Julien Smith, co-author of the best-selling book Trust Agents, closes out the first day of SocialDevCamp Chicago on Saturday, August 27th with a keynote that addresses the power of visibility. Julien will discuss the need for start-ups, companies and entrepreneurs alike to gain and sustain attention to convert prospects into sales and build brand ambassadors….
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Today’s post by Tech Cocktail contributor Samantha Strauss (@SFSam22) is the third of a collection of interviews with some heavyweight social media industry personalities with a goal to highlight the entrepreneur in all of us. Read the previous posts: Never Stop Learning! Twitter Celebrity @Flipbooks on Social Media and Entrepreneurship and Share Learn Grow! An…
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According to the PWC MoneyTree Survey, 44 DC companies closed venture funding in Q2, which was an increase of 6 deals over the 38 companies funded in Q1 but less than the 51 companies funded in Q2 of 2010. The total amount of money invested was a new recent high of $304 million, beating the…
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Downloading a new app often means facing a sparse feed, an empty inbox, and updates shared with practically no one. It’s like going to a bad party, the opposite of what social is supposed to be. But good friend recommendations—especially those based on check-ins, says new research out of the University of Cambridge’s Computer Laboratory—can…
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After 30 years of doing the entrepreneurial thing, a person – even one as dense as me – starts to notice certain repetitive patterns. There are times I’m talking with a CEO and their story starts unfolding into what I call a “Oh NO! Here we go again” moment. It’s difficult to hold back and not…
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I’ve met many entrepreneurs who are fascinated with the “what.” They say to themselves, “I’m going to create the best friggin’ widget ever invented,” and yet they ignore the go-to-market details. The logistics take a back seat, while the creating gets priority. The passion about the secret sauce doesn’t translate to the mundane business of…
Read More I’ve met many entrepreneurs who are fascinated with the “what.” They say to themselves, “I’m going to create the best friggin’ widget ever invented,” and yet they ignore the go-to-market details. The logistics take a back seat, while the creating gets priority. The passion about the secret sauce doesn’t translate to the mundane business of…
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For a 16-year-old, Shahed Khan has a lot to brag about: Robert Scoble likes his startup idea and may recommend him to investors; a Y Combinator alumni offered to introduce him to Paul Graham once he has a working demo; and he has spoken with Andrew Warner of Mixergy and Fred Wilson of Union Square…
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This post was written by guest blogger Frank Denbow. General Assembly, an “urban campus” for startups in NYC’s Flatiron neighborhood, put together a full day course in Venture Capital on July 16th in an event called “Assembled Capital.” Through a series of presentations, panels and discussions, event listeners learned from venture capitalists, angel investors, and…
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It is a common trap for entrepreneurs pitching to investors to demonstrate their brilliance by conveying in a wealth of detail that they are subject matter experts. After all, if the investor is going to invest in your business, they really need to understand your business, right? Wrong! If you are taking up an investor’s…
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Venture capital investment for Q2 2011 reached $7.5 billion spread over 966 deals, according to the MoneyTree™ Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA); the data was provided by Thomson Reuters. This is a 19% increase over the $6.3 billion and 814 deals closed in Q1. While the NVCA seems to…
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Lansing, Michigan native and NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson announced yesterday that he is joining Detroit Venture Partners (DVP) as a general partner. He will also be investing millions of dollars into the fund itself. If you’re not familiar with them, DVP is a Detroit-based venture capital firm that invests in seed and early-stage…
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Today’s post by Tech Cocktail contributor Samantha Strauss (@SFSam22) is the second of a collection of interviews with some heavy-weight social media industry personalities with a goal to highlight the entrepreneur in all of us. Read the previous post: Share, Learn, Grow! An Interview With Twitter’s Famed @CharityIdeas We all have the potential to be great….
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Psst. Are you start-up on a limited budget that doesn’t allow you to splurge on PR? Here’s a secret: You can do the PR yourself! Indeed, if you can woo a venture capitalist, you can woo a blogger. After all, bloggers are just people—susceptible to the same charm-and-disarm techniques that underlie all human relationships. Yet…
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To angel and venture capital investors, companies seeking capital are driving buses on which the investor is hopping on for the ride. These companies are vehicles that investors hope will take them from point A (the investment) to point B (10X returns). Experience tells investors that the odds are against ever getting to point B and…
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Evernote announced today that they have raised $50 million led by Sequoia Capital with participation from Morgenthaler Ventures. Their goal is to significantly expand operations and grow through acquisition. We covered Evernote in June when they announced a developer competition, but if you’re not familiar with them yet, check them out. Their service allows you to…
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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