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Founder Profile
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Mentorship is the Missing Component for Startups
David Cohen is the founder of TechStars, one of the largest and most successful startup accelerators in the world.
Though he’s now seen as the go-to guy for mentorship, it wasn’t always that way. Before his TechStars days, Cohen started a company called iContact, which he calls a “graceful failure.” He says it was that experience with iContact that taught him the importance of mentorship. He didn’t have any mentors around then, and he later met people who could have helped his company from going under. “Mentorship is the missing component for a lot of early stage companies.”
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Hot Startups of the Week
Wahooly
Wahooly allows socially-connected individuals to become shareholders in new and exciting startups just by becoming a user. Wahooly plans to release over 200 startups over the next 12 months that are offering up a small part of the company in exchange for your influence. Site launches today at 4pm EST!
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ifttt
ifttt helps you put the internet to work for you, by creating tasks that follow this simple structure: If this, then that. With connections to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox, and a host of other systems, ifttt connects the applications you’re already using, and automates the tasks you’re currently doing by hand.
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Shopcastr
Shopcastr lets retailers showcase their products for users to discover, curate, and share. Shopcastr makes it simple for retailers to show off their best products and gives consumers the ability to window shop their favourite stores.
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Wunderkit
The latest app from 6WunderKinder, Wunderkit aims to revolutionize task management, collaboration, and productivity. Wunderkit is a place that helps you organize and accomplish all of life’s projects, however big or small they are, with the help of your friends, family and colleagues.
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Upcoming Events
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Startup Weekend Montreal
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Montreal, QC
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February 3rd–5th
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Startup Weekend is an intense 54 hour event which focuses on building a web or mobile application which could form the basis of a credible business over the course of a weekend.
RSVP now →
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D-Day 2012
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Helsinki, Finland
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February 6th
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D-Day 2012 is the Design, Development and and Digital Business conference in Helsinki, Finland. Featuring top Finnish and international speakers on a range of topics, from design and development to social media.
RSVP now →
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Women 2.0 PITCH
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Mountain View, CA
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February 14th
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Women 2.0 PITCH Conference & Competition is a full day event to learn from the product innovation leaders who built Flickr, Facebook, Zipcar, TaskRabbit, LARK and more. Learn about launching products from concept to cash.
RSVP now →
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FreshlyHacked
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Melbourne, Australia
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February 17th
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FreshlyHacked is a weekend where fresh ideas, talents and skills collide. If you’ve always had a startup or entrepreneurial idea and want to work with a group of people around the idea, this is for you.
RSVP now →
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What We’re Reading
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The Importance of Core Values
Serial Entrepreneur Usman Sheikh shares his feelings on why core values should be established early, and adhered to constantly. Core values define hiring, communication, and how your customers see you, so getting them right is important.
Read it →
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Hiring for Lean Startups: The First Few Hires
Flow Ventures founder Raymond Luk talks about the most important hiring decision for Lean Startups – how to hire your first few employees. Working for a startup is a huge investment, so make sure you’re hiring people who share your passion.
Read it →
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Ten Tips for Pitching Your Company
Brooklyn Bridge Ventures founder and SproutUp Guest Speaker Charlie O’Donnell gives you 10 quick tips on pitching your company. A great read for any startup getting ready to pitch their idea to investors.
Read it →
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How to Make Freemium Work for You
Thinking of implementing a Freemium model for your business? Uzi Shmilovici, founder of Future SImple, goes over customer acquisition costs, traffic, and conversions to help you decide if this model is right for your startup.
Read it →
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Behavioural Pricing
A consumer’s worst nightmare, a merchant’s dream. What happens when businesses start using your social media data to control the price you pay? CampusSplash co-founder Allen Gannett tells us why 2012 is the year of Behavioural Pricing, and what this means for customers and retailers.
Read it →
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On the Value of Partnerships
Going at it solo means you have nobody to answer to but yourself, but having partners means someone always has your back. Early-stage VC Brad Svrluga shares his story of how a recent meeting with his partners (which didn’t go as planned) kept him from making a big mistake.
Read it →
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Featured Members
Founder’s Note
Networking is one of the most valuable uses of an entrepreneur’s time.
Face-time with people in your industry can help unearth potential opportunities.
People you can work with, learn from, and assist you in furthering your ideas.
Relationships matter in all aspects of your business.
From potential partnerships, to customers to gaining visibility for word of mouth referrals.
Take the time to get out to your local events. Build useful contacts and keep fresh in people’s minds.
Until next week,
Sarah Prevette
Founder & CEO
Sprouter.com
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