Bryan Starbuck

Favorite iPAD & iPhone Apps for Startup employees

Most of my friends are getting iPads and/or iPhones.  Here are my notes on my favorite apps.   This is a great match for startup employees and engineers.

 

Apps for work productivity: (Especially startup company builders)

• Reeder: This is my Google Reader application.  It stays in sync with Google Reader feeds & unread statuses.  I consider this my "Learning machine"  (iPad, iPhone?)
• Zenbe: Great TO-DO app with separate lists.   Great web page version for laptops that stays in sync with iPad & iPhone.   (iPad, iPhone)
• Quickoffice:  I have my laptop PowePoints, Excel and Word docs sync to DropBox.com.  I then can read and WRITE to those files using Quickoffice on the iPAD.  I don't have to remember to "upload" from my laptop, so I can edit files without having to "prep" them before leaving my laptop.    (iPad, iPhone?)
• iMockups & Sketchy: These are wireframe creating apps for people who design software product UI.  I love mulling over ideas in comfortable places with the iPad and later moving them to the laptop at later stages.
• Kindle: Having your ebooks on your iPAD is great for reading books whenever time opens up (at home, lunch at work, vacations).  Never have to remember to drag books with you.
• MindMeister: Mind mapping software that is very good syncing the files across the WEB version for my laptop, my iPad and my iPhone (iPad & iPhone)
• Skype: I pay $10 into my account so I can send text messages with skype.  This allows me to easily send them from my iPad or iPhone.  I have to use the iPhone version on my iPad.   (iPhone)
• Instapaper: Send good web pages to be saved to be read later
• Keynote & Numbers: I use these to sketch out raw ideas in a coffee shop.  This is great to get past the creative huddle early in a comfortable place.  Then later I email them to my laptop in order to do serious business modeling in PowerPoint and Excel.   I never use the "Pages" spreadsheet.  I recommend buying that later only when you need it.  (iPad)
• TripIt: Great for travel  (iPad & iPhone)
• WeatherBug: Good for getting the weather (iPad)
• SugarSync:  I stopped using SugarSync, but this app was great when I used SugarSync.  I found Dropbox to be the best.  (iPad)
• Textnow: Free text message
• Friendly:  This is the free facebook application.  I never get a chance to use it.  (iPad)
• Find iPhone: Use this in case you want to find your iPad when you lose it (iPad & iPhone?)
• Wi-Fi Finder: Great to find a place to use your laptop (iPad)
• Kayak HD: Find hotels or flights (iPad)
• iLunascape: This is a multi-tab browser.  This is great for web pages to load in parallel for fast flipping between tabs to already loaded web pages.

 

Games: (for people who like a thinking challenge instead of arcade games)

• Slay: More complex than risk, but relaxing  (iPad)
• Cover Orange: Good planning with physics
• Cut the Rope: Good planning with physics
• World of Goo: Build with physics and be strategically efficient  (iPad)
• Beyond Ynth: Logic physics and puzzle
• Plants vs Zombies HD: This is Plants vs Zombies and a fun planning app (iPad)
• GodFinger (& All Stars): Grow a civilization with resource & time constrints
• Angry Birds: Good planning with physics.  Catapult game
• ACrawler HD: Truck driving physics
• MX Mayhem: Motorcycle riding physics
• TradeNations: Good for relaxing building, with time constrained resource allocation
• Galcon Fusion: Fun for a while
• Control Freak: Fun strategic resource control game
• Montezuma: Find the best path
• My Kingdom for the Princess: I only played a few minutes
• Cave Run: Jumping and action
• Gravity HD: Physics and planning
• Castle Warriors: Take over resources
• New York: Great roller coaster physics
• Crack Code: Decrypt the code using permutations
• Hotel Mogul: Resource Planning
• Bumper Boats: Directional planning

 

Great for 2 to 4 year olds:

• Geared HD
• Toyshop
• XmasTale
•  Doodle Buddy
• Art of Glow
• Paper Toss HD
• Virtuoso
• Touch Hockey
• Talking Tom
• Talking Harry
• New York: Great roller coaster physics
• Cover Orange: Good planning with physics
• Cut the Rope: Good planning with physics
• World of Goo: Build with physics and be strategically efficient  (iPad)
• Plants vs Zombies HD: This is Plants vs Zombies and a fun planning app (iPad)
• GodFinger (& All Stars): Grow a civilization with resource & time constrints
• Angry Birds: Good planning with physics.  Catapult game
• Galcon Fusion: Fun for a while
• FarmStory
• Friendsheep 

 

Other:

• NetFlix: Stream movies or add and manage your queue.  (iPad & iPhone?)
• XFinity: A great way to see upcoming TV shows, and possibly set your DVR. (I never get time to use this)   (iPad & iPhone?)
• Fandango: Great for movies.
• Zappos: Best shopping for shoes ever.
• Flipboard: Worth checking out for news.  I didn't get into it
• Twitteriffic: Twitter client

I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments.

Phone Sales Strategies for new Startups

Seattle Tech Startups is a local group that helps advise new startups on how to get started.  I gave a beginner talk there recently for the earliest stage companies.  This was specific to phone sales, known as "inside sales".

My talk was on:

• Is the best sales strategy for your specific company a) phone sales or b) eCommerce
• How to build out phone sales in a newly founded company
• How to manage long-term growth in an inside sales company

Here are the slides for the talk:

Phone sales / Inside Sales for Startups

View more presentations from Bryan Starbuck.

Here is the video for the talk:  (My talk starts 24 minutes into this video)

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/seattle-tech-startups

There is much more information verbally in the talk than in the slides.

Kabir Shahani was nice enough to also make his slides available.

10 Immutable Laws Of Sales

View more presentations from Bryan Starbuck.

Windows Live Spaces vs TypePad

I previously used Windows Live Spaces for my blog. I've decided to switch to TypePad. Windows Live Spaces is a great turn-key blog. I'm switching to TypePad because it's a bit more advanced and gives a much more professional blog.

My new TypePad blog is: blog.BryanStarbuck.com

Windows Live Spaces Advantages:

    * Messenger Gleams / ContactCards: The gleam feature in Windows Live Messenger is great. Your friends love to hear when something new is happening with you, and this brings it to their attention.  [CRITICAL]
    * Faster to get started: There are few easier blog services that let you get started more quickly. It's great for novice users.  [CRITICAL]
    * Live Friends: Windows Live Spaces has turned into a simple social network. I think this feature is better than TypePad equivalents.  [NICE]
    * Better Photo Support: I love the photo viewer. It has many limitations but it's better than TypePad.   [NICE]

TypePad Advantages:

    * Blog Promotion: They have features and integration that will drive more traffic to your blog.  [CRITICAL]
    * Domain Name: I have blog.BryanStarbuck.com for my new blog.  [CRITICAL]
    * CSS & Design Customization: I want to customize the design and make it professional. I also want to optimize for wider than 800x600.  [CRITICAL]
    * Professional Fonts: The default fonts make TypePad appear more professional.  [CRITICAL]
    * Comment Control: Anyone who spends 3 hours hand deleting spam comments knows how important this is.  [CRITICAL]
    * Subscribe per Service: Many people use different types of readers. Having a simple "Click to Add" will increase readers.  [CRITICAL]
    * Professional Widgets: The TypePad widgets are more customized for professional blogs.  [NICE]
    * Less bugs: I've been bitten by bugs every so often on Windows Live Spaces. I've hit 3 bugs composing this blog post alone and it leaves me very frustrated.  [MEANINGFUL]

I will make all new posts on both blogs. There is one KILLER feature that Windows Live Spaces has that prevents me from only using TypePad -- and that is the gleams that appear in Windows Live Messenger and on other Spaces pages that light up when changes happen. This tells your friends when to visit your site.

In the end, I've decided to pay to receive the features I needed.

-Bryan

Tags: [TypePad, Windows Live Spaces, Blogging, Windows Live Messenger]

Boot Camp for Internet Startup CEOs

"Entrepreneur University" is effectively a boot camp for first time CEOs of startups.  It is held once a year in Seattle and was on November 2nd of this year.  It started at 7:30am and ended at 8:30pm.

It was fun to meet many early stage founders and CEOs as they were shaping their companies.  I felt like it was an entrepreneur class of 2007 and it will be interesting to see the companies that come from this set of people in the next 5 years.

This was a 13 hour long day with class after class.  There were two tracks, one called "Start your Engines" for early founders.  The second track was "Petal to the Medal" and focused on established companies that looked for the next stage of growth.

Each person who attended could pick which classes to attend during the day.  During lunch, they had CEOs or area experts host each table.  This let early founders pick a table by expertise (marketing, sales, fund raising, etc.) and then bring up their issues and have a table discussion.

I met several other Microsoft alumni who were starting their own companies.  Many of the VCs and CEO speakers also previously worked for Microsoft.

Speakers included CostCo CEO (Jim Sinegal), QPass founder (Chase Franklin), aQuantive co-founder (Nick Hanauer), and many other current CEOs.  It also included the opportunity to speak to VCs from several VC firms: Madrona Venture Partners, Ignition Partners, OVP Venture Partners, among many others*.

The evening ended with food in the evening and a chat to network with other founders and members of the start-up community (lawyers, etc.).

This was a great event because it brought some of the most influential members of the Puget Sound startup community and they were very accessible by early founders.  This include Craig Sherman, Joe Whitford, Dan Rosen, and the other VCs and successful CEOs.

* Frazier Venture Partners, Fluke Venture Partners, Second Avenue Partners, SeaPoint Ventures, Cascadia Capital, Buerk Dale Victor, Maveron LLC, Dan Rosen & Associates, and WRF Capital.

-Bryan

Tags: [Entrepreneur University, NWEN, Internet Startups, Seattle Startups, Startups, Dan Rosen, Craig Sherman, Joe Whitford, Madrona Venture Partners, Ignition Partners, OVP Venture Partners, Frazier Venture Partners, Fluke Venture Partners, Second Avenue Partners, SeaPoint Ventures, Cascadia Capital, Buerk Dale Victor, Maveron LLC, and WRF Capital]

Pitching your Start-up to VCs & Angel Investors

There is an art to creating the pitch and presenting it to VCs and Angels.

Most CEO of a start-ups have a slide deck to "pitch" or explain their company.  This is used when raising money from VCs or Angel investors.  It is also often used when hiring people, because people won't join the company unless they truly believe in your business model.

The rule of thumb is that you need to communicate your company completely in 10 minutes.  Here is a common flow for pitching to Angels or VCs.

Recently I reviewed my company and my deck with Dan Rosen to get his feedback.  Dan is the chairman of the Alliance of Angels and was a VC at Frazier.  People in Seattle know Dan because he is a hub in the Seattle start-up scene and has amazing advice for new companies.  Dan's feedback gave me and my co-founder the confidence that we are on the right track.  We also receive a lot of good input.

The Alliance of Angels has a web site walking through the steps to refine a pitch slide deck.  This is critical for any entrepreneur, even when they aren't raising money.  This process will force the CEO to flush out their business model in-depth.

The Alliance of Angels web site has a sample slide deck available for download.  A secret is that the notes in the sample deck have great tips that are important for the financial planning when generating the deck or topics that are important to to include in the verbal walk through of the deck.

I've attended Alliance of Angels and Keiretsu events where I watched other CEOs pitch their companies.  Here is what I learned from their pitches and having to write the pitch myself.

1. Audience has No Context: The audience will have no context for your business.  The entrepreneur will often only have 2 1/2 minutes to describe the problem/solution/product.  The audience must have a clean understanding on how to partition the market between your solution (fix to the problem) and the other products in the market.  Asking yourself, "Will they see a clean partitioning of the market" will help point out areas of the deck to improve.  The audience will project their background knowledge onto the framing you present.  You will succeed if it clearly partitions the market across existing solutions, the core problem, and your fix.

2. One Point each Slide: The audience is only able to digest one idea per slide.  The time constraints will only allow them to process that much.  It is often best have the entire problem and solution (including product) be communicated on 3 to 5 slides.  Each slide only makes one point.  This lets the text and an graphics clearly communicate the one main idea.  If the slide has a few sub-bullets, expect the audience to only catch a few of them.

3. One or Two verbal sentences per slide:  If there is more talking on one slide, then smaller audiences will often interrupt.  Show one slide with one or two verbal sentences, and then move on before they loose their attention span.  This has the added benefit of keeping the communication balanced between text/graphics/verbal.  The CEO needs to frame the problem across slides to communicate clearly.  Each slide should scope in on the market's optimal fix for the problem which turns into the business model for the company.

Tags: [Angels, Angel Investors, Seattle Angel Investors, Internet Startups, Seattle Startups, Alliance of Angels, AoA, Seattle VCs, Dan Rosen]

Pitching to VCs and Angels

I recently attended a Keiretsu deal screening meeting.  This is where entrepreneurs pitch their company to a group angel investors to receive funding.

Many entrepreneurs wonder what kind of information VCs or Angel groups need in order to fund a company.  The entrepreneur often needs to keep their pitch to 20 minutes for VCs and 10 minutes for angels.  For that reason, it is vital that the pitch be focused and include all vital information.

Here is a slide deck that covers the data entrepreneurs need to include in their VC or Angel pitches.

Full Deck -- Web Version

Ron Wiener is the CEO of DocumentCommand.  He has created a series of internet start-ups, many of which were eventually acquired.  He has given a talk and has a slide deck on how being a CEO is very similar to flying.  The slide deck below points out the critical tasks for an CEO to successfully grow this company.

Full Deck -- Web Version 

Earth Class Mail Online Postal Mail Forwarding Service

-Bryan

Tags: [Angels, Angel Investors, Seattle Angel Investors, Internet Startups, Seattle Startups, DocumentCommand, Seattle VCs, Keiretsu, Seattle Keiretsu]

NWEN -- Northwest Entrepreneur Network

Northwest Entrepreneur Network (NWEN) is an amazing resource for the entrepreneurs in the Seattle and Puget Sound area.

Breakfasts:
NWEN is a non-profit organization for Angel investors and entrepreneurs.  The main event is the monthly breakfast in Bellevue which starts with time for entrepreneurs and others to network.  Breakfast is then served while one entrepreneur pitches their business idea to raise angel money.

After that, a successful CEO, VC, or similarly person gives a talk on a subject.  This coming friday (10/13/2006) Mike O'Donnell will give a talk on strategies for starting and building successful companies.  He has raised over $50 million for new ventures.   He founded several companies, including iCopyright which he later sold.

Previous breakfasts included Redfin CEO and Zillow CEO (who previously was the CEO of Expedia).

Each breakfast is $25 for members and $40 for non-members.  More information is available here.

Pub Night:
NWEN also hosts "Pub Night".  This includes more opportunities for entrepreneurs to talk to each other.  It's also a great chance to talk to other smart people.  Examples of really smart people who I had a chance to talk to included Joe Whitford of Davis Wright Tramaine and Alan Mattamana of Polaris Ventures.

Classes:
NWEN also hosts classes for entrepreneurs to learn topics that will impact them.  Entrepreneurs who don't have an MBA can use these classes to learn the topics that will impact them.

-Bryan

Tags: [Northwest Entrepreneur Network, NWEN, Angels, Angel Investors, Seattle Angel Investors, Internet Startups, Seattle Startups, Zillow, FareCast, Polaris Ventures, Davis Wright Tramaine, Seattle VCs]

Seattle Start-up Party at Redfin

Last night Redfin held a Startupalooza networking event for Start-ups at their offices.  Redfin, FareCast, GridNetworks, Mpire, Blue Dot, and several other companies where there.

Redfin looks like a great company and it's great to see that they are hiring and growing.  Aimee Cook is their main recruiting contact.

This event reminded me of the Seattle TechCrunch party last May.  Everyone came from VCs, start-up employees, to other interesting people in the industry.  The attendance included: Zillow, FareCast, Redfin, WetPaint, Ontela, Pluggd, TripHub, Newsvine, Business 2.0, MarchEx, Vulcan Capital, Perkins Coie, Waggener Edstrom, KING5, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.   Full List...

These events are great ways for people to share ideas and to maximize innovation.

Seattle is really a great place for start-ups and Seattle has quite a few (Full List).  The number of VCs in Seattle is also quite extensive (List).

-Bryan

Tags: [Internet Startups, Web 2.0, Seattle Startups, Zillow, FareCast, VCs, Seattle VCs]

Microsoftie joining the Start-up World

I worked for Microsoft for a little over ten years.  I left last week to create an internet company.

Microsoft is an amazing company.  It has evolved quite a bit since I’ve been there, but it still has the strong pull for engineers interested in some of the hardest problems in computer science.

Google has had strong growth over the last several years, which has caused many Microsoft employees have asked “Is Microsoft still the best company?”  This is a natural question for a bunch of Type A employees that strive to be the best.

I’ve seen only a small number of my MSFT friends jump ship to Google (Jon Perlow, Oliver Fisher, Bob Day, Joe Beda, Wyvern, etc.); which is a very low rate for a 60,000 person company.

What keeps the best and brightest at Microsoft is that this company is still a place that is doing some of the most exciting and challenging engineering work in the computer industry.

These are the teams I would have loved to work on:

• DirectX APIs: Shader models or whatever the next wave in 3-D graphics engines
• MS SQL Server data mining algorithms: Naive Bayes, neural networks, and clustering would be fun to work on.  Building the platform to make them available and scalable to the masses always looked like a blast.  I’ve always wanted to create a Zillow.com sample on SQL Server 2005 with very little code (linear regression is built in).  With the OLAP architecture, it could scale quite well.
• DRM: Boy everyone hates this feature.  However, there are few more challenging tasks than running code on the machine that will conditionally unlock features without being able to be bypassed.  It’s a great chance to work with ex-NSA coworkers.
• OS Crypto Algorithms: Pushing forward mass market encryption always looked fun, such as Elliptical Curve, biometric login, or Bitlocker.

Microsoft is also one of the few places taking on many large scale engineering projects.  These are the kinds of challenging products that have 100+ programmer teams:

• Xbox & Xbox Live
• Operating Systems
• CRM
• Internet Explorer
• Mobile OSs
• Avalon
• Many more…

For engineers looking to focus 100% on the biggest engineering problems, it’s hard to beat Microsoft.

I’ve reached a stage in my life where I want to become heavily involved in the entrepreneurial side of business.  This is what has led me to leave and try my hand at creating my own company.

I’ll blog more on the Seattle Start-up scene in my future blog posts.

-Bryan

Tags: [Microsoft, Internet Startups, Internet Start-ups, Seattle Startups, Leaving Microsoft]

Guy Kawasaki on Distribution

Guy Kawasaki hosted the Startups 2006 Panel which discussed important issues to creating innovative internet companies.

I found distribution to be an especially interesting topic.  See details in my blog post below.  Guy just blogged giving his thoughts on the subject.

-Bryan

Tags: [Guy Kawasaki, Churchill Club, Startups, Reid Hoffman, Distribution]