Hey Everyone,

We’ve always believed in an open culture at Publictivity, and trying to get to Foo Camp/ Startup Camp held by O’Reilly Alphatech Ventures is no exception.    A month ago, I dropped my entire life and moved to Silicon Valley, while the rest of our team (by team, I mean 2 other people) stayed in Miami,FL. It’s the American (Geek) Dream, but not an easy one with having to leave behind anyone and everything.  Everyone I already know and continue to meet seems to ask me one question… Why did you move? Was it fundraising?  Was it the “dream”?  Was it a change of scenery?  It wasn’t any one of those things specifically, but something a hell of a lot more important: people.  Silicon Valley is endowed with people that will blow your mind.  These people encompass such a wide spectrum that they are other entrepreneurs, potential investors, biz dev partners, like minded hackers, or just intelligent people to talk with about technology until 6 AM.  When you put together all of these amazing people in a geographic area, you start conversations that help spark great ventures such as Apple, HP, YouTube, Facebook, Netscape, and more.  

On July 10-11 at Startup Camp and July 11-13 at Foo Camp, many of these great conversations are going to be happening with some of the world’s most intelligent minds.  I believe that we will learn a ton from these conversations, but that we can also give a ton back to the community through our own experiences.  We’re working on two areas that we could talk about all day that are not only important to O’Reilly ATV , but the entire community as a whole: open source software and information management tools/open data.  

We believe that open source software is what drives startups and innovation.  With tools such as MySQL, PHP, Linux, Eclipse, and more, we have seen the democratization of what was once a selective and expensive proposition… creating a web app.  Frank and I started our first company when we were both just about 20 years old, and realized through the process that entrepreneurs need tools to run their business.  Most of these tools are expensive, disconnected, and flat out suck.  We knew there had to be a better way to give entrepreneurs and companies the tools they needed to run their business, but at the open source level.  What if Sharepoint, Lotus Notes, and more were open source?  They’re powerful tools that significantly improve a startup, but often too expensive or over burdening for startups to deal with.  What if we added to the MySQL, PHP, Linux, and other open source tools, a great open source solution that let companies become more productive not only through the apps we’ve built, but eventually the other apps developers build on our platform.  The same way PHP, MySQL, and more dramatically reduced the costs needed to technically startup a company, is the same way Publictivity will dramatically reduce the costs for running your startup’s business processes.

If the past paragraph described why we created Publictivity, then this describes more of the what.  We’re creating a new way for companies to organize and share information.  Entrepreneurs and companies are so overwhelmed with information, and at the end of the day the best way to organize + share this information is through a horrible one-two punch of excel spreadsheets (organize) and a loose string of emails (share).  With Publictivity we’re giving companies a way to create data structures that matter to them, whether it be to manage contacts, track press coverage, log customer support issues, or track investment deals as a VC.  The possibilities are endless, because the structures are open, allowing companies to easily create forms for their data in a way that is relevant to them.  Think allowing companies to do with data, what Freebase has allowed consumers to do on the web. Last, but just as important, we make sure that any and all information can be shared socially and flow easily to the rest of the organization.  In short, we’re taking as many concepts from the social web, and applying them to companies.  If we can make information flow inside of companies as fast as consumer web tools such as Twitter and Facebook, things are going to change big time.

Maybe we’re 100% wrong, and things will blow up in our face.  Trying to change the world through software is as risky and uncertain as things can get.  I am certain about one thing though: we’ll not only learn a lot from Startup Camp / Foo Camp, but more importantly help contribute all the knowledge we’ve learned over the past 2 years while building Publictivity. Hopefully, we can join in on the 10-13th along with 5-7 other startups to start discussing the amazing things we’re all doing, but also will be inspired to do.

-Jason Baptiste

 

Update:

 

So about a week ago we posted the presentation and slides on Hacker News. We got our asses handed to us.  In short: Great presentation, but

 

a) Too long (27 slides vs 12 now)

b) Hard for people to simply understand what we do

c)  No straight forward use case.  What are we going to change? ie- this is how things work now and this is how things will change once we exist. 

 

Attached below is our full pitch in video form along with a PDF of the slides + notes:

 

View PDF Slides on Scribd

 

Sarah Travel from Bessemer Ventures just started a new blog. Cool thing is, she’s young, and sounds like she can kick ass (Well, her picture on the blog says not to mess with her, so I’ll take her word).  Always good to see some fellow early/mid 20 somethings doing some cool things. Check the blog out, as she has a good take on Guy Kawasaki’s VCAT. Okay, back to work.
[tags] venture capital, blogs, bessemer ventures, blogging, web 2.0, publictivity [/tags]

I think there are two key traits I’ve learned over the past two years that a startup needs: Focus and Scale. They are two intertwined characteristics. Your focus is strengthened by your scale, and vice versa. I’ve touched upon this aspect before, but have never done an in-depth post on the issue.

Focus

Your focus should be drilled into your head. It should probably be envisioned in your mission statement. Focus is the goal of your company and its products. Your initial focus should be very narrow, targeted, and niche. For example: We provide learning tools to educational institutions that focus on preschoolers. Notice that Focus is made up of two things: what and who. In this case, the what is: learning tools. The who is: educational institutions. The what is usually shaped and molded to fit the who. These two aspects are what change with scale.

Scale

Scale, is the explosive growth of your company towards new verticals and markets. Scale expands the  who, while keeping the inherent goals of the what. In my mind, there are three levels of scale a company/ startup should go through in order to be succesful.

Initial Scale

This is going to be your first trial run. In the first few months, it will be where you start to grow and acquire your first customers. It is going to be very very small, but don’t be scared. In our example company, it might be preschools only in Florida. Eventually you will expand your initial scale to different regions: the southeast, the east coast, start over in the west coast, then make it nation wide. This in itself is one hell of a feat. If you can saturate your first market with your initial scale, awesome. You’re already a great company. Take your time with your initial scale, as this will teach you the most important lessons.

Expanded Inter-Vertical Scale

So you’ve saturated the first part of your vertical. In our example companies case, it was the preschool market. Some companies will just stay at this level, and be happy. If you want a homerun, you try to keep growing. Your next step is expanded inter-vertical scale. This is the first point you hit, that slightly changes your who. Our example company is still providing educational tools (the what), but they begin to provide their product to new markets within their vertical (the education market). It might be the college level, the high school level, disabled learning level,etc. This is where it might also make sense to raise a round of capital. It really depends if your revenues can sustain rapid growth or not on their own. At this point, you want the fertilizer to grow. You may hit some speedbumps as well. Expect that some inter-verticals will go well. ie- college market, but not the high school market. Once you’ve spent some time on inter-vertical scale, take a look at the results. More importantly, look at what you’ve learned. If so, it’s time to move ahead.
Mass Consumption and New Markets/Verticals Scale

This is the holy grail. This is where your company is dominating, and ready to reach its maximum potential. If you pull this off, or even begin to take the journey, you may be ready for an IPO. You are going to change the who for sure, and also modify the what slightly. In our example company, they may begin providing learning tools to educate and train. This could start to include the workforce, police academies, the government, and more. The same philosophies and strengths they applied to the educational market could be applied to new markets and verticals. This is very hard to do, and takes planning from day 1 as a startup. This is where your revenue charts are really making that “J curve”.

A quick example- Facebook.com

Initial Scale- The college market. Began with the ivy league, and eventually expanded to all colleges. Included 2 and 4 year schools.

Expanded Inter-Vertical Scale- High School and graduate/workforce market. Simply an expansion in the who to include more people

Mass Consumption and New Markets/ Verticals Scale- Opening up to regions and everybody. This is Facebook’s big test, to see if they are “that” hot. This fully scales their who and their what.

[tags] scale, focus, entrepreneurship, web 2.0, publictivity, startups, facebook [/tags]

Guy Kawasaki had an amazing post today, honestly one of the best posts all year regarding Venture Capital. It was entitled The Venture Capital Aptitude Test. Basically, it is a test to see how suited you might be for Venture Capital. He also goes into the fact that a good venture capitalist isn’t built upon an MBA or financial formulas, but an understanding of how a company works. Lastly, Venture Capital should be for those at the END of their career, not in the beginning. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve probably mentioned this before, but my goal in life is to exit a couple of startups, take time off to teach or contribute to society in a nonprofit manner, and then spend time as a VC to help young companies and the entrepreneurs behind them. Part III was the most interesting part of the test/ the one that was open ended. Here are my answers to the ones, I feel I have an answer for.

How do I introduce a product with no budget? (add 2 points)

Many ways to do this. If you’re talking about getting it funded from the getgo, get customers early on as funding. Sell them the product at a highly discounted rate, and get what you need from it. If you’re talking launching, there’s tons of ways. The first is to go and pick a niche to focus on. Find a small and select group to start your product off with. Find a group that you can work with hands on to build your initial critical mass with. Don’t go for everyone because you can’t afford it, and you won’t do it… trust me. Another way is through Public Relations. you don’t need an expensive firm at first. Do it yourself. Get your hands dirty. Put together a compelling story, and promote the story. More importantly, focus this with the first step. Target publications and bloggers that are focused on your niche. It’s much easier for niche publications to “get it”. Lastly, make the technology work for you. In consumer cases, allow it to have viral triggers that allow the content to be spread. If it’s for the commercial or business side, make it dead easy to use, and a piece of software that will force your customer to talk about it in a way that says “You need to try this software”. Let your customers be your sales force.

How do I determine if there’s really market demand for my product? (add 1 point)

Well, I don’t know if this is a question that should be here. If a VC has an entrepreneur ask that, I think they’ve invested too early. When an entreprenuer starts, they need to do their own diligence. Talk to people within your market. See if this product really helps them or fits their needs. If it doesn’t, then find a way that it can. take every ounce of feedback you can get.

What do I do if customers hate our first product? (add 1 point)

In the step listed above, you’re usually going to talk to very small portion of customers. It may turn out that the rest of your market, sees it a different way. There’s a demand for your problem, but your solution needs to be made better. Stay focused, don’t change the problem you’re fixing. Change the solution you’ve built. Once again, take in feedback like a madman and apply it.
How do I get Walt Mossberg to return my call? (add 2 points)- Couldn’t tell you, sorry.

How do I get to the folks who run Demo? (add 1 point)

I’m lucky enough to know a couple of companies and CEOs that have presented at DEMO. If I didn’t, Id first try to network and find a way in. It’s a small world. If that doesn’t work, I’d then try to talk to Chris personally or someone on her team. If you can find a way to meet her in person, that helps so much better. Remember the focus of Demo, and that it is to show groundbreaking new technology. Highlight that, show her why it’s going to be demoworthy. Her job is to sell seats to that conference. Show her why your technology is going to be worth it to the people paying her big bucks. She will not put crap on stage. Show her why you’re better than the large percentage that gets rejected. There are also different “product categories” each year at demo. See if you fit into one perfectly.

How do I get a plug in TechCrunch? (add 1 point)

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT, AND I REPEAT DO NOT PITCH MIKE LIKE A NORMAL REPORTER WITH BUZZ WORDS AND A PRESS RELEASE. Believe it or not, Mike is quite an accesible guy. He knows everyone, and there’s a good chance you can find a way to talk to him if you live out West. If not, try to catch his attention. Once you get your couple of minutes of Mike’s time, show him why you’re product rocks. Show why it is different, and how it can benefit his readers. It’s just like DEMO. Mike has pageviews to deliver, and a crappy product won’t deliver it. Also, if you can, give him the first scoop. He’s a fan of that, and honestly, it’s the best place to have the news break.

How do I get the folks at Fox Interactive to return my call? (add 1 point)- Couldn’t tell you specifically. Haven’t dealt with them. If it were Yahoo! or Google, I’d say network, network, network.

How do I dominate a segment when there are five other companies doing essentially the same thing? (add 2 points)

Start small, focus, and differentiate. Don’t go after the entire market. If you’re trying to compete against an 800 pound gorilla, don’t try to take out the entire gorilla. Go for his legs. Once you start small, focus on his legs and keep hammering away. If you take his legs out, he’ll fall. Lastly, differentiate. Don’t go after the gorilla with the same things he has. Guess what? He can hit you back with the same thing, and harder. Hit him in his legs from an angle he doesn’t understand. Provide something new and innovative, but for the same space.
How much time, energy, and money should I spend on patent protection? (add 1 point)

This could be an opinion question in some respects. I think it depends on the company. If you’re a biotech, well, then a lot. If you’re a consumer space product with social networking, don’t focus too hard or put too much money. Explore your options. Protect yourself, but don’t become a boy in a bubble.

We bet on the wrong architecture for our product, what do I do now? (add 2 points)- Not entirely too sure on this one.

What kind of people should I hire: young, old, unproven, proven, cheap, expensive, local, remote? (add 1 point)

So the first thing that matters is making sure someone gets it. Make sure they get your company, your mission, and passion. Set the older and proven individuals as guides and cleanup to the younger unproven guys. Make sure they keep them on track and away from mistakes. Let the younger and unproven guys more onto the creative side initially. Let them formulate the initial ideas, but let the older and proven guys make it perfect. Local or remote depends on the company. Weblogs Inc is mostly remote. A lot of development can be done remote, but make sure the developer is disciplined.

How do I get them to leave their current jobs without throwing a lot of money at them? (add 2 points)

You better be a damned good CEO. I’m talking top notch. You have to be able to sell the dream with your passion. Make these guys see what you see. Make them dream. Most importantly, they’re going to work for you. They’re going to work with you. Make them feel important and not just another number. Let them feel like there will be creative freedom and leadership available with them in the startup. Show them the potential of the company, and the rewards of taking a risk with a lower salary, but great options. This still scares a large amount of people after the first bubbles, but if you sell them the dream and show that the company has a plan, you can do it.

How do I tell my best friend that he can’t be chief technical officer just because he was a cofounder? (add 2 points)

A company isn’t about, you or him, it’s about the company. A cofounder should understand that decisions have to be made to better the company. Egos are checked at the door. Make your best friend understand, that he’s done an amazing job, and brought the company to where it was. Let him know, that someone else who is better equipped can take the company to the next level. Also let him know, that he will have tons of input, and still involved creatively. Don’t just cut him out.

How do I get to the buyer at BestBuy to return my call? (add 1 point)- Haven’t dealt with them personally.

How do I handle a customer who wants to send back his purchase for a full refund? (add 1 point)

Don’t pull a Vincent Ferrari. Find out the problem, and see if there is some insight you can provide, that they might not know. Also be willing to bend on pricing. a little bit of profit, is better than none. If worse comes to worse, let them go, and let it be easy. Your reputation is just as important. Their customer experience, even though they didn’t keep the product, will get around. Make sure it gets around in a great light.
How do I fire people? (add 2 points)

This part sucks, it sucks a lot. You need to not let it get personal. Take a step back, and understand this is the life and job you selected. Something happened, that has brought it to this point. Make sure you have exercised all other options before going here. Don’t fire someone off of emotion, and more importantly don’t keep someone off of emotion. If you do fire them, be straight forward, but also kind. Let them know the positives, but also let them clearly know why they were fired. Don’t let them go home without understanding the reasoning behind it. Also make sure any benefits, severance, or help possible can be offered. If you’re able to write a reference, note that you will.

How do I lay people off? (add 2 points)- I’ve had to fire people, close friends and cofounder, but never lay off. I have an idea, but not a correct answer.

So biff, taylor, tiffany, and sebastian, go become an entrepreneur. Forget most of the things you learned with your MBA or undergrad degree. If you need to calculate formulas, then it should be useful. Listen to your gut, not a textbook. Learn from your successes, but more importantly learn from your failures. You will fail. you will fail multiple times. It will be one of your greatest lessons. For no textbook or case study can ever teach you this. Go out, change the world, be an entrepreneur, and then maybe after that go become a VC. Just because you cranked out some numbers at JP Morgan over a summer internship, doesn’t qualify you as a venture guy or gal. Honestly, I think it hurts you. Hope this was helpful.

[tags] web 2.0, guy kawasaki, venture capital, venture capital aptitude test, publictivity, ceo, tech crunch, VC [/tags]

I was sitting down watching Nip/Tuck as usual last night, and I saw the trailer for an inspiring movie: The Pursuit of Happyness.  It stars Will Smith, as a father whose wife leaves him due to financial problems.  To make sure he can provide a great life for his son, he becomes determined to make something of himself and get a great job.  Turns out, he lands an internship with Dean Witter.  I don’t know too much about the plot, since it’s not out yet, but it seems inspiring.  It motivates me to see movies where the main character is driven to make something out of himself. Often it’s making something out of nothing.  I’ve included the trailer below. PS- It takes place in San Francisco.

[yt]ImOcIqGRJtU[/yt]

[tags] will smith, web 2.0, publictivity, the pursuit of happyness, movies, entrepreneurs, trailers, youtube, san francisco [/tags]

It’s always boggled my mind, literally perplexed me, why companies don’t give the customers what they want. It’s almost like they go out of the way to make a product as bad as possible. These are companies worth billions of dollars with tons of resources. Is it stubborn executives who think “they get it”? Is it just the desire to be mediocre? There are three recent examples that come to mind in regards to this topic.

YouTube/ Verizon

So this deal was announced today and is what prompted me to write this article. You’re telling me, I’d have to pay 15 dollars more on top of my data plan to get this. If I was that out of my mind, drunk, or brainwashed, I’d then only be able to watch a select few videos. This is ten steps backward. User Generated Content, or as the cool kids like to call it (UGC), is all about choice, freedom, and the luxury of consuming what you want. I hate to sound like a broken record, but walled gardens don’t work. Did youtube or verizon talk with anyone about this? bottom line: No one wants this. You messed up a big hit.  Don’t limit me, and make it cheaper/ included with my data plan. Maybe the other carriers will do this.
Amazon Unboxed

I love Amazon. I think they’re an amazing service and company. The Amazon Unboxed service is just a failure. Why didn’t they just use common knowledge, or at least look at what people dislike? No one wants layers of DRM, and tons of new software to install. Windows only, blah. Worst of all, it has some privacy issues to the software. Do they remember that whole RootKit thing, or? They COULD redeem themselves with the Tivo partnership. I would get a Tivo just for that. Know what that would require….? giving the customer what they want.

Zune, um yeah. WTF

Where do I begin? MSFT created some decent buzz. They had people listening. Do you know how many other people would kill for that attention? SanDisk or Creative would love for that hype- they come out with a million players a year, that are actually pretty damn cool. So Zune releases and what happens

• Doesn’t work with your new multibillion dollar operatinf system that is dropping in a month or so
• Install crashes and takes forever
• The sharing music capability is cool, except for that whole thing for usability called critical mass.
• Requiring everyone who used your play4sure format and spent lots of money on the media to purchase everything all over. You know what I do at that point? Fire up LimeWire Hardcore.
• No podcasting. Not a major problem, but just a little tweak that is needed to play in the space.

Maybe I’m over-reacting? Maybe I’m just too optimistic? Or maybe I’m just an entrepreneur and potential customer that doesn’t get it? Companies like Apple innovate and give the user what they want. I’m not playing fanboy here. It’s just true and the first thought that comes to mind. Please let me know your thoughts and comment who gives customers what they want and who doesnt give customers what they want.

[tags] zune, microsoft, amazon, unboxed, youtube, verizon, verizon youtube, web 2.0, publictivity, customer experience [/tags]

If you know me well, you know my goal is to exit one or two companies, maybe do the VC thing, but ultimately have enough money to give back and educate about entrepreneurship and technology.  I’m working on volunteering my time to a boys and girls club in Miami to teach kids about technology and entrepreneurship.  If you know of anything like it, that could use my help in Miami pleease let me know. Anyway, when I was about 16, I was part of a program called Presidential Classroom.  It was a week long program that let bright students around the globe engage in a mock united nations debate.  Think about it as Model UN on steroids.  The program also took students around DC, introduced them to other students, and let them listen to guest speakers. I think the same program would be awesome for students in high school interested in entrepreneurship (specifically juniors and seniors).  Let them develop a company over a week, present it, interact with students, get investor feedback,etc.  Have guest speakers, take them on tours of tech companies,etc.  I think this would be an awesome experience.  Just a random thought in my mind.  If anyone knows of something like this, or just wants to shoot around ideas about this, please contact me at: jason [at] publictivity.com.

[tags] presidential classroom, web 2.0, entrepreneurship, publictivity, goals [/tags]

I’ve watched Startup.com multiple times. Last time I had watched the movie was about 14 months ago, right after Frank and I decided we were going to leave my first venture to strike it out on our own. Watching the movie again, I’ve noticed I’ve learned a LOT. I think you really notice how much you learn, by going back and looking at old scenarios later on in life. Startup.com is an interesting movie, and brings out the best and worst of the old dotcom bubble. I think there’s a few obvious and huge errors the guys made at GovWorks:

Focus

For a ten minute period, about twenty minutes into the film, Tom and Kaleil are arguing about focus. They’re both on different pages, and worst of all in front of a VC that’s invested in them. Why in God’s name are they arguing about focus after raising a round of money? This is Startup 101 stuff, get your focus down. Yes, you will have to adapt, but without a simple focus, your startup is done. Example: Riya.com, now Like.com has adapted and changed, but their focus is the same: facial and visual recognition technology. They have adapted it to search recognition, but it’s still the same business. Look at Facebook, connecting people through a social directory. Three years down the road and it’s the same focus, but expanded outwards. There are three levels of focus throughout the business:

1. First Initial Focus: We provide X for Market Y, which makes Market Y work better.

2.Adaption Focus: Keeping the same focus, while adapting to feedback from your customers. Make the business better, but still Provide X for Market Y, to make Market Y better.

3. Expansion Focus: Take what you’ve done in Step 1, and expand it to other vertical businesses. Keep the same core focus of the business, but do it for Market X and its coordinated verticals.

Relationships

Business is all about relationships. There is nothing more important than relationships. Your cofounders? Should be like brothers. Your Investors and VCs? Should be like fatherly figures for advice, not Warlords. Granted they NEED to be hardasses. In Startup.com, the company lost TWO of its cofounders. It seemed to be at odds and constantly fearful of their VCs. Everyone that you have a business relationship needs to do one simple thing: GET IT. Either they get it or they don’t get it. They need to see the same vision as you. Without that, it’s not a relationship, but two people fumbling around trying to explain some odd contraption to each other. Get Co-Founders who you trust like family and VCs that are with you.

Don’t Be a Fool With the Money

I know it was the bubble, but please don’t be an idiot with the money. 30 employees, only 200k in the bank,etc. WTF? By the way, did they even run a damned company. All I saw were trips to the Valley and across to New York to raise more money. The valuations I heard, seemed like they were diluted to hell and back. The product wasn’t even close to being launched and they were burning through money. I’d love to see with how little money and scarce resources that a Web 2.0 company could build something like GovWorks. I’d be astonished. You know what, we’re not in a bubble. We have startups who are more nimble and can do it with very little money. Not to tout my horn, but we’re a small team of 3 right now and are building this product with very little money. Why else aren’t we in a bubble? The products are more focused. They may seem ridiculous to some, but that’s because they’re not mainstream products. The products are niche. They serve actual needs that people actually have. Calling this a bubble brings pageviews, that sells advertisements. It’s not a bubble, and I’m happy to be in Web 2.0.

[tags] web 2.0, web 1.0, startup.com, publictivity, startups, failures, riya, like.com [/tags]

If you’re reading this blog, you probably know what Tech Crunch is. It’s the place to go for Web 2.0 reviews and information. It’s run by Mike Arrington, and now includes many blogs in the “Crunch Network”. I met Mike, who was a very humble guy just taking some pictures, at an event that was thrown at the famous Tech Crunch House/Ranch in September by Noah Kagan. It was a VC vs. Entrepreneur Wine Tasting Event. Yes, the VCs beat us. Anyway, Mike is at over 139,000 readers, and that’s happened in less than a year and a half. When I was searching the internet a few months ago, I somehow stumbled upon Mike’s first personal blog. I think this is really cool to see, and an inspiration for bloggers as well. It shows when mike was just starting out with Tech Crunch and had just gotten into blogging. One post shows “Tech Crunch Gaining Subscribers“… 63 Subscribers. Well, hes at more than 2,000 times that. There’s a lesson to be learned here: Even the the big guys were once just “starting out”. We all long to get to the place where “We’re kind of a big Deal”, but sometimes don’t want to wait. It happens, and one day you’ll be there if you do two things: Stay Patient and Stay Focused. We all have to go through the rites of passage and pay our dues. I haven’t fully paid my dues, but I’ve been doing the startup thing for 2 years, and I will tell you: Failure Rocks. It will increase your knowledge exponentially. So in the end, stay focused and stay patient, because one day you can be a big deal too.

[tags] tech crunch, mike arrington, web 2.0, publictivity, blogging, noah kagan, failure, learning [/tags]