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Homework For A European Startup Ecosystem

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After publishing this article, her former employer’s website collapsed with the traffic in Germany. By Jenny Jung (Global Partnership Director, blackbox.vc)

"How do you perceive German entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley?"

The host kicks off a panel discussion featuring US VC fund managers and business angels. Carol Sands, Managing Member of The Angels' Forum and The Halo Funds responds:

"The German community is not well represented within the angel investing world. I’d love to see that improve because my number one investment this year was in a group of four Germans that came over (…) evidently because they had been trying to get some connections to the German community and got none, which I found interesting because

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Starting Up: Resources For Learning Programming, The Software Business And Design

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Learn how to program, what software businesses are, and how to design - through free classes online! By Frances Advincula (Former Platform Development Intern, Accenture Software)

 

Someday I will get through all of this - the courses here are free, through endeavors such as iTunes U and MIT Open Courseware.

For The Programmers

  • Multi-core Programming Primer Course - When PSN was down, I was so happy because I had my guy all to myself. If you’re dating or have dated or are a gamer… Well, now you can say you’ve programmed on the Play Station 3 development platform.... Read More...
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For The 99% – Online Engagement As The New Democracy

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PopVox CEO Marci Harris talks about increased political engagement via the Internet. By Ellie Cachette (Founder & CEO, ConsumerBell)

While the female entrepreneur momentum brews within the community, I had a chance to sit down with Marci Harris of PopVox to talk shop about her startups focused on political transparency. Marci agreed not all female founders are limited to the “Pink Ghetto” and how her life of inspiration has evolved into a flourishing product.

Listed as one of 15 Female Founder startups to watch in 2011, Marci ramps up PopVox just in time for the election season, we had to ask - what does the future hold?

Women 2.0: What do you think is the single most

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Entrepreneurs Work The Second Shift: Interview With Sarah McIlroy, Founder Of FashionPlaytes

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By Doreen Bloch (Author, The Coolest Startups in America) Sarah McIlroy is an entrepreneur based near Boston (specifically Salem, MA) who launched FashionPlaytes over three years ago. FashionPlaytes’s first product enabled girls to design clothing through FashionPlaytes’s online tools and then purchase and receive the customized garments.

She has raised over $5 million in venture capital for the business, after leaving a steady job and having a house full with three children.

I interviewed her

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Put Your Name In For Y Combinator: Interview With Kathryn Minshew, Founder Of The Daily Muse

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Daily Muse founder Kathryn Minshew talks about applying and getting into Y Combinator. By Doreen Bloch (Author, The Coolest Startups in America)

Formerly a consultant at McKinsey, Kathryn Minshew – founder of The Daily Muse, a destination website for women – has been named a Forbes 30-Under-30 and one of Inc.’s “Women to Watch in Tech.” Her work so far led to an acceptance to Y Combinator’s current class, where Kathryn and her team are working on taking the startup to the next level.

I spoke with Kathryn recently, and am excited to share her stellar advice for female founders, from why you should apply to Y Combinator to how to manage a large team.

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Entrepreneur Nikki Durkin Launches 99Dresses At Y Combinator

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Female-founded fashion startup launches out of Y Combinator Demo Day. By Simone Brummelhuis (Founder, TheNextWomen)

Australian entrepreneur Nikki Durkin has re-launched 99Dresses at the Y Combinator Winter 2012 Demo Day. Tech pundits Robert Scoble and Ben Parr (former editor at Mashable) have already named 99Dresses their favourite company to come out of Y Combinator's Winter 2012 program.

Nikki Durkin, Founder of 99Dresses, said Y Combinator had helped provide the perfect platform for their global expansion.

"The last three months in Mountain View, California, have been a tremendous experience for myself and the talented

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TechCrunch Opinion Post: On Women In Tech

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This article has been syndicated from TechCrunch. By Matthew Prince (Co-Founder & CEO, CloudFlare)

Geeklist must never have learned the first rule of holes: When you’re in one, stop digging. I was all the way on the other side of the world at a conference held at a random amusement park in the German countryside and it still seemed like the Geeklist boys had almost dug their way to me.

I first got wind of the incident, which appears to have reignited the women in tech debate, from an Australian who was also attending the conference. “Silicon valley hasn’t changed since I left there years ago,” he said over a beer. “Still a bunch of frat boys

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The First Cut Is The Deepest (Controlling Startup Expenses)

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"A good company never lets its Sales, Marketing and General Operating Expenses (SG&A) get too big." By Teresa Dentino (Founder & CEO, The Financial 411)

Whether it’s “cutting edge”, “leading edge”, “bleeding edge” or “burn rate”, the terms we hear volleyed around deal-making may sound straight out of an Grey’s Anatomy episode, but it all comes down to this equation to the ears of your third-party funding sources: New Technology = How much Cash Needs to Burn + How Long it will Last before the Bleeding Edge Technology is Profitable.

So to get you on the right edge, where you’re not only fluent with the terms, but aware of how to maximize your breakthrough concept’s financials, let’s talk numbers that really count.

Initially you have a lot of R&D (Research and

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An Insider Look At Launch Conference (As A Woman-Led Startup)

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From applying to stealth mode, from rehearsals to launch. By Carrie Requist (Co-Founder & CEO, U Grok It)

The LAUNCH Roller Coaster.

They say that doing a startup is like riding a roller coaster.

Nothing captures that as well as being a 1.0 company in Jason Calacanis’ LAUNCH conference.

Here’s what our experience was like from the inside, from applying to stealth mode, from rehearsals to launch.

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Tell Your Own Story, Invent Your Own Future

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Take control of your own narrative - what is your personal startup founder pitch? By Karen Gifford (Co-Founder & Principal, Broad Ventures Leadership)

When I was practicing law, the arrival of the opposing side’s brief was a much-anticipated occasion. It was our chance to finally see the other side’s best arguments, and after we had a chance to read it, inevitably a little drama would ensue. If the brief was written with any skill at all, most of my team members on the case – as well as the many on-lookers in the office who had some sort of stake in the matter – would be shaken by it. Seeing the story it told about our client’s conduct was disturbing.

Invariably, I’d get panicked advice that ran something along the lines of, well this is terrible. We have to refute everything they said

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How To Be Productive On A Startup Schedule

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Get stuff done by using RescueTime - be more productive! By Jenn Vargas (Founder, Accompl.sh)

While working on Accompl.sh full-time, I’ve been on a bit of a roller coaster of emotions, productivity, success and failure, and it has helped me to better understand what I need to do to keep myself on task. In one week alone, I managed to launch a redesign of nearly the entire Accompl.sh site and watch eight out of nine movies that were nominated for Best Picture this year, on top of whatever else was already on my calendar.

It’s entirely possible to get a good night’s sleep on a startup schedule and still make time for fun. Here’s how:

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Women In Technology – Past, Present, Future

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This week, I delivered two keynotes to middle school and high school girls interested in tech careers. By Gayle Laakmann McDowell (Founder & CEO, CareerCup)

The first one was for the Philadelphia area awards dinner for the Aspirations in Computing Award, and the second was for a wonderful event called Girls Exploring Tomorrow’s Technology. I’ve printed my message below which addresses why everyone - both boys and girls - should consider a technology career.

I wanted to talk to you today about why I think technology is such a great field to enter. But, first, I think I need to tell you a bit about who I am and how I got here.

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The Board Of Directors: Board Chemistry

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The importance of chemistry in your startup's board of directors. By Fred Wilson (Managing Partner, Flatiron Partners & Union Square Ventures)

One of the least discussed elements of a Board of Directors is the chemistry among the Board members. It is critical to a well functioning Board but not always considered in Board construction.

Like a well functioning startup or a top flight sports team, the chemistry between the participants on a Board must be strong. That doesn't mean they need to be best friends who hang out with each other outside of the job. It does mean they must respect each other and lean on each other's strengths to get to the right decisions.

When you are building a Board, you must think about

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How To Structure Your Early-Stage Startup

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How to structure your early-stage startup: founder equity, legal stuff, financial plans... By Rama Katkar (Co-Founder, Hipiti)

When you first set out to start a new company, it can be easy to get bogged down learning about all the things you didn’t even realize you needed to know. Serial entrepreneurs have an advantage, because they have been there and done that, so they can easily sidestep some of the early hurdles.

But if you’re a first-timer, you can waste a lot of energy focusing on seemingly small things that distract you from what you really want to be doing – building and executing your business idea.

When my co-founder and I recently set out

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