Ultra Light Startups Takes on the Bootstrapping vs. Venture Funding Debate

Girlsrock.com presentation at Ultra Light Startups

Ultra Light Startups enjoyed its greatest turnout ever on Thursday night for the Bootstrapping vs. Venture Funding Forum at Sun Microsystems in New York City. The event kicked of with multiple entrepreneurs pitching their business models and concepts to a packed house.

Each company founder had 60 seconds to present to the audience with businesses ranging anywhere from dating sites to female gaming sites.

One company called siftsort.com helps people gather all of their critical personal information into one place electronically. The company rep says the idea came from seeing the desperate people who had no documents to prove who they were in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Next up was the Bootstrapping and Venture Funding debate.

The moderator:
Owen Davis, the Managing Director at NYC Seed.

The panelists:
• Art Chang – CEO of Tipping Point Partners
• Brian Cohen – President of iFluence PR and Board Member at New York Angels
• Mark Davis – IT Venture Capitalist at DFJ Gotham Ventures
• Dennis Mortensen - Director of Data Insights at Yahoo!

There were definitely opposing ideologies on the panel that made for a spirited debate at times this evening.

Mark Davis with DJF Gotham Ventures began the discussion by saying, “If you need a lot of money to start a small business, you probably shouldn’t do it.”

Davis has written multiple articles about when people should and should not start a business.

As to the bootstrapping versus venture funding question, Brian Cohen pointed out that many companies bootstrap at first and then seek venture funding once they really get the company rolling and gaining strength.

Mark Davis cautioned that it’s very important for new company owners to be careful and save more money than you think you need. “It’s important to plan ahead and save a little bit of capital. Then raise the money you need when you need it.”

Art Chang says most new company owners have to go through a learning process when starting a company and that the majority of angel investors want nothing more than to see them and their new ventures succeed.

Dennis Mortensen from Yahoo made it clear that he believes in Bootstrapping over Venture Funding. He says that venture funding is not always the smartest the thing to do with your new business.

One person in the audience asked Art Chang about the risk of angel investors stealing company ideas during presentations. Chang indicated that he thought the risk was very low saying, “Ideas are a dime a dozen – it’s all about execution and follow through of the person putting the company together.”

Serial Entrepreneur Outlines Social Media Strategies for Business

Michael Lazerow, entrepreneur and founder of Buddy Media, recently spoke about the power of social media sites at the Web 2.0 Conference in New York City. He addressed the implications of Facebook, Google and other social technologies where he says millions of people are having conversations everyday. Lazerow says businesses now have a simple decision, Socialize or Die.

Lazerow’s Law: As social networks get larger, the speed at which content flows gets faster

Lazerow states that it only took social networks 4 years to penetrate 50% of the households in the United States. He says that’s astronomically faster than any other communications medium in history.

The potential to reach massive audiences has never been greater with more than 300 million people sending out 45 million updates per day.

If Facebook were a country, Lazerow says it would be the third largest country in the world. Another reason it’s critical for people to socialize their sites by opening up audience conversations on their Facebook or Twitter site pages. This can be accomplished by ensuring that users are treated to very easy and user-friendly tools.

Lazerow says another important tool is to establish an “Ecosystem of Sharing.” If the user has to hunt or search for how to interact with your site, you’ve already lost them. He also stressed the importance of creating engaging experiences, by using a combination of social data and personal experiences.

USING FACEBOOK TO SET YOUR BUSINESS ON FIRE

• Set your presence and update your content at least three times a week. Post these things on your wall.
• Facebook publishing offers the potential for geometric/exponential growth.
• Develop strategies to draw people to your Facebook Fan Page – get them into the conversation.

Ultra Light Startups Presents Email Marketing Strategies for Startups

It was a packed house Thursday night for Ultra Light Startups as the company unveiled its new meeting location in Midtown Manhattan at Sun Microsystems. The night kicked off with a slew of entrepreneurs pitching their sites and services to a captive audience.

Tonight’s panel topic was “Email Marketing Strategies for Startup Companies.”

The all-star panel included:
• Greg Cangialosi the CEO of Blue Sky Factory
• Neil Capel, Founder and CEO of SailThru
• Adam Rich, Co-founder and Editor-in-chief of Thrillist
• Maisha Walker founder of Message Medium

The panel covered a wide variety of issues including finding the right email marketing strategies and helpful tips on selecting the email service distributors that are best for your business. The panel agreed that the days of renting e-mails lists and sending out e-mail blasts to unwilling participants are coming to an end.

The moderator, Maisha Walker explained that the emailing landscape has undergone a great deal of change in the past couple of years.

“It’s not just about sending emails out, it’s a discovery process,” says Walker. “You want to find out what your customers are interested in and what will keep them coming back for more.”

Neil Capel with SailThru says fresh content and interesting emails are a critical component during any e-mail campaign.

“Always send quality and engaging emails,” said Capel. “If they’re not good, people are going to opt out.

“Email is all about e-relevance, said Greg Cangialosi with the Blue Sky Factory. “Without new and fresh content, poor quality emails could do serious damage to your online reputation.”

Cangialosi also says if you do decide to rent an e-mail list, here are some questions to ask before you hire any e-mail service distributor:
• Don’t get sucked into anything shady.
• What are their list practices?
• Where did they get the names?

“There is no magic bullet for building a successful email list,” says Adam Rich, Co-founder and Editor-in-chief of Thrillist. “The best shot you have is to create a great product and put strong content behind it.”

The panel also agreed that integrating social media into your email campaigns is likely to give you a significant boost in viewership. Have the tools available and if your email is interesting, many people will be happy to use the social media share function.

Ad:tech Presents Premium Gathering of Online Marketers

Ad:tech Event at the Javits Convention Center, Nov 4-6

Brands, agencies, publishers and service providers from around the country are converging on the Javits Convention Center in New York City this week for the premier gathering of Online Marketers. The event runs from November 4-6 and brings together a top-notch pool of experts to share, network, learn and do business with one another.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

The conference will feature 200 plus speakers and 60 plus value-driven panels covering a variety of topics including:

• Online video ads
• Social media
• Multi-channel marketing

Everybody who’s anybody in this industry is at ad:tech. If you want to generate revenue, if you want to grow your business, if you want to create contacts – advertisers or partners – they’re all here. We make a lot of money from doing this show.

– Daniel Yomtobian, CEO, Advertise.com

More than 250 exhibitors are slated to participate along with even keynote presentations, exclusive parties, lunch forums & more!

Ad:tech makes people better marketers by:

• Actionable advice from industry thought leaders
• Marketing secrets from execs at major brands
• Engage in intimate roundtable discussion
• Lucrative networking opportunities

Email Marketing For Startups – This Thursday in New York

New York Ultra Light Startups is hosting an “Email Marketing for Startups” event on Thursday, November 5th. The panel will feature founders and CEO’s of some of the hottest email marketing technology and service firms – Thrillist.com, SailThru, Innovyx, and Blue Sky Factory.

The panel will kick things off with a brief overview of email marketing concepts and terminology.  The group will also cover the vast landscape of email marketing products and services. The evening will conclude with expert tips for building and monetizing an e-mail business list.  The panel will be highly interactive – taking and answering audience questions throughout the evening.

Thursday night’s event will be held at the Sun Microsystems New York headquarters. Online ticket sales end at noon on the day of the event.  To ensure the best price for your ticket, be sure to purchase online in advance.  For more information and registration see Email Marketing for Startups on the ULS website.

MyPRGenie Rolls Out “Instant Access” Info Tools for Journalists, Bloggers

MyPRGenie, a leading Do-It-Yourself PR platform and newswire, released a new line of “lightning-fast” tools granting unprecedented access to expert sources, story ideas and extremely helpful background information.

MyPrGenie rolled out these cool new features for journalists and bloggers at the 2009 BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas. Now journalists and bloggers can get instant results when searching for experts on specific topics and other critical information needed to develop stories and blog ideas.

Using MYPRGenie, users can track down more than 3,000 public relations professionals for any topic under the sun. Users also have wide-open access to stories, quotes, pictures, videos, and various other materials.

MyPRGenie also allows journalists and bloggers to establish and update personal profiles, so PR professionals can determine the individual information needs for each writer. Journalists and bloggers can sign-on to MYPRGenie to search for the latest news releases according their needs.

These enhanced journalism features include:

Finding Sources
Submit your media requests to MyPRGenie and gain exposure to more than 3,000 PR professionals representing informative, intelligent, reliable, quotable sources.

Finding Stories
Use MyPRGenie to develop compelling story ideas—for stories that will impress your editors and readers, and for freelance pitches that will seal the deal for your next job.

Finding Story Art
With MyPRGenie, locating that hard-to-find photo or illustration is made easy.

Finding Background Info
Use MyPRGenie to fill in the blanks.

Updating Contacts
Stay up-to-date with the latest and most reliable contact information.

BDI Conference: Create Your Ideal “Social Consumer” Profile

Businesses people across the country are scratching their heads, trying to create the ideal profile for the “Social Consumer.” How do you reach out to them? Where do you find them? What’s the best way to snag their attention?

The answers to these questions and many more are just around the corner as the Business Development Institute hosts a November 12^th social media conference in New York City. As you might have guessed, the topic is The Social Consumer, including B2C Case Studies and Roundtable Discussions.

Communicators from across the spectrum and others can get a discount courtesy of the folks at the Reputation Garage (an innovative new agency with a really interesting perspective on today’s environment)

Date: Thursday, November 12, 2009
Time: 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Location: The Graduate Center / CUNY; 365 Fifth Avenue; New York, NY 10016
Registration Fee: $195

Website: http://www.bdionline.com/socialconsumer.html

Reputation Garage promo code RG to get discounted rate of $155.

It is no secret that social communications’ impact on consumers is growing. It’s now commonplace for both large and small B2C organizations to embrace social media and social networking at all levels. It’s never been easier to connect with consumers, strengthen brands, provide service, sell products, generate insights, and receive feedback from customers, partners, and employees.

Social communications is undergoing an “industrial revolution” of sorts and is now part of an integrated marketing and communications platform for most leading organizations. This conference will showcase the best case studies that demonstrate how leading brands use social communications to achieve tangible business goals.

McDonald’s will provide a keynote case study on serving up social media along with other corporate giants including Intuit, Allstate, JetBlue and others.

Questions and concerns from all over the social media spectrum will be answered including:

• How name brands are being integrated into the social communications arena?
• Why customer services is migrating to social media solutions?
• How do you use e-commerce social to increase sales?

Reputation Garage promo code RG to get discounted rate of $155.

Gary Vaynerchuk: Let Your Passion Drive Success

The most money you can make is by following your passion - Gary Vaynerchuk

New Jersey’s Wine Wildman and Social Media Magnate, Gary Vaynerchuk hosts a Video Wine Series on the Internet that snags more than 80,000 viewers per day.

His new book is:
“Crush It! – Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion”

As the book continues to gather momentum across the country, Gary Vaynerchuk hosted a book signing in New York City Wednesday night at the Columbus Circle Borders Book Store.

The 33-year-old entrepreneur blew up the family business (in a good way) helping it skyrocket from $4 million to $60 million in just five years.

As the title might suggest, Vaynerchuk says there has never been a better time than right now to cash in on your passion.

All wine aside, Vaynerchuk says his true passion is the New York Jets and his ultimate goal is to someday buy the team. It comes as no surprise that he’s even found a way to integrate his passion for the Jets and wine during his video wine broadcasts. After he samples each wine, he spits the remainder of the wine into his special Jets trashcan.

“If you are willing to work your face off while chasing down your passion – you can win,” Vaynerchuk told the audience. “If you have no plans to retire in the next five years, you better make damn sure you pay attention to my book.”

Vaynerchuk says that at the end of the day, he wants to be heard. He says his message is the right one and he’s desperate to push it out there.

“The most money you can make is by following your passion, I believe that.”

Vaynerchuk also has a fascinating answer for people who ask him where his energy comes from, “You don’t need Red Bull — Do what you love and you are tireless!”

The Wine Wizard closed things out by offering his critical key to success. Find the thought leaders in your industry. Surround yourself with them, work for them and learn everything you possibly can.

MyPRGenie: Do-It-Yourself Platform Making PR Easy and Affordable

Companies struggling to build a name for themselves now have a public relations option that won’t break the bank. MyPRGenie offers a “Do-It-Yourself” (DIY) platform where it’s a breeze to find multiple media contacts ready to give your business the exposure it deserves.

MyPRGenie gives its clients access to a massive database with more than a half a million media contacts. MyPRGenie is not an agency; it’s a very affordable on-demand software platform for public relations services.

MyPRGenie allows an organization to create exactly what it needs in this day and age – a solid web-presence. Your on-line business profile will create “visibility” allowing individuals and organizations to bring business right to your doorstep.

Company founder, Miranda Tan, is a public relations professional with nearly ten years of agency experience.

“Now growing companies with great products can reach the audience they’ve been missing out on,” said Tan.

MyPRGenie is the only public relations platform and newswire service boasting a database of more than 540,000 media contacts. Imagine the potential of being able to reach such a vast array of resources.

MyPRGenie also ensures that individual clients gain the maximum amount of exposure with each press release by allowing them top post it to more than 28 different social media sites.

MyPRGenie also plans to release its interactive 3.0 phase of operations next month where clients can create their own On-Line Newsroom and interact with journalists. This service will provide business owners with an excellent list of media contacts that will translate into invaluable exposure and increased site traffic.

All first time users receive a free 3-day trial to try out the site and find out what MyPRGenie can do for them.