Thursday, September 24, 2015

The Startup Genome Project 2.0

I was recently provided this infographic from one of the readers of my blog.  I found it very interesting, and it helps give a quick look into how to startup ecosystem is evolving and changing throughout the globe!

Feel free to take a quick look and share this to all your startup minded friends!


The Startup Genome Project 2.0
Source: ComputerScienceZone.org

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Improve with Improv at #INBOUND15

Dave Delaney has spoken at many different companies and events everywhere.  From LinkedIn Marketing, to other specific topics, Dave has also moved into the world of Improv.  

Where most people first think of shows such as Who’s Line It Is Anyway” there is also a basic, but great lesson, that helps us understand how improv can also help us with our personal lives.

Improv allows you to be a better listener.  By being a better listener, you are able to network better, as well as keep a fresh perspective of everything that is going on around you.  Being a listener allows you to do a few important things when having a conversation with someone.

L.I.S.T.E.N.
  • Look Interested
    • Look at them in the eye
    • Don’t get sidetracked by other things that are going on around you. 
    • Make them the center of your attention
  • Involve Yourself By Responding
    • Respond back with saying such as “tell me more!” or “That sounds amazing, what else did you do?”
  • Stay On Target
    • Let the other person do all the talking
    • Keeping on track makes a more meaningful conversation
  • Test Your Understanding
    • Repeat instructions to make sure you are 100% on the same page as everyone else.
  • Evaluate The Message
    • Take the message and think to make sure you truly understand what the person was talking about.  Make it more meaningful.
  • Neutralize the Feelings
    • When people share the same feelings, there is no imbalance.

Aziz Ansari - #INBOUND15 Keynote Recap - The Inbound Marketing Guide for Modern Relationships

Aziz Ansari, what a funny guy!  Mostly known for his comedian type role in his stand up career as well as his roles on TV series such as Parks and Rec, Aziz also is a New York Best Seller for his book, Modern Romance, An Investigation.

During his Keynote at #INBOUND15, Aziz cover many aspects of his new book, and also added a bunch of laughs to the 14k person crowd!

The keynote touched on changes over time of relationships, both how they get started, and the overall goals in life.  Where people used to get married to become adults and move out of their parents house, now people are endlessly searching for true love.  Many couples (1 in 3) now utilize some sort of online dating to see their options.  

Example: Tinder.  
Tinder is the swipe left, swipe right mobile application to if you like someone based on their photo or not.  This application has taken the world by storm but also has been given much scrutiny. However, if you think about it, this application is just a virtual way of doing what everyone has been doing for their entire lives!  Even before technology!  When you walk into a bar, each person walks in, scans the people who are there, and immediately categorize the people there into “I would possibly date you” or “Not a chance”.  

Another difference that Aziz highlighted in his book is that how you interact with people changes depending on your age.

Example: How to Contact Someone after a night at a Bar.  Method: Phone Call
  • Older than 50: Call me… I don’t text.
  • Age 32: Wow, he/she is calling me on the phone. How thoughtful and mature.
  • Age 22: Why are he/she calling me… this is weird… text would be better

Overall, the keynote was very interesting, and a great way to start the morning!  Throughout the day #INBOUND15 has a plethora of workshops on inbound marketing topics.  For more information, visit www.inbound.com to find out more about this amazing conference.

Also, for updates and more photos, follow me on twitter! @celdridge8


Keypoints, Quotes, and Interesting Facts from the Keynote:

  • Aziz Ansari’s new book is basically the inbound marketing guide to getting laid.
  • #INBOUND15 is not a conference, its a movement.
  • 1 of 3 couples found each other based on some sort of online dating.
  • Older couples got married to get out of the house, while now people are endlessly search for true love.
  • Don’t use the word “texty” in a text message to a person you want to go on a date with
  • People will cancel plans over the phone via text because it does not take feelings like a phone call does.
  • Plan more interesting dates - Coffee dates are to general and do not spur conversation like a Monster Truck Rally would.
  • The Inbound Team has the smallest water cups for their speakers…  (You needed to be present that it to be VERY funny)

2015 Hubspot #INBOUND15 Conference


So it is 6:45 and I have already made it from New Hampshire to the Boston Convention Center for the annual Hubspot Inbound conference (#INBOUND15).  Just approaching the convention center I was getting the shivers from pure excitement! (If you have not already seen my @celdridge8 twitter feed...)

This years INBOUND Conference includes great keynotes, such as Aziz Ansari who I will be seeing this morning, and also great entertainment such as Amy Schumer, who I will also be seeing tonight!  Not to mention the hundreds of workshops that take place throughout the week.
So what is INBOUND15?  Inbound is a conference about the new world of Inbound Marketing.  Inbound marketing is marketing that brings customers to you instead of marketers going out of the company to try and draw in customers.  Examples of inbound marketing are SEO, Blogs, Websites, Content, Social Media, and Calls to Action, just to name a few.

So who should attend this conference?  The answer is, EVERYONE!  Of course there will be around 10,000 people here throughout the week, but everyone should get here and learn the valuable trade of Inbound Marketing which is seen in many startup companies today.

So as you sip your coffee today at work, or you are browsing your twitter feed waiting in line, be sure to follow my updates throughout the day as well as my summary blog posts throughout the next few days.


Follow me on Twitter! @celdridge8

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Everpix - Every Possibility...Never Pivoted

Everpix was an innovative and catchy application.  Due to its ease of use and "set it and forget it" mentality, there was droves of users who enjoyed all the features in its premium version, and had good enough premium features that people would pay $5/month for the photo application.

One of the most popular features of Everpix was the "memory lane" type feature, which showed people what they did one year prior by sending their photos of that particular day to their email.  This unique feature is now used in popular mobile apps such as "Memoir" which connects to all your photo sources and makes it easy for you to share memories from different time periods with your friends.

However, even though Everpix looked promising for a while in the eyes of the investor, there were a few red flags that Everpix did not notice when they were trying to grow their company as a startup.

Red Flag 1: Did not think of the customer and only thought of development

During the time of growth for Everpix, the founders were focusing on developing smaller features that were part of their larger "grand plan" for the application.  Instead, they should have capitalized on the new users they acquired and keep the application as is and focus on strategic pivots where they could bring in more users.  Another great tool would be to use your early adaptors as a sound board to see how they could continually make the application better and more innovative.  In a world where mobile photo applications are around every corner, they needed to be able to stand out above their competitors.

Red Flag 2: Did not focus on growth

After two years of being in operation, Everpix had 55,000 users.  However, the Everpix team focused on development instead of marketing and getting new users on their existing application.  New features are nice, however you need users in order to bring in revenue to cover your costs.  If Everpix decided to focus on growth of users rather than expanding the already popular application, they may have been able to grow a larger subscription base, lower their development costs, and increase their profit margins.

Red Flag 3: Continued to pull in funding without a clear direction/pivot

One red flag of Everpix was their fundraising intake.  VC's were continually giving Everpix funding to help them make it from month to month with their costs.  However, the funding did not have a purpose.  Where funding can be very helpful for a startup, the funding should also be used to help with the growth of the company, not helping it stay above water.  The founders of the company continued to receive funding, even though they knew they were on a downward slope without any plan for a pivot.  Funding at this time should have been focused on user growth, and not additional development for new features.

Red Flag 4: Should have considered buyout options at first sign of potential downfall

Everpix had a golden ticket out of their growth problem.  In 2011, Everpix was in acquisition conversations with both Dropbox (relatively new at the time) and Facebook.  Everpix decided to decline these offers, and focused on an even larger acquisition option possibly down the road.  Where the goal of being able to become a billion dollar company on your own is the best possible scenario, Everpix was an excellent acquisition option for big companies.  Both Dropbox and Facebook had enough capital, user base, and personnel to help bring the application from a user base of 55,000 to millions of users.

Post Everpix

Everpix was the start of the photo application movement.  Since the fall of Everpix, mobile applications such as Instagram have been acquired for large sums of money and have seen explosive growth because of the acquisitions.  If Everpix made a few different decisions to focus on growth and understand their strategic acquisition potential we all might have an additional photo application on our smartphones today instead of Instagram or Snapchat.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Education Technology - A competitive landscape that is a diamond in the rough for new startups



In my previous post, I wrote a how-to guide to choosing the correct device for your classroom.  One of the key components to choosing a device and probably the biggest player in actually getting the devices is always surrounding one word: "funding".

Funding for technology in classrooms has increased year after year, and as it becomes more prevalent, schools will start implementing technology in the classroom as a line item on their budgets.  In 2014, nearly $1.9 billion was spent on education technology and 2015 is looking to hit the $2 billion mark.  With this increase in spending, is also going to spark a new competitive landscape that will be readily primed for new startups.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Education Technology - How to choose the best devices for your school classroom.

Technology in the classroom is nothing new when walking around the hallways of any school.  From kindergarten through high school and especially into college you see an increasing number of electronic devices all being used to help increase the students educational experience.

Studies have shown that the utilization of technology in the classroom has helped increase test results and student interaction in classrooms.  For example, University of California Irvine medical school saw their students get 23% higher test scores on their national exams when they were equipped with an Apple iPad.  In addition, Auburn Maine shows that Kindergarten students scored higher on literacy tests when using iPads in the classroom.

So if you are looking to implement technology into the classroom, then of course you want to pick the best device for not only your students, but also your budget.  To help educators out, I have created  some guidelines to look for when choosing what type of device to select, what you should be looking for in regards to a provider, as well as tips to assist you with future planning.

Top considerations when choosing either a laptop device or a tablet device

So if you are looking to implement devices in the classroom, there are few things you are going to want to consider prior to choosing your device.

Monday, June 29, 2015

From Startup Tools to Monkeys In Space - Startups that are making strides!

While looking through Angel List, I always looks for both startups in the entrepreneur world (Yes, entrepreneurs who look to help entrepreneurs) as well as new technology in the web hosting and cloud computing world.

I find entrepreneur industry startups interesting because they are truly looking for new ways to help new companies make their mark on the world.  These entrepreneurs are typically serial entrepreneurs who have started their own companies in the past, and know where the struggles and barriers are. In return these entrepreneurs are now looking for ways to break these barriers for entrepreneurs.

In addition I find new technology in the hosting space interesting because there I believe there is soon going to be a day where "The Cloud" is really no longer a few major data centers such as those at Google or Rackspace, but rather shared and dynamic spaces while also preserving privacy of data.

Below are three companies that I found interesting on Angel List.  These three companies all have incredible products and services, and I believe offer a live glimpse into fields that have barely been developed.

Space Monkey - Beyond the Cloud

Space Monkey interests me because the company I work for is looking to develop a similar product.  With the world trying to benefit from a few hundred major data centers, why not create a community data center to share with everyone?  The cloud only grows, as the users grow.

Foundersuite - Productivity tools for the world's 400M entrepreneurs.

Foundersuite interests me because I have a strong drive to create products that help entrepreneurs.  I am an entrepreneur and I have seen first hand the difficulties of creating a startup and Foundersuite shares the same passion as I do for helping startups reach their dreams.

Vayable - Marketplace for unique experiences


Vayable is an application would have been very helpful while I was recently in New Orleans.  Everything is created by locals, so you know you are getting the full experience when you are at a new location and wish to explore!  This is in theory, the Air Bnb of experiences.

Saturday, June 6, 2015

New Hampshire - The Silicon Valley of The White Mountains

Startup Ecosystems are Everywhere

Silicon Valley is the worlds premier location for startups.  Of course, when we think of Silicon Valley we immediately think of buzzwords such as Facebook, Y Combinator, Google, developers who live in mansions, and of course, LOTS and LOTS of venture capital...

However, there has started to be a large change in the way that startups figure out what geographical startup ecosystem they would like to be a part of.  Of course, Silicon Valley is the cream of the crop in regards to a best possible startup ecosystem, but besides the money available and the "vibe" of Silicon Valley, there are other things to consider before packing up your bags and relocating yourself to Southern California.  In fact, there are many places that are highly competitive in regards to providing what Silicon Valley offers all around the world!

The location I would like to point out today is New Hampshire.  New Hampshire's startup scene is starting to boom, and the progress can easily be seen in locations such as Manchester, Portsmouth, Durham, and Nashua.  New Hampshire has a great startup vibe, and also is home to many fabulous education resources, accelerators, and incubators.

New Hampshire is home to many top IT startups such as Dyn, who are all working at creating a much larger startup ecosystem in New Hampshire!

Friday, June 5, 2015

Crowd-Advertising - New Startup "VidFall" is paving the way!


I recently wrote an article on the power of crowdsourcing and how it is easier than ever for someone small to make a large splash in the entrepreneur ecosystem.

There is however, a new way to harness the power of the crowd, and when paired with digital advertising, it is going to be a game changer!

Introducing "Crowd-Advertising".  Crowd Advertising is the theory of utilizing advertising revenue to cover some/all of the costs of products and services. 

In the past, the newspaper industry used advertising revenue to cover the costs of the actual newspaper so that you only have to pay fifty cents for a newspaper.  However, digital media is where there is a much larger audience, and has the ability to have a much bigger impact.

This new Crowd Advertising theory is currently being created by a new startup called VidFall. VidFall is a company that utilizes advertising revenue to lower the costs of everyday products and services based on you as a consumer watching relative video advertisements. 

Crowdsourcing... a startups diamond in the rough that is available to everyone

Everything these days has to do with the idea of "crowdsourcing".  It is an ingenious way for someone small to be able to grow something big with the power of the internet.  Whether you are just looking for more impressions, growing an awareness campaign, to getting your startup off the ground, the use of crowdsourcing over the past few years has taken large leaps.

Through the use of these types of tools found below, anyone has power to harness the internet and go from a small splash in a pond to a tidal wave in days and not years.