2010-04-06T20:00:00-07:00

2010-04-06T18:00:00-07:00

2010-02-12T22:25:48-08:00

2010-03-03T15:27:38-08:00

2010-02-12T22:15:43-08:00

The orientation will provide an overview of the next four months of the Founder Institute, answer questions and provide a networking time for all new founders to meet each other. 285

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Founder Institute Orientation Daily Reading: Mark Suster's blog - Mark is a 2x entrepreneur who has gone to the Dark Side of VC. He joined <a href="http://www.grpvc.com/" target="_blank">GRP Partners</a> in 2007 as a General Partner. He focuses on early-stage technology companies. <a href="http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/">http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/</a> The Roach Post has a single goal: to provide the best news and resources for entrepreneurs and startups on venture capital, angel investors, business plans, and everything else your company needs to succeed. Led by Eric Roach,  – by and for those who make things happen. <a href="http://roachpost.com/">http://roachpost.com/</a> TechCrunch was founded on June 11, 2005, as a weblog dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies. In addition to covering new companies, we profile existing companies that are making an impact (commercial and/or cultural) on the new web space. <a href="http://techcrunch.com/">http://techcrunch.com</a>

2010-03-03T15:28:28-08:00

Develop either (a) three different business ideas or (b) three idea refinements using the techniques described by the Mentors. These techniques include leveraging 'creative time", undergoing interviews, and matrix mapping untapped market opportunities. Discuss with your Working Groups the merits of each technique and other methods that you use to accomplish this assignment. The Working Group will report back lessons learned and different techniques at the beginning of the next Session. Develop the first step of building your Executive Summary & Pitch Deck. 1. The Idea: You should lead with the most compelling statement of why you have a really big idea. This sentence (or two) sets the tone for the rest of the executive summary. Usually, this is a concise statement of the unique solution you have developed to a big problem. It should be direct and specific, not abstract and conceptual. If you can drop some impressive names in the first paragraph you should—world-class advisors, companies you are already working with, a brand name founding investor. Don’t expect an investor to discover that you have two Nobel laureates on your advisory board six paragraphs later. He or she may never get that far.

2010-04-07T22:00:00-07:00

2010-04-07T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T11:28:24-07:00

2010-03-03T12:35:19-08:00

2009-09-25T11:21:33-07:00

What are you passionate about? What is your vision? How do you translate passion and vision into a business idea? How do you brainstorm ideas? What are tools for evaluating your ideas? What are the makings of a good idea versus a bad idea? Should you pursue multiple ideas at once, and when should you focus on one? Develop ideas for your business. 161

Your Vision and Idea Types <h3>Reading</h3> <div> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Companies-Leap-Others/dp/0066620996" target="_blank">Good to Great</a> by Jim Collins- Required Reading - Teaches what it takes to build great companies from day one. </li> </ul> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Product-Design-Development-Karl-Ulrich/dp/0071259473/" target="_blank">Product Design and Development</a> by Karl Ulrich - Similar interviewing technique outlined by Phillip Kaplan. The book presents a set of product development techniques aimed at bringing together the marketing, design, and manufacturing functions of the enterprise.</li> <li> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Database-Design-Mere-Mortals-Hands/dp/0201752840/" target="_blank">Database Design for Mere Mortals</a> by Michael Hernandez - Explains the technique of using sentence subjects to build a database model outlined by Phillip Kaplan. The author explains data integrity, null values, keys, table relationships, and data types. He emphasizes processes designers should follow in building a new database or improving an existing one.  </li> </ul> </div>

2010-03-03T12:35:46-08:00

Take ideas developed from the first Session and put them through basic "top down" and "bottom up" research. RESEARCH: Identify the market and the market segment of the idea. Try to place a total revenue estimate for the market and the segment, and identify other market characteristics (age, growth rate, average company size). Identify relevant conferences and try to find video or transcripts of sessions. List similar companies in the market. Research people working at those companies on LinkedIn and examine what they are working on. Try to find sales and investor presentations online from similar companies. RESULTS: Rank your ideas from the best to the worst based on the research, and eliminate the worst ideas. Check in with your Working Groups on the research tools and techniques that were the most and least useful.

2010-04-14T22:00:00-07:00

2010-04-14T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T11:31:29-07:00

2009-10-12T12:33:15-07:00

2009-09-25T11:21:34-07:00

What market are you pursuing? Is it big enough? Is it growing or shrinking? What are the other characteristics of your market, and why do you care? How do you find data on your market? How do you define your competitors? What are inexpensive tactics to do custom market research? How can you determine if you can win in your target market, and when do you decide to walk away? Validate your idea and target market. 171

Basic Research <h3>Reading</h3> <div> <ul> <li><a href="http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=E165&referral=2340">Note on Market Research</a> by Rob Chess, who is a lecturer at Stanford GSB (premium) - Helps entrepreneurs understand how to use market research and market information to test the validity of a business concept and to refine a business plan.</li> <li><a href="http://www.edwardlowe.org/index.elf?page=sserc&storyid=6357&function=story#conducting">How to Prepare a Market Analysis</a> by Edware Lowe - Checklist of resources for gathering market data and offers perspective regarding common market research tools and methods.</li> <li><a title="BLS" href="http://www.bls.gov/" target="_blank">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> - great place to find industry data and growth projections. Resource for statistics when conducting market research and trends.</li> <li><a title="Startup metrics" href="http://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/startup-metrics-for-pirates-march-2009" target="_blank">Startup Metrics</a> - slides by Dave McClure - metrics on marketing, discusses key goals, business plan strategy, and offers other great resources especially for webs startups.</li> </ul> </div>

2010-02-12T21:55:14-08:00

First, define your personal and business brand. Write one sentence on what you stand for. Write one sentence on what qualities you want your business to embody. Next, identify and organize competitor names into a list of functional, invested, experiential, and evocative categories. Third, brainstorm a list of your own names. Finally, score your names on a 1-10 basis across the 9 categories of appearance, distinctiveness, depth, energy, humanity, positioning, sound, "33," and trademark availability, selecting the best three.

2010-04-21T22:00:00-07:00

2010-04-21T18:00:00-07:00

2009-10-03T16:45:01-07:00

2009-10-12T12:36:44-07:00

2009-10-03T16:41:02-07:00

How important is a good name? What are the different types of names, and how do you choose a good one? What are the best practices to find, review, and select a name from a battery of options? What do you need to do to protect your name? How does a name reflect your brand? What is your brand? Name and brand your business. 281

Naming and Branding <h3>Reading </h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.igorinternational.com/process/igor-naming-guide.pdf">Igor Naming Guide</a> - Required Reading - As discussed by Jay, the naming guide provides a framework to think about product and business names. Very comprehensive and thorough resource.</li> <li><a href="http://www.hopperanddropper.com/Site/Rich_Bartons_Blog/Entries/2009/5/31_Syllables%2C_Scrabble_Letters%2C_and_Picking_Brand_Names.html" target="_blank">Zillow Article</a> - Required Reading - Answers the question, "Should we call our site something literal or should we make up a new word?"  Offers thoughts about naming, words, and branding. </li> </ul> <h3>Partners</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.99designs.com" target="_blank">99Designs</a> - Waiver of logo design contest listing fees, plus free credits for premium listing upgrades.</li> </ul> <h3>Other Resources</h3> <div> <ul> <li><a href="http://fusename.com/Fusenames.html" target="_blank">FuseName Word Analysis Tool</a> - Free Tool by Bryan Thatcher to help test names</li> <li><a href="http://www.godaddy.com" target="_blank">GoDaddy.com</a> - Inexpensive Domain Registrar</li> <li><a href="http://www.uspto.gov/" target="_blank">US Patent and Trademark Office</a> - Research  patents and trademarks</li> <li><a href="http://www.pcnames.com/generator/" target="_blank">PCnames Word Generator</a> - Merge Words to Create Names</li> <li><a href="http://www.brandbucket.com/brands/" target="_blank">Brands for Sale</a> - Listing of current brands for sale. Get some interesting and creative ideas from existing brands up for sale</li> <li><a title="Name Testing" href="http://www.eatmywords.com/home_smilescratchtest.html" target="_blank">Name Testing</a> - Company that helps you name your business. Offers tips and tricks for naming a business.</li> </ul> </div> <ul> </ul>

2010-02-12T21:55:14-08:00

2010-04-28T22:00:00-07:00

2010-04-28T18:00:00-07:00

2010-02-12T21:40:49-08:00

2010-02-12T21:37:45-08:00

Bring it all together - Idea, Research & Naming & Branding 282

Founder Institute Working Session

2010-02-12T21:55:14-08:00

First, create a vision for where you are going and generate an analogy that easily conveys your vision. Set-up the infrastructure to understand the most recent trends surrounding your vision with RSS feeds and followings on Twitter. Then, build a simple mock-up of your offering and speak to regular people about it. Sell the mock-up to your Working Group, and improve the mock-up based on the feedback and questions. Finally, identify unorthodox and controversial next steps to launch your idea.

2010-05-05T23:00:00-07:00

2010-05-05T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T11:34:41-07:00

2010-02-12T21:45:39-08:00

2009-09-25T11:21:38-07:00

How do you get from an idea to an offering? How do you build an offering? What tactics should you use to ensure success? What is the plan to develop your offering? What are tips and tricks to make that plan accurate? What are common mistakes that every founder makes? What are the best practices? How do you navigate competition, and how do you win? Develop a plan to build your idea. 181

Company Roadmap <h3>Reading</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671723650" target="_blank">How to Win Friends and Influence People</a> by Dale Carnegie - Required Reading - You learn how to make people like you, win people over to your way of thinking, and change people without causing offense or arousing resentment. </li> </ul> <h3>Partners</h3> <ul> <li> <a title="Microsoft Bizspark" href="http://www.microsoft.com/BizSpark/Startup/Signup.aspx" target="_blank">Microsoft BizSpark</a> - Offering free/ discounted software, support, and visibility to help your startup grow. </li> <li><a title="Microsoft Empower" href="https://partner.microsoft.com/40011351" target="_blank">Microsoft Empower</a> - Offering free licenses to all MS operating systems, MS Office Professional, Project Professional, Visio, and the full range of MS integrated server software. </li> <li><a title="Elance" href="http://www.elance.com/?rid=1JAGR" target="_blank">Elance</a> - Unlimited premium listings for 1 year to Elance - the leading place to hire expert freelancers, consultants, and outsourcers to do your work. </li> <li><a title="MediaTemple" href="http://mediatemple.net/webhosting/dv/" target="_blank">MediaTemple</a> - This premier hosting company is giving Founders 35% off their entire line of dedicated virtual private server offerings ("dv") - for both monthly and yearly packages.</li> <li><a title="Wrike.com" href="http://www.wrike.com" target="_blank">Wrike</a> - Offering all Founders a free 12-month subscription to Wrike's award-winning project management software (5 licenses per company/ team).</li> <li><a title="Weebly" href="http://weebly.com" target="_blank">Weebly</a> - Offering all Founders a free 12-month subscription to Weebly Pro - the web's leading drag-and-drop website creation service. </li> </ul> <h3>Other Resources</h3> <div> <ul> <li><a title="Protoshare" href="http://www.protoshare.com" target="_blank">Protoshare </a>- Collaborative wireframe and prototype tool. Web-based collaborative tool that helps teams quickly build, discuss, and refine clickable website, and web application, prototypes. </li> <li><a title="Pivitoal Tracker" href="http://www.pivotaltracker.com" target="_blank">Pivotal Tracker </a>- Agile project planning tool. Enables real time collaboration around a shared, prioritized backlog. </li> <li><a title="Google Alerts" href="http://www.google.com/alerts" target="_blank">Google Alerts </a>- Email or RSS alerts based on keywords sent to your email.</li> <li><a title="Google Reader" href="http://www.google.com/reader" target="_blank">Google Reader </a>- RSS reader built into Google.</li> </ul> </div>

2010-02-12T22:00:46-08:00

Define your one and only business model in a one paragraph statement. Is it business-to-business or business-to-consumer? Can you create a virtuous cycle with reinforcing stakeholders? Can you engage potential competition by turning them into revenue-earning partners? Is your model symmetric or asymmetric? How many steps does it take before you make money? If there are more than two or three, then you need to reconsider. What are the three to five key assumptions that make your model successful? How can you check, double check, and triple these assumptions?

2010-05-12T23:00:00-07:00

2010-05-12T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T11:37:22-07:00

2010-02-12T21:59:00-08:00

2009-09-25T11:33:06-07:00

How do you get revenue, grow revenue, and track revenue? How do you scale your business from the first dollar earned to the millionth? How important is early revenue versus long-term potential? What are symmetrical versus asymmetrical models, and which type of model holds the most promise for your business? What are the various routes to market that you can take? How do you set your revenue goals, and how do you go about meeting them? Build a revenue model for your business. 191

Earning Revenue <h3>Partners</h3> <ul> <li><a title="Intuit Quickbooks" href="http://www.qboe.com/" target="_blank">Intuit</a> - Intuit's QuickBooks is the #1 small business financial software. They are giving us 30% off Quickbooks Online Plus. </li> </ul>

2010-02-12T22:00:49-08:00

First, develop an interview process with written questions that includes sequential resume analysis. Identify your personal interviewing weaknesses, and work to ensure that the interview questions overcome these shortcomings. Produce the questions as a form that will be attached to each resume, and include special questions, such as "what would other people say about you that is incorrect?" Second, develop a script to interview both primary references and backchannel references, and also turn this into a form. Third, identify your next critical hire and write a brief role description. Forth, develop a test for the candidate to take, which could be an assignment. Fifth, work to expand your social network on LinkedIn and in the real world to include the type of person that you are looking to hire next.

2010-05-19T23:00:00-07:00

2010-05-19T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T11:38:37-07:00

2009-10-12T12:43:45-07:00

2009-09-25T11:33:08-07:00

Do you need a cofounder? How do you find and choose a cofounder? What employees do you need, and when do you need them? How do you hire and fire employees? What are important qualities to look for in employees? How do you decipher a resume? What are compensation guidelines? How do you set expectations? When is it easiest and hardest to find the best resources, and why? Implement hiring policies and practices. 201

Hiring and Firing <h3>Partners</h3> <ul> <li> <a title="NeoHire" href="http://www.neohire.com " target="_blank">NeoHire</a> - The premier online media and technology recruiting agency is offering Founders 75% off their services (or the hard cost, whichever is less) and free consultation. </li> <li> <a title="TheResumator" href="http://www.theresumator.com/home/s:founders" target="_blank">The Resumator</a> - 6 months of Grow Plan access (up to 10 open jobs) to the leading applicant management and job listing software. </li> <li> <a title="TopGrading" href="http://www.amazon.com/Topgrading-Leading-Companies-Coaching-Keeping/dp/1591840813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253130195&sr=8-1" target="_blank">TopGrading</a> by Bradford Smart - How to hire the smartest and best people for your company. A best-practices manual for developing a top talent pool of hires. </li> </ul>

2010-02-12T22:00:32-08:00

2010-05-26T22:00:00-07:00

2010-05-26T18:00:00-07:00

2010-02-12T21:58:20-08:00

2010-02-12T21:57:24-08:00

283

Founder Institute Working Session

2010-02-12T21:58:20-08:00

Develop a 'culture of intellectual property' for your startup. Begin by copyrighting all of your appropriate writing, code, and other assets. Adopt a mutual non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and label material confidential where appropriate. Research relevant patents in your market sector, and identify three to five areas offensive and defensive areas of intellectual property in your business. Outline and draft a specification for unique intellectual property based on your idea.

2010-06-09T23:00:00-07:00

2010-06-09T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T11:47:42-07:00

2009-10-12T12:46:15-07:00

2009-09-25T11:44:53-07:00

How do you manage your intellectual property using confidentiality, copyrights, and patents? What is the intellectual property of your business? What types of protections are available, and what are the costs? How do you file a patent quickly, cheaply, and with the necessary protections? What can you do on your own, and what do you need an attorney for? How do you pick the right attorney? How much does protecting your intellectual property cost, and why should you do it? File your provisional patents. 221

Intellectual Property <h3>Reading</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Patent-Yourself-David-Pressman/dp/0873378016">Patent it Yourself</a> by David Pressman - detailed and comprehensive guide to the process of getting a patent. The definitive and complete guide you need to navigating the patent process.</li> </ul> <h3>Partners</h3> <ul> <li><a title="Patent Express" href="http://www.patentexpress.com" target="_blank">Patent Express</a> - 40% off ALL services offered - including affordable patent, trademark, copyright, international, and IP consultation services.</li> </ul> <h3>Other Resources</h3> <div> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.google.com/patents">Google Patents</a> - Searches patent database for relevant patents</li> <li><a href="http://www.justia.com/dockets">Justia</a> - Other legal resources (Federal District Court Filings and Dockets). Provides internet users with free case law, codes, regulations, legal articles and legal blog databases, as well as community resources. </li> <li><a href="http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/index.html">FindLaw</a> - Leading provider of online legal information and internet marketing solutions for law firms. Huge database of resources regarding legal issues from finding lawyers to researching rules and finding legal forms. </li> <li><a href="http://www.docstoc.com">DocStoc</a> - Legal document directory with other professional documents available</li> <li><a title="PACER" href="http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/" target="_blank">PACER </a>- Access to online public court documents</li> <li><a title="USPTO" href="http://www.uspto.gov/" target="_blank">USPTO </a>- Patent and trademark research resource</li> <li><a title="Patent Law Essentials" href="http://www.amazon.com/Patent-Law-Essentials-Alan-Durham/dp/0313353948/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253127709&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Patent Law Essentials </a>- Helpful resource on patent law for business people</li> </ul> </div>

2010-02-12T22:05:04-08:00

Determine if you are ready to incorporate your business based on your own enthusiasm for the business idea and any restrictions from your employment obligations. If you are ready or if you are already incorporated, identify the best law firm that you can find to represent your business and negotiate a good deal for your working relationship. The Institute recommends that each Founder engage with WSGR (Yokum Taku - YTaku@wsgr.com), leveraging the special offer of $1,000 in set-up fees with $5,000 in deferred fees. If you do not have a company, create a Delaware C corporation or Subchapter S corporation for your business. If you have a company that requires cleanup, create a new Delaware C corporation or Subchapter S corporation and move the assets of your current company to this entity. Evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of using the templates from Institute for incorporation: http://bit.ly/Y3GYf. Convince your Working Group team members that you should graduate from the Institute and join the Bonus Pool based on having completed all assignments to date, having a strong business idea, and being dedicated to seeing your business idea succeed. By Monday morning each Working Group President must submit analysis of the Institute incorporation templates as a session note, and a list of each Founder in the Working Group, scoring the Founder as: (Excited) exited to have join the Bonus Pool, (Invited) invited to join the Bonus Pool, (Not Ready) not ready to Join the Bonus Pool, (Not Invited) not invited to join the Bonus Pool, or (Dropped Out) dropped out of the program. The Institute recommends that each Founder in a Working Group evaluates all of the Founders in that group for the Presidential report due on Monday Morning.

2010-06-16T23:00:00-07:00

2010-06-16T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T11:46:58-07:00

2009-10-03T17:27:55-07:00

2009-09-25T11:44:50-07:00

Why incorporate at all? What is the right corporate structure for your business to attract and retain the best founders, employees, investors, customers, and partners? How do you incentivize a founding team with equity? How do incentivize a Board of Directors and a Board of Advisors? How do you manage a Board of Directors? What are the necessary corporate formalities? What are the costs of incorporation? Incorporate the business. 211

Startup Legal and Incorporation <h3>Partners </h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://wsgr.com/WSGR/Index.aspx">Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati</a> - Producing Founder friendly incorporation documents.</li> </ul>

2010-02-12T22:05:30-08:00

Define the key business functions for your company in one spreadsheet column, such as hiring, developing the product, sales, or customer service. Provide three following columns for the stage of your business: (1) Pre-launch, (2) Post-launch, and (3) Post-hiring team members. Rate which business functions need to be done "in-house" and which business functions should be "outsourced" at each stage of the business. For those businesses that should be "outsourced" in the current phase of the business, provide additional columns with potential vendor names. Use vendors with negotiated discounts from the Institute where possible: http://tr.im/vCma. Notify your Working Group President of common business functions that the Institute does not have existing partnerships with, as well as "best of breed" partner recommendations. Working Group Presidents must submit a list of missing target partners to Jonathan Greechan, jonathan@thefunded.com.

2010-06-23T23:00:00-07:00

2010-06-23T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T11:48:40-07:00

2009-10-03T16:40:52-07:00

2009-09-25T11:44:55-07:00

What is the core competency of your team, and what should it to be? What should you insource and what should you outsource? What vendors do you need? How do you select the best vendors for your business on the best terms? What guidelines should you use? How do you evaluate the economics? What are some horror stories to avoid? Select key vendors. 231

Partners and Suppliers <h3>Partners </h3> <ul> <li> <a title="Elance" href="http://www.elance.com/?rid=1JAGR" target="_blank">Elance</a> - Unlimited premium listings for 1 year to Elance - the leading place to hire expert freelancers, consultants, and outsourcers to do your work. </li> </ul>

2010-02-12T22:06:43-08:00

2010-06-30T23:00:00-07:00

2010-06-30T18:00:00-07:00

2010-02-12T22:02:36-08:00

2010-02-12T22:01:24-08:00

Pitch Night Review 284

Founder Institute Working Session

2010-02-12T22:07:54-08:00

Start by updating your social media presence, images, and descriptions to ensure that they represent a professional image. Next, check with peers in your Working Group and at least two industry experts, possibly mentors, that you building a compelling offering that people want. Third, write one paragraph for each type of audience that you are trying to reach with your offering. What is their demographic composition? What do they care about? How does your solution help them? What do they do, and what do they read? Fourth, write one simple marketing statement that is a promise that you make to all of your target audiences about your offering. What do you stand for? Do you have an enemy or a controversy? Fifth, identify three or four of the major steps that it will take to convert your target audiences to a user of your offering. Come up with ways to measure these and track these with a reporting system.

2010-07-07T23:00:00-07:00

2010-07-07T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T11:49:55-07:00

2009-10-12T12:48:12-07:00

2009-09-25T11:44:58-07:00

What is the story of your company and your offering? How do you sell that story? Who are you trying to reach with the story? Do you solve a problem, create controversy, offer something new? Are you a pain killer or a vitamin? What is your brand? What are the best tactics for your outreach: publicity, guerilla marketing, advertising? How do you measure the success of your efforts and your spending? Create a marketing and publicity plan. 241

Marketing and Publicity <h3>Partners</h3> <ul> <li> <a href="http://conferenceguru.com/">Conference Guru</a> - 50% off already discounted conference and event tickets. </li> <li> <a href="https://www.myprgenie.com/">MyPRGenie</a> - Offering 3 months free of press access and release postings ($900 value). </li> <li> <a title="PRNewswire" href="http://prnewswire.com" target="_blank">PRNewswire</a> - Free 12-month membership, plus over $2,000 in free and discounted services. </li> <li> <a title="SalesConX" href="http://salesconx.com" target="_blank">SalesConX</a> - 3 months of On-Demand Salesforce service for the price of 1 month (approximate $5,000 value - sales based commision still applies). </li> <li> <a href="http://thefunded.constantcontact.com/" target="_blank">Constant Contact</a> - This leading email marketing and online survey tool company helps more than 275,000 businesses connect with their audience. They are giving Founders a free 90-day trial. </li> </ul> <h3>Resources</h3> <ul> <li><a title="Sentiment Metrics" href="http://www.sentimentmetrics.com" target="_blank">Sentiment Metircs</a> - Monitors and analyzes social and online media including blogs, micro-blogs, forums, online news, photos, and video sharing.</li> <li><a title="Buzzlogic" href="http://www.buzzlogic.com" target="_blank">Buzzlogic</a> - A technology platform and premium display ad network that hyper-targets influential social media sites. Calculates the credibility of conversational media and maps social graph around each site's content.</li> <li><a title="Trackur" href="http://www.trackur.com" target="_blank">Trakur</a> - Advanced tools to monitor social media. Online reputation and social media monitoring tool designed to assist in tracking what is said about you on the internet.</li> <li><a title="Techrigy" href="http://www.techrigy.com" target="_blank">Techirgy</a> - Social media monitoring tool recognized by industry leaders.</li> <li><a title="Filtrbox" href="http://www.filtrbox.com" target="_blank">Filtrbox</a> - Real-time social media monitoring. Filtering out the noise and delivering timely market intelligence.</li> </ul>

2010-02-12T22:12:12-08:00

Write out the next 3 most important steps that are actionable by you to continue development of your product. Create a plan to execute as much of these 3 steps over the next week. Develop and list the next 10 steps you will need to take in the next 2 weeks to progress your company as a whole and your product. Identify and list the 2 most important things founder must learn to progress business over the next week.

2010-07-14T23:00:00-07:00

2010-07-14T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T11:50:38-07:00

2009-10-03T16:56:56-07:00

2009-09-25T11:45:00-07:00

How do you present your business to target partners and investors? What are the tricks to captivate and retain attention? What makes for a great presentation, and what makes for a bad one? How do you convey enthusiasm, conviction, and success? How do your meeting reflect on your company culture? How can you innovate in your meetings to reflect your culture and be more productive? Create a perfect pitchdeck. 251

Presentation

2010-02-12T22:12:10-08:00

Start by signing-up for an account at TheFunded.com and mention "Founder Institute" in the Reasoning field. Next, using your financial model from the Revenue, Accounting, and Metrics sessions, identify how much capital you will require to reach the next significant milestone in your offering development. Multiply this number by 1.5 to 2.0 times to cover for any delays or setbacks and then add six months of operating capital once this milestone is reached assuming no revenues. This number will be your "Initial Launch Cost." Third, determine if there are alternative ways besides raising money from either Angels or Venture Capitalists to finance the Initial Launch Cost, such as personal savings, customer pre-sales, or even consulting. If you need to raise capital, fourth, determine if you need Angel investors (<$750,000) or Venture Capital (>$750,000). Using TheFunded.com, research the best rated local funding sources for your company. Check the funding source web site to ensure that they invest in your industry and do not have competing investments. Fifth, send a list of 20 target local funding sources to your Working Group President, who will create a spreadsheet of the results and send them to adeo@founderinstitute.com.

2010-07-21T23:00:00-07:00

2010-07-21T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T11:51:47-07:00

2009-10-03T16:56:54-07:00

2009-09-25T11:45:02-07:00

How does startup funding work? When can my company raise capital, and what are the stages in a typical funding lifecycle? What are the milestones and expectations? How much money should I raise, and how long should that money last? How does one begin the fundraising process? What are some tips and tricks to succeed? Create a funding plan with targets. 261

The Funding Lifecycle <h3>Partners</h3> <ul> <li><a title="LightServe" href="http://www.lightserve.com/" target="_blank">Lightserve</a> - This leading technology consulting firm is providing Founders with discounts on 2 crucial services; (1) Audit-Class <a title="LightServe Valuation" href="https://lightserve.com/about/institute_appraisals" target="_blank">IRC 409A and FASB123R valuation</a> for $2500 (a $500 discount), and (2) three free months of service and extended discounts on Lightserve's banking-grade <a title="LightServe" href="http://www.lightserve.com" target="_blank">Virtual Data Room software</a>. </li> <li><a href="http://wsgr.com/WSGR/Index.aspx">Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati</a> - Producing Founder friendly incorporation documents.</li> <li><a href="http://www.thebrennergroup.com/">The Brenner Group</a> - 2 hours of free CFO services plus a discounted fixed monthly rate for a virtual CFO/Controller.</li> <li><a href="http://www.thefunded.com/">TheFunded.com</a> - Offering premium Membership for all participating Founders.</li> </ul>

2010-02-12T22:10:59-08:00

2010-07-28T22:00:00-07:00

2010-07-28T18:00:00-07:00

2009-09-25T23:46:32-07:00

2009-10-03T16:40:59-07:00

2009-09-25T23:45:34-07:00

The Graduation is the beginning of an exciting period for Founders, where the seed of an idea becomes reality. Graduating Founders are invited to bring one guest of their choosing to the session and to the after party. The Institute will continue to provide office hours, add special service provider deals, assist with fundraising, and give guidance on publicity and launch strategies for Graduated Founders. Time to celebrate! 271

Graduation

2010-02-12T21:55:14-08:00