I just finished listening to Brian Chesky’s talk for Startup School from a few months ago. If you haven’t watched it yet, you’d be well advised to do so (find it here and embedded at the bottom of this post). Aside from being hilarious and entertaining, it also provided a unique view into the will,…
Read MoreBlack Friday and Cyber Monday may be a distant memory for consumers who have moved on to bigger and better sales, but many merchants deal with the headache of returns for weeks and even months to come. With consumers spending more than $45 billion on Black Friday weekend alone (according to the National Retail Federation),…
Read MoreWe’ve known Phil Tadros for a long time. He’s had products like TextHog and MetroProper featured at Tech Cocktail Chicago mixers and most recently spoke at our Startup Mixology Conference. Aside from his startups, Phil Tadros also owns 13 coffee shops in Chicago and runs his own interactive agency called Doejo. He told me he…
Read MoreBack in July, we published an interview with an author who self published her work through LuLu.com. In that short time, we’ve run into countless others who have self-published their own books via other methods (and some of us who have promised to, but haven’t quite gotten around to it yet). We thought we’d bring…
Read MoreThis past week, NBC’s The Office focused on innovation as Ryan, played by B.J. Novak, took a shot at creating his own startup called WUPHF.com (pronounced like a barking dog, “woof”) which clearly takes a jab at social networking products like Facebook and Twitter. While the episode was a clear spoof of Silicon Valley product…
Read MoreThe entrepreneurs and executives I have worked with throughout my career are, almost by definition, leaders. They have a vision of a new product or service or a new way to do something, they bring people together around that vision and then they work really hard to bring their vision to reality. While most have…
Read MoreThere are currently thousands of photo applications in the Apple iTunes App Store. I just counted over 1,300 photography applications that have been released since June 2010. So this makes for a rather competitive landscape. But with all the selection, there are certain applications for certain situations. One photo app that has risen to the…
Read MoreClearspring, a mature startup based just outside of D.C., has been on a roll with both their audience platform and with AddThis. AddThis offers a number of sharing options and collects a ton of data about sharing on the Web. In doing so they have touched the lives of a billion users. This past week,…
Read MoreThe Great Lakes Entrepreneur Bash was a panel event in Chicago yesterday that brought together successful entrepreneurs highlighted in Bob Jordan’s new book How They Did It: Billion Dollar Insights from the Heart of America. The stellar panelists included: Bill Deville: Co-founder & CEO of Health Carousel, previously co-founder Health Personnel Options Jim Dolan: CEO…
Read MoreChicago is on a roll. A few weeks ago, Tech Cocktail hosted Startup Mixology, a day-long conference focused on starting and growing a business. Keeping the momentum going this week is Seed10, a day-long event this Friday, November 19th at the Spertus Institute in downtown Chicago hosted by Booth’s Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital club. Their 12th…
Read MoreWatch the video below and click here to follow the DC Lean Startup circle.
Read MoreIf there’s one city that has really left a mark on 2010, it’s New York. There have always been startups in New York, but the community has really blossomed in the past year or so, lending strength to voices of it’s members. As we prepare for Friday’s Tech Cocktail NYC mixer event, we thought we’d…
Read MoreOne of my favorite quotes from the recent Startup Mixology conference came from entrepreneur-turned-adviser and investor, Travis Kalanick: Fear is the disease, Hustle is the antidote. Since I saw those words up on the screen, they haven’t left me. You see, Tech Cocktail is a startup too – and we also have a product that…
Read MoreLike it or not, accept it or not, we are different. We read RSS. We use Twitter, Facebook, and any other bright, shiny, social media and various other tools we find along our travels of the interwebs. But it is vital to remember that as an entrepreneur building a new product, YOU ARE NOT MAINSTREAM….
Read MoreStartups need to make money (unless you’re Twitter) and to make money you need to accept payments. Your head may already be hurting at the flurry of possibilities out there, but don’t worry. Use this quick guide to help you figure out what you need to get started accepting payments at your startup. 1. Is…
Read MoreLast March the Tech Cocktail crew rented a house in Austin for SXSW and was happy to have some entrepreneurs from both coasts stay at the TC Headquarters. One of whom was Dave Lifson, Founder and CEO of NYC-based Postling. Dave came to Austin with a mission – to meet with a number of investors…
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Two months after the iPad 2 debuted in March, around 40% of users surveyed said their iPad was their primary computer, up from around 30%... Read More
There are a number of startup accelerator and incubator programs in the United States. We are fans of these programs (not to be confused with... Read More
We are excited to announce the participating startups for Tech Cocktail's South by Southwest (SXSW) event: #Startuplife Celebration presented by .CO. It was one of... Read More
With our Startup Mixology Conference coming up next week followed by our classic Tech Cocktail DC Summer mixer which will showcase a handful of early-stage... Read More