.:.StartUps & Fast Growers - Texas Triangle on NewsGator Online

ShopSavvy Gets New Competitor, From Amazon

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:29:00 GMT

On the heels of losing access to product information from Amazon.com, Dallas-based Big In Japan now has additional competition: an Android application from Amazon itself. Big In Japan develops the mobile comparison shopping application ShopSavvy, which allows Google Android and Apple iPhone users to take a picture of bar codes on their mobile phone camera and get shopping comparisons.... (more)

SATAI New Venture Forum 2009 3nd Quarter Series First Session starts July 29, 2009

Alan Weinkrantz — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:13:18 GMT

SATAI New Venture Forum 2009

3nd Quarter Series

First Session starts July 29, 2009

Entrepreneurs, inventors and innovators launching new businesses sign up today for the New Venture Forum!

“This class is a ‘must-do’ for any aspiring or practiced entrepreneur contemplating or starting a business. Do not miss this class!”- David Spencer, Texas Intrepid Ventures (2009 Forum Attendee)

Attendees will learn answers to:

Does my venture qualify for equity investment?

What equity investment opportunities are there?

How do I structure my venture?

What do investors look for in a venture?

How can I best prepare to meet investors?

ABOUT:

The SATAI New Venture Forum is a unique forum for entrepreneurs seeking to learn about equity investment opportunities and how to “think like an investor” to prepare for equity investment and improve the probability of funding.

The quarterly Forum is presented in 6 core sessions designed for start-up technology companies pursuing Angel equity investment and/or Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) funding. Each session will be approximately three hours in length, one session per week for six consecutive weeks.

Instructors and speakers are selected for their expert knowledge of the planned topic(s). The forum is designed as an interactive workshop with dialogue between experts and entrepreneurs. Attendees are invited to leverage their venture as a case study for group discussion. The class size may be limited to allow a hands-on forum.

Participants who meet the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) or the South Texas Angel Network (STAN) criteria will be encouraged to apply for funding consideration and will be offered complimentary guidance during their application process.

HOSTS:The New Venture Forum is hosted by SATAI and is in partnership with the UTSA Institute of Economic Development and SATAI sponsors.

REGISTER:

RSVP to Veronica Rossano by phone at 210-458-2585 or by email vr@satai.us. Registration is on a first come, first register basis. Class size may be limited.

COST TO ATTEND:

The first session is free of charge. Participants who elect to continue with the remaining sessions will be charged $250 per person/company. Attendees who complete 5 of 6 sessions will receive a 50% discount on the ETF and/or STAN applications, up to a $250 value.

Startups are Hiring in Austin

Bryan Menell — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:14:26 GMT

Despite the economy, I get people who frequently tell me that their emerging technology company is looking for talent. I thought I would compile a few of those, and publish them out there for everyone to see. If you have others, please post them in the comments.

I found those without even looking too hard. Check out our Jobs section (powered by Indeed), and also see the Austin Emerging 100. Every company listed has a link to their jobs page. Happy job hunting!

Chocolate entrepreneurs get a taste of sweet success

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:32:59 GMT

Five years ago, Tom Pedersen started his gourmet chocolate business with $165 and a small sack of cocoa beans.

How a Whole Foods loan got a new company started

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 17:04:20 GMT

The rich fragrance of roasting coffee beans fills the air inside a converted gas station in East Austin. Standing next to the big red machine, which roasts 25 pounds at a time, Joshua Bingaman is holding forth on coffee.

Fort Worth Jelly Planned for 4/8

Bradley Joyce — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:59:48 GMT

The Next Jelly: April 8th, 2009 - 11am @ Billy Miner’s, RSVP

We’re planning on putting on another Jelly next Wednesday the 8th. Hope you can make it!!

Thanks, what the heck is a jelly?

A jelly is a casual co-working event, held at some location on some sort of time-scaled basis. For the jelly here in Fort Worth, it’s at random times, and random locations… but primarily once or twice a month at Billy Miner’s Saloon from 11am on.

Get more info about jelly at http://workatjelly.com and more info about co-working at http://coworking.pbwiki.com.

The Fort Worth jelly is an attempt to start fostering the co-working community here in Fort Worth. We want to get all of us entrepreneurs, creatives, freelancers, telecommuters, etc together, hang out and have a good time while trying to get a little work done. As we start to build this community of folks, we’re also looking very keenly on starting a permanent co-working space somewhere downtown. If you’re interested in that please let us know!

Startup Profile: TheHappyHourLocator.com

Bradley Joyce — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:06:50 GMT

Company: The Happy Hour Locator

Name: John Harvey

Title : Owner/President

Email : john.harvey@thehappyhourlocator.com

Give us the 30-second elevator pitch on your company

The Happy Hour Locator is an internet advertising website with the target market being the business traveler. We will feature 20 of the best establishments around a 10 to 15 mile radius of each airport in Texas for now but soon will be nationwide. We will provide photos of each establishment, their specials and music so the traveler will already know what to expect before they arrive their destination.

Tell us about the founders, who they are, backgrounds, and why they are passionate about your company

We have started a web-based advertising company that has only one mission. To have larger numbers of people frequent your establishment and purchase more of your goods and services. Once they see how great your Happy Hour is, they will want to come back, over and over again, along with telling all of their friends. The word of mouth will be very, very BIG! The idea for this type of advertising started in 1991 with an overwhelming response. The cost of the print media was too much to incur. So we waited. Now we have decided to bring it to the internet.

All you have to do is check out our web-page and click through the various items like the “Free Food”, the “Happy Hour”, the “Entertainment” along with the “Drink Specials”. Like a member will be able to do. We will shoot pictures in the best areas of your establishment that you, yourself can change at any time. Daily specials, food changes, parties, adding your very own music! Along with holiday pictures. You’ll be able to maintain your very own page all year long (if you wish) or we will do it for you. You will have a way to check your page every minute of the day and make any changes any time you’re ready.

Do you have funding? How much?

No, but we are looking for an investor or investors. We would only need about $30,000.00 to $50,000.00 to launch the website.

What are your startup’s goals for this year?

We want to complete all of the Dallas Fort Worth area with 20 best of the best establishments featured near the DFW Airport, Meacham Airport in Fort Worth which will include the Sundance Square area and the Stockyards and Love Field Airport which will include the West End. Then we can move on to Houston, Austin and San Antonio.

Entrepreneur Camp - Houston 8/6-8/7

Shannon Barrett — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:00:57 GMT

Our friends at Werkedoo recently sent us info about an Entrepreneur Camp being held next month. If you’re an entrepreneur in Houston you might want to check out the upcoming Entrepreneur Camp the first week of August.

Entrepreneur Camp is a BarCamp style event with the goal of bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, VC’s, business leaders, and anyone interested in starting a business to network, share ideas, and explore opportunities.

For more info and registration info check out the website.

SATAI to Hold Press Conference on Multiple Emerging Technology Fund Awards for San Antonio Area Companies

RSSfeeds@BusinessWire.com — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:45:00 GMT

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SATAI, as the host of the South Texas Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (STRCIC), announced that it will hold a press conference to unveil the most recent South Texas

Nine Texas Ignition Fund grants awarded

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:48:40 GMT

Nine technologies developed at University of Texas System institutions were awarded Texas Ignition Fund grants totaling nearly $453,000.

Sixteen Percent Of High-Impact, High-Tech Firms Founded By Immigrant Entrepreneurs

Shirl Kennedy — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:06:59 GMT

Sixteen Percent Of High-Impact, High-Tech Firms Founded By Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration

Sixteen percent of high-impact, high-tech firms have at least one immigrant founder, according to a study released today by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Although these firms are concentrated in states with large immigrant populations, in most other respects they resemble high-impact, high-tech firms founded by native-born entrepreneurs.

Moreover, these immigrant entrepreneurs are highly educated and appear to be strongly rooted in the United States. Roughly 55 percent of the foreign-born founders hold a masters degree or a doctorate. In addition, they are more than twice as likely as native-born founders to hold a doctorate. Furthermore, 77 percent of the foreign-born high-tech entrepreneurs are American citizens and, on average, they have lived over 25 years in the United States. Two-thirds of them received their college degrees here, as well.

“Immigrant entrepreneurs clearly contribute a significant amount to our country’s cutting edge high-tech firms,” said Shawne McGibbon, acting Chief Counsel for Advocacy. “This report outlines these contributions and delivers important new data about immigrant entrepreneurs.”

High-tech Immigrant Entrepreneurship in the United States, written by David Hart, Zoltan Acs, and Spencer Tracy, Jr. with funding from Advocacy, defines high-impact firms as those with sales that have at least doubled over the 2002-2006 period and which have significant employment growth during that time. The authors defined high-tech industries using research and development employment as a share of total employment as the key criterion.

+ Research Summary (PDF; 36 KB)
+ Full Report (PDF; 391 KB)

Bellaire company creates iPhone headache application

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:33:46 GMT

A Bellaire company has developed an iPhone application that helps people who suffer from headaches.

Q&A Wednesday :: Affinegy

Bryan Menell — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:00:41 GMT

Today’s Q&A Wednesday is with Melissa Simpler, CEO of Affinegy.

Give us the elevator pitch for Affinegy. How long has the company been around?

Affinegy makes software that removes networking complexity for consumers who wish to lead a converged Digital Lifestyle, and enables service providers to maximize revenues and profitability in the Digital Home. Our solutions deliver the “it just works” consumer experience that enables mass market adoption of video, data and voice services delivered through IP networks, uniquely spanning existing, new retail and custom networking equipment. Market-leading service providers across North America and the UK, including Charter, Cox, Clearwire, Time Warner Cable, Virgin Media, are deploying Affinegy solutions as the foundation of their Digital Home services.

Affinegy was founded March 2003 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Growing and profitable is not exactly normal in today’s economy. To what do you attribute your success?

First, we are benefiting from the pervasive use and increasing utility of the Internet. A June 2009 study from Pew Research Center found that consumers are twice as likely to have cut cell phone or cable TV service in place of cancelling their broadband, and further that consumers resort to reduced travel and eating out expenditures before cutting Internet service.

Second, our current customers – broadband service providers – are facing new competition from an inflection in the Internet being increasingly used to distribute and stream video content. Over the top competition from players like Hulu and Netflix is fierce and several other eco players like Boxee and Sezmi are providing content and service solutions that enable the consumer to cut the cord from cable and DSL.

Broadband service providers need to step up to deliver more than “the pipe”. They are realizing this and taking action. Their core asset – the IP data network – is what serves up the Internet. They own the branded content. They’re in position to assert their brand as “trusted advisor” of the consumer’s growing digital lifestyle, and are embracing this market opportunity with our solution.

It’s great to see a woman tech CEO. What is your take on how to encourage more women in tech, especially entrepreneurs?

Thank you. I frequently refer to myself as the “accidental entrepreneur” as I had my career sights set on executive management in the Fortune 500 ranks. I caught the broadband bug while on intrapreneurial assignment with Motorola. That business unit was wound down in the post 2001 bubble, and I had the opportunity to start something new on the outside. I took that opportunity and never looked back.

I believe early exposure to the fun and wonder of science and math is key to encouraging more people to enter engineering and technical fields. It’s not just women that are lacking. The percentage of U.S. citizens pursuing technical degrees has decreased and continues to shrink. Mad Science camps, magnet education at Austin’s Kealing and LBJ Science Academy, Take Your Child to Work Day, Girlstart, Austin Women in Technology, and traditional mentoring by women like me to members of the community is key.

Your husband is also an entrepreneur, and founder of tech company Simpler-Webb. That has to make for an interesting home life. How do you juggle that?

Interesting indeed. Two founder entrepreneurs, two boys, no nanny …but a lot of shared understanding and empathy. We also have family that we’re close to in and near Austin.

Simpler-Webb was founded 1993; Affinegy in 2003. I learned a lot from Jeff’s early business experiences, and we compare and share our experiences with each other as our careers and businesses evolve. It’s busy, but great! I don’t know life any other way.

What is the number one constraint to your growth in the rest of 2009 and beyond?

The classic challenge businesses face that are playing in explosive growth market segments: staying focused during periods of rapid growth; growing the team with “fit to culture” and “fit to skill” front and center; and picking the right projects given the inevitable constraint of having limited resources (that most of us face).

What does the future hold for Affinegy? What can we expect to see from the company in the coming months?

We’re aiming to establish Affinegy as the “digital glue” for the mass market digital lifestyle on a global scale. It’s not just about setting up and managing computers, routers, and printers. It’s about making it all plug-and-play – game consoles, smart phones, media centers, webcams, and more. And it’s about extending the Internet and digital communications experience beyond the boundary of the home while making that home and its content and devices available anytime, anywhere.

iTaggit Launches “ValueRange It” Beta

Bryan Menell — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:10:35 GMT

iTaggit.com, the leading online resource for valuing and organizing household items and collectibles, launched its “ValueRange It” tool in beta today. The new tool is designed to give users a value range for any item, providing them with data to make smart decisions on what to do with their belongings - be it sell, insure, donate, or simply track over time.

For iTaggit users looking to sell, the website offers time savings and convenience through our unique broadcasting services which allow “for sale” items to be syndicated when and where the user chooses. This means a single item that is added to the site with its description and, if available, pictures or video, can be placed into multiple online marketplaces and social networks, including Craigslist, eBay, Facebook and Oodle.

The highly robust iTaggit site caters to most anyone who owns things – from homeowners to estate planners and from comic book collectors to seasoned antiques aficionados – quickly giving them the latest market prices, and the ease to sell their items any time they are ready.

Here’s how it works:

The “ValueRange It” tool uses proprietary technology and recent price data on millions of items to determine an accurate value range. Users can refine their ValueRange It results for a completely customized value range for their specific item.
The “Sell It” function empowers members to post their items once on iTaggit and then broadcast them to multiple online marketplaces and social networks, as frequently as desired.

“Our newly launched ValueRange It tool functions much like an online ‘Blue Book’ for users interested in understanding the value of something in order to sell, research or donate an item,” explains Lauranne Jarrett, iTaggit CEO. “In fact, we aim to be the premiere, trusted location for finding the value of countless, disparate items. So, if you’re wondering about the price of that antique vase or the Dually Double Baby Jogger that’s gathering dust in your garage, iTaggit is the place for you.”

Members can get more return from their items and collectibles by using the following iTaggit functions:

* Quickly and easily add items in 4 ways, including via a free iPhone application, also named ValueRange It, available at the iTunes store
* Store item descriptions, images, receipts, documents, notes and audio/video links
* Link to other site profiles and marketplaces for increased visibility and sales promotion

iTaggit strives to be the ultimate resource to find value and act smart. To this end, we regularly develop, enhance and release new features with an end goal of being the premier site for valuing, selling, organizing, showcasing, and protecting items and collections.

Update from PetsMD.com [video]

Bryan Menell — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:25:47 GMT

PetsMD.com co-founder Tina Cannon spoke with us at Capital Factory the other day. We’ve got the video to prove it. In this video, Tina talks about the iPhone app that PetsMD has coming very soon now, as well as existing features like the interactive symptom checker, and finding a vet.

Do you like short videos featuring emerging Austin tech companies? Let us know in the comments.

GigaLaw.com Daily News: Computer Companies Sued Over Patent on ...

Doug Isenberg — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:27:43 GMT

Tsera LLC, a Texas business that's apparently named after a defunct Native American tribe, filed the suit in the U.S. District Court, Eastern Texas Division. Read the article: The Register | Posted: 7/18/2009 08:00:00 AM | Permalink ...
GigaLaw.com Daily News - http://gigalaw.blogspot.com/

Texas Business Formationcom a Texas LLC Formation Services Company ...

(author unknown) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:53:48 GMT

For those starting a small business in Texas visit the Texas LLC Learning Center to take advantage of the information and resources provided on ...

Now a 'Valley guy,' ex-Austinite still putting money into local ventures

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:50:54 GMT

When Austin software veteran Mike Maples Jr. moved to Silicon Valley four years ago to break into venture capital investing, he emphasized that he planned to stay connected to Austin startups.

Survey provides portrait of an entrepreneur

support@star-telegram.com — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:50:00 GMT

A recent survey by the Kauffman Foundation, a pro-entrepreneur group, found that company founders, mostly in technology, tended to be married, middle-class and middle-aged.

Family: Nearly 70 percent were married when they started their business. About 60 percent had at least one child. Asked about their own birth order, the biggest group, 42.5 percent, said they were firstborn.

Education: They are overwhelmingly (95 percent) college graduates. They are evenly split between holding bachelor’s and more advanced degrees.

Background: The survey said 71.5 percent called their parents "middle-class." That ranged from professional parents with postgraduate degrees to white-collar workers with associate’s degrees. It found 82.5 percent were born in the U.S., and India was the next biggest country of origin at 3.8 percent.

Work experience: About a quarter had zero to five years of work experience before launching or joining a startup, whereas 27.6 percent had worked six-10 years and 23.3 percent, 11-15 years. The average age of company founders was 40. — The Associated Press

Study: Entrepreneurs tend to be middle-aged family men

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMT

What does an entrepreneur look like? A recent survey by the Kauffman Foundation, a pro-entrepreneur group, found that company founders, mostly in the technology sector, tended to be married, middle-class and middle-aged.

Stop Brain Drain in Texas

Alexander Muse — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:06:47 GMT

Four years ago Mike Maples, co-founder of Austin-based Motive, fled Texas and headed to the Valley to start his own venture capital firm. Why did he leave Austin? To find a community with ’startup culture’. Silicon Valley is THE brand for startup culture and that is where Mike set up shop. He has invested in companies like Twitter, Digg and YuMe. Ironically, Mike has made even more investments in Austin-based companies like SolarWinds, Bazaarvoice and Spriceworks.

Lori Hawkins recently interviewed Mike and here were some of his quotes:

Mike on the startup scene in the Valley: “There are tons of great founders pursuing great ideas, and we still get more than 100 business plans a week. I think this is a very good thing and underscores why Silicon Valley has such a great startup culture. I am seeing as many great opportunities now as at any time I can remember.”

Mike on investor activity in the the Valley: “The very best startups are finding it easier than ever to raise large amounts of money because of a “pile-on” effect among people wishing to place larger bets on the clearest winners. On the downside, for a larger percentage of startups, the venture capitalists are too risk-averse to fund them without very compelling early signs of success.”

Mike on VC models: “I think the ‘old’ venture capital way was a great model! It’s just that most firms have quit practicing it. They have raised such huge funds that they have forgotten how to be venture capitalists. I think venture capital will get its groove back when it rediscovers its roots and focuses on early stage, capital-efficient, disruptive opportunities.”

Mike’s advice for entrepreneurs: “(1) Only the really huge opportunities are worth the time and sacrifice of being an entrepreneur. (2) Develop products and customers in parallel, rather than one after the other. (3) You only go out of business when you run out of iterations. … So keep your (cash) burn rate super low and iterate as often as you can.”

Why do we keep losing people like Mike to Silicon Valley? Mike started his career in Austin with Tivoli and then at Motive - why would he leave in his thirties after experiencing success in Texas? How can we keep people like Mike, homegrown entrepreneurs with experience, in Texas?

News Roundup for July 20, 2009

Bryan Menell — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:06:13 GMT

Is it a sign of the improving economy? There’s some great tech tidbits today, plus news outlets are starting to report on increasing consumer confidence, better jobs numbers, and higher quarter-over-quarter venture capital investment. Sounds like a good reason to celebrate with a happy hour!

The American Statesman has a great piece on Mike Maples, Jr. who is probably the VC with the highest deal flow in the world today.
Austin continues to be do well despite the greater economy. This piece features Austin-based SuperPoints.
ReddWerks, who creates Warehouse Management Systems, announced the acquisition of SeayCo.
Bazaarvoice, who has served up over 50 billion pieces of customer-generated content, announced that advertising and branding guru Carole Irgang has joined the advisory board.
Univa UD, which does infrastructure enablement for cloud computing , announces new product UniPlan.
Austin Ventures Partner John Thornton is making waves with the upcoming Texas Tribune. He’s now hired former ATC head Alisha Ring, former Texas Monthly editor Evan Smith, and Emily Ramshaw who lives in Austin but wrote for the Dallas Morning News.

Q&A Wednesday :: Better Than The Van

The Editor — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:00:15 GMT

Today’s Q&A Wednesday is with Todd Hansen, one of the founders of Better Than The Van.

Give us the elevator pitch for your company?
Better Than The Van connects bands with free places to stay across the US, Canada and Europe. By hosting bands you support live music in your community and directly connect with the artists. Bands can save money, meet other bands and make valuable local contacts that can evolve into new or expanded fan-bases in those cities.

How did the company get started? Who had the idea?
I had the idea about a year ago after realizing I wanted to take a break from playing and touring in bands. I was really struggling with what to do next and this seemed like a natural progression. Scott Miller and I have been bootstrapping the company ever since, although if we could find the right capital partner, we would be interested in that.

What was your first indication that you really had something interesting here?
It was during the first publicity push that I did by myself. I landed a piece on Wired’s - Listening Post and from there NY Times, USA Today, Independent UK, Mashable all picked it up. The national attention really pushed early site sign ups and created solid momentum that’s carried us this far. Traffic is steady as are new user sign ups. It’s great!

How has customer adoption been so far?
We started with a very simple concept and as the site grows we listen to what the user-base wants from the site. As long as we continue to meet their needs, they’ll stick with us. Many of the site users are also a part of our Street Team who promote and organize BTTV events in their cities.

What can we expect to see in the future from your company?
We will continue to grow and listen to our users needs. We are rolling out some functionality and UI changes in about month. Spring of 2010 we will roll out a subscription-based service targeting music festivals, record labels, bookers, managers, and promoters.

Emerging Technology Council (ETC) Committees

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:35:41 GMT

Emerging Technology Council Your Technology Concierge Looking to tap into Houston’s technology community? Learn how with HTC’s Emerging Technology Council Building a successful technology company requires more than just an entrepreneurial spirit; it requires a business environment that fosters growth and innovation. Houston is home to a number of resources that make it easy for you to do just that - from specialized associations to major tech-friendly corporations. So how do you take advantage of these resources? The answer is simple: Houston Technology Center's Emerging Technology Council (ETC). At the ETC, we specialize in helping technology companies tap into everything Houston has to offer. Think of us as your technology concierge - a group that provides single-point access to the organizations and institutions here to help you succeed. We offer a variety of networking and learning programs and materials designed to assist you in generating new...

Cowboys player to open Smashburger eateries

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:20:51 GMT

Fast-food restaurant Smashburger, a Colorado-based burger chain food concept, has inked a deal with BIGG Capital Holdings LLC, a Dallas-based business development group led by football star Leonard Davis, to build Smashburger restaurants in Dallas.

Web Based Start up School

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:25:09 GMT

Web Based Start up School is a monthly brown bag lunch that is designed to host speakers and topics of interest to companies that live on the internet, with a focus on Startup technology entrepreneurs. Who Should Attend: Internet Entrepreneurs, Web Designers and Developers,Technology and Internet Enthusiasts, Social Media Creators, Startupers This session is free of charge. Bring your lunch! HTC will provide complimentary cookies and drinks. August 19 Event Marketing for Tradeshows September 16 Tools Clinic – Tips & Tricks / Designing effective PPTS October 21 E-commerce November 18 Word of Mouth / Viral Marketing December 16 Tax Billing and Accounting Visit our calendar of events to register to attend!

Frenchy’s opens another location

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:54:08 GMT

Frenchy’s Po-Boy has opened a new location at 6102 Scott Street in Houston.

U.S. may see ‘entrepreneurship boom’

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:34:23 GMT

Aging baby boomers aren’t headed out to pasture — they’re starting new businesses, according to a Kauffman Foundation study that predicts the United States may be “on the cusp of an entrepreneurship boom.”

Pizza Patrón Opens Second Quick Service Pizza Restaurant

cs@marketwire.com — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:31:00 GMT

SAN ANTONIO, TX (MARKET WIRE) Pizza Patrón, the premier Latin pizza brand, today announced the grand opening of its second Quick Service Pizza (QSP) outlet in San Antonio, Texas. The restaurant is located at 827 S. Zarzamora St. in a densely populated residential community, just west of downtown.

US Dataworks, Inc. Announces Profitable Fiscal 2009 Financial Results

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:00:00 GMT

Interview with Steve Kiser and Paul Sexauer, Sychron

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:25:00 GMT

This morning's interview is with Austin-based Sychron (www.sychron.com), which is developing software for the desktop virtualization market. We spoke with Steve Kiser, President and CEO of the firm, along with Paul Sexauer, the company's Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, to learn more about what the firm is doing, and to learn more about the desktop virtualization world.... (more)

Understand the Scale vs. Profitability Trade-Off

Bernard Lunn — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:37:28 GMT

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

This is possibly the most important strategic decision one can make for a Web tech venture. It is almost always a trade-off. There are those few magic ventures whose revenue scales from day one, without the need for external capital. We all want those, but they are almost as rare as hen's teeth. In most cases, you face a choice between scale and early profitability. You need total clarity on this decision, because it will determine your capital-raising strategy and all of your execution plans.

Sponsor

The Old Mantra: Get to Positive Cash Flow, Fast

Most traditional business people, when looking at a business plan, will ask, "How soon can the venture get to positive cash flow?" It is the critical business issue. It determines how much capital you will need and the overall risk of the business. You answer the question by looking at three factors very carefully:

How fast will revenue grow?
What are the gross margins?
How much operational overhead do you need to grow revenue at that level?

Any business can be reduced to these three fundamental factors.

Service-based businesses can get to positive cash flow very quickly, which is why they can be bootstrapped. Service-based businesses are also tough to scale because growth depends on people, and gross margins are usually not that good. So, the reason they usually have to be bootstrapped is that most venture investors won't touch them.

The VC Mantra: Scale First

At the other end of the extreme is a business like Facebook, which, at the time of this writing, has 300 million users but is still losing money. Twitter is another, with phenomenal growth and mind share but not a dime of revenue.

To a traditional business person, that sounds crazy. But when scale is your primary competitive advantage, it makes perfect sense. Think of Skype. You can replicate the technology relatively easily, but getting millions of Skype users to switch is hard. This is even truer for Twitter and Facebook, whose technology is very simple to replicate.

Scale Without a Revenue Model?

Scale first, monetize later is a reasonable strategy for certain types of Web ventures and for entrepreneurs who are well connected to sources of capital.

But to scale without even knowing what your revenue model will be? That is riskier. It might make sense in some cases. We will know that about Twitter once it finally reveals its revenue model.

For the vast majority of entrepreneurs and investors, though, scaling without a revenue model is too risky. It depends on being able to sell to an acquirer who will figure out a revenue model.

The Option That Gets You Financed

Practically speaking, most first-time entrepreneurs have little reason to conceive a venture that requires a lot of capital or a long ramp-up time to revenue and positive cash flow. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. But the normal route is for entrepreneurs to "earn their stripes" with a capital-efficient, low-risk venture that gets to positive cash flow quickly. If it works out well and they want to start another venture, they can shoot for something more ambitious then.

Discuss

Is Execution More Important than Vision?

Sarah Lacy — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:10:47 GMT

A few years ago, Max Levchin—of PayPal and Slide fame— told me there were two kinds of entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley: Those who work tirelessly and are great at execution, and those who are visionary and truly create new ideas—and sometimes new markets. Levchin put himself in the former category. Indeed, a lot of Slide’s success has just been the result of doing a better job ripping off ideas from competitors like RockYou. He put Evan Williams of Blogger and Twitter in the latter. At the time, Twitter was only a techy phenomenon, but Max noted that unlike a lot of other Web 2.0 companies, Twitter was one of the only ones doing something untested and new.

With all the hyperbole about Twitter today, if I asked you whether the executor or the visionary would wind up being more successful, nearly everyone would say the visionary. But—as Levchin no doubt knew when he made this point—the visionary is usually the one that gets the shaft in Silicon Valley.

Napster changed the music world, but it was iTunes that profited off of it. Google was one of the last companies in the Internet bubble to try their hand at building a search engine—and was laughed out of some VCs’ offices as a result. Palm pioneered the smart phone, not Blackberry. And Friendster was the social network pioneer before Mark Zuckerberg even entered college.

What about Apple? Well it was visionary when it came to the computer, but what turned the company around was the iPod and the iPhone—both just way better versions of MP3 player and smart phones. You can extrapolate it to enterprise software too: Is it i2, PeopleSoft or Siebel that ended up reaping top dog rewards for creating the software that now runs every single large company? Nope. It’s SAP—a company great at applications but horrible at underlying technology—and Oracle—a company great at technology but horrible at applications.

Of course, you can’t talk about this issue without bringing up TiVo: The company that revolutionized how we watch TV and dramatically altered the business model of nearly everyone in that medium, whether it’s cable companies, networks, or advertisers. What was its reward? The company has mostly limped along losing money as competitors ripped off their idea and gave boxes away for free. Most people who use the verb “TiVo” have never even owned a TiVo.

Tom Rogers, TiVo’s CEO, granted a rare interview to NBC’s Press:Here, and he laid out his vision for why TiVo is getting stronger. First there are the financials: It finally turned a profit on net income last year, and a healthy one at about $100 million. Second, there’s the stock: It’s up from a November 16 low of $4.60 a share to nearly $11 a share. But the big question is where future growth will come from. Who doesn’t have a TiVo who wants one at this point?

In essence, Rogers says the company’s future lies in three main areas: Getting way more content than just broadcast and cable on their box; pioneering Internet-like market research on what people watch down to the second they start fast-forwarding through a commercial, and cooperating with TV stations to come up with ways to get their advertising message across that people will actually consume. The heavy lifting here won’t be innovation as much as it’ll be tough execution. Of course the company could always get bought. But given the stock bump, that’s probably not in the offing any time soon.

It’s not surprising that the focus is on programming and TV-partnerships since Rogers is a TV guy, not a techy. He was a long time NBC executive who co-founded CNBC and MSNBC. Notice in this clip how deftly he bats aside the question I asked about product innovation and why TiVo was so late to the HD game. The full episode can be viewed in the Bay Area on Sunday morning on NBC or here now.

CrunchBase Information

TiVo

Information provided by CrunchBase

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Get A Free Copy Of Sarah Lacy’s Startup Book

Michael Arrington — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:39:43 GMT

TechCrunch Editor Sarah Lacy’s book Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good came out in paperback edition earlier this month. We posted some of the new Twitter history that she included in a new chapter included in this edition a few weeks ago.

You can buy the book here. But since most of you are way too cheap to actually pay for a book, we’re going to give away 15 signed copies for free (postage included!).

Here’s what you have to do - retweet this story using the retweet button at the bottom of this post (or just click here) by midnight California time tonight. We’ll choose 15 at random and contact you for delivery details. Good luck, and enjoy the book.

To be eligible to win, you must retweet the post by midnight California time tonight. We’ll send these anywhere mail is delivered, you don’t have to be in the United States. Residents of South Carolina are not eligible to win.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Presskitn.com - Do-It-Yourself Public Relations

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:15:00 GMT

What it does

Presskit’n allows anyone - entrepreneurs, non-profits, small business, etc. - to kickstart their public relations efforts with a free, easy-to-use social media newsroom. Social media newsrooms are increasingly important as a one-stop-shop for writers, whether they are from major newspapers or tiny micro-blogs doing the rounds.

Presskit'n aims to bring everybody one step closer to realizing actual, solid Do-It-Yourself public relations, which is a common concern owing to the basic shortcomings of the media as we know it. As social media helps to minimize these inefficiencies (which major newspapers around the world are feeling), this DIY approach can become a realistic route in public relations. Presskit'n helps business news be heard, and the focus is on entrepreneurs, small business and non-profits.

The company aims to build the first social newsroom, and let different representatives work with each other seamlessly. The profiles of representatives are also always up-to-date, as no day goes by without the system retrieving such information.

By way of conclusion, the site enables journalists and bloggers to convene together, and brands to put their names and ideas across in a rapidly evolving setting which should not be left unattended a single minute for success to materialize.

In their own words

“Presskit'n helps business news get heard. Presskit'n newsrooms serve as your brand's primary hub of information for writers, including traditional journalists and bloggers.”

Why it might be a killer

It is a valuable resource that lets journalists and writers from all over the world centralize their efforts and work as one.

Some questions

When is the next major update scheduled for?

Link: http://www.presskitn.com
Our Review: http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/presskitn-com-do-it-yourself-public-relations

Build an Insanely Great Web Service

Bernard Lunn — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:30:44 GMT

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here.

First, the good news: building a website today is ten times cheaper and faster than it was 10 years ago. Now, the bad news: building a website today is ten times cheaper and faster than it was 10 years ago.

You are entering an incredibly crowded marketplace. You have to get and keep people's attention extremely fast, because hundreds of other services are just a click away. The bar is set very high, and knowing exactly how high does help. If you reach too low, you will only catch air and crash to the ground.

Sponsor

Six Milestones from 30 Seconds to 3 Years

Here is what an insanely great Web product looks like to the average user right now and through the next 3 years:

30 seconds: "I get it."
3 minutes: "I've used it and still get it, and it has not annoyed me yet."
3 days: "I find this really useful or fun."
3 weeks: "I am raving about this to other people."
3 months: "I couldn't imagine not having this, and I'm boring my friends telling them about it."
3 years: "How weird to see this on Oprah."

The 30-Second Milestone

You can moan all you like about what attention deficit disorder has done for user engagement, but it won't help you one bit. Get over it. People don't automatically care about your product and won't invest any time to find out if they should care. This rule is as old as consumer markets. This is what those guys on Madison Avenue with their jingles and insipid ad slogans have always known. Political sound bites live in this same reality.

Does this feel fake and insubstantial to you, the engineer, schooled in solving big, hard, complex problems?

So, study this like you would any other big, hard, complex problem. Making a product or service look totally simple and obvious is a big, hard, complex problem.

In 30 seconds, a user who comes to your website should be able to say:

"I get what they are offering."
"This might help or amuse me."
"I know what I have to do next."

There is a science to achieving this; it has been documented. You need to look at great examples and understand how they did it. Then you need to test and change, test and change, test and change, test and change, and then test and then change, until you go crazy!

The 3-Minute Milestone

After using your website for 3 minutes, the user should be able to say:

"I still understand what they are offering, and it does help or amuse me."
"This has not annoyed me yet."
"This could be even more fun or useful than I thought."
"I know what to do next to find out if this could be even more fun or useful."

The 3-Day Milestone

Now is the time to worry about stuff like performance and reliability. If you get to the 3-week milestone and bomb, your fanatical users will cut you some slack. But at this stage? Zero slack.

Have you been planning for this milestone since the design stage? Are you running on a cloud service with auto-scaling and recovery? No. Whoops! You had better hope your product is not insanely great, but rather just reasonably good and will grow steadily. Hint: build on a cloud service (like Amazon AWS) from the start.

The Three Remaining Milestones

3-week milestone
You'll know you have hit this when VCs return your calls and VCs you have never heard of call you out of the blue. Close fast to leverage your hotness. Don't get all arrogant and believe you can do it alone. With this kind of traction, you can raise capital cheaply (and thus have less dilution), so do it.
3-month milestone
If you reach this stage, you can skip ahead to the chapter on "How to Scale Without Losing Your Shirt."
3-year milestone
If you reach this stage, skip ahead to the chapter on "Planning Your Exit."

Concept vs. Execution

We have reached the point that almost any website can be built quickly and cheaply. Money to scale awaits only for sites that actually gain traction. Management teams take care of the basics when you have traction and money. So, in the age-old debate about which is more important, concept or execution, concept is currently winning. You have to have something that meets a real need or is addictively fun.

The area where concept and execution intersect is usability. A concept that does not grab users within 30 seconds and move them through those other milestones is totally useless. Basecamp is all about usability. Twitter is about usability. Gmail is about usability. The concept in each case is simple.

New Concept vs. Doesn't Suck vs. Fast Follower vs. Niche

Your website falls into one of four categories:

New concept
If you fall into this category, your product or service type does not have a name yet. It has no market space, category, or even articulated need yet. In a decade, the number of these concepts that actually gain traction is tiny. The number of them that get through the early-adopter phase to the mainstream (i.e. reach the 3-year milestone) is even smaller. In other words, good luck!
Doesn't Suck
This one is easier. This is a service you can describe as "[something] that doesn't suck." Google first offered "search that doesn't suck," and then followed it up with Gmail, which is "email that doesn't suck." In other words, don't be afraid to go after mature markets in which the current services are not that good. Spend a couple of days browsing online and you will see plenty of such opportunities.
Fast Follower
This applies to a new concept that makes your jaw drop and you think "OMG, this is so cool." And then you realize that doing something similar would actually be pretty simple. The first one to market with a new concept is not always the winner. It just looks that way because the originator gets lost in the dustbin of history when the better venture out-executes it. You need access to capital to do this right, because you have to move fast, which means hiring an A-Team. And A-Teams like to be paid a lot.
Niche
There are thousands of these. Your niche might be geographic or a user type. Most niches are limited in scale and so do not require much capital. These are ripe for bootstrapping. But don't think niches are easy. Users will still be very demanding.

Discuss

GigDoggy.com - Letting Artists & Fans Interact

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:17:00 GMT

Some questions

How much does this cost? Are there different plans that you can choose from?

In their own words

“Fanteraction™ lets bands create mobile websites for their gigs in minutes.”

Why it might be a killer

These services go down splendidly with musicians. They make the promotion of music and the building of links with supporters a truly easy task.

What it does

Found at www.gigdoggy.com, Fanteraction is a new mobile tool that enables bands to create mobile websites in order to promote their gigs. Moreover, bands can share lyrics and biographies with their punters, both during and after the gig.

Supported devices include iPhones and Blackberries. The system works exactly alike in both cases. The screen divides itself in two sections – one includes information for the band, and the other information for the fan.

All in all, Fanteraction intends to let musicians go mobile with their fans. I think I have said it before, but it is worth pointing it out again – no gesture goes unnoticed by the fans. At the end of the day, they are the ones who will make or break your career. We have many tools today that shorten the distances in every sense. Musicians should make the best out of them. As such, if your band is starting down the road this might give you something of a chance of building bonds more easily.

Link: http://www.gigdoggy.com
Our Review: http://www.killerstartups.com/Mobile/gigdoggy-com-letting-artists-fans-interact

Business Valuation Calculator Like Trendalyzer With Style

Nathan — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:50:31 GMT

Inc.com just released their annual valuation guide for 2009, which allows business owners to gauge the value of their, uh, business. At the center of this guide is an interactive "business valuation calculator" by Tommy McCall. I guess the best way to describe the graphic is Trendalyzer with some style and added functionality.

Each dot represents an industry and the position on the chart indicates whether the companies in that industry are priced high or low. Press the play button and watch how prices change between 2002 and now.

Finally, if you've got a business of your own, enter your own values to for a custom value estimate.

[Thanks, Sarah]

Variable pricing helps boost Giants crowds

Bizjournals.com - Charlotte,NC,USA — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:10:52 GMT

Using software developed by Austin, Texas-based startup Qcue, the team weighs factors like weather, opponent, team performance and past ticket sales to set ...
See all stories on this topic

Why start a company?

Alexander Muse — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:36:34 GMT

Max Chafkin explains Paul Graham’s reasoning, “Because for all the pain, [Paul] believes that founding a company is the most efficient way to create wealth — for investors, for founders, for society at large.”

Paul is exactly right and it seems everyone knows it too. Why else would so many people leave the security of full-time jobs with benefits to start their own company? Everyone knows there is a 90%+ chance of failure, but entrepreneurs keep betting against the house in the hopes they have a winner.

Max’s article titled, “The Startup Guru: Y Combinator’s Paul Graham” worth the read. I can’t help but think places like Dallas can learn something from his model - 145 startups and counting.

Austin's WebWars plans online game attack

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:05:54 GMT

Austin gaming startup WebWars LLC has raised money from the billionaire owner of the NBA Memphis Grizzlies to create a line of online games.

WebWars Unveils Online Gaming Platform

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:51:00 GMT

Austin-based WebWars, a developer of online game technology, said today that the firm has emerged from stealth, and will develop game titles based on Web browser technology. According to WebWars, its product will allow users to play online games while surfing the web, and browsing web sites. The firm said its first, Flash-based game, will open beta testing in July.... (more)

BrandStack Reinvents the Branding Supply Chain

Alan Weinkrantz — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:08:24 GMT

San Antonio startup, BrandStack, isn’t really a “startup.” It’s really a re-start of a company formerly known as IncSpring.

With their new platform, Brandstack not only showcases incredible design talent, but also allows companies to purchase an entire package — domain, name, brand, logo, stationery — and any other individual elements that they might need as they need them. If a company needs a Website, they’ll be able to find it and then come back for their identity package another time.

It’s also a great way for designers and companies to meet each other on the Web. They’re a completely open network and encourage companies to work with the designers beyond the initial purchase.

What’s compelling about BrandStack is that designers will be able to build an entire brand or just one design element, leaving the other elements open for others to create and sell.

It works because some designers are better at developing identity packages while others tend to excel with print or Web design. It also works because they can introduce companies to additional service providers like public relations professionals, marketers, and printers.

Now add in other professionals into the mix– say bloggers, designers, Web developers, PR types, and SEO/SEM experts and you wind up having a supply chain that gets you best of breed — all online and from around the world.

Founder, Wes Wilson, told me that they plan to have educational articles and insights that will be available on the stie. Within a few short months, companies, designers, and other creative professionals will be writing about topics that range from advanced Photoshop techniques and SEO tips to how to choose a freelance designer and what questions they frequently ask before providing an estimate.

Wes’ vision to become a one-stop network that takes the guesswork out of design for companies while allowing designers the flexibility they need to showcase designs the way they imagine them at a fair, affordable price.

But I see it as much more.

To me, BrandStack is as much of a supply chain as it is a creative marketplace. And by it’s name, there are metaphors of software development. Think of your brand as a software stack, with your design and output being a set of programs that work together to produce a result- a great brand you can monetize.

Squeejee Launches Floxee, Platform for Custom Twitter Directories

Bradley Joyce — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:27:27 GMT

** again, in case you didn’t remember… I’m a developer at Squeejee and therefore am intimately tied to this project.

So, what the heck is this Floxee thing anyway?

Floxee is a platform to bring your Twitter flock together. To boil it way down, Floxee is essentially groups for Twitter; get a bunch of Twitter users and aggregate them and their tweets in one location.

Of course we offer a bunch of features to go along with that, including:

an archived and searchable tweetstream
detailed tweetstream and stats page for each flocker
- we pull in data from Follow Cost and TwitterCounter
- ability to follow the person directly from their page
stats for your flock including most followed/conversational/political/active
community backchannel

Some neat features in the pipeline include the ability to vote up tweets in the tweetstream, css customizations and content management for certain portions of a site.

Our goal with Floxee is to make it incredibly easy for anyone to create a directory of Twitter users with all these features. Of course, there are some very interesting potential applications, especially around business use and branding/marketing. Zappos is well known for encouraging employees to use Twitter and aggregating it all, along with official company accounts, on their website at twitter.zappos.com. Floxee puts the ability to create the same strong sense of community and company branding in the hands of any business or organization with just a few clicks.

Currently, Floxee is in private beta. If you would like to participate please visit http://floxee.com and complete the signup form at the bottom of the page. We anticipate moving out of the beta period soon and rolling out a variety of paid accounts that should suit a wide variety of users.

Floxee is being used to power (amongst other sites):

Failure shouldn’t be your goal

Alexander Muse — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:33:25 GMT

Jason Fried’s recent talk at Big Omaha caught the attention of David Cohen (my partner in SpringStage). In his talk, Jason railed against the recently popular meme among entrepreneurs, “Fail Early, Fail Often!“ He suggests, ‘this industries obsession with failure has got to stop.‘ Check out the video here:

David suggests that Jason might be offering a red herring:

“I think there is some confusion here between “fail early, fail often” and “fail fast.” Failing fast is about the case where you’re on a path that is going to fail and the writing is on the wall. In that context, failing the company fast makes sense.

When people say “Fail early, fail often” I think they generally mean something different. Of course people aren’t encouraging you to go out and start companies that fail just for the experience of it as if it somehow makes you stronger! Rather, it’s about testing and trying until you get it right - generating an overall success. Think little failures, early and often, and you’ve got the right context for “fail early, fail often.”

That’s what was bugging me. To me the two sayings are used in completely different contexts. Am I right? What does “fail early, fail often” mean to you, vs. “fail fast”?”

Failure shouldn’t be your goal, but doesn’t have to be fatal. David notes, “Asian culture has historically made it shameful to fail.” Failure allows an entrepreneur to push the ‘reset’ button and start over. If your culture has no such ‘reset’ button the risks entrepreneurs will be willing to take will be MUCH smaller - if failure isn’t an option you won’t take risks, period.

Jason suggests that there is this perverse notion among entrepreneurs and investors, “that you should fail a few times before you succeed.” David contends that he has NEVER come across anyone who thinks like this (me either). Failure is a reality in the startup world - the 90% failure rate is NOT a myth. The point is that we shouldn’t let failure stop us from trying.

I think Jason may be suggesting that too many entepreneurs give up too quickly. Of course he is right. Giving up quickly is not a recipe for success. Maybe the meme should be “Take Big Risks Early and Often and Don’t be Afraid to Fail.”

TechRanch Branching Out to Cedar Park

Bryan Menell — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:22:42 GMT

Tech Ranch Austin today announced expansion of it’s programs into Cedar Park, Texas with the launch of Tech Ranch Cedar Park. Beginning June 24th, Tech Ranch Cedar Park will host a series entrepreneur support events focused on building community, increasing collaboration, and accelerating entrepreneurial activity in Cedar Park. The new program will also be supported by the new TechRanch incubator space, which now has over 5,000 square feet, on Rundberg Lane.

On June 24th at 6pm, business and technology leaders from across Central Texas will converge in Cedar Park to participate in the Entrepreneur Town Hall Meeting. This meeting format features a collaborative discussion among local entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, technologists, consultants, students and other interested citizens.

“The City of Cedar Park is home to many innovative high tech firms such as Corvalent, EEStor, Fallbrook Technologies, Integrated Bank Technology, and Mystic Pharmaceuticals” said Bob Lemon, Mayor, City of Cedar Park. “This event will further our efforts to reach out and encourage the next generation of Cedar Park entrepreneurs.”

The event will feature key issues for the community:

Launching and growing our businesses in this challenging economic climate.
Ways to work together to make sure our city works for the best interests of our entrepreneurs.
Lessons learned from other local entrepreneurs on what is working, what isn’t and why.

This event is scheduled for June 24th, 6pm - 8pm, at the Austin Community College campus at 1555 Cypress Creek Rd, Cedar Park, TX 78613. While this event is free and open to the public, an online RSVP is required as seating is limited to 200. More information and registration can be found on the website or by calling 512-339-3242.

“There has never been a better time to start a new venture. While the overall economy is down, entrepreneurial ventures are going to drive the next wave of job growth and business success,” said Kevin Koym, Co-Founder of Tech Ranch. “I’m a fifth generation Texan, and there is no where else I would like to accelerate entrepreneurial success than right here in Cedar Park.”

Entrepreneurial Events Planned Throughout The Summer

Following the Town Hall Meeting, Tech Ranch will be coordinating a series of community building events. Currently planned activities include DemoCamp Cedar Park, Cedar-Tech Meetup, and Employee to Entrepreneur Training. More details about these events, and access to the Tech Ranch Cedar Park Events Calendar on the website.

Have a Company Consider Incorporating It | Dallas Texas Business ...

(author unknown) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:38:01 GMT

It's great that you desire to start your own business, however what you choose to do after which will aid or hinder the definite success of the company. We.

Smashburger's First Franchise Stores to Open in Grand Junction ...

Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:29:13 GMT

Business Wire (press release)

The second and third franchise stores, owned by SB Alamo Development, LLC, will open in San Antonio, Texas, at the Stone Ridge shopping center and the Park ...
See all stories on this topic

Business Startup

admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:04:05 GMT

Texas Business Portal: Comprehensive business resources from the state and federal governments. Flexible and secure, free business plan tool with easy-to-update sections and exportable functionality. Small Business Portal, Starting a ...
Earn Income Online! - http://aaffiliate-touch.ods.org/

Entrepreneurs at FundingPost conference find greater financing obstacles in sour economy

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMT

SparkStart & Houston Startup Happy Hour

Marc Nathan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:29:14 GMT

There is just one week left until the Microsoft BizSpark sponsored SparkStart event in Dallas, register here: http://sparkstart.eventbrite.com/

Christian Thilmany, (@uxarchitect) the User Experience Architect for Microsoft, is hosting the event and several Houston folks, including your favorite Network Partner (email mnathan - @- houstontech.org for details) will be panelists.

SparkStart is a full day of business and technology discussion (open format) and learning event for startups (“startup bootcamp”). This event will also be a networking opportunity for those startups who are new to the BizSpark program and not yet enrolled in the program and would like to mingle and learn from key business and technology influencers. It will also be an event for those startups who are recently enrolled and need to keep the momentum going by learning key strategies for success, both in business, and in technology.

Also, don’t forget Houston Startup Happy Hour tonight:

6:00 - 9:00 p.m. at Saute Bistro at 2303 Richmond Avenue.

We welcome anyone who has a startup, who is in a startup, or who is interested in startups (ie. Entreprenuers, Developers, Inventors, Technology Enthusiasts, Service Providers, & especially Investors) to enjoy real-time social networking at its finest.

Startup Profile: ParaTweet

Alexander Muse — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:35:20 GMT

Dallas based ParaTweet was founded earlier this year to help people use Twitter. People kept asking Micah Davis how to utilize Twitter in their day-to-day lives. With most applications centered around the web or phone, there hasn’t been much in the way of an answer so he built http://ParaTweet.com. (@ParaTweet) ParaTweet is a real-time, full screen display of tweets pulled from any #tag or search term(s). It also provides moderation capabilities that allow for any tweet to be approved or disapproved prior to showing on the screen. Since #tags aren’t exclusive for use, they can often come with inappropriate, irrelevant or spam content. This is where ParaTweet’s moderation and filtering can help by only displaying relevant and appropriate tweets to a live audience.

Q. Why did you start ParaTweet? A. Wanted to use Twitter to help make some live events interactive but couldn’t find a good resource to accomplish what I was looking for.

Q. What blogs do you read regularly? A. Texas Startup Blog http://texasstartupblog.com To stay in the loop on the local startup scene. TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com Overall tech news and pulse of the startup landscape. 37 Signals http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts Quality writing on startup culture and best practices

Q. What was your least favorite job? A. Any job that was entrepreneurial. :)

Q. What is unique about your company’s culture? A. Everybody gets to weigh in on product development.

Q. What are your goals for the company? A. Just to build a valuable product with a friendly user experience. Our initial app focuses on making Twitter more integrated and useful for any type of live experience. (ie - event, conference, church or venue)

Micah is looking for your help. Got an idea for ParaTweet? Some crazy mash-up, out there application, or something just plain fun?! He is always up for stuff like that (even if it leads to potential partnerships).

Based:	Dallas
Founder:	Micah Davis
Title:	Co-founder
Phone	(682) 521-5886
Email	micah@paratweet.com
Blog URL:
LinkedIn Profile:
Twitter Profile:	http://twitter.com/paratweet
Company:	ParaTweet
Web Site:	http://paratweet.com
Company Founded:	April 1, 2009
Key Executive:	Aaron Garcia, Co-founder
Key Executive:	Court Simas, Co-founder
Key Executive:	Nick Zadrozny, Co-founder
Funding to Date:	bootstrapped
Number of Employees:	5
Yearly Revenue (2007):	0
Estimated Revenue (2008):	0
Estimated Revenue (2009):	20000

Burger chain inks first ‘smashing’ deal in the Alamo City

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:14:03 GMT

Less than six months after announcing plans to bring a new burger concept to local diners, SB Alamo Development LLC is making good on those plans.

Surgient cuts 11 jobs

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:52:30 GMT

SOFTWARE

DandyID - Organize, Track and Analyze your Social Network

Chad Hutchins — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:56:28 GMT

Over a year ago, I had the opportunity to hang out with some young startups when visiting TechStars. One of the guys was Arron Kallenberg of DandyID.org. DandyID is a simple web application that allows you to organize, track and analyze your social network.

DandyID has integrated nearly 300 social networks into their system. By building out your profile and adding the social networks you are a part of, they provide a nice profile page.

This week they have released pro accounts for users that really want to understand and increase the impact of their online identity. With DandyID’s extensive API, there are several ways to share your DandyID profile with the world. When sharing your DandyID profile on other sites, DandyID provides analytics allowing you to track and analyze who is visiting your on your various social network profiles. For instance, I included my DandyID on my personal blog with their handy wordpress plugin.

Whenever someone is visiting my blog and clicks on my Twitter account I can see the results in the analytics section of my DandyID account broken down by which links are clicked (Twitter in this case), which site it was visited from (my blog) and who the visitor was (if they are a DandyID member).

The DandyID pro accounts also give you a breakdown of what social networks your DandyID contacts are using.

Lastly, of your contacts on DandyID, you can see a simple list of all the changes your contacts are making on their public profiles that they have listed on DandyID, all wrapped up in a nice RSS feed.

DandyID is a great way to keep track of all of your social networks, especially while managing a brand. I highly recommend the service, so if you want to give it whirl, go sign up for a free account today.

Have you used DandyID? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below.

Dallas Early-Stage Venture & Angel Conference

Bradley Joyce — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:47:29 GMT

Dallas Early-Stage Venture & Angel Conference
Location: Sheraton Suites Market Center, 2101 N Stemmons Freeway Dallas, TX 75207
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2009
Time: 2pm - 6pm (workshop is 11am-1pm)
More information: http://www.fundingpost.com/breakfast/reg1.asp?event=154

Benefits of Attending:
· Get an inside look at the VC industry as the panel of leading Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors reveal what kind of deals their looking for in the recession, best & worst ways to get their attention, plus additional advice for start-ups.

· Meet Entrepreneurs trying to raise capital during these challenging times.

· Network and chat with attending Investors and get their personal take on the current economic climate and how it’s affecting their investments.

Entrepreneurs to Meet Active VCs & Angels at FundingPost’s Dallas Event

In a time when networking is a necessity, FundingPost makes introductions at the “Dallas Early-Stage Venture & Angel Conference.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Dallas, TX –May 20, 2009 - FundingPost (www.FundingPost.com) is proud to announce its “Dallas Early-Stage Venture & Angel Conference,” to take place on June 4, 2009, at the Sheraton Suites Market Center. FundingPost has organized over 150 sold-out venture events over the past eight years.

Despite the bleak economy, there are still investors looking for quality deals, and this upcoming event will give entrepreneurs access to some of the leading early-stage Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors in the area. Additionally, as many entrepreneurs wonder what it takes to secure financing during these challenging times, investors will be offering valuable insight during the panel discussion. The panel of Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists will address trends in early-stage investing, hot sectors, the best and worst ways to get their attention, as well as additional advice on how to grow your business during the recession. As with all FundingPost events, there will be pitching and plenty of networking time for the entrepreneurs to meet the investors!

Speakers for this event include:

John Filla, Houston Angel Network
John C. Adler, General Partner, Silver Creek Ventures
Dan Klein, Director, Hunt Ventures
Ben Doherty, Angel Investor, The Fat Cat Club

“We are excited to be hosting another event back in Dallas! Last year our event sold out and the entrepreneur community in Texas has continued to grow,” said Joe Rubin, Director at FundingPost. “We will be bringing both Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists, all of whom are actively seeking new deals.” Tickets to attend the event are available online at: http://www.FundingPost.com/event

For more information on the Investor conference and other FundingPost events, call 800-461-5509 or visit the website at http://www.FundingPost.com/event

ABOUT FUNDINGPOST:
FundingPost is an entrepreneur and investor network reaching more than 250,000 executives and 7,500 Venture Capital and Angel Investors across the nation each month.

For over eight years, FundingPost has worked with thousands of Angel and Venture Capital Investors and Entrepreneurs. FundingPost has hosted over 8,500 CEOs and 500 Venture Funds at events in 17 cities nationwide, as well as providing a Dealflow magazine and a deal-exchange Website that sees introductions of Investors to Entrepreneurs every day. FundingPost’s mission is to reach investors and entrepreneurs in every medium possible - both online and offline. For more information: (www.FundingPost.com)

Contact:
Deborah Hertlein
FundingPost.com
800-461-5509
press@fundingpost.com

Duels.com Hosts 200,000,000th Battle, Shatters Records

Bryan Menell — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:11:11 GMT

It was a record-breaking week for Duels.com, the massively multiplayer online player vs. player (PVP) game developed by Austin game studio Challenge Online Games, Inc. (Challenge Games). Not only did the game host its 200,000,000th (yes, that’s two hundred millionth) battle, but a new World Duels Champion was crowned after a tournament that shattered year over year records.

The championship ladder opened Tuesday, May 12 at 1pm EDT and nearly 3,000 competitors from 70 countries battled it out for two weeks. With double the participants from last year and nearly four times the amount of matches, it was a fierce, record-breaking competition to be last man standing. In the end, Duelist David Johnson (a.k.a. “Exponential”) was crowned 2009 World Duels Champion and took home $2000 in cash and prizes. Runner-up Duelist Andy Foote (a.k.a. O.J. Simpson) took home $1000 in cash and prizes. Each finalist will also have the opportunity to design a new item to be included in Duels.

“Reaching the 200-millionth milestone during the 2009 World Duels Championship added an exclamation point to an already phenomenal event,” says Christian Primozich, Executive Producer of Duels. “From me and the entire Duels team, two hundred million thanks to all of the Duelists who brought their A-game and participated in the 2009 WDC. Duels continues to have the most amazing community of gamers on the Internet, and the bar has been set very high for 2010!”

With half a million players worldwide, Duels is an online strategy game where players build powerful characters based on physical attributes, battle experience, special abilities and collectible items. Unlike many online strategy games which require hours of grinding play to achieve player power and status, Duels is designed to provide compelling in-depth PVP, head-to-head game play in 10 to 30 minute increments, attracting both hardcore and casual gamers for quick-fix gaming.

Q&A Wednesday :: Interspire

The Editor — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:00:12 GMT

Today’s Q&A Wednesday is with Eddie Machaalani, the CEO of Interspire.

Q: Give us the elevator pitch for Interspire?
Interspire provides affordable e-commerce, content management, and email marketing software that helps businesses of all sizes better compete and succeed online. Interspire is customer inspired, meaning our software development process is based on customer feedback. We also provide first-class customer service and tech support — as well as a 60-day, no-questions-asked refund policy to every new customer. Our dedication to providing quality products that people actually enjoy using is what’s made Interspire as popular as it is today, with more than 30,000 people in over 60 countries using an Interspire product every day.

Q: How did you choose Austin for your US headquarters?
The U.S. is a huge market for us, with probably 40 percent of our revenues coming from the United States. And we really wanted to cater to our customers and partners here, by building a local sales, marketing and tech support team dedicated to helping them. We asked some of the contractors we worked with here where they recommended, and this one software marketing consultant, who had traveled and worked all over the States, highly recommended Austin. Not only did it seem like a really nice city but there was a lot of great tech talent, and it was affordable, especially for a “startup”, compared to other cities we checked out. And it’s in the Central time zone, which is good as we do a lot of business over the phone.

Q: How long has the company been around, and what success have you had in other countries so far?
Interspire incorporated in 2003, but we’ve actually been around, developing and selling web-based software, since 1999. We — my partner Mitchell Harper and I — started out in Sydney, Australia, and were immediately successful, but interestingly most of those early sales came from the States. We’ve also had a lot of success in Europe and recently set up an office in London. Today, we have customers and partners in just about every country in the world.

Q: How have you funded the company?
The company has been bootstrapped from day one. We had no VC money, no angel investor. I was doing contract work by day, and building the company at night. A friend of mine let me borrow some space and his Internet access, but other than that Mitch and I funded the company entirely ourselves. Fortunately, we got the website and software up pretty quickly, and the software started selling straight away. So we were able to make money pretty quickly.

Q: What can we expect to see in the future from Interspire?
Right now we’re hiring very aggressively, building a very smart, talented sales, marketing, and tech support team. And we’re about to move into our new offices, where Google and Microsoft and Oracle have space, which we’re really excited about. As for the future, we’re really focused on servicing and growing the U.S. market, adding new customers and partners. We’re also working on our new SaaS e-commerce platform (www.bigcommerce.com), which should be available in a few months to go hand in hand with our SaaS email marketing platform (www.bigresponse.com), and on expanding our presence in Europe.

Q: There are many high tech companies in Austin, many if not most of which were there before you. Why should someone come work for Interspire?

One, because of our software. It’s really good software. And I’m not just saying that. We get a lot of feedback from our customers saying how happy they are to use the software. And that they’re making money. It makes providing tech support and customer service and sales and marketing, all those things, so much easier. And we really take care of our employees. I’m not just talking benefits, which are quite good, but the whole work environment. In Australia we have a Friday lunch, where we take all the staff out for a pub lunch that the company pays for. It’s good fun, and everyone really enjoys themselves. We’re planning on doing something similar here, once we’ve settled in.

Q: Where did the name “Interspire” come from?

We were looking for a name that described what we did, providing web- or Internet-based software, which was inspired by our customers. We tried out a bunch of different combinations of things, checking to see if the domain had been registered by someone. And we ultimately came up with Interspire, for “Internet inspired.” By the way, we really practice what we preach. Some software companies say they value customer feedback, but our software is actually customer driven. That’s why our tag line is “Web software inspired by you.”

Lean Startups [Eric Ries in Austin]

Bryan Menell — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:54:13 GMT

Eric Ries is coming to Austin on June 3rd to speak to Texchange about lean startups. Eric was recognized by BusinessWeek as one of the best young entrepreneurs in tech. He is also author of the blog Startup Lessons Learned. He was also the co-founder and CTO of IMVU. Texchange events are normally for members only, but for this event if you are an entrepreneur or tech company executive, you can get a special $35 rate by emailing Ashley. That includes dinner, and there will be a cash bar during the networking portion beforehand, which is tremendous.

Date: Wednesday June 3rd, 6pm - 8pm

Where: Austin Country Club

Title: The Lean Startup - A Disciplined Approach to Imagining, Designing, and Building New Companies

Description: The current macroeconomic climate presents unparalleled opportunities for those that can thrive with constrained resources. The Lean Startup is a practical approach for creating and managing a new breed of company that excels in low-cost experimentation, rapid iteration, and true customer insight. It uses principles of agile software development, open source and web 2.0, and lean manufacturing to guide the creation of technology businesses that create disruptive innovation.

This presentation will empower entrepreneurs and managers to:

Identify a profitable business model faster and cheaper than your competitors.
Continuously discover what customers want to buy before building or making follow-on investments in new features.
Ship new software at a dizzying pace: multiple times a day while improving quality and lowering costs.
Build a company-wide culture of decision-making based on real facts, not opinions.

In this presentation, serial entrepreneur Eric Ries will share practical solutions based in his work building IMVU to more than 25 million members worldwide and his experiences consulting to more than a dozen technology startups.

Q&A Wednesday :: Dok-It

The Editor — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:00:57 GMT

Today’s Q&A Wednesday is with Dok-It Online, which provides secure storage for your valuable information. Dok-It is a startup located in the San Antonio area, and has just recently launched their service.

Q: Give us the elevator pitch for your Dok It?
We are a web based services company that allows our clients to store information about their valuables on our website. Once you have built your profile you are able to upload information on any equipment or valuables that you have in your home or office that you would file a claim against with your insurance company do to loss or damage such as theft, fire or flood. You can upload pictures, serial numbers, warranty cards and any purchase information such as date, purchase location and or amount paid. The quick answer is that we are networking with the insurance companies and this will allow you to speed up any claim you may have to file with them because or loss or damage. They are really loving the concept because it helps their customers get back to normal quicker. At $39.95 a year we will store information on up to 250 items. More storage is available for an additional charge. Custom orders can be obtained by contacting me directly. We can’t stop bad things from happening but we can help make getting back on your feet easier and quicker. Like our slogan says “Life Happens, Be Prepared”.

Q: What gave you the idea for the product?
Unfortunately, the owners had a break in at their home and office and between everything of value being stolen, dealing with law enforcement, and their insurance agent the concept started there. It has grown into what you will see now. We want to help reduce the stress of trying to remember everything in your house after having a break in or other emergency.

Q: Was there an “A Ha!” moment when you knew you had something that people needed?
When we started discussing the idea with insurance agents and the way the concept grabbed their attention. They would tell us how much easier this would make the experience on them and their clients. We knew that this could be something special!!

Q: How has the company been funded so far?
Privately Funded.

Q: Tell us about the founders of the company?
Billy and Janette Johnson operate a small but successful architectural design/build firm in the small Texas Hill Country town of Bulverde. Their projects vary in size and complexity with price ranges from $250,000 to $2 million with locations throughout Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada. They specialize in a hands on approach to design and construction and maintain a high degree of collaboration with each and every client. This is their first web based company.

Hyper9 Launches Beta of Mobile Tool

Bryan Menell — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:44:06 GMT

Hyper9, a leading provider of virtualization management solutions based in Austin, announced today the availability of the beta version of the Virtualization Mobile Manager (VMM), a browser-based management and monitoring tool that enables systems administrators to control their virtual infrastructures from a mobile device.

Created by Andrew Kutz, a well-known developer in the VMware community, VMM enables remote network control, extended scalability and multi-platform support, meaning it can be used with VMware Server 2, VMware Infrastructure 3, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Citrix XenServer 5, among other hypervisors.

Besides the ability to work across multiple platforms, VMM also offers the ability to monitor host and VM performance statistics (CPU, Memory), control VMs and take action on the go (start, stop, pause, reset and disable network). In addition, the application is optimized to work with almost any mobile device, including the Apple iPhone, Blackberry, Google Android and Windows Mobile Devices.

“After talking with Hyper9 customers and other VI administrators, we realized that administrators wanted the freedom to remotely monitor and manage their virtual infrastructure,” said Chris Ostertag, CEO and founder of Hyper9. “In creating VMM, we have given administrators a powerful, yet cost-effective tool that will make their lives easier.”

The beta can be downloaded at the Hyper9 website, or in the Hyper9 community.

Notice Technologies Joins ATI

Bryan Menell — Fri, 15 May 2009 23:14:09 GMT

Notice Technologies, developers of online and social advertising products for local businesses that are marketed through local media companies such as newspapers, television stations, hyperlocal news sites, and radio, today announced its membership with the Austin Technology Incubator, a program of the IC2 Institute and the University of Texas at Austin.
Notice Technologies’ products link advertisers and interested consumers through its self-service advertising platform, MinutesNotice, and its consumer portal, Youpons.net.

MinutesNotice takes the complexity out of online and social network advertising by allowing local businesses to easily enter deals and discounts in a streamlined web interface designed to take 90 seconds or less to complete. These deals are then published to Notice Technologies’ consumer deals portal youpons.net, the advertising company’s website and customer list, local portals, and social media such as Twitter and Facebook. MinutesNotice is an innovation in local online advertising that can help local media offer relevant and effective advertising to their customers,” says Chris Treadaway, founder and CEO of Notice Technologies.

Youpons.net creates a feed of local deals and offers, so consumers can access them immediately on the web, social networks, or mobile devices. It also provides location-based, real-time advertising, enabling consumers to make quick purchasing decisions using relevant, updated information from local businesses. The company is currently offering MinutesNotice and Youpons.net together as a white-label solution for local media companies. Specifically, Notice “helps local media outlets like newspaper, television and radio, monetize their online properties better by providing an effective turnkey local advertising product through its white label versions” expresses Treadaway.

Treadaway envisions ATI’s connection with Notice as unifying. “We want help from experts at ATI for sanity checks, business strategy, and advice about our approach. We’re hoping to find web developers and business developers; and we would like to source from The University of Texas,” says Treadaway.

“Chris and the Notice team have made tremendous progress to date and have a business model that simplifies the local advertising industry’s efforts to address the online and social media opportunity,” says Bart Bohn, Director of ATI’s Wireless and IT verticals. “We are enthusiastic to engage with them.”

Bazaarvoice Releases Traffic Stats

Fri, 15 May 2009 15:33:00 GMT

Austin-based Bazaarvoice, which provides online applications to online retailers for ratings and reviews, said Friday that the firm now has served what it says are over 50 billion user-generated ratings, reviews, and other information through its platform. The company said it now serves up 4 billion pieces of user-generated content each month. The firm did not say what that translates to as pageviews or unique users.... (more)

Entrepreneurs launched more businesses in 2008 than in 2007 despite recession

Thu, 14 May 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Making your (web 2.0) life a little easier

Steve Guengerich — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:28:06 GMT

Freshtech Friday by Steve Guengerich

Sure, it is the new companies with funding that make the headlines in old media. But, among the many great things about Austin is the amazing group of talented people you run across all of the time. Frequently, in addition to their “day jobs,” they are also doing fascinating work to fix the minor annoyances many of us face every day in our digital lives.

I stumbled across one of these amazing people just down the hall a few weeks ago, nGenera’s own Terry Heath. We already knew Terry was a great engineer, but what was neat was learning about just a couple of his side dabbles.

Take, for instance, Big Tweet (or bgtwt). You know how twitter has that annoying 140 character limitation that can really stop you dead in your tracks? Sure, for the twitter purists, the limitation is an absolutist perfection, like the divine right of kings, back in its day.

However, why put up with it when you don’t have to? And that is the beauty of Big Tweet. It lets you send that larger message on twitter, when you really have something to say that’s over 140 characters. And, you don’t have to go backwards from your web 2.0 world to do it.

But what about something even more useful, for you in my hardcore IT readership? Well, Terry’s got another pretty cool service called Locked Envelope.

Locked Envelope lets you send secure messages over the internet, without having to deal with encryption yourself. Say you need to send someone your bank account number and personal ID number, for completing a wire transfer or some other such thing. Well, you want to make darn sure that a bad guy doesn’t get hold of it while the bits are zipping across the cloud.

Locked envelope gives you some peace of mind. No, it’s not a replacement for a full-form e-mail application. But, it is a handy service for those situations where you want the extra assurance.

What other side applications, secret services, and other helpful little web apps have you run across? Please tell us about your favorites. Until next time!

Salesby5’s Erik Darmstetter, Advises on Having a True Purpose in Your Startup

Alan Weinkrantz — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:10:58 GMT

By Erik Darmstetter, Salesby5

When you’re building any company or an organization, having a true purpose is a fundamental driver that will get future employees on board as well as help keep you on a successful path. This purpose is the why you do what you do and not how or what. If it is to make money then you have no real real purpose for keeping people or recruiting people on your team as getting a paycheck is a commodity.

Purpose is the reason to get up in the morning and do what you do every day to help benefit others with your product or service. The importance of have real purpose versus something that sounds good is that customers or employees can tell if your culture or your behaviors do not match what your said purpose is or REAL Vs. FAKE!

Our purpose at Salesby5 is to inspire others. We talk of inspiration often, as it has so much to do with sales. One of the stars on our team is Kya, who is our Brand Evangelist. She has radar that picks out “REAL.”

She has a unique strength to know if someone is sincere (real) or fake in seconds, where most are about 100 times slower. Why does this matter? She can pick off someone trying to get a date, sell copier toner or attempting to get in your wallet faster than my computer can get an Internet connection.

Tomorrow’s success is today’s real. This is why we fire customers who are rude, lie or don’t pay when they say they will pay. This is why we do not take a customer or vendor who we do not feel has the REAL Win-Win attitude versus just WIN. We need to feel good about making them prosper or there are plenty of others.

A few thoughts on being real regarding sales:

If you have to remember your pitch: Fail
If you can’t remember the prospects problems and your opportunities: Fail
If you remember a client’s child’s name because you care: REAL!
If you remember they love Papouli’s Greek Grill’s Mediterranean Salad for lunch on Thursdays: REAL!

The point: Get real or get a new purpose. Today is about transparency and about being real. Fake billboards or sales pitches that leave me wondering don’t work anymore. Do you need some REAL in your life?

BuzzStream Open to the Public

Bryan Menell — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:00:43 GMT

BuzzStream announced the public availability of BuzzStream for Link Building, the first link building relationship management platform for search engine optimization. The on-demand service not only helps users manage large link building projects, but also eliminates many of the most mundane and repetitive tasks in link building.

“I’ve seen lots of SEO tools, but BuzzStream strikes a great balance between automating work and preserving the human touch,” said Eric Ward, CEO of Etilogic and an Advisor to the Company. “I’ve been waiting for an app like this for fifteen years.”

BuzzStream has some really incredible features, including:

BuzzMarker Bookmarklet - automatically and instantly finds, retrieves and stores website details
A built-in CRM to manage your link partners
BCC of emails to link to your partner record in the CRM
Twitter integration
Backlink checking

Unlike a traditional CRM (customer relationship management) system, BuzzStream for Link Building stores and automatically updates details about link prospects that are unique to link building such as authority metrics, outbound link count, domain age, and more. Where a traditional CRM system helps sales teams convert opportunities into sales, BuzzStream helps link builders convert link prospects into quality relationships and links.

“What I love about BuzzStream is that it helps us stay organized and save time on the data collection and ongoing management side of link prospecting. It also more easily enables sharing of information and participation in link development for our globally-distributed, cross-functional team. Overall, the elimination of a lot of manual work has made us more effective and reintroduced some fun into the link building process,” said Jeff Smith, Director of US SEO for HomeAway.com.

BuzzStream is a free service, with premium account pricing based on usage.

Novophage Therapeutics wins UT’s Moot Corp Competition

Mon, 11 May 2009 18:39:23 GMT

Novophage Therapeutics took home top honors at the University of Texas at Austin’s 26th Moot Corp Competition at McCombs School of Business--an event sometimes referred to as the Super Bowl of business plan competitions.

OpenAustin.Org [Why Didn't We Think Of This Sooner?]

Bryan Menell — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:52:53 GMT

If you came to Austin Tech Happy Hour last Thursday, you may have been able to catch a sneak peak of something pretty cool as part of Technology Spotlight. Whurley was showing the concept for OpenAustin.org in advance of its official launch today.

You may remember some of the discussion surrounding the City of Austin giving a contract worth between $700K - $1.5M to a web developer on California for the creation of the city’s new website. Given that Austin is full of people who are talented in the ways of the interweb, why would this need to go to California?

OpenAustin.org would use crowdsourcing, open source, local talent, agile development methods, and displaced web workers to build the city’s website. It wouldn’t be the stagnant Web 1.0 style of most government websites, but a growing, living, community-based web portal. Brewster McCracked was also at happy hour, and I see that he is a member of the Facebook group. Tacit endorsement? We’re not really sure.

Stacey Higginbotham, who is a writer for GigaOm was at Austin Tech Happy Hour. She probably had no idea she was about to get the scoop on a great idea, and at 7:45am the next day created a blog posting about OpenAustin. Lyn over at GeekAustin also had a blog posting on Sunday.

Join the Facebook Group, or follow on Twitter (@openaustin).

Mystic Pharmaceuticals gets cash infusion from state

Thu, 07 May 2009 14:47:44 GMT

Mystic Pharmaceuticals Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, has received $1.56 million in funding through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. The money will go toward commercialization of its medical technology.

Fourth and Fifty

Bleacher Report - CA,USA — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:47:49 GMT

Fourth and Fifty is the brainchild of 4 pretty cool dudes from Houston Texas. Realizing that the world was in need of more satirical and self-deprecating ...
See all stories on this topic

JoblessJoe.com aims to aggregate career-finding resources

Fri, 08 May 2009 20:19:24 GMT

The latest government figures show more than 14 million American workers are unemployed. And with a dwindling number of jobs available, competition for the cubicle remains fierce.

DMX Taps Into the Consumer Market With the Launch of Sonic Tap

Fri, 08 May 2009 21:05:00 GMT

Bazaarvoice Concludes Sold-Out Social Commerce Summit 2009

Digital Producer (press release) - Newport Beach,CA,USA — Sat, 09 May 2009 00:42:21 GMT

(May 08, 2009) AUSTIN, Texas, BUSINESS WIRE -- Bazaarvoice, the market and technology leader in hosted social commerce applications that drive sales, ...
See all stories on this topic

Veteran exec Antioco, upstart yogurt chain Red Mango aim for national foothold

Sat, 09 May 2009 02:11:00 GMT

Red Mango moves HQ to Dallas

Bizjournals.com - Charlotte,NC,USA — Sat, 09 May 2009 17:51:03 GMT

Frozen yogurt chain Red Mango is moving its national headquarters to Dallas from California, the company announced Friday. Red Mango, based in Sherman Oaks, ...
See all stories on this topic

marketscout Features Insurance Industry Leaders at Entrepreneurial ...

PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA — Sun, 10 May 2009 08:38:50 GMT

Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) May 10, 2009 -- On September 15 and 16, marketscout will host industry leaders in innovation at the 2009 Entrepreneurial Insurance ...
See all stories on this topic

Fashion Group International of Dallas presents Four Legged Fashion ...

PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:50:38 GMT

Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) May 11, 2009 -- Fashion Group International (FGI) of Dallas (http://dallas.fgi.org) presents its first annual Four Legged Fashion ...
See all stories on this topic

Comstock Resources tops list of Dallas-Fort Worth firms on the fast track

Sun, 10 May 2009 03:00:00 GMT

Tour San Antonio’s SouthTown’s Art Scene with The Gallery Link

Alan Weinkrantz — Sun, 10 May 2009 06:27:47 GMT

Kudos to Lara August and her crew over at ROBOT, which has launched its newest venture, The Gallery Link, to provide a resource for art buyers and enthusiasts by promoting neighborhood art galleries and visual arts events. The first edition focuses on SouthTown, an area of San Antonio with one of the highest concentrations of art galleries and studios. Future editions will highlight other art-focused neighborhoods in cities nationwide.

The Gallery Link makes it easy for visitors to find and see more during their stay with an easy-to-follow map, event listings and general information on the area. As of May 1, 2009, over 8500 guides have been distributed to 65 participating galleries, local hotels, museums, restaurants, bookstores and coffee shops around the city.

Check out TheGalleryLink.com and download a PDF version of The Gallery Link guide.

San Antonio Startup Blog Continues to Evolve

Alan Weinkrantz — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:05:00 GMT

As the San Antonio Catalyst for San Antonio Startup Blog, I get to be part of a global network of Startup blogs from the U.S. and other parts of the world.

It's part of the SpringStage Network, that puts me into the epicenter of our local startup community.

I get a chance to help promote local startups that need coverage and an independent voice in hopes of new deal flow for them.

If you know of a startup that is located anywhere between San Antonio, Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande Valley, please contact me at alan at weinkrantz dot com.

Frost & Sullivan to Join SATAI Advisory Committee

Alan Weinkrantz — Mon, 04 May 2009 05:11:25 GMT

Being based in San Antonio, and having Frost & Sullivan in town should be a big help to SATAI (the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiativ) now that they are joining its committee of technologists, investors, entrepreneurs and professional organizations that provide a 360 degree review of business plans for technology-based companies seeking funding and guidance.

You take the collective brain power of Frost & Sullivan, marry it with some very smart and pre-qualified entrepreneurs in the making, and you have the potential to help accelerate the chances of getting it right with your vision by getting a reality check with one of the best market research firms in the world.

SATAI fosters economic development in South Texas by fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. Once per quarter, SATAI presents an opportunity for start-up companies to present their business plans, products, and models to a group of experts who decide if the company should proceed to the next level of funding and development or continue in consultation with SATAI or their network of experts to re-tool the plan and make it more attractive to investors in successive funding opportunities.

My take is that SATAI has really evolved into serving as the South Texas portal of the $200 million Texas Emerging Technology Fund and also manages the South Texas Angel Network to provide channels to additional funding.

As a partner with SATAI, Frost & Sullivan will help assess the viability of companies’ business plans and offer guidance for entrepreneurs. Frost & Sullivan’s consultants will have the opportunity to review entrepreneurs’ business plans, confirm that the company is ready to proceed to another funding level, and/or suggest the changes necessary to transform into growing businesses.

Two Austin Tech Companies Team Up

Bryan Menell — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:01:42 GMT

At the Shop.org Online Marketing Workshop, Adlucent, the leader in retail Search Engine Marketing (SEM), and Bazaarvoice, the leader in hosted social commerce applications that drive sales, today announced a partnership aimed at helping retailers leverage the voice of the customer in their search marketing programs. The two companies will work together to integrate product reviews and pay-per-click search to better optimize keywords and ad copy. This will help retailers attract more qualified traffic to their sites by using authentic consumer feedback and patterns to improve search visibility.

“Research shows that recommendations from ‘people like me’ are the most trusted form of advertising,” said Brett Hurt, founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice. “Working together with Adlucent, we can now enable our retail customers to integrate the authentic voice of the customer within their search ad placements to acquire new customers, drive sales volume, and significantly improve search marketing performance.”

Bazaarvoice provides a social commerce platform that is trusted by more than 350 companies globally. Adlucent leverages its Deep Search™ strategies and technologies to monitor and predict how keywords will behave. The combination gives retailers a unique advantage by combining customer ratings and reviews with keyword copy and campaigns to optimize search marketing programs. Initial results have shown that conversion rates can improve 65% on higher rated products resulting in a substantial increase in profitability on product-level SEM campaigns.

“Bazaarvoice is the leader in helping retailers listen to the needs of customers to improve online marketing and engagement,” said Michael Griffin, co-founder and CTO of Adlucent. “The company’s offerings combined with our Deep Search technology and expertise in paid search can help retailers leverage customer-generated content in new ways to attract more buyers to their sites.”

Adlucent offers pure performance-based search marketing services where clients pay only for generated sales, not clicks. With its proprietary Deep Search™ technology, Adlucent can accurately monitor and predict how keywords will behave, thereby minimizing testing costs and maximizing keyword profitability.

New BOXX "Nehalem" Workstation Priced Thousands Below Dell and HP

cs@marketwire.com — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:09:00 GMT

AUSTIN, TX (MARKET WIRE) BOXX Technologies, an innovator in high-performance computing systems for visual effects (VFX), design professionals, and advanced visualization, today announced that the new 3DBOXX 8500 Series Workstation is priced thousands of dollars less than comparably configured Intel(R) Xeon(TM) Processor 5500 Series-based workstations from either Dell(R) or HP(R).

More Analyze This: Pear Analytics’ Website Analyzer Building Momentum

Alan Weinkrantz — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:46:50 GMT

The Pear Analytics Website Analyzer is picking up momentum after the Innotech Beta Summit win, and then recently the Capital Factory contest where the product was a finalist out of over 260 submissions.

The tool, which is on its third version, has run about 2,000 websites, and now has garnered over 500 subscribers to date, which went live on March 5, 2009. If you are a small or medium sized business and are having difficulty finding your site on the major search engines, and oh by the way, you can’t afford an expensive SEO consultant, then this is the perfect tool for you.

Ryan Kelly, founder and CEO of Pear, told me that the tool has received an overwhelmingly positive response, as he says that he monitors the comments on sites like Digg and Social Median, which drive a lot of traffic to the site. “We just got our 91^st Digg, and we just added the submission button on the site a few days ago,” Kelly told me.

So where is all this going anyway?

Ryan tells me that the plan is to launch a white labeling system where any company can brand their analyzer with their logo and color schemes, and eventually offer a premium version with lots of additional functionality that will help you monitor where your site is on the search engines, as well as your competitors.

But he says the underlying strategy for the company is two-fold; first, he is trying to build the distribution network with the free version and the white labeling system, as well as the free widget you can copy and paste on any site. Their goal is to get to 10,000 subscribers and 500,000 sites analyzed through this distribution network.

Second, as an SEO strategy he is trying to increase the number of inbound links that point to Pear Analytics.

How’s he doing?

Well, in less than 6 months his site has over 16,000 web pages pointing to it, and has a Google PageRank of 5 out of 10. Just to put that in perspective, pitchengine.com has a Google PR of 4, slacker.com is 6, and twitter.com is a 9.

Who is paying for all of this? It must be expensive to build and maintain a tool like this, right?

Ryan says that he has two developers working on the Website Analyzer and has been bootstrapping the development so far. But he does have several VCs talking to him offering to help. “VC financing would definitely speed up the process and the launch of a premium product, but we have not decided who or how much at this point,” said Kelly.

Kelly also said that a company called Conductor out of New York City recently secured a second round of $10 million in series B financing to build similar tools under a SaaS model.

His response was, “I still think we have some unique features in our premium product, and I’m fairly certain we can get this off the ground for a lot less.”

Southlake-based Alamofire hopes to capitalize on iPhone application that collects virtual souvenirs

support@star-telegram.com — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:45:00 GMT

By JOHN AUSTIN

SOUTHLAKE — Virtually everybody saves travel mementos. Now, iPhone users can save virtual souvenirs of visits to real places.

A new app (short for application, or program) for the iPhone 3G, called Gowalla, was created by Alamofire, a digital collectible company masquerading as a social gaming company that’s run by a crew of caffeinated young software designers working out of a second-floor office suite in Southlake Town Square. Think of it as the virtual version of collecting snow globes or matchbooks.

"We’re still scratching the same itch," said Alamofire founder Josh Williams, 29. "It’s like this real-life affirmation of these places I’ve been."

A tall, lean guy with dark sideburns, Williams looks like he could front an alt-country band if he weren’t otherwise occupied. He was home-schooled in Plano by "forward-thinking" parents, skipped college and made his bones creating software for pawnshops. Along the way he moved his little business out of a spare bedroom into an office suite decorated with skateboards.

He also picked up early clients such as Microsoft and Sandia Labs, along with a couple of million dollars from California venture capitalists. Alamofire now has nine employees, Williams said.

Gowalla began even before its launch at Austin’s annual South by Southwest Interactive Festival in March.

"If a vintage suitcase featuring city stickers, a scavenger hunt and iPhone 3G were combined, the result would be . . . Gowalla," blogger Josh Spear wrote. "Who doesn’t want to be rewarded for visiting extraordinary and everyday places with phone in hand?"

Another blogger compared Gowalla to letterboxing, a hobby that combines orienteering — a game navigating unfamiliar terrain with map and compass — art and puzzle-solving. It’s also similar to geocaching, in which players hunt for hidden items using Global Positioning System devices.

Williams called geocaching interesting but limited; you need a GPS, and caching in urban areas can be a problem. Gowalla addresses those issues by using the iPhone, which, like most cellphones sold in the last couple of years, has a built-in GPS chip, and by using landmarks rather than requiring that something be buried or hidden.

While Gowalla has minimal practical value, that doesn’t mean it’s worthless.

"It has perceived value. People have record collections because it evokes memories for them," Williams said. "I think the generation that’s growing up, because they live in an iPod generation, is less concerned about the physical but they are concerned about their memories. Ultimately you have this trail of your life."

He created a Gowalla spot to commemorate a recent Utah snowboarding trip, another for the White House Rose Garden, using Google Earth. There’s also a Gowalla spot on one of the runways at San Francisco Airport.

A bit of dot-com land

Things seem more Silicon Valley than Southlake inside Alamofire. Employees wear T-shirts and jeans. There’s no land line, just cellphones and computers. What passes for a blackboard in the break room has six sides with no discernable pattern.

The hip sensibility is a key reason that Williams, who lives in North Richland Hills, plans to soon move the company to Austin.

"We’ve been in Southlake for seven years," Williams said. "For us to attract the kind of talent, convincing them to come to Austin is easier than convincing them to come to Dallas."

Gowalla grew out of an Alamofire game called PackRat, which allows Facebook users to collect electronic "cards" online. Williams said about 250,000 users have tried PackRat since it appeared about a year ago, and it shows just over 38,000 active users in the past month.

It earns revenue, he said, by selling users unusual or discontinued "cards."

Gowalla emerged when designers began asking what PackRat would look like if the designers made it "location aware" and turned destinations, rather than cards, into collectibles, Williams said. Gowalla is "very much in a pre-revenue form until we can work out the game play," he said, but the company has dropped design work to concentrate on its games.

San Francisco venture capitalist Stewart Alsop of Alsop Louie Partners thinks it has potential. His firm helped fund Alamofire in 2008.

The Planet Opens In London

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:58:00 GMT

Houston-based IT hosting firm The Planet said today that it has officially opened its London data center, the firm's first international location and the company's eighth data center. According to The Planet, the new facility will serve customers with European end users, and is the first location outside its seven other data centers in Houston and Dallas. The firm said that the data center's facilities are being provided by TelecityGroup.

Audience Generation, LLC Launches MedBuzz for Texas Medical Association

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:00:00 GMT

Audience Generation, LLC Launches MedBuzz for Texas Medical ...

PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:54:44 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas , April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Audience Generation launched MedBuzz, a powerful new online advertising and content syndication service for the ...
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Public finance consulting firm formed in San Antonio

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:04:23 GMT

Avant Strategic Partners has been formed in San Antonio to provide arbitrage compliance and consulting services for issuers of tax-exempt debt.

HTC's History

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:27:24 GMT

January 1997 through December 1998 In early 1997, the city of Houston submitted an application to the U.S. Economic Development Administration for a Federal grant to remodel a building owned by the city for use as a non-profit business incubator. Robert Litke, head of the City of Houston's Planning & Development Department, had developed the idea of a technology incubator in Mid-Town Houston. IC2 Institute of The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. George Kozmetsky, and his management staff assisted the city in the early discussions as the Houston leadership team was being formed to launch the initiative. Early support also came from the Greater Houston Partnership and the Johnson Space Center of NASA. Public meetings were held in the fall of 1997 to announce the grant's award made possible by the support of U.S. Congresswoman, Sheila Jackson Lee. The first few meetings led to agreement that the entity should be an autonomous organization and should focus on emerging companies in...

Houston tech startup wants to be all about you

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Here’s one of an occasional set of snapshots of local tech startups. Time will tell whether they catch fire or flame out.

Q&A Wednesday :: CloudFire

The Editor — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:30:56 GMT

Today’s Q&A Wednesday is with Ash Maurya, the founder of Austin-based WiredReach which makes CloudFire, BoxCloud, and CloudStack. Ash launched CloudFire a few months ago, and we decided to check in with him, the company, and how the product lunch has been going.

Q: Give us the elevator pitch for your new product, CloudFire?

CloudFire lets you share ALL your photos and videos in under 5 minutes. It’s like flickr and YouTube minus all the work of uploading and reorganizing files. CloudFire works with your existing applications like iPhoto/iTunes, and you can also share straight from your desktop folders.

You can try it at: http://www.getcloudfire.com.

Q: What gave you the idea for the product?

Having kids creates a true appreciation for free time. After our daughter was born, we were constantly bombarded by family for regular photo and video updates. Seeing my wife spend hours babysitting uploads, researching video transcoding tools, or finding the safest place to post baby pictures, I realized that sharing photos, and especially videos, was still not as easy as it could be for a lot of people.

The problem wasn’t a shortage of online sharing sites but a shortage of time. WiredReach already had a file sharing product, BoxCloud, that allows small businesses and freelancers to share large files easily with clients. I decided to adapt BoxCloud for media sharing and set a goal of being able to share all 10 gigabytes of my existing photos and videos in under 5 minutes. I’m happy to report we met that goal and CloudFire was born.

Q: How has the customer adoption been so far?

We launched the service in December 2008 and adoption has been good. Last year 50 billion photos were taken but less than 10% of them ended up shared - so there’s probably a lot of people with this problem. That said, we are initially targeting and validating the same segment I found myself in - as a busy parent with kids.

Q: How has WiredReach been surviving the current economy?

WiredReach primarily services small businesses and freelancers which inherently brings stability to the business. We aren’t vulnerable to the loss of any single customer and are seeing the business grow even in this economy. We try to stay more focussed on revenues and margins than number of unique visitors. For instance, last year, we switched BoxCloud from a freemium model to a paid only model which seemed risky at the time, but in retrospect, it was the absolute best thing for us. Not surprisingly, our total number of users went down, and our conversion rate went up. But more importantly, we were able to focus more attention on the needs of paying users and build stronger relationships with our customers.

We are using a paid-only model for CloudFire too.

Q: What can we expect to see in the future from WiredReach?

Our files are constantly getting bigger and so is the need for sharing them. The good news is so are our pipes. Both broadband penetration and connection speeds are going up - way up with the likes of FiOS, uVerse, DOCSIS 3.0.

While most of the attention seems to be on moving all our stuff to the cloud, I don’t believe putting everything in the cloud is the answer. You can expect to see more hybrid desktop/cloud solutions like BoxCloud/CloudFire from us. We are also working on partnerships to more seamlessly integrate these services into existing appliances and media devices in the home. A pro version of CloudFire is also not out of the question.

Houston Growth Summit to shed light on city’s future

Mon, 04 May 2009 12:30:03 GMT

The Houston Growth Summit on May 21 aims to give local executives and entrepreneurs an opportunity to get ahead of the business curve.

Spiceworks Named InformationWeek Startup 50 Company

Storage - Newport Beach,CA,USA — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:43:34 GMT

(May 01, 2009) AUSTIN, Texas, BUSINESS WIRE -- Spiceworks', Inc., which provides the first free social IT management application for small and medium ...

Convio Rolls Out Partner Program

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:19:00 GMT

Austin-based Convio, a developer of software-as-a-service for nonprofits, said today that it has announced a new partner program to help companies looking to provide services and help deploy its software. The firm said the new Convio Solution Provider (CSP) program will include training and certification requirements. Convio has so far signed up five firms--ACF Solutions, Astadia, Heller Consulting, Idealist Consulting, NFP Technologies, and NPower--for the program.... (more)

Vertive Enhances Offers.com

Bryan Menell — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:20:05 GMT

Offers.com launched the My Offers Locker and Locker Alerts today, making it even easier to track and manage all the best online offers. Now users can sign up for a free Locker, then save offers and stores to get real-time updates that can help them save time and money.

To create their own My Offers Locker, Offers.com users can simply sign up with an email address and password, then save items to their Locker. When offers change, or when new promotions or coupon codes become available, Locker users will receive alert emails notifying them that their favorite retailers have new offers, or that an offer is about to expire. Every Locker is pre-populated with seven recommended special offers from featured merchants, including Carbonite, Diamond.com, Restaurant.com, Travelocity and more.

Offers.com works with over 1,000 merchant partners and provides users with over 5,000 current offers across 150 different categories. Offers are updated daily across the site by a team of editors, who evaluate and categorize every deal. An easy-to-remember domain name, an attractive design and robust search and comparison features make Offers.com the perfect place to go when you want to save on any online purchase.

“In any economy, savvy consumers are looking for the best offers and an easy way to save money,” said Steve Schaffer, publisher of Offers.com. “Offers.com is the perfect Website to help. Our team works with our merchant partners to provide consumers with the best offers, and the My Offers Locker and Locker Alerts provide real-time offer tracking. Offers.com does the work for consumers looking to save time and money.”

“We are excited to be part of the Offers.com launch of the ‘My Offers Locker’ to help customers save time and money managing the new Mother’s Day coupons and promotions we have,” Diamond.com Affiliate Program Manager Paresh Vadavia said.

SailPoint Continues Growth and Momentum

Bryan Menell — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:04:51 GMT

Driven by increased market demand for identity governance solutions, SailPoint announced today it has continued to grow rapidly through the first quarter of 2009, adding several new customers, including a Fortune 25 company, and extending its customer base into two new vertical markets. SailPoint’s customers now include 10 of the world’s largest 100 companies in industries spanning banking, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, energy and telecommunications. In addition, SailPoint expanded its European partner network with new sales and implementation partners in France and Denmark.

“Despite the down economy, we continue to see strong market demand for identity governance solutions that help companies address IT risk,” said Kevin Cunningham, SailPoint’s president and founder. “The fact is that the majority of IT organizations don’t have adequate visibility over user access privileges, which puts them at risk of an internal breach or failed IT audit. Companies are navigating through a tumultuous time, and must ensure that proper user access controls are in place to meet compliance requirements and maintain security of their critical business applications.”

In Q1 2009, SailPoint announced the general availability of a suite of new deployment offerings for SailPoint IdentityIQ, including a virtual appliance, a hosting option and a menu of managed services, to streamline and simplify the process of buying, implementing and managing identity management solutions. During that same time, the company deployed a fully hosted identity governance solution for a global financial services company across 87 compliance-relevant applications and nearly 250,000 managed identities.

SailPoint was recently named to the InformationWeek Startup 50, a list of the top 50 business technology companies. The Startup 50 companies were chosen by end user voting and InformationWeek’s analysis of the company’s ability to address the critical challenges facing the enterprise, including securing networks, cutting costs and streamlining IT operations and business processes. Additionally, Info Security Product Guide named SailPoint IdentityIQ the winner of the 2009 Global Product Excellence award in Identity Governance. This Customer Trust award, also based on end user votes, honors innovation and quality in information security products.

SailPoint IdentityIQ allows organizations to automate the access rights verification and certification process, which is required as part of many IT audits. SailPoint customers have complete visibility into and control over user access privileges, allowing them to manage corporate sea change events such as mergers and acquisitions, reductions in staff and increased use of contract employees without worrying about detrimental consequences if the proper controls are not in place.

Solar Flash Lights Helping Children Around The World

RedOrbit - Dallas,TX,USA — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:08:27 GMT

Sun Night Solar, a Houston Texas based company, is changing the lives of children around the world with solar powered flashlights. ...
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Amazon Buys Stanza

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:44:00 GMT

Ecommerce giant Amazon.com has acquired Lexcycle, maker of the mobile iPhone book reader software Stanza. Stanza, which has offices in Austin as well as Portland, Oregon, said Monday that Amazon.com had acquired the firm. Neither firm provided financial details on the deal. Lexcycle's Stanza software was used to browse, find, and read electronic books using Apple's iPhone and iPod touch devices. Lexcycle said its sales and marketing efforts are out of its Austin offices.

Hard times are boom times for area flea markets

support@star-telegram.com — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 05:26:00 GMT

By JOHN AUSTIN

The pet-boutique business went to the dogs at her Grapevine store, so she threw in with the fleas.

Michelle Johnston closed up shop at the end of 2008 and took her business east, to Canton in East Texas. There, the monthly First Monday Trade Days is booming, despite — or perhaps because of — the economy.

"We have high expectations," Johnston said. "There’s such a diverse crowd out here."

Diverse, but united by a bad economy and bargain mania, American buyers and sellers are flocking to flea markets in ever-increasing numbers.

"Our two markets closed with the best year we ever had," said Ron Simmons, president of the family-owned, Grand Prairie-based Traders Village flea market. "We opened [2009] with the best first quarter on record as well."

Executives at Traders Village, whose long-established Grand Prairie flea market can attract 55,000 visitors on a sunny Sunday, are so confident about the future of flea markets that they announced Thursday that they’re planning to open a new one on what’s now a cornfield in southwest San Antonio in late 2010. At 290 acres, that’s more than triple the size of the 85-acre Will Rogers Memorial Center.

Simmons told tourism and travel-industry executives at a meeting in San Angelo that groundbreaking would take place on the San Antonio market in about six months. Simmons declined to discuss financing other than to say it’s a "significant investment."

Although it may only draw 1.6 million initially — that’s comparable to the Houston Traders Village — Simmons said it could eventually reach the 3.6 million annual visitors the Grand Prairie market generates. With more than 3,500 vendors, the company bills Grand Prairie Traders Village as the most-visited weekend flea market in Texas.

"Our business is very good," said Allan Hughes, Traders Village director of general services. "If you look at the history of the market, you’re going to see significant growth in time of hard-to-get money."

In addition to a mind-boggling array of new and used wares, owners have added auto swap meets, Sunday church services, campgrounds, country music and cultural festivals to enhance the draw at weekly and monthly flea markets.

"I just think it’s a sign of the times," said Mark Blakewood, executive director of the Florida-based National Flea Market Association. "There’s a lot of foot traffic at a low cost.

"What flea markets tend to have is the ability to negotiate face to face," Blakewood said. "There is a little more dealmaking going on. You don’t do that with Wal-Mart."

Not that it’s all easy money. Charles Estell is manager of the weekly flea market at Will Rogers’ Cattle Barn No. 1. Vendors and visitors don’t have to share the site with the cows, but the amenities are few and the return on a $31 weekend rental fee can be pretty uncertain.

"Gotta bring your own fan, gotta bring your own heater," said Estell, who started selling odds and ends at the barn in 1993 and began managing the show, which brings in about 100 vendors per week, three or four years ago. "It’s not like it used to be.

"I don’t recommend anybody doing this for a living," Estell said. "Don’t quit your day job."

Sara Lawrence didn’t have a paying day job when she decided to try selling small $4 packets of dry dip mix at Canton last May.

"We cleared almost $2,000," the mother of three said. "It just became bigger than life."

"Last year we grossed $47,000" working one weekend a month from May through December. "My bank finally told me you can’t put this much in your personal account."

Since then, she’s become the mix company’s biggest retailer and started wholesaling for the manufacturer, To Market To Market.

Lawrence is also now running a wholesale booth for the company at Dallas Market Hall and has picked up about 50 restaurants, delis and other mix customers.

Austin Technology Incubator graduates another class

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:14:29 GMT

When eVapt Inc. moved into the Austin Technology Incubator two years ago, it had three employees and a rough plan for what its first product would look like.

G-51 Capital adds Rick Timmins

Alexander Muse — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:38:44 GMT

The G-51 guys, a seed-stage vc fund based in Austin, announced that they have recruited Rick Timmins to join their team. Rick was a VP of Finance for Cisco and Motorola. If G-51 is new to you, here are a few of their investments:

ReachForce - Delivers sales pipeline and website visitor profiling software (SaaS) for B2B Marketers to identify and target the right companies combined with role-based data solutions to discover the right buyers.
Pilot Software (acquired by SAP; NYSE: SAP) - Pilot provides operational performance management solutions — combining domain expertise, a proven approach and award-winning software — that enable organizations to rapidly align execution with strategy.
Digital Motorworks (acquired by ADP; NYSE: ADP) - Enterprise software for information management solutions in the automotive industry.
Psionic Software (acquired by Cisco Systems; NASDAQ: CSCO) -Provides computer security software.
Fracta Networks (acquired by Divine; NASDAQ: DIVN) - Web-based peer-to-peer knowledge management software.
Activerse (acquired by CMGI; NASDAQ: CMGI) - Enterprise software for instant messaging over the Internet.
Motion Computing - Designs tablet PCs for the way people work. Its customers experience tangible, measurable advances in productivity, without compromising their work styles to accommodate a machine.
Augmentix (acquired by Entorian Tech.; NASDAQ: ENTN) - Changing the face of mission-critical, applied computing with enhanced Dell PowerEdge™ servers for as little as half the price of comparable systems currently on the market.
AuctionDrop (acquired by Eco International)- Originated the eBay “drop off” store concept.
Memeo - Focuses on solutions that manage and protect your irreplaceable or sentimental digital photos and critical data files.
iTaggit - Provides Web-based services and products designed to help individuals manage their personal assets.
eRealty (acquired by Prudential; NYSE: PRU) - Internet based real estate brokerage for the residential market.
Sunset Direct (acquired by Rainmaker; NASDAQ: RMKR) - Direct Telemarketing database and marketing solutions.
TManage (acquired by MegaPath Networks) - Provider of nationwide remote networking solutions.
Hire.com (acquired by Authoria) - Enterprise solutions for talent acquisition and retention.

Anyone have any idea on the size of their last fund? The amount of dry powder they have? Love some details.

Q&A Interview with Lou Celi of Llesiant

resourceshelf — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:31:42 GMT

From the Interview:

Lou Celi is President and Chief Operating Officer of Llesiant, the publisher of Llesiant Relevance. Llesiant Relevance is a web-based information service that connects users with the highest-quality premium news, business and regulatory information from around the globe via an online portal that can be accessed from any Internet-connected computer.

Direct to Llesiant Web Site

Source: VIP LiveWire

Idea2Product This Weekend

Bryan Menell — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:11:54 GMT

The Idea to Product® UT Competition will be held Friday and Saturday, April 24th – April 25th, 2009 at the ACES Building at the University of Texas at Austin. The competition kicked off at 9:15 AM today with the Challenge (Semifinal) Rounds and 9:15 AM on Saturday (The Marvin Selig Finals).

As you may already be aware, the I2P® UT Competition is an early-stage technology commercialization plan competition hosted by the Murchison Chair of Free Enterprise at The University of Texas at Austin. The I2P® competition focuses on the education and creation of the next generation of technology entrepreneurs.

This year, we have 11 semifinalists with technologies ranging from biotech, to clean energy, to smartphone applications, and even customized candy.

The competition has had a significant impact in the commercialization of new technologies. Previous teams have produced work that has increased research funding, licensing of technology, and creation of new ventures. The competition has also served as a commercialization forum for faculty and members of the community. Faculty have been able to consider societal needs and members of the community have been given an early preview of cutting-edge technology.

Austin Technology Incubator graduates another class

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:14:29 GMT

When eVapt Inc. moved into the Austin Technology Incubator two years ago, it had three employees and a rough plan for what its first product would look like.

Salesby5’s Eric Darmstetter, offers Sales Tips for Startups

Alan Weinkrantz — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 03:10:57 GMT

By Erik Darmstetter, Salesby5

I was talking to one of my best friends today. He sells insurance for a company that shuts off the phones during lunch and at 5pm (they stay there later than 5!). He said he got his biggest account ever when answering the phone during lunch. Can you imagine shutting things down in sales during lunch and after 5pm? I freak out when there is a message on our answering system that has not been attended to in minutes.

I talked to three different people last week that had made a call regarding sales but had “not gotten a call back yet,”so they were waiting. Other times, they had not gotten a “return e-mail.”

Here are a few tips:

- Don’t assume that people care. Hope they do, but facts show the following data:

* Don’t stop after the 5th contact. 80% of sales happen between the 5^th and 12^th contact!

* Don’t be afraid to let your prospects know that it is ok to say NO! I love to add that to my requests, as gives them an out or a reason to stay engaged!

* Don’t think people care that you need lunch or are off at 5pm. We do care! This is not like it used to be (except in West Texas) where you must eat lunch between 11:30am and 1:30pm due to restaurants closing.

* Don’t think people will change and conform to your old ways. This is the new normal. You will hear about technology, you will think it does not apply to you, and you are right if you want to go out of business soon.

* Loving what you do and doing what you love is a must if you want to have a great business with great customers service. This applies to all that work for you and with you.

Gatekeepers can un-sell!

Recently we had a unique project that required selling the decision makers in our office building to attend a grand opening of a tenant conference room/lounge. The rudeness we encountered and the negative faces were beyond belief from the “front office person” or “gate keeper”. It was actually a positive experience for us to be exposed to this, as it reinforced a common problem. Gatekeepers think the person that walks in selling copier supplies is the enemy! But here is what can hurt a 50 year old company let alone your Start up. These are humans. They may annoy you, but they are still people. Keep in mind, if you have gate keepers, they may often be rude or extreme un-sellers! Those people walking in the door might be influential one day and with use of the social web, you could lose fans or potential customers in seconds that you never met. Those sales people talk, and if they are good, they influence others to do or not do business with you!

Texas-Based Mobile Health Screening Company Expands into Dallas ...

PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:59:32 GMT

PR Web (press release)

Austin, Texas-based HealthYes!™ is bringing its life-saving mobile screening services to the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. The company leverages the ...
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Springboard Challenge Finalists Notified

Chad Hutchins — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:06:37 GMT

I just received an email from the Springboard team saying the finalists have been notified. Best of luck to all of you who have made it to the final round. Finalists will be giving their verbal business pitches to the judges Saturday morning, in hopes of winning some of the $40,000 in prize money.

Whether or not you participated in the Springboard Challenge or not, you should be sure to sign-up for the awards dinner this Saturday night. Dr. Christopher Kersey is speaking on “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School About Entrepreneurship.” Tickets are $15 dollars and well worth it. You can sign-up for the dinner on Springboard’s website.

Come out for the poster session, featuring the Springboard participants and their ideas. The poster session will begin at 6:00pm and the dinner will begin at 7:00pm. The event will be held this Saturday night in the new ACU Hunter Welcome Center.

Hope to see you there.

Bazaarvoice Supporting Review Tweets

Bryan Jones — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:23:08 GMT

Bazaarvoice, the market and technology leader in hosted social commerce applications that drive sales, today announced that its breakthrough ShoutIt! feature has been enhanced to allow users to publish product reviews, answers, and stories on Twitter. With a single click, consumers can now broadcast their product opinions and experiences on Twitter where they are immediately available to all followers as a simple URL that links back to the site. Retailers and manufacturers gain the ability to extend their brands onto Twitter’s wildly popular microblogging platform and attract new customers and generate additional sales through authentic word of mouth marketing. Twitter has experienced 1,382% growth in the last year, with more than 9 million unique users today.

Research shows that consumers overwhelmingly trust the product opinions and recommendations of friends over expert reviews and advertising. ShoutIt! lets customers share their authentic product opinions with those who matter most to them by extending reviews, stories, and answers content to the places where people go to communicate and share their lives with their friends. These include popular social networks like Facebook, Digg, del.icio.us, and MySpace, in addition to Twitter. Other networks can be added on demand for unique client implementations.

“Bazaarvoice is one of the technologies transforming modern commerce by giving companies a measurable and repeatable way to use the voices of their customers to build their businesses,” said Brett Hurt, founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice. “We continually innovate to keep our clients in step with consumers and consumers are adopting Twitter at an accelerating pace. ShoutIt! is a great fit: it gives consumers interesting new content to tweet, just like word of mouth but digital, while offering retailers and manufacturers an authentic way to reach millions of people and amplify their return on investment in Bazaarvoice social commerce applications.”

ShoutIt! is a feature that integrates seamlessly onto a Bazaarvoice client’s product page within the review summary, as well as with each specific review. Consumers can click on a ShoutIt! icon to publish any review, product, or answer — their own or someone else’s — to Twitter, Facebook, Digg, del.icio.us, or MySpace. For social networks, the published review includes the retailer’s logo and the review itself, as well as a direct link back to the retailer’s Web site. The enhanced Twitter functionality includes a direct link back to the originating eCommerce site, and users have the option to enhance the tweet with text that doesn’t exceed Twitter’s 140-character limit.

The enhanced ShoutIt! feature is immediately available free of charge for all Bazaarvoice clients. The service requires no additional integration or IT effort and can be up and running in a matter of days.

SpaceX Draco Thruster Successfully Completes Qualification Testing

RSSfeeds@BusinessWire.com — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:11:00 GMT

MCGREGOR, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) successfully completed a rigorous qualification of its new Draco spacecraft thruster and Draco propulsion tank at the SpaceX Test Facility in

Bazaarvoice Links Into Twitter

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:50:00 GMT

Austin-based Bazaarvoice has jumped onto the Twitter micro-blogging bandwagon, saying Thursday afternoon that it has added a new feature which will allow users of its services to publish product reviews, answers, and stories on the Twitter platform.According to Bazaarvoice, the new "ShoutIt!" feature will post reviews with a single click and link back URL. The service also works with Facebook, Digg, del.icio.us, and MySpace.... (more)

Mindbites Launches Screencast Tutorials

Bryan Menell — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:20:21 GMT

MindBites, the web marketplace and publishing platform for video instructional content, today announced that it has added functionality to offer optimized support for the uploading, selling, and playback of screencast-based tutorials. With this additional capability, the company expands its publishing and commerce platform to enable the first web marketplace for the buying and selling of screencasts, further empowering the market for technology instruction.

“We’ve always viewed screencasts as an ideal content medium for MindBites, since they can offer a unique instructional experience, they are easy to create, and the dynamic technology content they cover benefits from a highly fluid publishing environment,” explains MindBites Founder and CEO Jason Reneau. “With the recent availability of low-cost, cross-platform screencasting tools and the increased focus on commerce and marketplaces in this tougher economic environment, the timing seemed ideal to expand into screencasts.”

In conjunction with the launch, MindBites is introducing the Screencast4Cash contest, in partnership with TechSmith, the makers of Jing Pro and Camtasia Studio screencasting software, and Download Squad, the popular blog focused on software and technology. In addition to TechSmith product prizes, the contest will award a $1000 Grand Prize and a $500 People’s Choice Award. Additionally, for every vote cast, $0.10 will be donated to the Youth for Technology Foundation, an organization that aims to provide marginalized people in under-developed communities with technology tools, training and resources.

“Enabling screencasts adds to the list of recent features we’ve rolled out to expand the flexibility of our platform for our authors, including the ability to price lessons from $0.99 to $99, bundle lessons into Series, and host private stores on their own sites,” explained Huntley Tarrant, MindBites VP of Business Development. “Especially in these tough economic times, we are seeing a lot of interest from individuals and content companies looking for additional revenue channels and ways to monetize their content.”

Austin Capital Factory’s First Class

Alexander Muse — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:00:19 GMT

Four Austin-based startups (and one California-based startup) will be headed to summer school to attend the Capital Factory’s first class of startups.

Cubit Planning - Environmental reports at the click of a button
Famigo - Mobile games that bring the family together
Homstie - Person-to-person marketplace for storage space
Hourville - A marketplace for services by the hour
PetzMD - Website for Pet Health, from A to Z

By participating in the summer program each startup will receive up-to $20,000 of in-kind services (office space, legal counsel, pr and accounting). Additionally the Capital Factory may invest up-to $20,000 in cash in each company [via].

In crappy times: Get better at writing the spec.

Brandon Cotter — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 05:05:32 GMT

So, maybe I will write a few posts on “crappy times”…not to be jumping on the bandwagon of complaining about how bad things are, but just in recognition that things are tough. Anything we can do to work smarter, faster, more efficiently, lets do it.

I have become a huge fan of Joel Spolsky’s blog, “Joel On Software“. It contains some of the best and most practical lessons for both coders and product managers who long to crank out better software.

As a non-coding manager, I am often stuck in the middle of debates around often “agile” sounding methodologies that launch developers and designers immediately into building mode and more planning-heavy ones that cause you to stop and write some things down before you begin.

Joel does a great job of helping you see the light on these issues. Punchline, you don’t have to measure 5x to cut once, but you do have to measure.

If you are involved in the building of any web business, a web site, or a web-based product, his writings on the topic are invaluable. He even gives you a downloadable sample from one of their projects. Great stuff.

Entrepreneurs Overlooked in Recovery Plans

DeloreZ — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 05:51:56 GMT

As most recently spelled out in The Economist , one of America’s most potent advantages – even in the current economic crisis – lies in its entrepreneurialism. America’s entrepreneurs are the proverbial wellspring of innovation and creators of most of the country’s new economic opportunities. Entrepreneurs, or global heroes as The Economist calls them, are not only important here in this country but are the best hope for creating the innovations that will get sufficient traction to resuscitate the world economy.

Year in and year out Small Business Administration data confirm that small businesses drive employment. Firms with fewer than 500 employees account for most, if not all, net new jobs while large firms with 500 or more employees exhibit a net loss of jobs. About 99 percent of all businesses are small businesses.

In that case one would expect that government would be doing more to encourage individuals to start businesses and create jobs, which is ultimately the long-term solution for the country’s economic woes. Not so says a recent study by the Kauffman Foundation – Entrepreneurship and Economic Recovery: America’s views on the best ways to stimulate growth.

The key findings of the report include the following:

By a margin of three to one (63 percent to 22 percent) Americans favor business creation policies as opposed to government creating new public and private sector jobs. In fact, 79 percent of respondents say entrepreneurs are critically important to job creation, ranking higher than big business, scientists, and government.
Only 21 percent of all survey respondents say that the stimulus package supports entrepreneurial activity and 33 percent believe it will retard entrepreneurship.
While 78 percent of survey respondents say innovation is important to the health of our economy, only 3 percent say they believe the stimulus package will encourage innovation.
Americans think the government does little to encourage entrepreneurship, despite its importance; 72 percent of respondents say the government should do more to encourage individuals to start businesses. Almost half of respondents think the laws in America make it more difficult to start a business.

So even now, entrepreneurship is widely recognized as more important than the stimulus package in creating long-term economic stability. Yet, Americans doubt that the stimulus package will spur the entrepreneurship that they hold as so important.

Americans Want Small Business Innovation
If entrepreneurship and innovation are the keys to revitalizing our economy, how can the federal government spur this on without the delay involved in creating a new bureaucracy? Is there a proven mechanism in place for evaluating, vetting and administering research funds that can be used to address some of our nation’s most pressing challenges related to the environment, a dwindling industrial base, our defense capability, or the health of our nation?

Of course there is, and it is somehow – amazingly – overlooked. It’s called the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, an existing highly competitive program that funds the most promising scientific and engineering ideas from the nation's small, high-tech, innovative businesses. It’s so competitive that some, if not most, agencies only fund 1 out of 9 Phase 1 proposals.

Eleven federal departments now participate in the SBIR program; five departments participate in the companion Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program, which requires partnerships with universities to harness the intellectual capital of our universities and the market capabilities of small business. Altogether the SBIR/STTR programs award a little over $2 billion each year to small high-tech businesses.

Since its inception in the late 70s and early 80s the program has awarded $26 billion to over 80,000 Phase 1 projects and about 31,000 Phase 2 projects, resulting in small businesses filing 67,600 patents and attracting over $41 billion in venture capital. Over 650 SBIR companies have gone public. Increasingly, large firms and mid-sized firms have entered into various forms of collaborative relationships with SBIR awardees to commercialize their technologies.

Despite having a rigorous independent scientific and commercialization review process in place, and despite its record of success, the program now languishes with little support in either Congress or the White House.

Now let me admit that I’ve been actively involved in the SBIR program since 1992 – now having served as an eight-time principal investigator for Phase 1 and Phase 2 projects. Our company’s innovations are in community-based solutions for technology-based economic development, related to capital investment, trade and technology linkages and infrastructure investment. Our company is a 1997 recipient of the Tibbetts Award, named after the National Science Foundation’s Roland Tibbetts, awarded for success in the program and for the pursuit of science-based solutions to our nations challenges and opportunities.

I’ve also been an advocate for sustaining and building the program along with numerous colleagues in other small technology businesses and representatives of government from the technology-based economic development community. I’ve made this personal commitment because the program makes a significant difference in the opportunities that are available to small business and because the program works in creating new economic opportunities based on science, engineering and technology.

Instead of watching the SBIR program evaporate we should be doubling if not tripling our investment. At a minimum a $5 billion SBIR program should be put in place. It will get us much more in growth than the Treasury bailouts of the banks, or General Motors. It represents both what America wants – Small Business Innovation – and needs in these times of economic stress.

Delore Zimmerman is president and CEO of Praxis Strategy Group and publisher of Newgeography.com

The Business Owner’s Bookshelf: 30 books you should read and put to use

ResourceShelf — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:38:16 GMT

The Business Owner’s Bookshelf: 30 books you should read and put to use
In alphabetical order.

Source: Forbes.com

13 months of hell, revisited, again…

Alexander Muse — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:32:50 GMT

Last week I talked to an entrepreneur who was on the verge of selling/giving up on his business and it reminded me of a post I wrote titled, “13 months of hell”. Last year Andrew pinged me about the next startup happy hour on the 21st and the quote in his signature caught my eye:

“Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.” - Ross Perot

I can’t agree more. I wrote about a similar idea about a year ago in a post titled, “Thirteen months of hell!” and I thought it would make sense to post it again:

I run across people who want to start their own business all of the time. Sometimes I even hire them (typically a bad idea). Most people have no idea how much hard work and time it takes to create a new business. In most cases I think it is impossible to start seeing returns before the first year (if you are getting returns before then it is likely you are not investing enough of your money or time in the venture). Most people are not prepared to work long or hard enough to make their business viable. The ones who are usually succeed.

Ironically, by the time things seem hopeless and you begin to think about getting a job your business is usually poised to start working. Most people start to argue with their partners, friends and family at this point and they are focused almost exclusively on failure. Called negative target acquisition, this phenomenon ensures that you will fail. If, instead, you can keep focusing on making the business work you have a good chance of success after the first 12 months.
Why? There are a million reason why, but here are three:

Most clients don’t take you seriously during your first 12 months. There will be lots of potential clients that will wait in the wings to see if your company is going to make it.
It is likely you won’t even know what business you are for the first 12 months or so. You need time to figure out who is going to pay for what you do or make.
Everything takes longer than you assume. Your website won’t get done on time, your projects will take longer, you will be busy focused on the wrong things at first and so on.

Our Big in Japan/Weblogs Work business is a great example of a business that took a year to figure out. Just before our year anniversary (after almost ten months of work) we lost a key contributor because they gave up on the business. They began focusing on what wasn’t working instead of focusing on what could work. Two months after they left the remaining team figured out how to make the business work and signed up major clients who turned the breakeven business into a big money maker for us. Let me tell you, it got really hard to see how the business was going to work until August of this year. My advice to anyone considering starting a business?

Commit 13 months to making the business a success.
Prepare your family for the 13 month committment and get their buy-in.
Work on and in your business for 12 hours a day (including weekends).
Be prepared not to make any money for the first 13 months.
Be prepared to change your business plan over and over until you get it right.
Be prepared to do everything yourself.
Be prepared to fight with your partners, spouse, friends and family.
Realize that before you succeed it will seem like you have failed - don’t give up.
Realize that if it was easy everyone would do it…
Oh and read Rick Segal!

Houston Technology Center Commemorates Its 10th Anniversary with “A Celebration of Entrepreneurs”

RSSfeeds@BusinessWire.com — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:29:00 GMT

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Houston Technology Center (HTC), a business accelerator that assists Houston-based emerging technology companies, is pleased to celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with a red carpet

NetQoS Hits 1,000 Customers

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:30:00 GMT

Austin-based NetQOS, a developer of performance management software for the enterprise, disclosed today that it has now reached more than 1,000 customers of its products. According to the firm, 800 of those 1,000 customers came in the last four years. The firm's customer list includes Chevron, Lockheed Martin, Reuters Group plc, American Express, Siemens, Boeing, and others. NetQoS was founded in 1999, and now has more than 250 employees.

Texas Enterprise fund companies can count part-time positions in job creation totals

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:32:00 GMT

Lone Star Entrepreneurial Summit

Bryan Menell — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:00:14 GMT

For the past several months, I have had the pleasure of interacting with some student leaders at the University of Texas who are keenly interested in both entrepreneurship, and the future of Austin. Derek Pavlicek and Royal Frasier are two in particular that I have met on several occassions, and they are both leaders in a student organization named Texas Ventures. When I first heard the name, it kind of surprised me because it sounds like a venture capital firm, but it isn’t. It’s a student organization created to foster entrepreneurship among UT students. Surely, the University of Texas has plenty of classes on entrepreneurship, you might be thinking. Well, yes and no. At the post-graduate level there is an MBA concentration in entrepreneurship, and I believe the business honors program also has an entrepreneurship focus. But that’s it. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of options for students in engineering, computer science, or even the life sciences.

Consequently, we’ve had a huge outflowing of talent that accept jobs at the tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo after graduating from UT. Mostly because they’ve not been exposed to, and integrated into, the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem in Austin. Texas Ventures is really working hard to bridge that gap between the university and the startup business community. One output of that effort is the upcoming Texas Entrepreneurial Summit.

The summit takes place over the course of three evenings here in Austin, from April 22-24th, 2009. They are planning for over 1,000 people to attend who are interested in entrepreneurship in Austin. They are also seeking sponsors, if your organization would be interested. Some of the keynote speakers for the event include Clayton Christopher, co-founder of Sweet Leaf Tea and Kirill Makharinsky, co-founder of YouNoodle.

Registration appears to be free, and it’s bound to be an interesting event.

Ronn Motors Introduces Ronnzoil Brand Biodegradable, Non-Petroleum Based Hydraulic Fluids

cs@marketwire.com — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:00:00 GMT

AUSTIN, TX (MARKET WIRE) Ronn Motor Company, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: RNNM) announced today the Company is entering the industry analyst estimated $200,000,000 annual bio-lubricant market with its proprietary Ronnzoil Hydraulic Fluids, the first in a broad range of "green," biodegradable, eco-friendly, non-petroleum based, improved performance engine oils & lubricants.

Students play game of capitalism at Rice competition

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 03:33:00 GMT

The Rice Business Plan Competition drew 42 teams of graduate students from top schools, including backers of a “best friends forever” necklace that lets young teens communicate.

SVTC offering fabs to startups, big chipmakers

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:42:28 GMT

As the new CEO of an innovative chip services company, Joe Bronson looks around at a world of opportunity.

Finalists named in Rice Business Plan Competition

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:58:00 GMT

Three teams won more than $100,000 at the Rice Business Plan Competition which ended Saturday. The event featured 42 teams of graduate students from schools from around the nation, each with a new technology business plan.

Teres Solutions Reaches 200th Customer Milestone

RSSfeeds@BusinessWire.com — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Teres Solutions™, Inc., one of the top providers of direct, indirect and merchant lending software to credit unions and financial institutions, today announced that its SAIL®

Sollen Technologies Celebrates a Decade of Innovation in Mortgage Technology

RSSfeeds@BusinessWire.com — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 GMT

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sollen Technologies, an Internet-based application services provider of product, pricing and best execution capabilities for the mortgage industry, has recently celebrated its 10 year

AirStrip software approved for BlackBerry phones

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:21:58 GMT

A day after the Food and Drug Administration approved AirStrip Technologies’ obstetrician application on the Apple iPhone, the company announced that AirStrip OB has also been approved to run on the BlackBerry device. (RIMM) (AAPL)

Syndiant adds staff on tech fund award

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:41:43 GMT

Semiconductor company Syndiant has increased its staff 53 percent since the company was awarded $3.5 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, according to the Office of Gov. Rick Perry.

SBA to launch 'Emerging 200' in Dallas

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:36:05 GMT

The U.S. Small Business Administration is expected to kick off its Emerging 200 Initiative in Dallas on Tuesday to support the growth of 15 local businesses that have proved their potential for long-term growth and viability.

Analyze This: Pear Analytics Delivers the Goods with Serious Analytics

Alan Weinkrantz — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:04:27 GMT

Pear Analytics’s Website Analyzer, is a “do-it-yourself SEO utility” that explains how to increase your visibility on search engines in non-tech jargon. Ryan Kelly, who founded the company is on quite a roll these days and has even bigger plans in the works for what he envisions as a multi-product offering.

It recently won 1st prize at the Innotech Beta Summit, and in two weeks he ran 1,200 websites and garnered 300 subscribers. Here is a news release on the story. The tool was built completely in javascript for portability, and several sites have copied the widget onto their sites.

Ryan told me that he’s got another tool that has been concepted and ready to build is called a Marketing Budget Analyzer. Regarless of the size of your company, or how much you spend on marketing, the tool will pull from one of 3 algorithms based on proven data to determine the best marketing mix and most efficient way to spend your dollars.

An excellent tool for any business in this economy. The idea was to use the existing design and portability method used on the Website Analyzer for efficiency and rapid deployment.

Keep Pear Analytics and Ryan’s brains on your radar. He’s an engineer by training, so his brain is wired in one way. He has an extensive background coming from an ad agency in which he helped grow, and then realizing that the creative side of the business was on its way to being commoditized he saw an opportunity to do some pretty serious consulting on the web analytics side.

No, I am not talking off-the-shelf stuff you get from Google. Anyone can do this and make a claim, “Oh for sure, I’m an expert.” This is Ryan’s brains and coding that he’s spent the last three years working under the radar on and it shows.

Give his Website Analyzer a spin.

Trinity Students Shows Entrepreneurial Potential

Alan Weinkrantz — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:16:48 GMT

By its editorial mission, I am covering startups in San Antonio.

When I was approached by Shepherd McAllister and Martin Schwed from ComeTUgether.com, I was a bit hesitant to give them coverage because I did not see them as a real startup. The idea was interesting, but I asked myself: “how do you monetize a community that consists of a College campus and its alumni?”

I had a change of heart because I don’t think this is about making money.

It’s about building community.

And if, as an independent college community, Shepherd and Martin can build a business model, maybe they can do this with other independent colleges and universities across the U.S. And if not, that’s OK, for somewhere else in McAllister and Schwed’s career, what they learn from executing on ComeTUgether.com can be applied in other ways once they are out of academia.

So, here’s the story…..

ComeTUgether is an independent Trinity blog.

Anybody may sign up and start blogging, be they students, faculty, prospectives, alumni, or simply curious bystanders.

Posts can be about anything and everything; our only unifying theme, much like Trinity’s campus, is the pretty brick background you see when you first visit the site.

If you feel like posting about the University, this is a great place to do so. If you feel like ranting about relationships, sports, or steel-reinforced underpants (yes, that really happened), then that is fine too.

At the top of their site, you will see a number of arrows pointing to Trinity’s iconic Murchison Tower; a subtle reminder that while the University is the destination for their content, it is not necessarily the source.”

FlicksAndFood.com Now in Beta. Come on and try it out. It’s from here!

Alan Weinkrantz — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 03:12:57 GMT

Flicksandfood.com is up and going - at least in beta form.

It’s a San Antonio startup (what else) so we gotta support it big time.

The idea is simple: while there are plenty of movie and food sites, no one to date has mashed up the two categories. If you’re going to dine and watch a flick, it may be a different purchasing decision based on time, budget, locale, etc.

So go San Antonio. And support another startup. Join the conversation, have fun and support FlickAndFood.com

A Real Semantic Search Engine is Coming: Q&A With Swingly CEO Andy Hickl

Bradley Joyce — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:21:09 GMT

I had the pleasure of meeting Andy way back at Pitch Camp Dallas when he gave a short presentation on Swingly. Andy and his team have been hard at work moving towards the release of their search engine, so I was glad when he was able to respond to a few questions I had shot him a while back via email.

FWSB: Introduce yourself and tell us what is Swingly on both a layman’s and more technical level.

Hi, I’m Andy Hickl, CEO of Swingly.com.

Swingly is a new kind of search engine that’s aiming to change how people search for factual information. We’re looking to accomplish this by combining two powerful types of “semantic” search engines: automatic question-answering and adaptive recommender systems.

First, we think that it should be a search engine’s sworn duty to find the particular piece information that you’re looking for, no matter if you’re asking a complex question like

How much money did Top Gun make outside of the U.S.?

or just putting together a simple keyword query like

Top Gun international gross

If you’re like me, you don’t care if Google’s index contains 295,000 pages which could potentially help you. Who’s got time to read all of that? You only want to know one thing: the amount of money that “Top Gun” made in countries other than the United States. (It’s $168 million, by the way.) That’s where Swingly comes in. Instead of returning hundreds (if not thousands) of pages for you to read, Swingly goes out and finds the exact piece (or pieces) of information sought by a query (or a natural language question) from billions of web pages or large structured databases (such as DBPedia/Wikipedia, IMDB, MusicBrainz, etc.).

Second, unlike “pure” question-answering sites (like MIT’s START (start.csail.mit.edu/) or Answers.com’s BrainBoost (www.answers.com/bb)), Swingly’s “smart” enough to understand when someone’s not asking a question, as well. In this case, Swingly searches its index for information that might be relevant to your query — and presents it back to you in the format reminiscent of a FAQ. For example, given a query like

Sixth Floor Dallas

Swingly responds with the following set of question-answer pairs:

#1. Q: Where is The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza? A: 411 Elm Street Dallas, TX 75202
#2. Q: What is The Sixth Floor Museum? A: The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza chronicles the assassination and legacy of President John F. Kennedy
#3. Q: When is The Sixth Floor Museum open? A: Open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas
#4. Q: How long should you spend at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza? A: Plan to spend at least 3-4 hours here if you want to really take most of it in.

Swingly generates most of the question-answer pairs it returns directly from the text of WWW documents. (Our index also includes coverage for all of the questions in the popular Q&A sites (Yahoo! Answers, Mahalo, etc.) as well as questions found in FAQs and forums, as well.)

FWSB: How is Swingly funded?

We’re 100% privately funded. We’re not looking for external funding right now.

FWSB: How does Swingly factor in to the future on search as you see it?

Let me start off by saying how completely and utterly blown away I’ve been by all of the attention that so-called “semantic” technologies have recently attracted over the past few months. It’s really unbelievable, especially when I think about where the market was — even as recently as last September when we were starting up — and where it is now.

I think it’s safe to say that the availability of large, high-quality data sources (such as DBPedia or Freebase) has really sparked everyone’s imagination. If you’ve got access to the right data set — and you understand what you’re sitting on — it’s now possible to roll out search apps that have the power to dramatically change how people interact with information. We’re seeing this in a number of different verticals: Jinni (jinni.com) is providing semantic search for movie information, Sortuv (sortuv.com) is doing it for restaurants, and guys like Evri (evri.com) are looking at different ways that biographical information can be provided. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

But where does all this data come from? While a source like Wikipedia seems inexhaustible, it’s important to recognize that it’s ultimately limited in its coverage. There’s tons of knowledge that’s out on the Web that’s just not in there.

So what’s a believer in semantic technology to do? Right now, if you’re not getting the crowd to create the data for you (like Yelp (yelp.com) or any of the community-based QnA sites (Mosio, Fluther, Yahoo! Answers, Mahalo, etc.)), you’ve got to rely on data made available by content aggregators — or you’ve got to go out and create it yourself. (Believe it or not, there are people who are actually going out there and creating content by hand — TrueKnowledge (trueknowledge.com) is one example of a company that’s going out and doing it the right way.)

With Swingly, we’re going in a different direction. Instead of involving humans in the task of content creation, we’re using natural language processing (NLP) technology to extract factual knowledge from the text of any document found on the open Web. We’re big believers in the power of NLP: if done right, it can be used to unlock a nearly-limitless supply of knowledge from text. There’s no limits to the knowledge that we can include in our index — short of what’s available out there on the Internet.

We’re fortunate enough to have licensed some great, wide-coverage extraction systems from our parent company, Language Computer Corporation (LCC), which allow us to extract hundreds upon hundreds of types of entities, attributes, relationships, and events from text. The coverage of these extraction systems is key: in the not-so-distant future, we’re expecting to be able to automatically convert raw, unstructured texts into rich, RDF-style semantic representations that can be searched or mined by any semantically-aware app.

FWSB: What’s your launch timeframe?

Alpha coming in late much and a public beta in mid-May. The alpha version will use an index of about 850 million question-answer pairs (more than all the Q&A sites put together) and will only be searchable. The beta release will consist of about 5 billion question-answer pairs and will include full questions & answer plus semantic search capabilities.

FWSB: Thanks Andy! Really look forward to the launch and digging into Swingly’s capabilities.

Featured Startup: Musician Outlet Network

Chad Hutchins — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:53:15 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, I found another Abilene startup via Twitter, the Musician Outlet Network. Through an email QA session, here is what they had to say:

What’s the elevator pitch?

Musician Outlet Network (MON) was created to bring bands and artists to a focal point, where music fans can view, listen, and become fans of registered bands and artists on MON. Every month MON hosts online indie bands and artists “Battle of the Bands/Artists”. We launched Jan 1st, 2009 and we are still in Beta.

Who’s on the team?

Juan Carlos Cruz (Cross) - CEO/Founder/President
David Miller - CFO. Promotional Director, Marketing
Charles Caddell - Web Master, SEO Guru, Internet Marketing
Russ Altman - Senior Business Advisor, Investor Relations
Fred Remmert - Label Promotions, Cedar Creek Recording Studio & Indie Label
Currently looking for a couple Artist Representatives and someone to run the MON blog.

How are you funded and what is your revenue model?

MON is partially funded with our own personal cash injection. We are currently looking for funding. We have a feasibility study in place with a great business plan behind it. Our revenue model will be based on Live Video Interview sponsorship packages, advertising (ad banner placements, flash ads and text ads), Battle channel sponsorship, MON Annual Jam Festival Revenue, premium band and artists accelerated promotional services, affiliate product sales and our own song store sTunes.

What have you learned as an entrepreneur through this venture?

Patience is what I’ve learned from this venture and other ventures as well. Ideas come and go but identifying ideas that can benefit one’s venture are not ideas that come often. If an idea comes along, such as MON, finding an efficient way to materialize the idea can be an extremely difficult task.

Why have you setup shop in Abilene, Texas?

Abilene, even though is a small city, it happens to be a strategic point for the independent music community or Indie music community. We can reach Austin, Dallas, Lubbock, Midland-Oddessa, Denton, San Angelo, etc… in short distances. From Abilene, to all of Texas surrounding cities. Texas has BIG talent all around and for that reason, we want the music, bands, and artists to resonate through the virtual world.

Anything else?

All of MON’s efforts will not mean anything if we all don’t get involved. We are here to support committed bands, artists, music industry leaders and others in making sure they are recognize for their efforts. Music is not going anywhere, anytime soon. The music business has changed but it has changed to the artists advantage and this is their time. No longer do we have to depend on a major label to assure a band or artist success in the music industry.

MON knows the work they have ahead of them and has promised a lot for version 2.0. From my own look at the website, I think an improved user experience and refined revenue model will be essential to making MON successful. Be sure to check out the Musician Outlet Network. Be sure to connect with them on Twitter, @MusicianON.

Comment below with questions and suggestions for the MON team.

TweetCongress wins at SXSWi

Bradley Joyce — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:07:37 GMT

My first SXSW is one for the memory books! I had a great time at the conference and the icing on the cake was winning a Web Award for our app, TweetCongress, in the activism category.

We were very honored to be up against some really cool sites like I Am Second and incredibly surprised when we beat out some big agency sites including one done by Crispin + Porter.

We’ve also announced that we will soon be open-sourcing the platform we’ve built a soon to be released new version of TweetCongress on. Stay tuned for more details on this.

Many thanks for the many people across Twitter who have contributed to the success of TweetCongress!

Bazaarvoice In Win With 1-800-FLOWERS

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:16:00 GMT

Austin-based Bazaarvoice, a publisher of hosted social commerce applications, revealed today that it powering a marketing campaign for 1-800-FLOWERS. According to the firm, online florist and gift shop 1-800-FLOWERS.COM is promoting Mother's Day with its "Spotlight a Mom" contest, which allows customers of and visitors to 1-800-FLOWERS.COM to share stories about their mothers.... (more)

Predictivedollars The #1 Ranked Debt Lead Generation Company Launches E-debtcures.com

xml@emediawire.com — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:42:14 GMT

Nick Passalacqua, founder of http://www.Predictivedollars.com, the largest provider of real-time debt leads in the debt settlement space has unveiled its newest consumer site http://www.E-Debtcures.com. (PRWeb Apr 13, 2009)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/04/prweb2318804.htm

NuPhysicia LLC to Launch New Service That 'Brings Back the Company Doctor'

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Biotech company raises $2.5 million, prepares to move to Central Texas

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 05:21:05 GMT

A Canadian biotechnology company plans to announce today that it has raised $2.5 million from Santé Ventures and is moving its headquarters to Central Texas.

Austin's Solar Array Ventures plans to build $210 million solar panel plant -- in New Mexico

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:18:58 GMT

Austin startup Solar Array Ventures Inc. says it will build a $210 million solar panel manufacturing plant, but it will do so near Albuquerque, N.M.

Balch Springs man comes up with water wheel-inspired design to power electric cars

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Air Force veteran is among small-business winners

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 05:56:00 GMT

Donna Caldwell is among the winners of the 2009 Small Business Awards presented by the Houston District of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

UMMA Resources, LLC files for chapter 11 - Chapter 11 Blog

(author unknown) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:55:22 GMT

UMMA Resources, LLC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy today at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The Portland, TX company ...

Tekoil & Gas Corporation files for chapter 11 - Chapter 11 Blog

(author unknown) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:05:43 GMT

Jun 11, 2008 ... Court for the Southern District of Texas. The Sprint, Texas Company's petition lists assets and liabilities as between $10-$100 million....

Food and Beverage Chapter 11 - Chapter 11 Blog

(author unknown) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:38:46 GMT

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas. ...

June 2008 - Chapter 11 Blog

(author unknown) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:16:37 GMT

Tekoil & Gas Corporation filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. ...

Chapter 11 Blog

(author unknown) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:29:13 GMT

Feb 10, 2009 ... Outlaw Enterprises, LLC filed for chapter 11 yesterday at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. ...

IdentiPHI, Inc. Files For Chapter 11 - Chapter 11 Blog

(author unknown) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:04:02 GMT

Feb 12, 2009 ... IdentiPHI, Inc. filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. ...

Energy Technology Venture Capital Conference Presentation Fee

Thu, 17 Nov 2005 20:40:52 GMT

Energy Technology Venture Capital Conference Presentation Fee
Start Date: 1-Jan-20 8:00 AM
End Time: 1-Jan-20 5:00 PM
Location: Houston Marriott Westchase
Speaker:

Event Details:

JANUARY 25-26, 2006

Houston Marriott Westchase Hotel
2900 Briarpark Drive
Houston, Texas

ONLINE PRESENTATION FEE PAYMENT

In order to speed up processing of your presentation fee we have created a link that will allow you to submit your dues electronically. The fee is $300, and you will receive an email confirmation once the charge has been authorized.

Click on the "Register for this event" link above to make your payment. You will need to register as a non-member. Please include the name of your co-presenter in the Comments/Notes section.

Please be sure to make it clear which company this is for if you are not using a corporate credit card so that we can match it up to our accounting records.

If you have problems, please contact Deborah Schachtner at 832-476-9278, or dschachtner@houstontech.org.

Click here for event details: http://www.houstontech.org/en/cms/?284

Houston Marriott Westchase

Kinesix and Shengzuo Land First Software Contract in China

noemail@houstontech.org — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 18:15:00 GMT

China Power Investment Corporation will use Sendera for data management in local plants

July 17, 2006 (Beijing, China) - This month, China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) will become the first local customer to implement Sendera, a collaborative software product from HTC member Kinesix Software and Beijing’s Shengzuo Software Technology Inc. Sendera, customized specifically for the Chinese market, allows users to view dynamic “streaming data” graphics over the Internet via any Java-enabled Web browser.

Sendera manages the flow of information between Web browsers and back-end data sources, allowing any business unit in the enterprise to view the same live, operational data seen by engineers in the control center. Sendera also allows users to custom-build the graphic displays that animate and manage their real-time data – without requiring any programming on the end-user’s part.

CPI, established from the constituent businesses of the former State Power Corporation of China, manages nearly 28,000 megawatts of power within the Chinese market. CPI will use Sendera to manage the data collection, transmission and display needs of its HeNan affiliate – which has 10 power plants, and more than 10,000 data points that it must monitor. Sendera’s Web capabilities will allow CPI to monitor and control this safety-critical data in real time, via the Internet.

“Sendera provides a top-to-bottom solution for the China Power Investment Corporation to collect high volumes of data, custom-build displays to animate that data, and manage and react to that data in real time,” says Kinesix CEO Russ Jamerson. “It allows multiple users to access the data simultaneously, and it is specifically tailored to the Chinese market.”

Kinesix and Shengzuo initiated their partnership in July by launching the Kinesix Development Center–China, a 3,000-square foot Beijing facility dedicated to customizing Kinesix’s highly sophisticated human-machine interface technologies for Chinese end-users in the mission-command and process-control industries.

About Shengzuo Software Technology Inc.

Shengzuo Software Technology Inc. is a software developer servicing the aerospace, industrial-control and industrial-design fields. Shengzuo is based in Beijing and plays a leading role in the fields of system analog and integrated analysis design in China. As a strategic cooperative companion of Kinesix, Shengzuo devotes itself to introducing the most advanced products and technology to Chinese customers. The Chinese version of the company’s website is www.shengzuo.com.

About Kinesix Software

Kinesix Software is the developer of Sammi, an enterprise and control-room graphics tool used by more than 20,000 mission-command and process-control workers. The Sammi product, which was first launched in 1990, allows users to build custom graphical displays that animate and manage massive volumes of streaming data across dozens – or even hundreds – of workstations.

With Sammi, users see full-color dashboards, instead of rudimentary numeric readings or basic, conventional GUIs. While Sammi is often categorized as a graphics product, its real value lies in its proven ability to display live data across a network of command and control systems. Sammi is currently available for Unix, Microsoft NT/2000/XP and Linux platforms. Kinesix offers Sammi for a variety of platforms, including Unix, Microsoft NT/2000/XP and Linux. In addition, Kinesix recently released KX EDGE, its next-generation human-machine interface, based on Microsoft’s .Net platform. Kinesix is based in Houston, Texas. To learn more visit www.kinesix.com.

Houston Technology Center

Houston Technology Center (HTC) is a business accelerator that assists Houston-based emerging technology companies in key sectors such as: Energy, Information Technology, Life Sciences, Nanotechnology and NASA-originated technologies. See www.houstontech.org for more information.

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19-Jul-06 1:15 PM

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:32:25 GMT

UPDATES: TOTAL AWARDS GIVEN TO GULF COAST REGION COMPANIES TO DATE: Nearly $18 million NUMBER OF GULF COAST COMPANIES FUNDED BY THE TEXAS EMERGING TECHNOLOGY FUND TO DATE: Nineteen Click here for a detailed list of award recipients -----------------------------------------

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:17:31 GMT

TECHNOLOGY CHAMPIONS MEMBERSHIP CONNECTION---SUPPORT---COMMUNICATION---RECOGNITION Welcome to the HTC community! Houston Technology Center is your gateway to connect to the technology business community in the Greater Houston Area. HTC's Technology Champions members represent the leaders, decision makers and trend-setters of the technology community in the city. Membership allows professionals to be involved with and influence the evolution of emerging technology in Houston. 2009 Membership ($175) Benefit Package Includes: Free admission to all Technology Champion meetings Discounted registration fees to many HTC events throughout the year Name listed on screen at each Technology Champion meeting Name listed on the HTC website Engraved Technology Champion badge at HTC for 2009 2009 Patron Level Membership ($500) Benefit Package Includes: Free admission to all...

HTC Staff

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:16:56 GMT

Walter Ulrich, President and CEO Paul Frison, Executive Vice Chairman Maryanne Barker, Development Director, Energy Deena Carstens, Director, Marketing & Communications Bill Crow, Entrepreneur in Residence Janice Dorr, Director, Educational Services Tom Kraft, Director, Client Services Deborah Mansfield, Development Director, Life Sciences Associate Director, Gulf Coast RCIC Sue Moore, Executive Assistant and Administrative Services Manager Marc Nathan, Development Director, Information Technology Bob Prochnow, Director, Gulf Coast RCIC and Chief Information Officer John Jack Sim, Director, Finance & Administration Steve Smith, Facilities and Support Services Manager Kendra Trueba, Property Manager & Leasing Agent Sheila Whanger, Director, Special Events

RICK RICHARDS JOINS SEPROX MANAGEMENT ADVISORY BOARD

noemail@houstontech.org — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:00:00 GMT

THE WOODLANDS - January 12, 2009 – SeprOx Corporation today announced that Rick Richards has joined their Management Advisory Board effective immediately. Mr. Richards is an entrepreneur with more than twenty-five years experience in the healthcare industry. He served as President/CEO of Richards Healthcare, Inc., one of the nation’s premiere rehabilitation service providers, which he founded and managed from 1991 to 2006. Richards Healthcare Inc. was ultimately sold to HCR ManorCare, based in Toledo, Ohio. During his tenure with Richards Healthcare, Rick was honored as a finalist for Houston’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 1995 and his company was recognized as one of Houston’s Top 100 Companies. Prior to 1991, he served in a number of middle and senior management positions, eventually becoming President/CEO of Tinsley Physical Therapy, a private Houston company which was later sold to MedRehab. In addition to being actively involved in the community, Rick currently serves on the...

Guy Kawasaki Speaks to the Houston Technology Community

noemail@houstontech.org — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Guy Kawasaki Speaks to the Houston Startup Community

Part One (Starts at 4 minutes in)

Part Two

Download The Art of the Start Presentation

Thanks to our generous sponsors:

25-Apr-08 3:00 PM

HOUSTON TECHNOLOGY CENTER CLIENT COMPANIES TO RECEIVE GRANTS THROUGH THE TEXAS EMERGING TECHNOLOGY FUND

noemail@houstontech.org — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:45:00 GMT

HOUSTON – November 19, 2008 - The Houston Technology Center (HTC), a business accelerator that assists Houston-based emerging technology companies, is excited to announce that two client companies, DNAtriX, Inc. and Smart Imaging Technologies, have each received Pre-seed commercialization awards for $250,000 from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF), as announced at the Gulf Coast Innovation Conference. As pre-seed awardees, both companies are eligible to receive up to $1 million in assistance from the ETF. Technological innovation can mean the difference between economic prosperity and stagnation, said Walter Ulrich, president and chief executive officer of HTC. Through its programs, the HTC supports advances in science and technology that lead to the commercialization of companies. This ultimately brings the promise of a better quality of life for not only our local communities but across the globe. When our client companies receive an award such as this to continue their work,...

StarVision Technologies Awarded Air Force Contract for Flight Qualification of Stellar Gyro

noemail@houstontech.org — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:00:00 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE College Station, Texas (November 21, 2008) StarVision Technologies announced today the award of a nearly $700,000.00 Air Force Research Lab contract to complete the fabrication and testing of an advanced star sensor capable of high speed precision measurements for spacecraft orientation and angular rate output. This contract will allow us to raise the technology readiness level of our StarCam™ SG100 product to a point where it can be offered to customers for long life space applications, said Mr. Jacox CEO and founder of StarVision Technologies. The StarCam™ SG100 is a sensor capable of measuring orientation relative to the stars at 100 times per second and computing the rotational rates for its host satellite in any Earth orbit. The product is a result of almost 3 years of research funding from the Air Force Research Lab through the Small Business Innovative Research program and began as a novel technique to improve the responsiveness of satellite design,...