This blog post does not advocate free products/services.  Chris Anderson sockpuppetry may be found elsewhere. This blog post does not trash the freemium model, either.   Instead, it looks at business realities – cost of customer acquisition, revenue per customer, growth and scalabaility – advocating a large strategic toolbox and a careful selection, informed by hard [...]

The Red Pill is an irreversible choice – once you take the Red Pill, you look at the world in a new way. The Kauffman Foundation has been dispensing this prescription in the form of its FastTrac program, noting the uptick in accidental entrepreneurship. Detroit’s TechTown SmartZone will help mint, mentor and manage 1,200 new [...]

Problem: Virtual economic development projects are hard to track.  Resources are hard to marshal.  Too few economic developers have too many startups to manage. Opportunities are missed, and clients go under-served. Solution: Establish an online virtual business incubator portal, linking stakeholders, service providers and clients.  Track progress through stagegates to leverage coaching resources. Recruit and [...]

Rarely is the easiest way to reach out to a potential new client the best way to reach out to a potential new client. Consider the email below: From: [Sender Name Withheld] To: [The full name and email addresses of 29 people] Subject: Real Estate Needs Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:07:53 -0400 Hello all, [...]

As an entrepreneur, you do it all, you work long hours, you sweat the details. Clients come first. Also investors, employees, family. There’s no “me” in “entrepreneur.” That means professional development often takes a sideline to business development. Investing in skills seems selfish – a waste of resources better spent building the business. Until you [...]

Microsoft has been an invaluable asset to Google in its effort to brand itself, “as Air.” There’s no doubt who the “Don’t Be Evil” mantra refers to. And it doesn’t hurt that Steve Ballmer looks a little like Dick Cheney. In contrast, Google wants to be Air. Who doesn’t like Air? It’s ubiquitous, transparent, essential, [...]

Clayton Stobbs, the facilitator of SWA2, invited me to join him in my old stomping ground of Research Triangle Park, NC for the next Startup Weekend event, July 11-13. Clay liked the new format beta-tested by SWA2 poobah, Laura “mitten” Fisher: 97 participants pitched 34 ideas, formed 13 Teams and started 11 new companies. (Previous [...]

Ed concocted a startup cafe crawl: Get up early and hit Zola’s for funding – that’s where the VC’s and angels eat breakfast. Head to SweetWaters to network for your BizDev talent. Thence to Primo to recruit developers. Lunch at Vinology, home to the marketing-types. What, no beer? “Leopold’s closed.” Undaunted, I headed to Fraser’s [...]

First off, it’s not about the Startup, it’s about the process. Second, it’s not a Weekend, it’s a lifestyle. Ann Arbor won StartupWeekend’s “primary election,” garnering the most signatures on its petition to host an event, besting little towns like San Diego, Minneapolis, and Columbus (whose own event comes in July), and further reinforcing Ann [...]

The Ann Arbor Drupal User’s Group “a2drupal” was formed last year to serve local open source content management system adherents – publishers and geeks, marketers and bloggers – providing a forum for f2f social networking, professional development, mashups, and beer. a2drupal is only the umpteenth group to emerge from Ann Arbor’s heady IT ecosystem and [...]