Tag Info

Most of the tools you mention are really too much for a startup weekend; you have to consider that you'll be all in the same room, and for a short amount of time. What works Dropbox to share documents, code, images Google Docs for writing documents collaboratively source control (github, for instance) for source code To collect user feedback and conduct ...

Even if you have a weak idea, pitch it. It's a great exercise and will help people to recognise you later. Stay away from projects that have already started. Somebody is looking at startup weekends as a way to get "cheap workforce for a weekend". Don't look for interesting projects, look for interesting people. Interesting ideas are everywhere, and will ...

Definitely come prepared with a few ideas in mind. Jot little details about each one so you can be prepared to elaborate on a certain project. Be optimistic and be ready to give advice and suggestions to others. At the same time, tear down their ideas and look for the weak points in order to help make the project stronger. It is because of people like ...

Ricardo - I'm making a point of attending the Business of Software conference (in Boston in October this year). I attended last year's event and thoroughly enjoyed it - lots of great speakers and plenty of useful content. This year's speaker line-up looks good. Given that I'm UK-based, and am in my first year (some way off turning a profit), this is a ...

What you mentioned is good. Also, Dropbox is a great idea as it allows you to have a "cloud folder" that synchronizes automatically to every computer of authorized participant. Good for storing a "common" folder structure containing documents, tools, etc. It's also free for a 2GB capacity which is more than enough for a small startup. In addition, you might ...

Here's a trick to find multiple web apps that do X. Find one and then go to http://crunchbase.com and type in the name of that company and then look down on the left for the "Competitors" section. Registration event services: Eventbrite RegOnline amiando TicketLeap Acteva Ticket Text Guestlist Eventat CharityHappenings.org/ticketing Eventarc ticketea ...

You might consider a free trial of FogBugz and Kiln. You can add as many users as you need for the trial and you get a full-featured task management system combined with excellent source control. I'd recommend spending a little time getting comfortable with the tools before diving into the weekend. Disclaimer: I work for Fog Creek Software and live within ...

For a web business, particularly where the site is the business, naming is unavoidably about what domain names are available. Generating a list of words related to your business, combining them with each other, positive adjectives, and common prefixes/suffixes can yield some good results. LeanDomainSearch.com is my go-to tool these days. You type a word, ...

I would advise you to stay away from any startup-oriented conferences that ask you to pay (e.g. for a booth or exhibit) to meet investors. These seem to be a regular scam, many of which have very few if any bona fide investors. You'll meet other other entrepreneurs (so if you can attend without paying much for a booth, it might be good for you) and a lot of ...

I would start with the conferences that are local if you want to save money. There is a good chance that you are within driving distance of a http://techcocktail.com and potentially a http://www.startupweekend.com to network. There is SXSW, which is pretty huge in you are near Austin. I can't speak on any of these listed since I have never been, but I ...

Naming companies is really hard work... I think it's unavoidable to be frustrated with it at times, you just have to keep at it... The Igor naming guide is a classic, IMHO a must-read. I think that compound names which signal what the company does (fx YouTube, LinkedIn) are good, and probably the easiest to build a brand around early on. One way of ...

We have Google Apps account and you'll find many good apps in Marketplace. You can use Google docs as your central storage. Both of the following tools also work great with Google account. TeamBox MavenLink

If you are running it as a private individual, then you don't. In that situation your operation would be recognized as a foreign sole proprietorship. See the discussion here: http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/advice/t-435759.html Of course, incorporating helps protect your personal assets from liability, so keep that under consideration. If you are running it as ...

In addition to ron's answer, I would add: understanding of the customer market customer adoption (aka traction) cost of customer acquisition lifetime value of customer And (if SaaS) where on the ramp are they? (as in, the long slow SaaS ramp of death)

I don't see you needing to incorporate in the United States unless you want to do this on a permanent basis. If you do I would suggest creating an entity in the US which might be a wholly owned subsidiary of your German company(the exact set up will need lawyers and accountants to be consulted). But a company in Germany can sell stuff to the US provided ...

You could try find a sponsor to the live act, which I am assuming are local smaller bands. Hence the sponsor pays for the act, but they get to market their product within your pub with whatever you agree with them. It could include say posters or whatever other material they give you to advertise. The trick of course if finding the right sponsor who wants to ...

This will depend on the rapport you have with local business owners. In the current economy, I've found that most restaurants will require at least a $5-$7 minimum from each participant. You may be able to offer the venue some in-kind advertising on your site/blog/brochure if you have a good reach. You should scour the Internet for women in your area who ...

I would absolutely search for startup oriented meetup groups in the SF Bay Area (there are a bunch - I belong to a couple). Look here ranked by size: ...

I would strongly encourage you to attend the Software Industry Conference (SIC) this July 15-17 in Dallas TX. SIC is a three day event that includes informative, educational breakout sessions covering a wide variety of topics that are critical to the success of MicroISVs. It culminates with a Networking Gala Dinner that gives software developers, Service ...

Many of the conferences also post their archives online so you can browse pervious talks. Have a look at http://wiki.businessofsoftware.org/ and the postings on http://blog.businessofsoftware.org/ for for really useful stuff. I am a big fan of the BoS conference if you want a really intense and mind-blowing 3 days....

I know some entrepreneurs who get together once a month to commisurate in person. That alone can go a long way. See everything Howard Mann has every written, but in particular his little (free) book. Making events happen more often is, IMHO, a local and specific thing, rather than a movement or general strategy. Surely you can find some folks in your ...