Earlier this year I was invited to run a training session for the Seattle-based coaches for SCORE, a Federally-funded program offering advice and training to entrepreneurs. Most of the companies in the program aren’t likely candidates for outside financing, but the Seattle program attracts a more tech-savvy cohort than most, and the coaching team wanted continue…
John Cook broke the news earlier today, but I wanted to add a quick congratulations to Bill Harding and his team at Bonanzle from all of us at Founder’s Co-op. We first talked to Bill about what he was up to in the fall of 2008, and have watched with admiration as he bootstrapped his continue…
I just jammed through Rework, the latest startup manifesto from 37Signals co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeir Hansson. It’s a very fast read – a few dozen “chapters”, most just a page or two long – and anyone already familiar with lean startups, GTD and Seth Godin’s writing on authentic marketing won’t find much new in it, continue…
This idea now feels so obvious to me that I almost didn’t bother to write it down. But I keep having conversations with entrepreneurs who aren’t yet using the pattern and their eyes always light up when they see a way to apply it to their own business, so if this post turns on the continue…
I’m not yet sure what to make of the iPad, and have been asking my journalist, developer, marketer and investor friends what they think of the device to try to get my head wrapped around it. The thesis that keeps popping into my head looks something like this: The iPad is designed to be the continue…
Andy has a long post up today on how TechStars came to Seattle, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. TechStars is a fantastic program for early-stage software entrepreneurs who want to radically accelerate their progress and multiply their odds of success. The program has had a big impact on the early stage scene in continue…
I really enjoyed Mark Suster’s post earlier this week, What’s it Like Being a VC?, in which he details the pluses (many) and minuses (few) of “crossing over to the dark side” from entrepreneur to VC. Having made the same switch – albeit on a <cough> somewhat smaller scale* – his description of both the continue…
I’m excited to announce that Founder’s Co-op just completed an investment in Urban Airship, a new mobile infrastructure company that’s making it radically easier for smartphone developers to implement core features like push messaging and in-app transactions. The deal is is a first for us in several ways: it’s our first significant investment outside Seattle continue…
Last September we announced our investment in Nearlyweds!, a two-year-old provider of beautifully-designed wedding websites. At the time, we hinted that they were working on some “secret sauce” that would bring some exciting new ideas to the wedding services ecosystem (a $71 billion marketplace, per this snazzy infographic from BridePop). The Nearlyweds team still has continue…
I had the opportunity last week to speak at a Seattle Tech Startups meetup. The topic of the meeting was: “Where’s the Money in 2010?”, and I put together some slides describing how Founders’ Co-op is thinking about the early-stage landscape here in the Pacific Northwest. John Cook, a friend and local tech journalist, was continue…