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Startup Founder Life: Breaking Free From Fear Of Failure

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I’ve heard Arianna Huffington refer to fear of failure as the obnoxious roommate in her head. By Joanne Lang (Founder & CEO, AboutOne)

As a startup founder, I’ve come to expect new and interesting experiences on a regular basis. It’s part of what makes being an entrepreneur so exciting.

Not long ago, James Logan, Program Director for the Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry, asked me to be the keynote speaker at their Annual Small Business Dinner. I’d never given a keynote before, and like many people, I find public speaking a bit unsettling. However, another wonderful aspect of being an entrepreneur is the amazing support I regularly receive

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6 Lessons The Girl Scouts Can Teach Entrepreneurs

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Solid business skills sold with each box of Girl Scout Cookies! By Geri Stengel (Founder, Ventureneer)

When you sign up for a box of Thin Mints or Samoas, do you realize that you just helped an entrepreneur-in-training? And that she and the 100-year-old Girl Scout organization may have some ideas that could help your business. Every year, Girl Scout troops across the nation set up small businesses and learn some timeless lessons in basic entrepreneurship.

Maybe that’s why more than two-thirds of US Congresswomen have “Girl Scout” on their resumes and 80% of women business owners were Girl Scouts.

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If A Tree Falls In The Woods, Will Android Send You An Ad For Stump Grinders?

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Google applies for patent to sniff your environment to send you more relevant ads. By Mellisa Tolentino (Staff Writer, SiliconAngle)

If you’re wondering why Android apps have more in-app ads than iOS, the answer is simple: Android developers rely on ads for their revenue. But what’s troubling with in-app ads is the fact that it makes users’ information available for advertisers to see and use.

“Due to the fact that ad libraries are incorporated into the host apps that use them, they in essence form a symbiotic relationship,” said a study from North Carolina State University. “Based on such relationship, an ad library can effectively leverage it and naturally inherit all permissions

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Showcasing My Startup At SXSW

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Buyvite showcases at Tech Cocktail at SXSW 2012. By Brandy Wimberly (Founder & CEO, Buyvite)

What an awesome adventure SXSW has been for Buyvite! We were honored to present our company at two great events and the exposure we gained from showcasing our software was unmatched. We’re so grateful to Startup America and Tech Cocktail for the invites and glad that we’re now a little wiser about the whole SXSW experience.

I was definitely not prepared for my first night which consisted of scrambling for parking during a torrential downpour in an unfamiliar city (I drive like a Yankee, apologies to

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Crowdfunding Wild West Transitions To Tamed Frontier: JOBS Act Approved By Senate

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The Senate approved (73-26) the JOBS Act (HR 3606) with CROWDFUND Act (S. 2190) amendments. By Candace Klein (Founder & CEO, Bad Girl Ventures & SoMoLend)

Under the JOBS Act, entrepreneurs will be able to raise up to $1 million per year through online crowdfunding platforms like my company, SoMoLend, and such others as Peerbackers and Crowdfunder. The bill includes added protection for non-accredited investors. The amount investors will be able to lend depends on their income, with some individuals capped at $2,000.

There was much debate on the House bill, primarily around issues of fraud and investor protection. Frankly, as the founder of a crowdfunding platform that could have benefited from the House bill, I should have been wholly and solely supportive

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Does Big Data Have A Story Beyond Geeks?

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What's your big data story? By Kristen Nicole (Senior Editor, SiliconAngle)

During my trip to Austin for SXSW 2012, I wanted to uncover this year’s big data story, and determine the areas to which big data can still be applied. SXSW is a unique instance of merging cultures, technology and marketing themes, pitting mainstream appeal against the festival’s coveted air of exclusivity. That makes it an interesting stage for something like big data, which often operates behind the scenes, and in many ways is still considered an emerging technology.

As big data finds its foothold beyond being a buzz word towards becoming a business solution, the range of industries

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Meet The Women Founders Of Start-Up Chile

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By Tara Roberts (Co-Founder, girltank & Contributor, The Next Web) Picture a group of female lone rangers, each silhouetted against the setting sun with broad-rimmed hats tilted sideways to shadow their faces and holsters slung low around curvy waists. Then listen for that sound – you know it – the high-note whistle in American westerns that signals you’re watching a badass and something dangerous is about to happen.

This rather stereotypical representation of a rebel... is not such a terrible way to characterize the empowered and stalwart women founders in Start-Up Chile.

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The Hunger Games – A Hopeful Vision For The Future

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By Joan C. Williams & Rachel Dempsey (Authors, The New Girls' Network) I almost don't want to write this post, because it brings attention to something I'd much rather be ignored. In the frenetic lead-up to the March 23 opening of The Hunger Games, there are articles about the movie's restrictive costumes, about its "futuristic Appalachian" soundtrack, about its similarities with a Japanese film called Battle Royale. But few of them focus on one key point:

The Hunger Games is about a girl.

And not just any girl. The main character of the movie (and the novels that came before) is a badass teenager named Katniss

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StartupLive Video Interviews From Women 2.0 Conference

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By Arabella Santiago (Executive Director, TechWeek) My co-founder, Suzanne Debrunner, and I had the great pleasure of covering the Women 2.0 Conference for our startup, StartupLive, and Women 2.0 media partner, Techweek. The event was full of positive energy and brilliant thinkers and visionaries of startup technology and entrepreneurship.

Being a woman founder ourselves, we couldn't help but be captivated by the people and content of the conference. We hope that the videos below help you get to know some of these insightful and engaging startup founders who attended the conference this year.

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3 Things That Keep Us Women Down Regarding Entrepreneurship

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By Larry Chiang (CEO, Duck9 & Stanford University EIR) I'm a supermodel man. As a representative of the male supermodel community, I can say we have lots of similarities to women. Recently, I started to say things women say. I did this for fun but also to gauge effectiveness and play.

In playing, I learned the equivalent of a year in business school. These are things they can't teach / won't teach.

Here are my insights and here is what you, as a burgeoning fem-preneur, should pay attention to on our specific transition from pre-entrepreneur to founder.

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Think You Have What It Takes To Start A Business? (Triptrotting)

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How to convince a software engineer to join your early-stage tech startup. By Edward Kim (Senior Engineer, Triptrotting)

Almost once a week, I get a random phone call, email, message, etc. It goes something like this: “Hey Eddie, I’ve got this million dollar idea. I just need a programmer to make it.” Before I go on any further, if you’re an engineer, I’m sure this already sounds familiar to you. “I checked and there’s nothing like this out there. It’s sort of like Facebook but better. It’s like Facebook meets Twitter meets Google! Well? What do you think? We’ll go 50/50 on this. You handle the programming, I handle the business side of things.”

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From Students to Startups: Rebellion Photonics Founder And CEO Allison Lami Sawyer

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By Angeline Evans (Writer & Blogger, The New Professional) Allison Lami Sawyer was born to be an entrepreneur. The Rice University MBA student always knew she wanted to start her own business, and armed with a master's degree in nanotechnology, she hit the pavement in Houston in search of the right product. After a year and half, she met her co-founder, and before the ink on their diplomas was dry, Rebellion Photonics was born.

In the two years since Allison and her co-founder finished their degrees and started the company with $175,000 in business competition winnings, Rebellion Photonics has grown

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50 Things I Learned At 500 Startups

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Personal observations and blatant rip-offs from the 500 Startups family. By Kim Dowd (Co-Founder & Designer, Daily Aisle)

1. Dave (our funding overlord) is a zoo keeper. He gives tours to wide-eyed visitors who cluster together and avoid eye contact. Founders and habitats - cluttered desks, Post-It note rampages, white boards, esoteric tee shirts covered in hash tags - are photographed.

2. As tattoos are to musicians, stickers are to geeks. How far someone has delved into the startup world is directly proportional to the number of startup stickers on their laptop.

3. Bootstrapping does not involve holding one’s boots

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Why You Should Become The CEO Of A Company

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By Debra Benton (President, Benton Management Resources) Sometimes people say to me, “I’m not sure I want to be CEO.”

My response: What! Why not? That’s the best job in the company!

Most everyone wants to be the top dog, the honcho, the chief; but most feel it’s unrealistic, so they turn it around and act like they don’t want it anyway. But they wouldn’t turn it down if offered!

It’s going to happen to someone; it might as well be you.

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