So Dave Williams of BLiNQ went out to the f8 show in San Francisco and realized that Atlanta needs a group to share best practices related to anything Facebook. So, he pinged me about ATDC sponsoring such a group and low and behold it is so. Should be a great group for developers working on the Facebook platform and companies looking toward Facebook for marketing purposes. Meetings will be held held the 1st Tuesday of every month at 6:30pm. Free pizza and beverages, will be served compliments of BLiNQ. You can join the meetup group here.
Lessons for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Part 1: “Purpose = Power”
by David Eckoff, special to Force of Good
Perhaps you can even personally relate to that.
People come up with good ideas for new businesses all of the time. Unfortunately, many of those ideas are never acted upon and most are never brought to market.
This is tragic, because it’s not a matter or whether or not we can. In 2010, an average person of average intelligence can come up with a
good idea and bring it to market – thanks to a democratization of the tools of
production, distribution and sales.
But not everyone will.
Why do you suppose that is?
Lessons Learned
I’ve made it my focus over the past 20 years to turn ideas into products and businesses. Most recently launching Spitter.com, and working with other companies such as Rivals.com, RealNetworks, Turner Broadcasting, Ustream.tv, and Zazzle to bring their revolutionary ideas to market.
What have I learned that can shed some light on what makes the difference in going to market with your ideas?
There will be obstacles along the way. Distractions. Problems. Frustrations. Doubters. Skeptics.
The single greatest way to overcome those obstacles is something often overlooked in execution: having a big enough reason why.
Big Enough
Reasons Why
Chris Klaus, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Kaneva explains why this is so important.
“Part of the secret sauce of a successful startup, is finding a vision and mission that you and your team are passionate about,” Klaus told me. “Every startup has incredible challenges. The
teams that are passionate about their mission will be determined to learn from
their mistakes. They have the desire and energy to overcome these obstacles.”
Reasons why are the fuel that will get you to follow through.
Big enough reasons why can help get you through anything.
Pamela Slim, business coach and author of ‘Escape from
Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Employee to Thriving Entrepreneur’ explains:
“Knowing why you are starting your business — how you will impact others, or even change the world — will fuel you through the inevitable periods of struggle as a first-stage
entrepreneur,” Slim told me. “Your customers will feel the meaning and purpose
behind your business, and your marketing position will be much stronger.”
What Do Most People
Do Instead?
As entrepreneurs, we love our ideas – often to the point of irrational exuberance. And being excited about our ideas, we often focus so much on “what” we are doing (the product) that we don’t define –
or we lose sight of – “why” we are doing it.
And without big enough reasons why to motivate us through the hard times, we’re more likely to get stalled – when we really need to be putting in the extra effort.
“The difference between success and failure might be the difference between calling it a day at 7 pm or midnight,” David Payne, founder of Atlanta-based Scoutmob, told me. “Only a strong mission will cause you to feel good about working those hard extra few hours.”
A Powerful Approach to Getting Important Things Done
Start by answering these time-tested four questions:
1) What is your
desired outcome?
Most people answer: “I don’t know”. Perhaps that explains why so many ideas are never acted on.
Think about what your desired outcome is, what do you really want? And write it down. Be as specific as possible. Set a specific date for that outcome.
2) Why do you want that outcome?
The power is in why. When you get enough reasons you can do just about anything, you can find the way.
A big enough reason why is where you get your drive to follow through.
A useful way to frame this question is to think about why you must do it (as opposed to why you
should do it). Think about what matters most to you, what do you most value?
For example: so you want to make a million dollars? Why? Dig deeper. Ultimately, what do you value most?
3) How am I going to
make it happen?
Think about – and write down – the most important actions you need to take to accomplish your desired outcome.
Bonus: take it one step further. You are more than your to-do list. Think about and write down
the answer to these questions. What kind of person would you need to become to accomplish your outcome? What skills would you need? And become that kind of person. Develop those skills.
4) How will I know
when I’m getting my outcome?
Sometimes we can be winning – and feel like we’re losing – because we’re not keeping score. How will you measure it? How will you know?
Not All
Reasons Why Are Created Equal
I’m not here to tell you which reasons are the right reasons for you. The “big enough reason why” is unique to each person. (Although some reasons that are often cited by aspiring entrepreneurs are misguided at best – and really bad reasons at worst – and I’ve written about them here.) But the reasons that drive you could make the difference between success and failure.
What Have
You Learned?
So, what do you want to remember from this article?
Before you get started with your to-do list, be clear about what it is you really want and why you want it.
You’ve got to be clear about your outcome and your purpose. The “why” is what will get you to follow through on your decision.
And as you’re bringing your idea to market, remember that Purpose = Power.
What do YOU think? What gives you your drive to follow through and launch new businesses and products? I’d love to hear about your experiences, in the comment section here.
Like the article? Please retweet it! Thanks @Gearheadgal @pslovin @thewordpainter
Coming Next Week: Lessons for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Part
2: “Goals Alone Are Not Enough”
##
DAVID ECKOFF is co-founder of Spitter.com, advisor to media & technology companies and business educator. He has worked with Rivals.com, RealNetworks, Turner Broadcasting, UStream.tv, Zazzle and more, to bring revolutionary ideas to market.
You can read more about David Eckoff on his blog at
www.DavidEckoff.com and follow him on Twitter at @davideckoff and @IdeaToMarket
##
–
BAM Baby! BLiNQ Raises $750k
A little bit later today at ad:tech and F8 BLiNQ Media is going to announce the beta launch of BAM (BLiNQ Ad Manager) and an investment of $750,000 in the company by advisors, employees, and management.
BAM is a RoR application built by the expert team of Hashrocket. It is integrated with the Facebook Ads API and offers marketers the ability to hyper-target message and engage Facebook users via rich profile data thus driving Facebook advertising performance in new and innovative ways.
Founded by Dave Williams, who previously founded 360i, BLiNQ is operating in a large and rapidly growing market, has revenue traction via an advertising model, and with the launch of BAM has a solid product in the market.
Like all startups this one has a long way to go but it could turn into a rocket.
Download BLiNQ BAM and Capital Investment Press Release
Scientific Advertising – Time Tested Methods to Building a Solid Business Plan
This is a guest post by Charles Lumpkin, the principal of Charles Lumpkin + Partners. Charles and his firm have been entrusted with million dollar budgets by
companies who demand disciplined and measurable Internet
marketing. He and his team provide Internet marketing strategy and
services, usually on a pay-for-performance basis to companies of all
sizes. Charles is a sponsor of FoG.
Let me offer some advice. If you want your business to survive – know these two things; how much a customer is worth to you and how much you can afford to get one. As you go about your marketing efforts, measurement is key.
Find out your CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)
Without a doubt the most important questions that you must answer are the rate and cost of customer acquisition for your business. You get this wrong, and you are toast. I know of no more efficient way to fold up shop. As a startup you’ve got to figure out (and quickly) how much it will cost you to bring on new customers.
So, fearless leader, you’ve got to put your marketing plan to a test as soon as you possibly can; driving toward measuring and reducing that all important CPA. If you need help with this calculation contact me and we can walk through it for your company. Regardless, take the time to determine your CPA as soon as you can.
Start ratcheting that thing down
Now that you know the number your job 
So science, really? No, seriously, every time you run an ad you should be running a controlled experiment. Take your best effort to date and create at least one variation of it. Test them head to head, and then retest them. The winner becomes your new “Control”. And you never stop. That’s right, as long as you are running your business; there is no rest for the weary. Innovate or perish!
Different Media – Same Methods
The wisdom put forth in this old tome, is applied to the media that were popular in the day, primarily print. Believe it or not, these are the same principals the best and the brightest follow to this day in online marketing. Follow Claude’s advice and you will find that your will soon be getting way more bang for your online advertising buck.
There’s no school like old school
In the old days they tracked advertising with printed source codes on coupons, in mailers and catalogs. When you ordered your item, advertisers knew which ad drove the sale. Pretty neat stuff right? Now this is akin to running a Google ad and watching what conversion activity happens in your analytics package. You might vary the copy and determine which ad pulls more and you are running an experiment.
The Split Test
The simplest form of a scientific test is the split test. Split your audience using a random or controlled sampling method, serve up variations of your ad to the samples and compare your results.
From Scientific Advertising:
One ad is compared with another, one method with another. Headlines, settings, sizes, arguments and pictures are compared. To reduce the cost of results even one percent means much ….. So no guesswork is permitted. One must know what is best. Thus mail order advertising first established many of our basic laws.
Here’s a sample of variations of two versions of landing page split test:
Which wins? Test it and find out!
The More Things Change the More they Stay the Same
The media may change, measurement tools may change, but the benefit of applying solid methodology and disciple to testing, recording and sharing results is a concept that can’t be emphasized enough. Although Hopkins suggests that his contemporaries had started to get it right. I can’t help but see ourselves in these words:
The lack of those fundamentals has been the main trouble with advertising of the past. Each worker was a law to himself. All previous knowledge, all progress in the line, was a closed book to him. It was like a man trying to build a modern locomotive without first ascertaining what others had done. It was like a Columbus starting out to find an undiscovered land.
Does this sound a little like some forays into banner advertising and social media? As we rush to keep up with the technology and be everywhere at once, how well are we measuring the impact of our efforts?
A/B testing, hold-out panels, test markets are not new ideas, they are simply under utilized. A good refresher course can be found in this 87 year old book. Apply the concepts to new media, drive your CPA down and watch your profits grow.
Wrap Up
Yes we spend time updating dashboards and reviewing reports, but are we really analyzing their implications and re-crafting our communications based on them? Are we testing one ad against another? From my exposure to many companies we are not. The simple truth is that as we work to build our businesses, whether well established or still on the drawing board, the principles espoused in this book can help us minimize risk, read and leverage successes and build business plans that have a high likelihood of becoming reality.
We don’t need to set a marketing budget and guess at results. Small tests can provide the data to predict the out-come off strategies that can then be rolled out. So why not adopt the methods that will help you sleep better at night, methods that mean your business investments will carry “so little risk”. Per Claude:
Advertising, once a gamble, has thus become, under able direction, one of the safest business ventures. Certainly no other enterprise with comparable possibilities need involve so little risk.
So get crackin’. Find out your CPA and start hammering it down. Apply the principals you learn in Scientific Advertising and go kick some ass.
You can read and download Scientific Advertising in its entirety below.
Ten Tech Incubators Changing The World
Forbes published an article on Friday how technology incubators are an efficient way to spur entrepreneurship and economic growth. Using data from CB Insights they created a list of 10 technology incubators that are changing the world. ATDC, where I am honored to work, was among them. Here is the list:
- Y Combinator
- Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives
- Houston Technology Center
- Palo Atlo Research Center
- The Technology Innovation Center
- The Icehouse
- The Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- The Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech
- University Research Park and MGE Innovation Center at the University of Wisconsin
- The Environmental Business Cluster
The Icehouse in New Zealand has the coolest name and thank goodness for our friends in the midwest for not only developing startups but having the down to earth sensibilities to come up with longer more convoluted names.
Here is the in-depth Forbes slideshow.
Nokia Venture Challenge
Nokia’s Calling All Innovators competition is trying to find the best big ideas for mobile applications. And this year they are taking the contest to a new level by offering up a $1 million venture investment to the winning proposal that could change the way people use Nokia devices.
The winning proposal will meet the following criteria:
- It must include a clear mission statement; and provide a product
or service plan that will undeniably raise the standard of living,
and/or enhance the lives of people living in emerging market countries
today. - The initial target market must be located in a region with per
capita income significantly lower than what is found in industrialized
nations today (e.g., sub-$5 per day). - It must include a viable business model that has a high
likelihood of providing a strong return on investment for the venture
funding provided.
In addition to the Venture Challenge Nokia is offering over $350,000 in cash prizes across a host of categories. The Nokia competition is open to all mobile and web application developers worldwide. Submissions are due 12:00 am EDT on June 10, 2010.
IgniteATL is Back
The 2.0 version of IgniteATL is taking place Monday April 19th at 6:30. The event has been taken over by Patrick Nickles who has moved the locale to the Georgia Aquarium. The vid does a nice job of explaining Ignite.
Patrick is looking for speakers, sponsors, and volunteers. And if you are going to go, you need to register. Ignite is a great format. If it is anything like the last event it will be mind expanding and fun!
Cypress Street Scoutmob Hit
As announced back in February, tonight at Cypress Street (817 West Peachtree Street) we are having a little gathering to take advantage of a Scoutmob 50% off deal and a beautiful spring evening. The Cypress Street Pale Ale (house beer by Flying Dog Brewery) which is normally $3 will be a steal at $1.50 per pint with the Scoutmob deal. I'm heading over to an open house of Damballa's new digs and then to Cypress around 6:30. I'll see you there.
What a CEO Does
Jen Bonnett and I were having a nice talk the other day. Not exactly sure how it came about but she poised the question "what do you think a CEO does?" I volleyed back and Jen answered her own question.
A CEO:
- Controls strategic direction, they are in charge of that vision thing;
- Manages the board and investors;
- Builds the team.
Not a bad short list. Early stage CEOs are also in charge of getting money. Money from investors. Money from customers. CEO in early stage companies do the deals.
What else?
Live Blogging Georgia Technology Summit 2010
Today is the Georgia Technology Summit. The technology summit brings together about 1,000 C-level executives, entrepreneurs, academia, and more to celebrate Georiga’s global leadership in technology innovation. From the keynote speakers to the top 40 most innovative companies in Georgia to the introduction ceremonies of the newly selected member of the prestigious Technology Hall of Fame its one of Georgia’s premier technology events.
I covered the event in 2007, and 2008. Paul Stamatiou had a great writeup in 2009.
Today
I am going to try live blogging with quick updates on keynotes and top 10 presenting
companies with a quick evaluation of their companies and pitches.
8:33. Conference kicked off with an entertaining presentation by author and futurist Tom Koulopoulos. Says the biggest word in the past and looking forward is “connections.”
8:37. Only half the people in the room use twitter. Wonder how that compares to the Startup* crowd.
8:42. Innovators double down in a bad economy. Uses launch of iPod in 2001 and more recently Flip.
8:47. Technology is what you did not grow up with.
8:58. Koulopoulos wrapping up. Taking Q & A. Challenging the audience to mentor.
9:05. A filibuster question that is a very, very long story.
9:15. Accelereyes, the 2009 TAG/GRA Business Launch winner is being introduced. Apps for this year’s contest close April 6.
9:18. John of Accelereyes giving his presentation. Company is making great progress. Their product Jacket, uses the power of GPUs to deliver maximum FLOPS per dollar. Wish he would have told more of their story, They are going places. ATDC company.
9:24. MedShape the first top ten to present. Medical device company that makes extremely flexible implants. Morphix is leading product. Differentiation is device continues to get strong after implanted. Just won Medical Design Excellence Awards. Cleared by FDA. 50 in patient cases. ATDC company. The presentation text was too small.
9:30. AirSage. Collects and analyzes wireless carrier data. The slides hurt, font way to small. They have big deals with Sprint and Verizon. Nine patents. Forecasting revenue of $4 million in 2010.
9:34. Idology. SaaS identity verification solutions. Like John Dancu. He could have done a better job with both the presentation and slides.
9:37. 20 minute break.
10:03. FivexFive. Marketing analytics company. Have $2.5 million in revenue. The analytics maximizes revenue via recommendations. Product sales predictions. I heard moans on the unique slide due to screenshot size. GridMap is the product and it is a self learning algorithm.
10:07. Wavee. Penny auction app. Looking to hit $2.5 million in revenue this year. Nervous. Held his own. ATDC company.
10:10 Cardlytics. Strong start. Good slides. This company has a rock star team out of Capital One and great product. They place offers within the transactions that are presented within your online back account. Simple experience. Complex product. Getting 540x click rate of a standard banner ad. Good market traction. Best of the day so far. ATDC company.
10:16 Tino Mantella, president of TAG delivering state of the industry report. Software and IT services continue to lead in job growth, industries that dominate in Georgia. Good growth in telecom as well. Software, telecommunications, financial technologies, and telecom are industries TAG is focused on growing. Georgia ranks third in the nation in financial technologies. Georgia also ranks third in the security industry. Average Georgia VC deal size is moving up, into the $8 million range, but only 44 deals, the least since at least 1994. Ouch! TAG’s goal is to make Georgia a top five state for technology. Their road to success includes promoting companies, stimulating investment, focusing on key technologies, fostering connections within the tech community, and cultivating economic development. The complete report can be downloaded here.
10:37. Clearleap. That is not Braxton Jarret. It is not ClearLeap.
10:30. Hi-Rez Studios. Great job handling a technical glitch by the presenter. Just launched Global Agenda, a hybrid game design, action plus massively multiplayer online in a single virtual universe. Single shard. Have 50k users playing in the game. Great job of explaining the innovativeness of the product.
10:43. The real Clearleap. Still not Braxton. He has a board meeting today. I have been working with them for a while. They are killing it. Have deals with most of the major cable companies. Not a bad stand in but it is not Braxton. Tons of white space on slides. Still the fonts are too small and can not be read. Strong close. Bringing the power of the Internet to TV.
10:47. Healthcare Solutions. They doing something with workers comp that streamlines some process that I do not understand. Customers include insurance carriers, third party admins, and managed care organizations.
10:51. Music Intelligence Solutions. Strong opening. Strong hook. Product is hit song science, the FICO credit score of the music industry. Tells the story well. Interesting. Getting lots of attention. Good job.
10:55. Carlos Dominguez of Cisco being introduced.
10:57. Searching for an outlet. Going to have to go quiet for 15.
11:14. Dominquez made up a word (I did that). His is nowist: Someone who embraces change, understands what is available, and experiments with it. Love it. Raised my hand if asked “who likes change?”
11:30. Gettlng a little Cisco telepresence pitchy.
11:34 Dominguez: “How many user Twitter? Not that many. For those that are not using it sign up and try it. It is an incredible information source. It is how news will be delivered in the future. If you do not understand it you can not leverage it.” @carlosdominguez
12:00. Break to set room for lunch. Bert Ellis up next. He has Mike McQuary in tow.
12:37. Giving out awards. Breakthrough technology: MedShape. Coolest: Hi-Rez Studos. Most likely too create jobs: Healthcare Solutions. Best presentation: Clearleap. Best display: Music Intelligence Solutions. Most likely to succeed: HealthCare Solutions, Idology, MedShape (3 way tie.)
12:44. Bert Ellis of drives into the ballroom in a Wheego. Ellis, McQuary, & Stanley have invested in over 25 companies. He is going to talk about a few of them. Wheego has sold over 300 electronic cars in six months. Claim to have sold more electric cars than any company (disclaimer: I am a Wheego investor). How talking about Titan Broadcast Management, this is Bert’s sweet spot. He knows this stuff cold. Bert takes a big swipe at Cisco, he uses Skype for teleconferencing.
12:56. Ellis: “A television station is nothing more than a big iPod.”
1:00. Ellis talking about Vitrue. Invested in Vitrue because of Reggie Bradford. Calling Vitrue a social media management tool.
1:01. Ellis moving on to Alt Ego out of Santa Monica. Alt ego enables players to wander across games and keep the attribute’s of their avator. Cool.
1:04 Talking about TigerText, impermanent text messaging. Tag is “cover your tracks.” Nice. Available in the Apple app store.
1:08. Ellis: “If you are not risking failure yo
u are not taking big enough chances.”
1:10. Ellis: “Whenever you can sell.”
1:11. Bert leaves the stage
Great show. Off to participate in the Startup Council.