This past weekend while the North American International Auto Show kicked off in Detroit I had my own little personal auto show. I spend the weekend tooling around in a prototype of the Wheego Whip by RTEV. It was a fun experience. When I brought it home both of my kids exclained "cool." And boy did it generate a lot of attention and spark several a conversation over the course of 72 hours.
The Wheego platform and body is manufactured by Shuanghuan Automobile in China and then shipped to the US for final assembly at the RTEV manufacturing facility in South Carolina. While the production car will eventually be capable of speeds of up to 60 mph, it will be launched as a Low Speed Vechicle (LSV). LSVs are generally capable of speed up to 35 mph and allowed to travel on streets with that same speed limit. The prototype I tested was an LSV.
The Whip is a "plug-in" all electric vehicle. To charge it you literally plug the car into a normal 110 or 220 volt electrical outlet. A single charge was getting me about 20 miles in the prototype. The production vehicle is expected to get 60 on a single. In place of the fuel input there is a male electrical receptacle. It is so easy to charge that a fifth grader is capable of doing it.
The dash on the Wheego is straightforward. Almost as straightforward as putting the car in forward or reverse.
Before the weekend was over we were using the Wheego as our main vechile to run errands or ferry the kids to sports practices and sleepovers. It's fun to drive in a way that is a lot different from my power laden and gas loving 540. I was mostly just hanging out in the right lane of four way streets while cars buzzed around me (in Atlanta a posted 35 mph means go 50). But what I began to notice was that I was pulling right up to these cars at the next traffic light, pretty much making my way at the same pace. And I spent not a penny in gas.
The Wheego Whip is expected to be available in May of 2009 at a price in the $20k range.
Update: dNeero has whipped up a survey. The access code is “lancewheego” What do you think?
I cannot tell you how excited I am to hear that Cam Lanier is joining Kinetic Ventures.
Cam was the guy that funded MindSpring. Alan Taetle and I would make the trek to West Point every six months or so to explain to Cam how we were going to achieve 20% quarter to quarter revenue growth that was in MindSpring's plan over the next six months or so. Not sure if we always knew the full answer. But we knew enough to sell it. And then go and make it happen.
As I have said from time to time, I respect Cam a great deal. In some ways he is just like Charlie Croker in A Man in Full. But more then anything else, Cam is a man of values. Those values are not just written on a Web page. Cam lives them.
It's been awhile since I have spoken with Cam. With Kinetic's
Atlanta office one floor above mine it will sure be good to see him around
again.
The concept of branding is both very wide and deep in the realm of marketing. Some people
have made entire careers writing about the subject. Some people try to
explain branding in a manner that borders on mysticism. I don't want
to make a career out of branding, and I advise you to flee those that
approach branding in a way your mama would not understand. But I want
to share some simple thoughts and concepts that will help your startup
company develop a strong brand.
The key word in the last
sentence is simple. I want to keep this discussion relatively simple.
In
the process of making this simple I am going to leave out a lot of
details. Details that are well worth discussing for later stage
companies with lots of money to spend. For startup and early expansion
stage companies none of the depth or details matter. If you are in a
startup I want to give you
something that you can act on to start building your brand. Today I
want to discuss how to create a brand promise.
What got me thinking about branding was an article
(paywalled) by Al Ries in Ad Age last week. Ries is another one of
those folks that make a career writing about branding. Along with Jack
Trout he wrote Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind.
Ries and Trout are so good they own the positioning of the term
positioning. But I disagree with Ries basic premise in his article
that you can't build a brand and a business at the same time. I have
done this myself and seen others do it as well. However, I agree 100%
with his statement:
"Almost every successful brand in the world
started as a narrowly focused brand that stood for a single idea."
Telling
someone to focus is
pretty easy to do. And though laser like focus is something that
marketers and VCs both preach, in practice it seems to be very hard for
entrepreneurs and managers to do.
How do you do it?
A while back I wrote an article on positioning.
Use the positioning statement exercise I outlined at the end of that
post to create a narrowly focused brand. To define the single idea
that your company stands for in the mind of the market. This focus
created by you and your company can also be considered a brand
promise. A brand promise is just a fancy name for the value that you
are delivering to the market. Your unique value proposition. Why
someone is going to buy your stuff.
Creating a brand promise is step one. You have this and you have a great start to building a brand that stands for something.
Next week I intend to talk about step two. Creating a brand identity.
I was breezing through the headlines in The Wall Street Journal this morning when I came across this: "Obama to Tap Tech Adviser as FCC Chief". As in Internet this got my attention and the more I read the more excited I got about the selection. Julius Genachowski is an excellent choice to lead the Federal Communications Commission.
First of all he has FCC and beltway experience. During the Clinton administration he served as General Counsel to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. A little bit of a so what, but the guy knows his way around Washington.
Second of all when he left the FCC he went to work for Barry Diller at IAC/InterActiveCorp. He has been on the board of directors at Expedia, Hotels.com, The Motley Fool, Tickermaster, and Website Pros. My bet is Mr. Genachowski understands the Internet and the challenges facing Internet companies.
Third of all he is a Venture Capitalist at Rock Creek Ventures. A firm he co-founded.
Fourth of all his email address is in his profile on the Rock Creek Ventures site. There's some openness for you.
Fifth of all he gets early stage technology. In addition to Rock Creek Julius founded LaunchBox Digital, an seed stage investment firm based in Washington D.C. LaunchBox follows the Y-Combinator model.
Time will tell, but I think this guy understands technology and understands telecommunications. I can't think of a time when I have been more excited about a government appointment. Happy New Year!
2009 is in full swing with a slate of events and competition that any startup entrepreneur in the Southeast should consider.
CapitalLounge
The next rev of the StartupLounge's entrepreneur/investor mixer takes place on February 25. CapitalLounge's primary goals are to provide an environment where early stage entrepreneurs can make connections with other like-minded entrepreneurs and provide the opportunity for early-stage investors to meet and mingle with early-stage entrepreneurs. Bring and expect a lot of energy.
GRA/TAG Business Launch Competition
The kickoff meeting for the GRA/TAG Business Launch competition took place last week. You can read a bit about that and pick up some tips over on PeachSeedz. This is big.
The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) and the Technology Association of Georgia
(TAG) joined forces to support the creation and growth of new startups
in Georgia via a competition. The contest winner will receive a
$100,000 cash award courtesy of the GRA and a diverse array of services
valued at an additional $200,000. This comprehensive $300,000+ prize is
one of the largest in the country.
Once again the competition is focused on Internet technologies. This includes companies that are developing
products, online services, or backend technologies that are using or
extending the reach, flexibility and ease of the internet; with a
particular interest in companies within the fields of digital
media/technology, cleantech, mobility and information security.
I have the honor of coordinating the effort to pick the semi-finalists. Preliminary applications must be received electronically by February 10. Final entries are due April 7.
Georgia Tech Business Plan Competition
Great business plan competition for entrepreneurs that are students or alumni of Georgia Tech. Real companies have emerged. Lots of learning via workshops. Some cash awarded. Indications of interest were due Friday. I would reach out to Alan Flury pronto to make your case.
TAG Top 40 Innovative Technology Awards
Every year in conjunction with the Georgia Technology Summit,
TAG showcases Georgia’s Top 40 innovative technology companies. The
first slot in the 2009 TAG Top 40 was captured by Simatra, an ATDC member and VentureLab graduate, that won the special Startup
Gauntlet competition in December. TAG is now looking for 39 more
companies to honor on March 3rd.
The competitive selection process
will focus on the companies' products, services and technologies. The
Top 40 companies will participate in a showcase at the Summit, expected
to draw over 1,000 leaders from the state's technology community. Ten
particularly outstanding companies from the Top 40 will also make short
presentations to the Summit attendees, including venture capitalists,
angel investors, potential customers and partners. The application deadline is February 1.
SEVC
TechJournal South is bringing the 2009 Southeast Venture Conference to Atlanta on March 11 and 12. This is a venture capital conference and it caters to that audience. The startup company focus is decidedly later stage. Growth stage. The deadline for presenting companies applications has come and gone. But if you got it going on and are looking for venture captial I suggest you reach out to Eric Gregg or me.
Startup Riot
After its winning inaugural last year Startup Riot is back for more. It takes place on February 18. Price to attend
ranges from free to $50 for this bash featuring 3 minute presentations
from more than 50 early stage companies. Presenting is free and the application is pretty straightforward. Read the rules. Sanjay Parekh may reject you for not following them.
Some time ago Wei Yang of Easy Auto Sales suggested on Skribit that I write about bringing CES to Atlanta. With that annual consumer electronic bacanal opening today it seems an appropriate time to address the topic. As Greg Foster mentioned last night, the odds of CES coming to Atlanta are zero. Here are a few reasons why. And why I don't care.
Size Matters
CES is too big for Atlanta. Back when the Super Show moved from Atlanta to Las Vegas in 2001 Show Management (the company that ran Super Show) said they had outgrown Atlanta. At the time the Super Show had about 80,000 attendees. This year, even with an 8% forecasted drop in attendance, CES is
expecting 130,000 people.
Atlanta can't handle a show the scale of CES. Few cities in the
world can.
So what. It is what it is. And even if Atlanta could it would not matter. Because...
Location Matters
The people that go to CES don't want to come to Atlanta in the dead of winter.
Let's start with the most obvious. Las Vegas is a closer to the majority of people that are attending and exhibiting at CES. People from LA can drive. It is a short flight from SF. Vegas knocks hours off the trip from Japan and Korea. It is merely more convenient.
I remember when E3 was in Atlanta in 1997 and 1998. My West Coast partners complaining about the trip. Basically wanting to know why over half of the participants got on a plane to fly four hours. Yeah I remember that. And the latex clad E3 booth babes. Nell McAndrew as Lara Croft was mesmerizing. Forget CES. I want E3. But I digress.
Vegas has better weather. It is going to be sunny and mid 50's this week in Las Vegas. Atlanta is mid 50s with a bit of rain. But it could be a lot worse. Ask the NFL.
On top of all this, whatever entertainment Atlanta is known for that attracts conventioneers Las Vegas has more of.
But it really does not matter. Because...
Trade Shows Don't Matter
I don't like trade shows. They are a waste of precious dollars and time. Too many people. Crammed in one place. Over a short period of time. Follow up does not happen. The ROI is not there.
Back when I was in the InfoSec space the sales team insisted on going
to RSS. I insisted on knowing what deal was initiated and closed as a
result of us being there. Yes deals were moved along. But the answer to my question. Zero. I'd rather pay for a
plane and spend a day to get in front of the people that I need to talk
to. Quality time. If you feel you need to be at a trade show for presence or relationships or
whatever, fine. Call it what it is, sales or promotion. Either way exhibiting at trade shows has a negative ROI.
And not to be a total Grinch, but oh the noise, noise, noise, noise! The PR noise is just impossible to rise above. Even if you bring a bunch of presents.
For all these reasons back in the day I vowed to never attend Comdex. And I never did. Comdex is gone. The Super Show is shutting down. I have no desire to attend CES. Let's see if I can keep my string alive. Maybe it will out last me. I doubt it.
Big trade shows are dying. They just are. I attend MacWorld and CES online and like it that way. More efficient and effective.
On this point I agree with Scoble. And I suppose I will close with that.
Problem one. A lot of people that I don't know want to meet with me for various reasons. And with the economy in recession and people looking for new things to do the various reasons are increasing. I want to be helpful. Networking with the startup community is actually part of my job. I am always looking for good companies to join ATDC. I seldom say no to a cold or networking intro. But it takes time. Lots of time. The meeting time aside it takes me a good 20 minutes a day to just coordinate via email whom I am meeting when and where.
Problem two. I need to spend more time working with the companies in ATDC. I am supposed to be spending the same amount of time working with these companies as I am with applicants. That ain't working at the moment. I tend to get assigned a lot of project and program work because according to my leader "you are so good at getting it done." May be true. But it's not really what they hired me to do.
So I am going to try something new this year and see how it works. Officially Georgia Tech classifies me as a "professional with faculty status." Georgia Tech requires that all faculty have office hours. So I am going to set some up. They are:
Tuesday from 3 - 5 pm for ATDC member companies.
Thursday from 2 - 4 pm for ATDC member companies and applicants in suite 202 of the Centergy Building.
Let's see how this works. Hopefully it will foster more efficient and effective dialog. All I ask of you if you show up is to have a very specific purpose, be prepared to discuss it, and be considerate of others who may be waiting to chat.
And if no one shows up I can just work on those pesky programs and projects.
Update: Received a lot of comments online and offline about this being very difficult to manage the people that just show up. You can now schedule a 20 minute appointment via Genbook.
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DISCLAIMER
The opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone (with the exception of comments by others of course). They do not represent the opinion or position of any other person or entity. All postings adhere to my personal values.
