I'd like to have a discussion around the pros and cons of building a software startup using F/OSS and relying on Open Standards and Specifications. #0B486B #96C9F2 #FFFFFF #FFFFCC #0B486B #000000 #16024F #052537 2009-06-18T19:19:30Z 2009-06-18T19:19:05Z 2009-06-18T19:19:05Z public 27 Building your startup using F/OSS and Open Standards 2009-06-18T19:19:30Z Bay Area CEOs are invited to discuss successful operating strategies for the current market on Friday night, June 19th. The evening opens with two hours of an unconference to discuss '<b>Operating Tactics in the 2009 Downturn</b>.' * 6:00 - 6:30 PM: Welcome and Agenda Planning * 6:30 - 7:30 PM: Working Groups * 7:30 - 8:00 PM: Debrief and Conclusion <i>What strategies are working in this environment? How are people cutting back? Where are there growth opportunities? Can anyone raise money? How are your peers coping with their staff, their board, and their customers? Is flat the new up, really?</i> #C5E8FF #9DCE43 #EEF6DF #FFFFCC #20619E #000000 #20619E #FFF 2009-06-18T18:00:03Z 2009-06-18T17:53:13Z 2009-06-18T18:25:33Z public 26 http://www.thefunded.com/images/logo_small.png Summer 2009: Feast & Famine 2009-06-18T18:25:49Z What is the change provided by having paying customers compared to no customers? #C5E8FF #9DCE43 #EEF6DF #FFFFCC #20619E #000000 #20619E #FFF 2009-03-17T10:45:39Z 2009-03-17T10:41:12Z 2009-03-17T10:41:12Z public 14 Valuation when paying customers 2009-03-17T10:45:39Z This is the official area to suggest and vote on new feature developments for TheFunded.com. If you have an idea, please add it. Otherwise, vote. Your opinion counts. #C5E8FF #9DCE43 #EEF6DF #FFFFCC #20619E #000000 #20619E #FFF 2009-03-16T03:55:04Z 2009-03-16T03:49:57Z 2009-03-21T14:46:11Z public 10 TheFunded Development Plan 2009-03-21T14:46:20Z The '2009 CEO Open' will begin with a half-hour open session for participants to (1) propose and (2) select TOPICS. The proposed TOPICS will be organized into GROUPS and then split two SESSIONS, one starting at ~6:30 PM and the other at ~7:30 PM. There will be as many break out GROUPS as needed within each SESSION to cover all TOPICS. The process works as follows: Participants will propose a TOPIC at the start of the event by getting in front of the room and describing a subject matter to discuss in a GROUP. Any participant that proposes a TOPIC should be prepared to facilitate the GROUP discussion. Proposed TOPICS will be organized by the facilitator on a white board, and then all Participants will mark which TOPICS they would be interested in discussing. If enough participants choose to participate in a discussion of the TOPIC, a GROUP will be formed in the SESSION. The final schedule will be posted clearly on the main whiteboard. Any participant can move between GROUPS at any time. At the end of the event, we will debrief for a half an hour on key lessons learned from the discussions. #C5E8FF #9DCE43 #EEF6DF #FFFFCC #20619E #000000 #20619E #FFF 2009-03-16T03:44:14Z 2009-03-16T03:42:33Z 2009-03-16T04:10:00Z public 9 TheFunded CEO Open: Internet & Software 1 2009-03-16T04:10:05Z Social entrepreneurship has been around for a little while now, but it seems to have exploded lately. The interest it stirs makes it the next big social trend, according to many. This is a good thing, since social entrepreneurship aims to address large scale social challenges through the creation of for-change ventures (for or non-for-profit). What are the tools needed by emerging social entrepreneurs to succeed in their endeavor? Which topics should be covered, which mentors should be invited? This is an open source social entrepreneurship curriculum: use it! #0B486B #96C9F2 #FFFFFF #FFFFCC #0B486B #000000 #16024F #556F26 2009-03-04T13:07:07Z 2009-03-04T12:55:33Z 2009-03-04T13:13:01Z public 6 Social Entrepreneurship Curriculum 2009-03-04T13:14:20Z <img src="http://revoltizer.com/images/ffi.png" align="right" style="padding-bottom:5px"> *Turning Founders into Entrepreneurs* *NOTE:* _Related curriculum topics were consolidated on March 14th. Please click on the categories, such as The Idea and The Model, to vote on some of the newer topics as well._ TheFunded Founder Institute helps founders launch high tech companies through training, services, and company-building assignments, such as incorporating the business, filing provision patents, and setting up the books and records. The Institute will offer four month programs, called semesters, initially in the Bay Area and then expanding around the world. The program participants, the founders, will be put through extensive training in weekly sessions overseen by mentors, consisting of two seasoned CEOs and one domain expert per topic. Session information will be made available online, as possible, allowing remote founders to participate. The driving beliefs behind the Institute are that (1) great founders are often overlooked by the current entrepreneurial ecosystem and that (2) innovative startups have a dramatic positive effect on the global economy. Startup companies consume resources intelligently, put people to work in efficient ways, and produce market driven products at lower costs. Helping smart people start new companies should, in fact, help the economy. *Upcoming Semester* Each semester consists of 14 to 18 sessions and will have a theme to help screen applications and influence the session content. The 2009 Summer Semester theme is 'Overcoming the Downturn! Building Companies that Produce Revenue.' The application process will begin in mid-April for the 2009 Summer Semester, running from May to August in the Bay Area of California. Applications will be taken online at www.founderinstitute.com. *Founder Selection Criteria* The Institute is looking for passionate people with a vision. Everyone is invited to apply, including both new and seasoned founders alike, as well as founding teams. The sessions are held in the evening and on weekends, allowing founders to maintain critical employment or freelance engagements if needed. The specific selection criteria for incoming founders includes: (1) having a reasonably well articulated idea and a passion to build something, (2) having no formal incorporated entity yet, (3) focusing on a high tech or innovative sector, including biotech, cleantech, and information technology, (4) having reasonable training or domain expertise, and (5) passing basic employment-style background and reference checks. *Mentor Selection Criteria* The Institute recruits as many as 25 CEOs of successful startups with relevant experience for the planned sessions. The mentor CEOs will use operating experiences, information from TheFunded.com, and assistance from domain experts to run sessions and to provide company building assignments. The Institute strives to establish long-term relationships between the founders and the mentors. In exchange, mentor CEOs will be provided with a share in the upside generated from all the companies started in the semester, and the size of this share will be based on a performance evaluation of their mentoring. *Program Economics* Participating founders that get to the point of incorporating a startup will contribute warrants in the new company to the Institute. The warrants will allow the Institute to purchase a soon to be announced percentage of equity at fair market value, as determined by the first seed, angel, or professional round. In order to encourage collaborative company building environment, the Institute will split the warrants from a semester between the mentors, the other founders, and the institute itself. *Investment* The Institute will introduce founders to prospective top-rated angel and venture investors throughout the program with coaching and assistance from experts. When the founders agree that a particular startup is ready, the company will have have multiple opportunities to meet with investors and raise the right amount of money at a fair market rate. The Institute will then co-invest with external investors if the situation is mutually agreeable. In order to keep the application and attendance fees as close to zero as possible, the Institute will recoup some nominal expenses once a qualified investment is closed. Please contribute to the curriculum of the upcoming semester by voting and commenting on this Topicki. Thanks! #C5E8FF #9DCE43 #EEF6DF #FFFFCC #20619E #000000 #20619E #FFF 2009-02-22T15:41:44Z 2009-02-22T15:27:46Z 2009-03-18T05:31:59Z public 2 TheFunded Founder Institute 2009-03-18T05:32:04Z The X PRIZE Foundation is looking for your prize ideas. Contribute your ideas here, discuss ideas added by others, and vote on the best ideas. *X PRIZEs are guided by the following principals:* * We create prizes that result in innovation that makes a lasting impact. Although a technological breakthrough can meet this criterion, so do prizes which inspire teams to use existing technologies, knowledge or systems in more effective ways. * Prizes are designed to generate popular interest through the prize lifecycle: enrollment, competition, attempts (both successful and unsuccessful) and post- completion. * Enrollment phase: In this stage, the world is introduced to the players. Prizes ideally encourage a wide range of people to participate from leading thinkers in relevant fields to maverick inventors and entrepreneurs. * Competition phase: In this stage, the world watches as teams work toward winning the prize. * Attempts: In this stage, attempts equal events that attract media attention and generate suspense. * Post-Win: Retrospectively, competitions will be regarded as landmark events that revolutionized an industry or that open up new markets. * Prizes result in financial leverage. For a prize to be successful, it should generate outside investment from competitors at least 5-10 times the prize purse size. The greater the leverage, the better return on investment for our prize donors and partners. * Prizes incorporate both elements of technological innovation as well as successful “real world” deployment. An invention which is too costly or too inconvenient to deploy widely will not win a prize. * Prizes engage multidisciplinary innovators which would otherwise be unlikely to tackle the problems that the prize is designed to address. #0B486B #96C9F2 #FFFFFF #FFFFCC #0B486B #000000 #16024F #052537 2009-02-22T03:51:52Z 2009-02-22T03:47:59Z 2009-03-15T03:36:53Z public 1 http://www.xprize.org/files/images/foundation_logo_bt.jpg X PRIZE Foundation 2009-03-15T03:36:55Z