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Founder Profile
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Entrepreneur Michael Garrity on why obstacles and pivots can help you learn – and your startup succeed
Michael Garrity learned firsthand that when you’re an entrepreneur everything takes longer than you think it will.
The road to launch for his company, CommunityLend, was paved with roadblocks and obstacles – most importantly getting their Peer to Peer Lending Marketplace properly regulated. “That whole regulatory process took us three times longer than we had originally estimated and cost us four times more than we had budgeted,” he says. “It was humbling, to say the least.”
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Hot Startups of the Week
DoYouBuzz
DoYouBuzz is an online resume service and personal branding platform. The Nantes, France-based company allows users to create an online resume and portfolio which can contain content and multimedia including videos and presentations. The company was founded by Ludovic Simon and recently opened an office in San Francisco.
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Loopt
Loopt is a location-based social mapping service. The company offers a suite of mobile applications that helps users discover the places around them. Loopt was founded by Nick Sivo, Alok Deshpande and Sam Altman and is based in Mountain View, California. The service just hit four million members.
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EcoMotors
EcoMotors makes an eco-friendly engine called the Opposed Piston Opposed Cylinder (opoc) engine. The engines have greater power density, weigh less and produce lower carbon emissions. The company was founded by Prof. Peter Hofbauer in 2008 and is based in Troy, Michigan and Goleta, California. They just raised $23.5 million in Series B funding.
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Beyond the Rack
Beyond the Rack is a private online shopping club that provides deep discounts on designer fashions and home décor. The site holds designer-specific sales, which are open to members for a specific amount of time (usually two days). The Montreal-based company, founded by Yona Shtern, just raised $12 million in funding.
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Upcoming Events
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Are you serious?
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3 Spruce Street, NYC
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July 15th
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The Hatchery opens its doors to a fast paced New York style pitch event. Eight entrepreneurs will have a chance to pitch their business to an expert panel, which includes investor Sachin Jade. The panel will then offer their critiques.
RSVP now →
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30 under 30: Montreal Entrepreneurship Edition
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175 rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, Montreal
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July 14th
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Youphonics and Startupifier present 30 Under 30, an evening for GenY entrepreneurs at the Just for Laughs comedy festival. The evening starts with Kenny vs Spenny Live, followed by some post-show drinks.
RSVP now →
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Chicago Small Business Expo
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725 W Roosevelt Road, Chicago
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July 16th
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The Chicago Small Business Expo is presented by the Office of the City Treasurer. It will feature over 30 expert workshops, 130 exhibitors, and over 1,500 fellow small business owners to network with.
RSVP now →
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Blueglass LA 2010
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Marriott Hotel, Marina del Rey, California
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July 19th–20th
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Blueglass 2010 is an online marketing conference. Speakers include entrepreneurs Ben Huh and Jason Nazar, and session topics include entrepreneurship and raising money from angels and VC.
RSVP now →
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What We’re Reading
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If you can’t buy your investor a beer, don’t take their money
Posterous co-founder Sachin Agarwal writes on his blog about the personal side of finding investors. He says it’s important to get to know the VCs early – if you need money, it’s too late. He recommends reading VC blogs, attending startup events, and getting investors to use your product.
Read it →
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I’m starting a company. Now… What?
Entrepreneur Roy Rodenstein writes on his how2startup blog about the motivations behind starting a business. He outlines several different motivations, including passion and the desire for fame and money, and outlines the possibilities and pitfalls associated with each.
Read it →
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5 lessons from 150 startup pitches
Entrepreneur Jason Cohen just reviewed 150 startup pitches, and is launching a 5-part series on pitching errors. This post introduces the series and outlines common mistakes entrepreneurs make when pitching their company, including building for yourself instead of the market.
Read it →
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31 things I learned from running a business
Entrepreneur Dana DiTomaso writes on her blog about the 31 things she has learned from running a business. The list includes advice on everything from having an exit strategy to getting out and networking. Along with her must-dos she outlines don’ts like burning bridges.
Read it →
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Can a startup think global without boarding a plane?
This is a guest post on TechCrunch Europe by entrepreneur Richard Leyland. One of the founding principles of his business is that they don’t fly due to the effects on the climate. He outlines how he makes his global business work without ever boarding a plane.
Read it →
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The ingredients for startup success
Mark Evans writes on his Mark Evans Tech blog about the ingredients a startup needs in order to make it. These include things like having a service that meets a need in a new or different way; having an intuitive and user-friendly service; and nurturing evangelists.
Read it →
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Featured Members
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Michael is an entrepreneur based in Osaka, Japan. He helps small businesses with e-mail marketing, web design and SEO on his site yuZool.com.
Connect with
Michael Frankland
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Paul is an entrepreneur based in several cities including Tokyo and Geneva. He’s a new media analyst and frequent keynote speaker.
Connect with
Paul Papadimitriou
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Founder’s Note
Pricing your product can be a difficult endeavor.
It takes time and research to calculate total costs, forecast volumes of demand and determine desired profit.
While it’s important to know how you stack up against competitors, it's more important to know how desirable you will be to your target client.
The most important aspect to understand is the value you are providing to potential customers.
The best way to understand your level of value? Ask them.
Probe your market to understand their perception of value. Know your customers, know what they want and what it’s worth to them.
Do this field research before you build your product.
If you haven’t read it already, I highly recommend Steve Blank’s “The Four Steps to The Epiphany”. The book yieldsgreat insight into customer discovery and actionable processes for effective product development.
Until next week,
Sarah Prevette
Founder & CEO
Sprouter.com
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