by Wayne Sutton
Go super niche
The first thing I would advise is to think about just how narrow you could go with the first iteration of your product. The more niche you go, the smaller the market becomes. The smaller the market, the easier it is to gain a critical mass within that market and become the defacto product for the audience.
via How to gain traction in two sided markets by Joel Gascoigne.
Managing Startups: Best Posts of 2012
Here’s my compilation of 2012′s best posts about managing startups. I assembled similar lists at the end of 2011, 2010 and 2009. Many thanks to all of the authors. The generosity of the startup community is amazing, and these insights are invaluable to those of us who teach and coach aspiring entrepreneurs.
Apologies to authors whose work I’ve omitted. Please use comments below to suggest additional posts. Happy New Year!
via Platforms and Networks: Managing Startups: Best Posts of 2012.
Sources for data include:
Gatekeepers of Venture Growth: The Role & Participation of Women in the Venture Capital Industry, Illuminate Ventures, Venture Human Capital Report CBInsights Jan-Jun2010, Woman Report Economic Clout American Express, UNH Center for Venture Research, Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity (KIEA), Gem Report 2010, Silicon Valley Board Index 2011, Dow Jones VentureSource, National Venture Capital Association estimates, Scott Duke Harris’s July 2010 article Mercury News, World Economic Forum Global 2009 Gender Gap Index, 2007 survey by British Researcher Library House, Women in Leadership in Information Society, Kauffman Foundation survey, US Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Center for Venture Research New Hampshire.
The Next Web reported that Nike partned with TechStars to launch the Nike+ startup Accelerator. In a time where it seems incubators and accelerators are launching just as fast as startups it’s clear that TechStars is leading the pack. TechStars which states they’re the “#1 startup accelerator in the world with locations in Boulder, Boston, Seattle, and New York City, along with programs powered by TechStars such as the Cloud Accelerator in San Antonia, TX, The Microsoft Accelerator, Seattle, WA and now the Nike+ Accelerator in Portland, OR is living up to the ranking.
I find this very interesting reading the news about how YC Combinator is scaling down on applications while TechStars continues to expand. Although YC is still doing very well and announced the new YC VC fund with partners that included Yuri Milner, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst and Maverick Capital.
I still believe that Silicon Valley and San Francisco is the best place to launch a high growth technology startup, but with new partners and the growing TechStars community we’re clearly seeing how various startups communities outside of Silicon Valley are making headway.
TechStars has teamed up with sports footwear and apparel giant Nike to power the latter’s Nike+ Accelerator program, which will host 10 companies for a three-month, mentor-driven acceleration program.
Powered by TechStars (like the company does in partnership with Microsoft as well), the program aims to leverage the Nike+ platform to support digital sports technology innovation.
via Nike to kick off a Nike+ startup accelerator in March 2013, powered by TechStars- The Next Web.
The Wall Street Journal launches a new “online forum” to provide mentorship and advice to startups and entrepreneurs. The online forum is called “The Accelerators“. The Accelerators will feature 20 individuals ranging from “successful entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists, and technology and business thinkers”. Among the list of thinkers, investors include, Kevin Colleran, Bill Gurley, Steve Blank, Alexa Hirschfeld, Brad Feld, Charles Hudson, Michael Lazerow, Naval Ravikant, and myself.
I have been selected to be one of the 20 contributors of The Accelerators and looking forward to sharing my experiences from working in the technology/startup space over the last 12 plus years. “Look Ma” I even have my own Wall Street Journal dot drawing.
The question for this week on the Wall Street Journal Accelerators was “What are the three things you need to ask yourself to make sure you have what it takes to attempt a startup?”
Part of my answer was that before you attempt a startup you need to ask yourself, “Can you give 100%?”. You can read my full response here on the ask yourself why post.
I’m excited about the opportunity to be one of the Wall Street Journal “Startup Gurus” and looking forward to sharing my feedback each week.
Also Read:
The Wall Street Journal launches The Accelerators and Startup Journal to cover entrepreneurship
