Toluu

Texas Startup Blog: Web 2.0 and Social Media by Alexander Muse

Spurring innovation and entrepreneurship.

First Friday Jelly is Friday (the 2nd Friday of Jan)Yesterday

Just to keep it interesting, SpringStage is hosting our First Friday Jelly on the second Friday of January (the 9th).  What do you need to do?  Come spend the day and work with us.  We will give you a desk, free wifi, a phone, lunch if you call ahead and put an order in with Teressa at 214.550.2002 and community.  Get to know other entrepreneurs, designers and people who normally work from homw - work with them for the day. Come for half the day, come for the whole day.  9AM to 5PM - drinks to follow at the High Tech Bar downstairs from the office.  We call it a Jelly - you are the peanut butter.

This Jelly will be a very special Jelly as it will be Muse and Ryan free.  I won’t be there as I will be on my way back from Amsterdam and Scott will be on his way to San Francisco for the Crunchies (vote for us again: http://tinyurl.com/savvyvote.  So if you have been staying away because you don’t like me, this is the perfect time to show up.  Former employees, old girlfriends, past investors, creditors and plaintiffs - show up and enjoy the Jelly risk free.

Ryan Roberts (the startup lawyer) and

Are you selling?January 5

Brad Feld has a good point:  “In most companies, too few people sell too little of the time.  If you are a member of the senior executive team of a company that is trying to become profitable, are you spending 50% of your time selling and generating revenue?  If not, why not?  And, if you have a board of directors, are your board members selling also?”

At Architel Scott and I do ALL of the selling (well 90% Scott).  Finding someone who can sell your business as well as you is not easy or inexpensive.  If you want to start a business you better learn how to sell.

JPG Magazine, Hubris & FearJanuary 5

I am sharing my thoughts about the recent events at JPG because it would appear we will not be selected as the new caretaker of JPG.  I received an email from Ron Palmeri from Minor Ventures (they own 52% of JPG) indicating that discussions with potential acquirers such as myself had ceased.  He indicated that there are over 20 interested in parties who have made offers that include significant cash components.  Minor intends to accept bids until close of business Pacific time on Wednesday.  Of course, this is a big turnaround from the email we received on January 1st indicating JPG would be closing down.  My question was ‘how did we go from shutting down, to a bidding war?’  The answer?  HUBRIS & FEAR!

Once considered the greatest sin in ancient Greece, hubris is one of the leading cause of the failure of venture backed companies.  Raising money is a tricky endevour.  On one hand you need to show that you need money, while at the same time somehow suggest that you don’t really need the money.  Raising money is like walking a tight rope.  If you act desperate suggesting, “If we don’t get something closed before New Years Day we will have to close.” you may get your money, but at a

What sort of startups will work in 2009?January 5

Does this describe your startup?  In the wake of the greatest destruction of wealth in human history you should ask yourself what sort of business are you running and how you are running it.  We glorify companies that grow quickly.  Just look at awards such as the Inc. 5000 - ‘The Fastest Growing Private Companies in America’.  What is so great about fast?  What do you give up when you go fast?  Quality?  Sustainability?  Responsibility?  Morality?  Profitability?  The judges at Inc. don’t even pretend to care about and of those things.  They explain what it takes to make the list:

“If your revenue in 2005 was at least $200,000 and revenue in 2008 is at least $2 million then you may have what it takes to make the 2009 Inc. 500|5000 list. Send us an email to receive the application today! Please note that independent contractors and public companies are excluded.”

In the old days entrepreneurs would build their businesses to succeed; requiring a focus on profits.  Revenue didn’t really matter as long as you grew profits.  Wall Street helped entrepreneurs understand that profits didn’t matter as much as scale.  Get as big as possible regardless of the financial or moral costs.  Take big risks, bet the farm.

If you dema

Our plan for JPG MagazineJanuary 4

In a phrase, “Getting back to basics” will be our mantra for JPG Magazine should we be successful in our bid to take over as caretaker of the JPG community.  As a subscriber, user and contributor to JPG over the years I was shocked when I heard the managers of JPG decided to shut the magazine down.  Surely there was a way to save the magazine and, more importantly, the JPG community.  It took me 20 minutes to decide that I would pick up the JPG torch and ensure that JPG would not die, but instead flourish.  On Friday I made a written offer to JPG’s shareholders to acquire the magazine and the publishing company.

By Friday afternoon I had found two other groups similarly interested in joining forces to save JPG using our collective experience, time, resources and capital.  The key was to close quickly, over the weekend if possible and by Monday at the latest.  After talking to Mitchell Fox Friday afternoon it would seem our simple plan to save JPG was going to get more complex.  Mitchell suggested he wanted to delay closing to see if he could get a better deal.  Instead of thinking about what was best for the community I immediately suggested that our offer was only good until close of business on Monday.  I was exc