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Frenemies: Why Competition is Good for your Startup

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By Rebecca Woodcock (Co-Founder, Cake Health) Two weeks ago, my startup co-founder and I launched Cake Health's private beta on TechCrunch.

Around that time, Cake Health's competition in the healthcare space led us to have a conversation about why such competition was a good thing.

Learning about a competitor can initially feel like impending doom, but having that competition was the best thing to happen to our startup. Here's why:

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What You Can Make in a 6-Hour iPhone App Intro Class

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By Bess Ho (Mobile Architect, Archimedes Ventures) I regularly teach classes on iPhone development for all levels. Here are some students who took a class called "iOS SDK for Beginners", a 6-hour class held in Mountain View. The next class is on "iOS SDK for Intermediates - Design Concepts" this Saturday, May 28 in Mountain View.

Ayesha Ahmed is Co-Founder and CEO of Flocking Apps, creating iPhone and iPad applications. Ayesha had no Objective-C / iOS experience or any coding background outside of creating basic HTML pages. She took the one-day iOS SDK Development class "to get a better understanding of the technical aspects of iPhone App development. Having this coding experience has helped me develop a much deeper understanding of the complexities of the app world. At the end of the class, my teammates and I collaborated to create our first app."

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Want A Mentor? Do Your Homework First

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By Nilofer Merchant (Contributing Writer, Harvard Business Review) A CEO of a software company reaches out to me recently, and asks me to take a 20-minute meeting to review his strategy/execution software. Sounds low-key, right? I put forth a requirement to do the meeting. I also implied he could show me how his software fit into a model. But he said “No, thanks”. And disappeared. I find his behavior odd, don’t you? But at one level, I don’t find it odd at all.

He was unwilling to do the homework to do a successful meeting. He had no idea what he wanted. He asked for an unrealistic timeframe to create any real value. He was simply trolling for meetings, which maybe gave him the illusion of progress, but I’m darn sure he’s not making actual progress.

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It’s All in the Family with Club ChicaCircle

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By Pauline Molinari and Lynnee Jimenez (Co-Founders, Club ChicaCircle) Late Night Launching Across the Miles

It's midnight and we are on fire catching up on site content, product roadmaps and strategic partnership opportunities for our new site for crafty pre-teen girls and their moms. Despite a full day of other work, family priorities and limited sleep, we are finding our second wind as we see our passion come to life through our online village.

Lynnee and I are two sisters working virtually across the miles (Palo Alto and Mission Viejo, CA) despite traditional guidance to not launch with a family member. We have endured through life events, the departure of a friend / co-founder, and bootstrapping strains.

We've done all the "right" things needed to start a business, now only to realize how much more important it is to just move forward quickly. We're sharing our story so you can find comfort in launching your own business without a fully funded base in place and to reinforce the importance of expanding your network.

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From Ideas to Apps at the BeMyApp Weekend

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By Vera Glavova (Organizer, BeMyApp WeekEnd) It’s been roughly 3 months since I stood in front of 100 strangers and hosted my first tech event. Today, some of them are my buddies and great supporters. I’m over my stage fright as I know I’ll see familiar faces next time I grab the mic and open BeMyApp Weekend.

My Addiction: Organizing Hackathons

The most rewarding thing about organizing hackathon events is the interaction with people who are capable of building on the spot from scratch. Seeing the progress of something that kick-starts as a 60-second idea pitch and 48 hours later turns into a working app is staggering and addictive, hence once I did it I was hooked. Another inspiring aspect of bringing folks with different vocations and skill-sets together is the "click". That special click one nearly hears when a few people fit so perfectly together as a team, you wonder if they have known each other forever.

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What I Learned Pitching My Startup 300+ Times in 4 Days

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By Lindsey Harper (Founder, Swayable) Thanks to a Women 2.0 Founder Friday event in Seattle last November, I met some amazing women -- 3 of which I shared a house with at SXSW in Austin!

I went to SXSW to learn and to network for my startup Swayable. Prior to going, I decided I needed to have a giveaway of some sort that was an easy conversation starter so I could start conversations and practice pitching Swayable to random people vs. having to just cold start conversations with a smile and business card. Let's face it, no one is interested in talking to you randomly if you just have a business card to give them.

I looked at everyone at SXSW as potential customers and here’s what I learned:

  • Telling people I am the founder of the company actually helped a ton with credibility.
  • Telling people to try the product and send me feedback directly actually made people want to help!
  • In just one sentence, I could tell if someone gets it or not. (note that on day one at SXSW, it took me 3-4 fumbling sentences to get there)
  • I am now comfortable pitching in a wide variety of situations...
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How Do We Find, Hire, and Retain Women Developers?

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By Sonia Lyris (Member, DevChix) Calling all women developers for your opinions, experiences, advice, musings, rants, anecdotes or anything else you want to tell the companies who hire women developers about how they can do this more effectively.

Please send your writings and include explicit permission for me to use your work in the final article. Write as much as you like, but remember that brevity is the soul of wit and the cat's whiskers. :)

Time frame: Accepting emails, articles, posts, etc. until the end of June 2011.

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