Tag Archives: Investing

TripreneurTV Launch

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The Triangle Entrepreneur Challenge is here. For 90 Days, every entrepreneur and investor is going to absolutely kill it. I could not be more excited.

To kick things off right, we have launched TripreneurTV. Every day one video will be posted of an entrepreneur, investor, government official, or educator. They can share their stories, awesome projects, and knowledge about the Triangle.

I am very excited about this new endeavor and hope you take some time to check it out. Let me know what you think!

You Might Be An Idiot If You Don’t Subscribe To These 12 Blogs

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Last week I wrote about 10 people to follow on Twitter. The post was so popular that I’m following it up with 12 blogs every entrepreneur should be tuned into. This list is in no way a comprehensive one. Each site listed contains interesting information and great forums of conversation. Here we go:

1. A VC – Fred Wilson is a principle at Union Square Ventures and known to share his unique thoughts. I find the blog to be informative and easy to read. Posts regularly include video as well which keeps the reader interested.

2. Blog Maverick – Mark Cuban is one of my role models. Each blog post is jam packed with information. His no frills approach means there aren’t tons of videos, photos, etc. By interjecting his humor regularly he makes reading the posts enjoyable.

3. Joel Gascoigne – The founder of Buffer and a great thinker pertaining to startups. Posts are very well thought out and include tons of photos, graphics and videos. While Joel only blogs about every 3 – 4 days, the wait is well worth it!

4. Steve Blank – The man is a legend. Former entrepreneur and now a professor at Stanford, he shares wise words of wisdom. Blank’s blog has almost 45,000 followers which shows how many people care about what he thinks. Posts are always great and usually include some very interesting analysis.

5. Next View Ventures – The blog is updated by David Beisel, Rob Go, and Lee Hower. Each post varies in topic but can cover entrepreneurship, founder advice, investing insights, or general views on business and current trends. It’s always great to get a peek into well respected VC’s minds so don’t miss out on the opportunity.

6. This Is Going To Be BIG – Charlie O’Donnell of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures provides great insights into technology and investing. His blog covers a wide range of topics and includes a lot of emotional and personal insights. Great read!

7. Both Sides of The Table – The blog of Mark Suster is always worth the time. He includes graphics, photos and videos to compliment his terrific analysis and predictions. A former entrepreneur who now does angel and venture investing, Suster is able to share a perspective from “both sides of the table.”

8. Feld Thoughts – Possibly my favorite blog. Brad Feld intertwines business, investing and life beautifully. From in-depth analysis of his marathons (he has a goal to run 50 marathons in 50 states before the age of 50) to board room etiquette, Feld puts it all out in the public. If you enjoy seeing the human element of business than don’t miss this one!

9. Chris Dixon – Short and concise but packed with information. In true Dixon style I don’t need to say much. Check it out and you will understand.

10. Experiments in Lifestyle Design – Tim Ferriss is one of a kind. Some call him quirky and others can’t get enough of him. Either way you can’t ignore the wealth of knowledge provided on this blog. An added benefit is the wide array of interesting topics that are not normally covered by his peers.

11. Blake Masters – This kid burst on to the tech scene when he began posting notes from Peter Thiels CS183 class at Stanford titled “Startup.” Blog is worth reading for those notes alone. He also is an avid athlete that is very transparent about his progress and goals. Stay tuned to him and his blog as I expect big things in the future.

12. The Art of Non-Conformity – Chris Guillebeau has a unique perspective on life. Recently publishing the book “The $100 Startup” has brought more attention to his blog. I expect to see his approach become more mainstream in the coming years so the blog is a great place to start to understand the future.

There they are. Twelve blogs on technology, investing and life. Check each one out and let me know what you think. As always you can follow me on Twitter @APompliano. If you think I should have included other blogs please include them in the comments. I would love to check them out!

Triangle Startup Factory Pitch Day

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Triangle Startup Factory

It’s an exciting time to live in the Raleigh-Durham area. Today I had the pleasure to attend the Triangle Startup Factory Pitch Day. Triangle Startup Factory is a local incubator that runs an intense three month program for startups. They also boast the title of “the most highly capitalized technology accelerator in the southeast.”

Pitch Day consisted of six TSF companies presenting their ideas and progress over the last twelve weeks. I was very impressed with what I saw. The pitches ranged from real-time, location-based sharing mobile apps (Berst) to big data companies (Arcametric). While it was obvious that each company had a great team and was accelerating quickly, I was taken back by something completely different.

The range of individuals present was inspiring. Both young and old, investors and entrepreneurs, newbies and veterans, all gathered in one space for two hours (TSF was really mean and kicked everyone out except the investors at noon!). What was so special about the scene was that no one had a title. Entrepreneurs spent time talking to investors. Veteran entrepreneurs were talking with “I think I might want to be” entrepreneurs. No status, no barriers, just a collection of people who wanted to share knowledge, opinions and stories with each other.

Now that TSF Pitch Day sounds like heaven on earth, why is it important? The environment described is typically reserved for the Bay Area or NYC. Raleigh-Durham (“The Triangle”) had been lacking this staple of support. No longer is that the case. The ecosystem is thriving and over the next 3-5 years I expect to see The Triangle area become synonymous with Silicon Valley or Silicon Alley (just don’t give us some lame nickname as if we are the little brother to those two).

Our country is in need of even more support for entrepreneurship and investment capital. The Startup Act and crowdfunding are steps in the right direction. Another step would be to see more incubators or mentor programs like Triangle Startup Factory pop up across the nation. You can model yours after TSF but don’t think about trying to lure them away. We aren’t looking to get rid of them any time soon!

As always you can follow me @APompliano. If you were present at TSF Pitch Day please share your thoughts or reactions below. If you weren’t able to make it, what do you see as other potential steps to helping promote startup ecosystems across the country?

Dave McClure and 500 Startups Interview

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http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/06/dave-mcclure500-startups-tctv/#ooid=lxam5lNDqKD3hiNJaF9nEEStDebm1JWk

Yesterday Dave McClure and 500 Startups announced the addition of 4 new partners. They also are in the middle of raising a second round of funding around $50million. For those of you that do not know, Dave and his fund are about 2 years old and have a very unique approach to investing. They invest in about 100 startups a year and are looking for what I would call “mid-major” investments. Keep an eye on this fund as I believe they have a very bright future, especially in the international market.

Intrade.com is the 21st Century Stock Market

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http://www.intrade.com

Intrade is a new website platform that allows users to make predictions on different outcomes of varying categories. These predictions are done in the same format as a “stock” with a buy and sell aspect.

The market is unique because it is based off of the probability an event will occur. Look at the prediction “Mitt Romney will be the Republican Nominee in 2012 for US President.” Right now the stock is trading at $7.40 because the general market consensus is that there is a 74% chance of this occurring. If Romney gets the nomination then the stock will rise to $10 (100%) and a user will profit, if they had bought the stock.

The site also allows you to short sell, or sell shares without owning any. Take the Romney example again. If you sold a share of the stock at $7.40 and he became the nominee, you would realize a loss. However, if Romney did not get the nominee, you would then ride the stock down to $0.00 (0%) and make a profit. Class example of a supply and demand market!

Intrade is an interesting new way to stay engaged with current events while also investing some money. Look at the site, try it out, leave some feedback on what you think!