick Costolo has a great post titled, "Series A Financing: How Much to Raise?" He concluded that you should NOT raise as much as you can:
No, I still don’t think you should raise as much as you can, for several reasons, but I’ll just highlight the most important. You will spend what you raise. If you raise $10 million, you will quickly ramp up to a burn rate of $800k a month, because the investors don’t want their money to sit in a bank account earning interest with 36 months of runway while you hire employees 2 and 3. The amount of money you raise sets you off on a course at a specific pace. Your board will want to know why you aren’t deploying capital. You will hire a marketing team because you can afford to hire a marketing team. You will hire a vp of sales before the product is ready because you can afford to hire a VP of sales. Companies that raise $10 million dollar A rounds don’t raise $5 million dollar B rounds, they raise $30 million dollar B rounds. If you have not accurately predicted how quickly you can grow the top line, you will quickly find that the cap table has gotten away from you, and you will have less flexibility to build the company the way you might like to if the market zigs when you thought it would zag. You want to give yourself the flexibility and room to react to market forces so that you can build the best company possible. [via]
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