startups

Seven startup sins to avoid

I've seen thousands of startups fail, but they almost always fail for the same reasons. Most entrepreneurs fall into the same traps over and over again, despite how easy they are to avoid.

At the London Web Summit earlier this week, I told an audience of European entrepreneurs the seven mistakes I believe most often destroy promising startups.

These are my seven startup sins. Avoid these common mistakes at all costs:

1. Losing focus: If you're like the typical entrepreneur, you probably have hundreds of new ideas for your startup. But you must resist the urge to build … Read more

JOBS Act debates getting more focused in Senate

The JOBS Act, a collection of regulatory changes that would make crowdfunding legal and make it easier for companies to become publicly traded, has been wending its way through congressional proceedings this week.

Today, two Democrat-sponsored Senate amendments to the House version of the bill--one to increase consumer protections in the crowdfunding section, and another unrelated amendment to reauthorize funding of the export/import bank--failed to win necessary votes in the Senate to be attached to the act.

The JOBS Act passed the House easily on March 8 by a 390-23 vote, and its supporters hoped that it would sail … Read more

Join top Silicon Valley investors, hear their fund-raising secrets

See that giant building above? That's the headquarters of CBS Interactive, home to CNET, in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood. And if you've ever wondered what's inside--keep reading out-of-towners, this is for you too--now's your chance to find out.

On Thursday, March 29 at 6 p.m. PT, CNET will host three of the biggest names in venture investing to talk about how you--yes, you, guy with the messenger bag walking past our office--can fund your entrepreneurial dreams.

In addition to the staples--wine, beer, and light grub--we'll have three longtime Valley players--Dave McClure of … Read more

Startup Secret 49: Asphyxiation is a solid strategy

"Get your free users to build a moat around your business."

--Michael Simon, CEO, LogMeIn

Michael Simon is a sneaky, sneaky man. He's attacking a well-established part of the industry, the remote desktop space. This is a market that Cisco Systems and Citrix have held onto for years, with their paid products, Webex and GoToMeeting.

Along comes Michael's company, LogMeIn, with Join.me, a super-simple, super-free screen-sharing app. Sure, there are paid upgrades (custom URLs for the sharing link, bidirectional sharing, etc.), but the free app is very strong. (Strong enough that I have this request: … Read more

Prepare for the onslaught of crowdfunding marketplaces

Crowdfunding will probably become a legal and government-approved way to raise startup capital--eventually. Congress needs to figure out how to pass a version of the JOBS Act for that to happen, but while there is bickering over key components of the Act, on the whole both parties agree that opening up startup investing to more people is the right thing

Once this occurs, and small businesses can raise money from anyone, how will they find these new investors? And how will investors find the businesses they want to invest in?

One of the first new information markets to come on … Read more

Battle over crowdfunding slows JOBS Act passage

Crowdfunding will likely become the new law of the land, but not as soon as its advocates had hoped.

The JOBS Act passed the House easily on March 8 by a 390-23 vote, and its supporters hoped it would sail through the Senate. But today the Act has been delayed in the Senate by new arguments and amendments.

Senate Democrats created an amendment to the Act, S.AMDT. 1833, designed to improve transparency and consumer protections around the crowdfunding portion of the act. It would replace H.R. 2930, the Crowdfunding bill that is incorporated into the JOBS Act. Today, … Read more

Startup Secret 48: We are programmed to receive

"Listen to the question."

--Jason Calacanis, host, Launch conference

I sat in on one of the demo prep sessions for the recent Launch conference, in which Jason dispensed advice to the CEOs practicing their pitches. After each pitch, of course, come the showy, congressional inquiry-style questions from the onstage judges. Jason's advice for dealing with the questions is basic, but presenters still need to be reminded of it.

"Be in the moment," Jason says. "Listen."

It should be easy. But it isn't, especially when you're onstage in front of a … Read more

JOBS Act to rewrite rules of Silicon Valley investing

This week, possibly as soon as tomorrow, the Senate is likely to pass the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act. It has already passed the House, and most of the influencers in Silicon Valley are in favor of the bill. It will certainly change the way the Valley works. But not for the reasons many people think.

The JOBS Act is a collection of bills that were rolled up into one act in the House: H.R. 3606. The Senate was working on variations of some of the components included in 3606, but sources say that the most likely outcome … Read more

Startup Secret 47: Do the right thing

"We are fixing the wrong things."

--Ryan Howard, CEO, Practice Fusion

Entrepreneurship is really commitment. Passion. The putting aside of short-term comforts, or even needs, so the Idea can live.

Is there such a thing as too much commitment? The story of Ryan Howard might illustrate just that. I thought so, at first. But by the time I was finished talking to him about his company, Practice Fusion, I was glad he did the dumb things he did to keep his company alive in the dark days of its founding.

Practice Fusion is an electronic medical records service … Read more

Protect your registry with MJ Registry Watch

Mark Jacob's MJ Registry Watcher is a very simple yet effective tool for automatically monitoring your Windows Registry for changes (especially unauthorized changes) and alerting you to the change, and even preventing it from happening. It polls your registry and files every few seconds, looking for changes to your startup files, registry keys and values, and other places that Trojans and rootkits target. RegWatcher also hooks the registry, which means it intercepts commands and blocks those that pose a threat, simultaneously issuing an audible alert.

RegWatcher is portable freeware that needs no installation. The download includes a lot of … Read more