Kerisma

AlwaysOn Venture East

Despite the economy in a slump, there are a few new start-ups on the horizon seeking the proper seed capital to get their businesses off the ground, or take their company to the next level of success. It appears to be a tough road ahead, but along every path there are a few bumps to proceed to the next promising opportunity.  Last week AlwaysOn hosted the Venture East conference at the Mandarin Hotel Boston, providing an opportunity for venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs and new start-ups to showcase their products and services, as well as discuss their thoughts around business today during these unpredictable times.

A few local companies offered demonstrations of their products and/or services available today, or are just a step away from the store soon. Maybe you always wanted that surround-sound audio system in your living room, office, or bedroom, but didn’t want to bother building, breaking down walls and investing in all the parts to put it together? Emo Labs has the answer with its built-in speaker technology revolutionizing the way sound is brought to you. Hate the line and check-out counter at the supermarket? Why not consider ModivMedia’s point, click and scan your items, expediting the time it takes to do your shopping and check out. All it takes with their product is a quick minute or two to pay the bill at the register.

There was some discussion of the venture capitalists having to overhaul their internal infrastructure and be more cautious about the types of investments for the future. The old ways of doing business is not working in this economy. Some professionals are jumping ship from traditional firms to start funds of their own to take advantage of the up and coming industries. In the past, too much money was being thrown at IT and very few deals are coming together now.

Business Week reported in These Angels Go Where Others Fear to Tread ( June 1, 2009 issue), that more and more people are shying away from the venture capitalists to further conduct business and are seeking help from angel investors. Josh Kopelman, founder of First Round Capital reported, “…many old-line firms have gotten too big and unwieldy to build innovative companies the way they used to, and many angels, individuals who invest in start-ups, don’t have enough money to back most high-tech ideas . The article continues to discuss the importance “to take [venture capital]..back to its roots, when firms were smaller, more nimble and more likely to get start-ups off the ground.”

More links from Business Week about the attitude around the VC community

Is There An Angel in the Hub?

Angel Investors

As an entrepreneur, angels can be another route to get your business off the ground. Some New England leaders at different local organizations had spoken at the conference. These included Jean Hammond, of Boston’s Golden Seeds, Ham Lord of Launchpad Venture Group, and David Verrill of Hub Angels to name a few, who provided some advice to prepare promising entrepreneurs with the proper tips when approaching angels.

• Find someone you want to target that has experience in your business, or someone that can help to network you in.
• Make sure to have an interesting set of people that are working for your business that can bring diverse skills to the table.
• Be sure to have a great connection to customers and consider bringing a few to the meeting when pitching your product and/or service.
• Make sure to have a proof of concept, patents, etc, validate your target market needs/wants.
• Prove that you have thought through the parameters around the exit and make sure the right fund is a strategic fit.

New Investment Opportunities:
Boston VC’s Offer Hope on the Horizon

Managers of many of the local venture capitalist firms also spoke about the opportunities in Cleantech, discovering new tools and uses within digital media, eCommerce and mobile as a few contenders for consideration. David Beisel, VP at Venrock sees new hope in performance advertising where there is a shift in publishing to ad networks and/or real-time ad exchanges. Yet, in some instances, ad networks can hurt publishers as the business scales. Bob Davis, General Partner at Highland Capital Partners, said there is very little interest in media companies. So if you’re looking to attract any interest, you must be able to engage 100 million unique users each day and the audience must be measurable. Alan Spoon, Managing General Partner at Polaris Ventures spoke about how social media platforms may create awareness, but monetizing this is still a tough struggle. It’s key to focus on what platforms you are using, and what types of intellectual property has been created that can be of value to other companies who wish to acquire those aspects of the business.

Cleantech, Mobile, Digital Tools, eCommerce

Jeff Bussgang, General Partner of Flybridge Capital Partners commented on additional areas of growth which includes virtual goods, where people are willing to pay a premium for a service such as certain subscriptions or online games.

Marketing Matters

Kopelman also sees light at the end of the tunnel vested in interest to “building businesses on information freely on the web, or disrupting markets with cheaper web technology.” As technology has improved, the barriers to entry for many are few, thus positioning many entrepreneurs down an easier path of getting the business off the ground. However, some are finding it tough to gain customer acquisition and further online engagement with their brands that could be attractive to potential investors. In that case Kopelman states, “hire a marketing executive and launch a guerilla campaign.”

Too often, I’ve seen companies, especially new start-ups overly focused on the product and technology development neglecting one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. MARKETING. You can have the best product, but until one can easily identify “what can this product/service do for me?”, then you could have a problem. I’ve seen quite a few glitzy designed websites, all beautiful, but showcasing models, graphs, technical jargon, you name it – still no understanding of the target with the proper research to create a brand that could attract audiences. A skilled-marketer should be a part of the product development and go-to-market plans early on communicating with all parties. This prevents getting too far along the process by taking into consideration how to attract the audience, how to understand the audience, how to define the needs of the audience, and learn to market the business in the right fashion.

Tell me more about your business and be featured potentially in a future blog post. What challenges have you encountered?  What avenues have you considered for your marketing and sales strategy, or what would you like to learn in hopes to attract interest from potential investors? I welcome an opportunity to consult with you, or become a future member of your team in a marketing or business development role.

My friends and I just saw the movie “He’s Just Not That Into You.” A hilarious flick that pokes fun at how technology is used, or isn’t used, to make a connection with that special someone.

You rush to check your email, you make a point to check your Facebook page, you text, wait for a text, and if you are lucky enough a phone call.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Admit it, it’s not just gals that are doing this, but men are too. When did this happen that we are at the mercy of technology to influence our lives and for some to feel valuable. It’s the state of this crazy new technological world we live in.

No email…No text…Oh no! Yet, the girl or gal next to me has enough to create a novel. No posts written to your wall on Facebook for at least a week…Does anyone love me?

What is this world coming to? I had actually banned text for many months until people asked me, “Did you get my text?” Of course not, but I caved in to sign-up because I would have lost out on some important messages. Drew Barrymore said it best as the character of Mary explains to her friend the new society we live in. “He emailed me, text me, and My-Spaced me and now you have to check all these different portals of technology…it’s exhausting!”

Why are we taking all this time invested in the virtual world when we should be investing it in the real world to meet the true gentlemen. There is a new kind of chivalry coming out of this digital age when texting is the way of getting the door for someone, emails are the little hand-written notes from a secret valentine, when adding one as a friend on Facebook, is the new, “OK, you’re cool enough to join my crew.”

The little personal niceties are slowing diminishing in this “crack-berry/ iPhone” world. It’s sad. In the movie, Mary shares with her colleagues at the magazine, “Things have changed. People don’t just meet organically anymore. If I want to make myself more attractive to the opposite sex, I don’t go get a new haircut – I update my profile. That’s just how it is.” It’s true for us experimenting in the online dating world. Also, for those connecting with others on Facebook, or who wish to impress his/her former high school classmates. However, too often there are those that feel safe hiding behind their computer, posting messages that are not true, or sharing pictures that are ten years old. That’s just not right and it makes it harder for one to trust the virtual world without first-hand experience, or encounters with others in the real world. Meanwhile in the movie, the guy Mary meets online turns out to be a phony. Later she is pleasantly surprised by turning off the technology. It’s ironic when she uses it first, she doesn’t have much success. However, when she puts down the phone, turns off the computer and meets someone face-to-face, she finds love.

Don’t get me wrong, I find the entertainment through the use of Facebook, the texting between friends can be fun at times too, and online dating has some interesting experiences. Yet, sometimes I just have to sit and laugh not taking things so seriously. I have friends that obsess over the amount of text and what to interpret by each message. OMG, he didn’t text me back, or respond to my Facebook post! What happened to the day of picking up the phone, or meeting someone at a local café to talk face-to-face? We are becoming a fickle society that doesn’t want to invest the effort anymore. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. That is, REAL ACTIONS in the REAL WORLD. In a recent interview about the movie, Drew Barrymore explains, “I’m totally confused by technology in dating. It’s so hard. It’s new; we’re in a new phase of history. It’s uncharted waters and we’re all figuring it out together.”

I’ve learned to value the interpersonal connections so much more with the influx of technology and social media. Today, I seek the sounds of sharing a laugh, the touch of one’s hand, the smells of the environment, the engaged conversations with others have come to have great meaning. It’s scary how quickly this world is changing and a time when the phrase “reach out and touch someone,” maybe becoming a thing of the past.

Honey, if he isn’t taking the time to treat you with respect in person, recall the things important to you in person, invite you out in person just to have someone close by to listen what’s on your mind ….HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU!