This site was built with Sampa
Create a FREE Blog | More Sites
Helping Entrepreneurs build the next great business

Seattle 2.0 Blog

Week 5
SMTWTFS
2345678

Entries for week 5 of 2008

From 2/2/2008 to 2/8/2008


SAT
2
FEB

MITEF: Ten Steps to Launching an Early Stage Company

By Marcelo Calbucci

 

Event: MITEF: Ten Steps to Launching an Early Stage Company [link]

 

Date: February 7, 2008 

 

Time: 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

 

Venue: One Union Square Boardroom, Seattle

 

Price: $25

 

Presenters: Jonathan Roberts (Ignition), Stan Shull




SUN
3
FEB

NWEN Venture Breakfast: The First Six Months...

By Marcelo Calbucci

 

Event: NWEN Venture Breakfast: The First Six Months: Psychological Challenges of a Startup and How to Manage Them [link]

 

Date: Friday, February 8, 2008

 

Time: 6:30 - 9 AM

 

Venue: Harbor Club, Bellevue

 

Price: $25 members; $40 non-members

 

Presenters: Kelly Smith (Curious Office)




MON
4
FEB

Deadline for WSA Investment Forum is this Friday

By Marcelo Calbucci

 

    Want to get some mulah for your company? The WSA Investment Forum deadline is this Friday, February 8. Here is a post I wrote about it last month.




WED
6
FEB

blist DEMO 08 Launch - Behind the Scenes

By Kevin Merritt

Last week blist launched at DEMO 08. While we've had a little publicity before, it was truly our launch event. While still fresh in my mind, I thought it might be fun to take you behind the scenes.

 

I've known about DEMO for years and consider it a great launch event for Internet companies. The timing was a little aggressive for blist. All things being equal, we'd rather have launched in April than January, but DEMO is too good an event to pass up. Presenting at DEMO requires passing through a selection process. It also helps to have an introduction. Fortunately blist advisor Bill Bryant has advised companies who've presented at DEMO in the past. He introduced us to DEMO organizer, Chris Shipley. A few weeks later when I was in the bay area I gave Chris a DEMO of blist and shortly thereafter we were officially invited to present.

 

DEMO is a well oiled conference. By that I mean they've been doing it for 18 years and it shows. Between being selected and presenting on stage, they keep you very well informed. We received on average 3 emails per week from the DEMO organizers. These lengthy emails had logistics info, deadlines for scripts, rehearsals, etc. The DEMO event is a two-day conference on a Tuesday and Wednesday, but you're required to show up on Sunday for rehearsal. On Monday there are meetings, setting up your booth and of course, lots of time to practice your 6-minute presentation.

 

I watched a lot of videos of past DEMO presenters in order to choose a presentation style that works for me. Four ideas emerged: 1) I didn't want to try to be funny even though I'm a total ham and love to joke around; 2) Reducing the number of variables seemed like a smart idea, so I decided to present solo even though most companies have at least two presenters; 3) I wanted to spend the majority of the presentation conducting an actual, live demo of our application; 4) We couldn't show every nook and cranny of our software so we'd do best by picking three main ideas we wanted to convey.

 

About a month before DEMO our engineering team switched from focusing on feature development to bug bashing. While the application is never as feature rich as you want, what you have needs to be stable. I'm super proud of the effort and results of the team leading up to DEMO.

 

About two weeks before DEMO I really started to think and agonize about the presentation. I felt behind schedule. Matt Johnson, our Online Marketing Director, and I worked first on a story board, then finally on the script. About a week before DEMO I began to commit a lot of time to hone the script and rehearse it. Our presentation ended up being about 25 seconds of introduction, 5 minutes of live demo and another 20 seconds of wrap up. By Saturday before DEMO I felt like I knew the routine really well.

 

On Sunday January 27, four of us from blist flew from Seattle to Palm Desert. In addtion to Matt and me, two engineers joined us. Bringing the engineers was in recognition that they had worked hard to get us here and they should get to partake in our launch party too. Bad weather in Palm Desert complicated our travels and we ended up diverting to Ontario and driving a mini-van out to the desert.

 

When we entered the conference auditorium, we were totally impressed. They had done such an awesome job. The emcee was himself rehearsing and for 20 minutes I kept hearing "Ladies and gentleman, please welcome DEMO executive producer, Chris Shipley." The 10-person stage crew was practicing a little dance routine that was part of the opening act of the conference.

 

Our rehearsal was scheduled for 3:30, but when we arrived at 2:00 they asked if we could go early because so many other presenting companies were delayed by the weather. We agreed. They miked me up and I gave my 6-minute presentation with full audio blasted into a mostly vacant auditorium and with my mug projected on two 50-foot screens at either side of the stage. The rehearsal went well. One of our engineers, Paul, even commented "If Kevin can just do that on Tuesday, I'll take it." I took that as the troops vote of confidence in their leader. I felt slightly relieved.

 

I spent most of Monday rehearsing in my room. I was torn between not knowing for sure if I had the script down pat and being fatigued from running through it so many times.  In mid afternoon I did a dry run for 4 or 5 folks in my room. Some changes were suggested. I vetoed them on the grounds that I knew this script pretty well and I didn't want to introduce anything new that might botch me up.

 

The first company presentation was scheduled for about 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Our slot was 2:38 p.m., just after lunch. I would have been happy to go in slot 1. Like ripping a band-aid off, sometimes you just want to get it over with so you can focus on what comes after the presentation.

 

Tuesday morning came and so did the butterflies in my stomach. I attended the opening of the conference. It was a terrific show, well choreographed, professional and polished. After Chris Shipley's keynote, I watched two or three company presentations, then out of anxiety decided I'd better go back to my room and rehearse some more.

 

Every presenting company had a booth in the pavilion, which is akin to a more traditional trade show floor, except every company's booth is equally small and with stock signage. Presenting companies can't bring their own signage or any giveaway promotional items. It's truly a level playing field. I was to report to the "green room" at 2:10. I showed up at the sign in table at 2:00 and found the backstage area to be a fish tank of nervous CEOs. Some of them handled the anxiety by joking around. Others, like me, were quietly rehearsing one last time. At about 2:25 the green room door opened and a woman called for blist. Show Time! There was one company on stage and one in the green room ahead of me. The technicians wired me up with a microphone and shot some quick video footage. They said I looked great. At 2:34 another technician walked me right behind the stage. I literally stood on a masking tape X. To calm my nerves I whispered some small talk with the technician. He mentioned something funny and I laughed a deep, loud belly laugh and wondered if the presenters or the audience heard me.

 

The company before me finished and the bumper music played. From the opposite curtain Chris Shipley went out on stage to introduce blist. I hadn't read or heard how she was going to introduce us. When I heard it live and for the first time, I smiled and felt honored to be introduced so positively. I felt like Chris grasped a core part of our message - that like Visio and PowerPoint before us - we want to democratize a function that today is too hard for mainstream users.

 

Chris finished her 30 second introduction and the technician gave me a gentle shove toward the stage. The only thing on my mind at that point was to not trip on the stairs and tumble out onto the stage. I walked up to steps to the podium where my laptop was waiting. I paused for a second or two, located the main camera and stared directly into in and began my introduction. The intro went great. The demo went great. The closing went great. I walked off the stage and felt an enormous sense of relief and satisfaction.

 

For the rest of the conference I was loose and thoroughly enjoyed meeting reporters and journalists, other entrepreneurs and investors at our booth. There was genuine camaraderie among the presenting companies. The press coverage and publicity from the event has been phenomenal. People are signing up for blist in droves and it's great to receive their early feedback.

 

In case you missed our presentation, you can watch it here.

 

Of course, you can sign up for blist at http://www.blist.com as well.

 

DEMO greatly helped us launch blist and will provide us with fond memories for a long time to come. I highly recommend participating if the opportunity presents itself.

 

----

Kevin Merritt is the Founder and CEO of blist. Check blist blog out as well.

1:32 PM | Permalink | 1 comment



THU
7
FEB

Seattle Startup Index January/2008

By Marcelo Calbucci

 

    It's here! The monthly list that gets Seattle entrepreneurs all excited (ok, maybe is just me).

 

    This month we have a big upgrade to the list. We add a new column called Category, which was the number one request feature for this list. The reason category is relevant to the list is because you can compare consumer companies to consumer companies, and people that are on B2B or Mobile business don't have to feel ashamed of their low ranking.

 

    By each category there is the index of the company on that category group, so "WBB (7)" means the company ranked #7 in Web-based B2B companies. The cryptic abbreviations are:

 

  • WBC: Web-based consumer service
  • WBB: Web-based B2B service
  • WMO: Web-based service + Mobile component
  • MOB: Primarily a Mobile service
  • SW: Downloadable Software or other Software product
  • HW: Hardware

 

    The big movers this month include Sweat365 that moved 97 (!!!) positions -- I think that is a record for this list, GlobalScholar.com (up 62), Alerts.com (up 60), CultureMob (up 51), PilotOutlook (up 50) and LiquidPlanner (up 42).

 

    On the downside we also have a record, Melodeo dropped 107 positions! Other drops include Metafos (-59), PixPulse (-49), Audiosocket (-46), Pelago (-45) and TeachStreet (-45).

 

    The list has 22 new sites being tracked and I Can Has Cheezburger debuts at #5.

 

    Enjoy the list...

 

#CompanyCategory (Index)Alexa RankCompete RankAverage RankIndex Change
1iLikeWBC (1)2,710 950 1,830 -
2ZillowWBC (2)3,240 767 2,003 +1
343 Things (Robot Co-op)WBC (3)4,201 1,267 2,734 +1
4BuddyTVWBC (4)4,873 1,896 3,384 +2
5I Can Has Cheezburger?WBC (5)2,663 4,328 3,495 (new)
6WetpaintWBC (6)4,502 2,789 3,645 +1
7SEOmozWBB (1)2,277 5,070 3,673 -2
8WidgetBucksWBB (2)5,889 7,152 6,520 -
9ActiveRainWBB (3)8,970 4,720 6,845 -
10PayScaleWBC (7)15,694 1,740 8,717 -
11PicnikWBC (8)9,266 12,488 10,877 +3
12FarecastWBC (9)21,182 1,726 11,454 -1
13JamglueWBC (10)14,116 9,233 11,674 +3
14SWiKWBC (11)10,227 13,403 11,815 -2
15ShelfariWBC (12)6,026 17,631 11,828 -2
16JobsterWBC (13)22,888 2,564 12,726 -1
17MpireWBC (14)21,393 10,307 15,850 +1
18QuestionPro (Survey Analytics)WBB (4)29,453 3,349 16,401 (new)
19GarageBand.comWBC (15)30,577 4,850 17,713 -
20Faves (ex-BlueDot)WBC (16)17,157 19,095 18,126 +6
21ImageKindWBC (17)15,607 22,809 19,208 -4
22SnapVineWBC (18)36,785 6,878 21,831 -2
23RedfinWBC (19)23,667 20,944 22,305 -2
24Bag Borrow or StealWBC (20)43,288 4,713 24,000 -1
25BigOvenWBC (21)43,546 6,558 25,052 -3
26JamboolWBC (22)30,315 24,790 27,552 +6
27Urban SpoonWBC (23)41,959 13,476 27,717 -3
28ProgrammableWebWBC (24)25,249 34,182 29,715 -1
29Judy's BookWBC (25)60,629 9,297 34,963 -4
30SampaWBC (26)38,845 34,520 36,682 -2
313GuppiesWMO (1)64,361 14,455 39,408 -2
32MenuismWBC (27)70,773 9,099 39,936 +1
33TrailfireWBC (28)45,479 34,957 40,218 -2
34Jott NetworkWMO (2)46,219 35,930 41,074 -4
35LiveMochaWBC (29)7,335 80,170 43,752 +2
36FEEDJITWBC (30)34,916 53,520 44,218 +2
37OhlohWBC (31)27,539 62,811 45,175 -2
38nuTsie.comWBC (32)62,018 33,905 47,961 -4
39Lists Of Bests (Robot Co-Op)WBC (33)81,708 27,339 54,523 +1
40AdReadyWBB (5)76,853 37,559 57,206 +3
4143 Places (Robot Co-op)WBC (34)85,188 37,135 61,161 -5
42TrumbaWBB (6)113,928 9,863 61,895 -3
43LandWatch (SecondSpace)WBC (35)116,189 12,301 64,245 +2
44Earth Class MailWBC (36)67,464 61,538 64,501 +5
45KonnectsWBB (7)72,039 60,178 66,108 +11
46PopshopsWBC (37)52,817 85,350 69,083 -
47YaptaWBC (38)117,819 25,706 71,762 -5
48Broadband SportsWBC (39)98,169 49,067 73,618 -7
49Atomic MogulsWBC (40)138,759 9,252 74,005 -5
50RealSelfWBC (41)130,348 29,113 79,730 -2
51Survey Console (Survey Analytics)WBB (8)122,282 37,555 79,918 (new)
52MyTypesWBC (42)71,283 94,878 83,080 +3
53BiznikWBC (43)75,616 91,385 83,500 +1
54RescueTimeWBC (44)51,913 119,356 85,634 -7
55TreemoWMO (3)128,527 88,407 108,467 -5
56All Consuming (Robot Co-Op)WBC (45)144,081 75,170 109,625 -3
57AvvoWBC (46)150,886 76,834 113,860 -
58Sweat365WBC (47)103,919 124,689 114,304 +97
59Walk ScoreWBC (48)156,342 79,846 118,094 -7
60GotVoiceWBC (49)207,307 44,595 125,951 -9
61NewsCloudWBC (50)158,781 108,629 133,705 +1
62HealiaWBC (51)252,123 24,400 138,261 -1
63BlistWBC (52)176,644 113,640 145,142 +19
64Thrift BooksWBC (53)255,607 49,636 152,621 +6
65EtelosWBB (9)158,137 150,381 154,259 -6
66Crush or Flush (IceBreaker)WBC (54)283,952 50,323 167,137 +5
6743 People (Robot Co-Op)WBC (55)164,826 170,150 167,488 -7
68CoziWBC (56)304,057 34,187 169,122 +4
69MovayaWMO (4)129,564 210,534 170,049 -6
70nPostWBB (10)221,529 130,189 175,859 -5
71EyeJotWBC (57)168,400 203,674 186,037 -7
72PeepCodeWBB (11)158,114 219,332 188,723 -6
73MercentWBB (12)337,639 43,462 190,550 +5
74CheckOutMyCardsWBC (58)324,713 58,994 191,853 (new)
75LiquidPlannerWBB (13)242,681 152,980 197,830 +42
76Peppers and PollywogsWBC (59)354,263 41,551 197,907 -
77PluggdWBC (60)222,884 187,699 205,291 -9
78TripHubWBC (61)327,308 87,132 207,220 -5
79Micropoll (Survey Analytics)WBB (14)277,973 145,120 211,546 (new)
80ReelTimeWBC (62)122,787 304,685 213,736 +4
81ZumobiWMO (5)199,617 245,632 222,624 -
82PhoneSherpaWMO (6)307,591 145,234 226,412 -3
83MerchantOSWBB (15)165,122 290,578 227,850 -25
84WishpotWBC (63)185,687 291,517 238,602 -15
85GlobalScholar.comWBC (64)321,284 156,345 238,814 +62
86SmartSheetWBB (16)322,047 165,467 243,757 +4
87ZojiWBC (65)162,531 327,781 245,156 -12
88EstatelyWBC (66)305,613 195,240 250,426 -14
89LexBlogWBB (17)312,009 202,161 257,085 -12
90ResortScape (SecondSpace)WBC (67)385,472 128,850 257,161 -3
91cumu.usWBC (68)382,841 150,441 266,641 -8
92AthleonWBC (69)244,888 297,830 271,359 -1
93ContactPro (Survey Analytics)WBB (18)341,634 212,623 277,128 (new)
94LikewiseSW (1)285,058 270,362 277,710 -9
95goChongoWBC (70)199,100 359,735 279,417 -9
96Others OnlineWBC (71)181,859 427,890 304,874 -29
97eyealikeWBB (19)254,929 384,944 319,936 (new)
98SNAPforSeniorsWBC (72)486,154 161,654 323,904 +3
99JooksterWBC (73)404,922 273,945 339,433 +9
100ClearStay.comWBC (74)176,703 502,371 339,537 -7
101EVOLandingWBB (20)385,409 296,294 340,851 (new)
102ListenToYourWifeWBC (75)521,943 164,116 343,029 -7
103MixPoWBC (76)409,200 307,472 358,336 -4
104ZooDangoWBC (77)334,869 405,385 370,127 -15
105GridNetworksSW (2)221,062 519,773 370,417 -
106Visible TechnologiesWBB (21)434,653 319,378 377,015 (new)
107PilotOutlookWBC (78)584,289 173,679 378,984 +50
108VholdRWBC (79)286,601 495,207 390,904 (new)
109Should Do This (Robot Co-Op)WBC (80)361,663 421,676 391,669 -21
110Robot Co-op (43 Things)SW (3)489,645 297,804 393,724 -18
111mPoriaMOB (1)439,252 390,759 415,005 -17
112FlowPlayWBC (81)448,323 389,408 418,865 -1
113Jackson Fish MarketSW (4)477,001 361,711 419,356 -17
114FyreballWBC (82)441,883 428,472 435,177 -8
115OpenomyWBC (83)338,225 533,540 435,882 -8
116CultureMobWBC (84)565,784 315,789 440,786 +51
117RiplWBC (85)525,013 369,985 447,499 -7
118Medio SystemsMOB (2)618,592 283,002 450,797 -2
119LimeadeWBB (22)522,335 392,813 457,574 +9
120PhotoSleeveWBC (86)365,914 550,970 458,442 +2
121Whrrl (Pelago)WBC (87)341,087 582,300 461,693 -41
122TalentSpringWBC (88)841,900 102,359 472,129 -7
123ScriptoviaWBC (89)768,043 178,799 473,421 -5
124SecondSpaceWBC (90)469,169 489,143 479,156 -21
125UberSquareWBC (91)418,706 557,744 488,225 -6
126FeedWhipWBC (92)595,434 479,944 537,689 -2
127PaperspineWBC (93)814,880 294,788 554,834 -1
128SimplifyThisWBB (23)533,519 577,786 555,652 -26
129DashwireWMO (7)473,058 695,619 584,338 -29
130InstacalcWBC (94)459,124 738,932 599,028 -26
131PhrogramWBC (95)652,864 562,299 607,581 +5
132PrestoGiftoWBC (96)727,226 499,399 613,312 -3
133InrixSW (5)774,721 455,232 614,976 +1
134skillbitWBB (24)947,224 290,705 618,964 (new)
135InfiniteHoopsWBC (97)616,840 639,559 628,199 -14
136WishlistingWBC (98)402,314 858,088 630,201 -39
137ClayValetWBC (99)489,333 786,256 637,794 -14
138iMedExchangeWBB (25)493,854 786,382 640,118 +5
139Bill MonkWBC (100)322,610 957,779 640,194 -14
140NearlywedsWBC (101)873,312 413,429 643,370 +6
141HomeMovieWBC (102)821,730 472,752 647,241 -1
142TrenchMiceWBC (103)840,972 492,559 666,765 -4
143TeachStreetWBC (104)634,080 717,346 675,713 -45
144OwnYourPhoneWBC (105)1,118,158 257,814 687,986 -13
145Invitastic (Jackson Fish Market)WBC (106)511,910 882,856 697,383 -15
146ActiveWordsSW (6)686,232 713,442 699,837 -32
147Just CauseWBC (107)768,348 643,791 706,069 -15
148LilipipWBC (108)913,975 544,300 729,137 -4
149CondoCompareWBC (109)1,027,683 486,407 757,045 (new)
150They're Beautiful (Jackson Fish Market)WBC (110)942,552 585,325 763,938 -8
151Smart DesktopSW (7)836,707 713,385 775,046 -
152VersionateWBB (26)607,750 960,970 784,360 -13
153YourSportsWBC (111)894,828 682,418 788,623 -40
154Down2nightWBC (112)614,821 978,853 796,837 -34
155inCampusWBC (113)1,321,177 274,864 798,020 -7
156SportsUltraWBC (114)1,305,841 296,950 801,395 -7
157PelagoSW (8)688,596 914,485 801,540 -45
158PixPulseWMO (8)733,493 890,899 812,196 -49
159Catch the BestWBB (27)1,250,437 404,771 827,604 +1
160DreamBox (SchoolSoft)WBC (115)764,950 907,379 836,164 -15
161Cocktail builderWBC (116)1,219,447 492,900 856,173 -20
162LinebuzzWBC (117)952,265 778,895 865,580 -35
163CalendarData.comWBC (118)1,425,930 428,139 927,034 -11
164TruseraWBC (119)1,069,928 842,686 956,307 -5
165Bus MonsterWBC (120)1,073,550 899,887 986,718 -9
166DiffenWBC (121)1,435,633 544,791 990,212 -29
167You Just Get MeWBC (122)1,507,566 472,873 990,219 -13
168TrustedWordWBC (123)1,192,121 803,386 997,753 +37
169SnapTuneSW (9)1,344,058 847,580 1,095,819 -6
170Overcast MediaWBC (124)1,556,205 649,263 1,102,734 +1
171CdigixWBC (125)1,346,947 913,451 1,130,199 -9
172ZeenamiWBC (126)1,388,318 944,580 1,166,449 -19
173NoonhatWBC (127)1,646,908 766,475 1,206,691 -40
174IllumitaSW (10)1,878,714 611,244 1,244,979 -9
175Survey AnalyticsSW (11)1,721,355 769,436 1,245,395 (new)
176Alerts.comWBC (128)2,088,377 539,098 1,313,737 +60
177DiginiSW (12)1,906,001 785,950 1,345,975 -8
178CoolToorsWBB (28)2,208,455 495,354 1,351,904 -14
179SongSlideWBC (129)1,933,516 796,478 1,364,997 -18
180FormotusWMO (9)1,872,499 860,943 1,366,721 -22
181EVRISW (13)1,819,507 927,238 1,373,372 -15
182PhoneMyPhone (KeenScreen)WMO (10)1,997,493 757,630 1,377,561 -14
183OntelaMOB (3)2,015,185 964,683 1,489,934 -10
184AppatureSW (14)2,214,604 889,764 1,552,184 +14
185Poll StacksWBC (130)2,323,584 831,090 1,577,337 -13
186PostacrimeWBC (131)2,203,633 951,669 1,577,651 -36
187ConenzaSW (15)2,421,844 932,956 1,677,400 +16
188TransmutableWBB (29)2,492,782 958,386 1,725,584 -3
189TrendiWBC (132)2,845,430 765,619 1,805,524 -5
190GeoJoeyWBC (133)2,703,713 914,607 1,809,160 -20
191KnouenSW (16)2,791,106 874,666 1,832,886 -12
192bluekaiWBC (134)3,412,384 454,359 1,933,371 -9
193Style du JourWBC (135)3,058,046 808,775 1,933,410 -15
194EmptySpaceAds (KeenScreen)WBB (30)3,091,837 820,708 1,956,272 -18
195GoGoMoWBB (31)3,207,598 871,787 2,039,692 -18
196CellTellWBC (136)3,212,847 952,167 2,082,507 -14
197TeslyWBB (32)4,361,404 908,941 2,635,172 -16
198HomeSavvi (ex-AlphabetLane)WBC (137)4,707,617 797,829 2,752,723 +28
199JakobaSW (17)5,097,175 931,134 3,014,154 -13
200N2uitiveSW (18)6,715,161 934,812 3,824,986 -12
201AudioFuseWBC (138)7,452,804 962,878 4,207,841 -14
202FrigyWBC (139)9,348,947 871,164 5,110,055 -22
203NimbleBeeWBC (140)12,911,952 670,148 6,791,050 -14
204Investment YogiWBC (141)220,871 --14
205YodioWBC (142)591,275 --6
206iProtestWBC (143)850,118 -(new)
207izzyMeWBC (144)1,141,876 --16
208Instant JournalistWBC (145)1,475,215 --15
209SynerG SoftwareSW (19)1,610,944 --15
210MinecodeSW (20)2,057,897 --13
211XoomPadWBB (33)2,306,137 --11
212MergeLabWBC (146)2,311,725 --11
213Waggle LabsSW (21)2,411,080 --18
214RealityAllStarzWBC (147)2,501,991 --12
215BioscreencastWBC (148)2,778,538 --19
216IcebreakerSW (22)3,338,064 --2
217Goose NetworksWBC (149)3,537,475 --11
218ForanuWBC (150)3,585,675 -+22
219SiteScoutSW (23)3,667,781 -+6
220iCulturWBC (151)3,694,022 --13
221AudiosocketWBB (34)3,766,722 --46
222ZumendeWBC (152)3,769,936 --18
223Altus NetworksHW (1)3,851,179 --10