Archive for September, 2011

Posted on September 12, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

Suggestion on how to Startup Black America by Mike Green via Huffington Post

Originally posted by Mike Green an Award-winning journalist; public speaker on Huffington Post.
Here’s an excerpt from Startup Black America… Where Do We Start?

Here’s an idea:
Let’s produce job growth in Black America now. I propose we invest in creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem with a goal of generating 150,000 jobs in the next 12 months.

Let’s learn from the existing entrepreneurial and risk capital ecosystem and develop our own. Let’s develop centers of innovation across the nation and construct bridges to the 21st century economy where a new ecosystem can thrive.

That would benefit America as a whole.

Black America… Can We Talk?

Perhaps we can start our discussions within a framework in which questions are addressed with solution-oriented ideas. I propose we use our HBCUs, urban communities and our churches as “meetup” locations to engage in community-level “Startup Black America” partnerships.

Black America has high net worth individuals, middle-class and even lower socio-economic classes of folk with investment capital. We also have talented entrepreneurs, both slow growth “lifestyle” entrepreneurs and high-growth entrepreneurs within our midst. Identifying our innovators and providing education, training and resources are things we can do.

Innovative Infrastructure

Connecting entrepreneurs to pools of investment capital within our own communities is something we can do.

The business model for job growth and wealth generation exists in plain sight, yet we have not recognized it. The activity that exists in Silicon Valley and other geographic hotbeds in the entrepreneurial ecosystem is activity we can discuss developing and innovating in Black America using existing education and community networks.

Imagine 5,000 communities investing in just 10 lifestyle entrepreneurs who each hired just one person. That’s 50,000 new jobs created by our “private sector.” And if each of those communities also invested in a couple of high-growth entrepreneurs whose enterprises ballooned to hire 10 workers each, that’s 100,000 new jobs.

Imagine 150,000 new jobs in Black America over the next 12 months.

Let’s get together and talk about this… let’s get started.

You can read the entire post here: Startup Black America… Where Do We Start?

Posted on September 12, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

A QR Code infographic about what you need to know about QR Codes

via SystemID – the barcode people

Posted on September 11, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

Photo: Michele Obama Plays Tennis With Serena Williams at the U.S. Open via Rolling Out

There’s so much positive history in this photo I’m not even going to write it. Just think about it.


Read: Michele Obama Plays Tennis With Serena Williams at the U.S. Open on Rolling for details.

Photo via Rolling Out Politics.

Posted on September 10, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

Screenshots: Holler iPhone App launches to help you connect with people around you for in person activities

I first learned about Holler during SXSW 2011 when founder Nick O’Neill showed me a few screenshots and talked about his vision to help connect people offline with the app. At the time little was posted outside of the Holler landing page but I still wanted to blog about holler as from what I saw I got the feeling the app could be a winner.

As time passed I wondered what was the status of Holler then I ran into Nick at the Google Ventures BBQ in Mountain View, CA. Nick gave me a status update, told me how he started over, learned iPhone iOS development and would be launching soon. Well, that day has come as Holler is now available in the iTunes app store and will be officially launching at Techcrunch Disrupt next week. Here are a few screenshots of Holler.

So… what does Holler do? Here’s the description from iTunes app store:

Holler is the easiest way to connect with the people around you for in person activities. While you can instantly connect with your existing friends, you can also meet new ones with shared interests.

Holler is totally free and works on the iPhone and the web.

Holler is perfect for:
- Connecting with other students on college campuses
- Meeting up with friends after work or school
- Discovering nearby activities with people who have shared interests
- Organize a volunteer activity
- A great excuse to say “HOLLER!”

Whether it’s meeting up for a pick up game of soccer, football, basketball (anything …), or finding someone to share a ride to work with, Holler makes it insanely easy to connect with others in the community, no matter where you are.

Yesterday, AllThinksD covered Holler in a post called: AllFacebook Founder Launches Holler to Help People Connect Offline

If you have downloaded Holler, let me know what you think about the app and concept in the commnets.

Posted on September 9, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

infographic – What Makes Someone Leave Your Website?

++ Click Image to Enlarge ++

Source: What Makes Someone Leave A Website?