By Shaherose Charania (Co-Founder & CEO, Women 2.0) Hungry? Me too. Let’s go grab a bite! Wait, you want to go to a steak house? But I’m vegetarian. Ack!

I think there is something really special about sharing a meal with someone and something even more special about sharing a meal you both are excited about. I really believe that shared eating preferences can lead to more successful relationships. The founders of Spoondate are on their way to prove this theory right.

Spoondate is a startup born in the Women 2.0 Founder Labs and led by Raissa Nebie and Van Nguyen. Raissa and Van have created a new way for people to date by matching their food preferences. Today, we are happy to share that Spoondate has received funding from 500 Startups!

After enduring five intense weeks with Founder Labs, Raissa and Van are now a part of the 500Startups family, with incubation and funding.

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Women 2.0 is thrilled to announce that Spoondate has secured funding from 500 Startups to embark on the next steps in their venture to shake up the world of online dating. Spoondate founders Raissa Nebie and Van Nguyen met in the Women 2.0 Founder Labs program where they came together on their passion to create a new way to meet people based on food preferences. After all, what’s more intimate than sharing a meal?

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This is a guest post by Shaherose Charania (Co-Founder & CEO, Women 2.0) I'm bootstrapping, aren't you? Women 2.0 is excited to launch the first Women 2.0 Founders Card, in full partnership with, of course, FoundersCard! If you are a founder of a tech startup, this one is for you!

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This guest blog post on “Lessons Learned” comes from Founder Labs participant Zuhairah Scott. Many of you are likely familiar with Eric Ries’ blog "Lessons Learned", considered by many to be the bible for anyone looking to launch a lean start up.

I am no Eric Ries, but I've learned lessons during my month at Founder Labs worth sharing.

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This guest blog post on “Lessons Learned” comes from Founder Labs participant Zuhairah Scott. Many of you are likely familiar with Eric Ries’ blog "Lessons Lea... Read More...

Everyone always asks "Where are the women founders?" or "Where are the female founders of tech startup?" We compiled some lists and publish new ones regularl... Read More...

This week, Everett Harper guest blogs from Founder Labs - "When your idea has no game". Our team of foodie travelers share a common problem - travel and review sites generally stink at making recommendations with our tastes in mind. We’ve been hungry in London without vegetarian options, driven around wine country trying to avoid tour bus parties, and sought a decent playground for two cranky kids. So, we figured there was a travel product we could design with these travelers in mind. In the first few weeks of Founder Labs we proposed: Custom itineraries! Crowdsourced targeted recommendations! Photo album collaboration!

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This guest post is by Diana Chen, a Women 2.0 Startup Weekend attendee from last November. Diana is currently in the Founder Labs program in Menlo Park, CA. She blogs about her early-start mobile startup experience: Startups aren't easy. Nor are they particularly comfortable. In all E's it's been exciting, exhilarating, exhausting. Some days, someone tells you your product is amazing and you feel terrific. You're getting somewhere, you're creating the product of your dreams, you sing and cartoon birds will help you get dressed in the morning.

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By Elizabeth Yin (Co-Founder, LaunchBit) Every aspiring entrepreneur has to start somewhere. Yet when you decide to start a company, there's no guidebook to tell you what to do next. People might argue that "real" entrepreneurs need no such book, but a few years ago, I had wasted two years floundering and $20k of my savings on my failed startup -- I could have benefited from such a guidebook. So my best friend Jennifer Chin and I compiled the LaunchBit Startup Guide, which I wish I had had several years ago.

This guide is for new aspiring web entrepreneurs to learn to validate your business idea and build early versions of your first web prototype without coding. After my failed startup was over, I teamed up with Jennifer to try my hand at a different startup.

Today we build comparison shopping sites and use the Lean Startup Method to vet our business ideas before coding our sites. This process ensured that we either cut our losses quickly or achieve profitability. Over time, our process became formulaic. We share our learning and process in the LaunchBit Startup Guide.

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Learn how to code an iPhone app even if you have no Objective-C or iOS experience! The one-day class on Saturday, February 19, 2011 is designed for people who have never coded. Class will be held at 500 Startups in Mountain View, CA.

Women 2.0 members save $10 with discount code "women20" when you register here.

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Women 2.0 is excited to launch the Women 2.0 FoundersCard!If you are a founder of a tech startup, this one is for you. FoundersCard welcomes Women 2.0 founders.

The Women 2.0 FoundersCard is an exclusive offering to founders from Women 2.0 programs and initiatives: Founder Labs alumni, Founder Friday participants, PITCH applicants, attendees from past Women 2.0 events, and all founders recognized on the Female Founders' to Watch Lists. Apply for a Women 2.0 FoundersCard here.

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This guest post is from Sally Grisedale. "Pivoting" describes what entrepreneurs do when they get stuck. It involves recognizing your business idea is failing ... Read More...

This guest post is from Sally Grisedale about Customer Development for the Lean Startup - Notes from Alexander Osterwalder, Steve Blank, Cindy Alvarez and Hiten... Read More...

The i/o startup accelerator is a 3 month program that helps you launch your product and build a company. We invest 25k into your company to get you up and running. We invite you work side by side with us in San Francisco for an intense 3 months where you will learn from the best. We roll up our sleeves as well as put on weekly events to inform you about what it takes to build a great company. The next program starts March 15 -- submission deadline of Feb 21. To apply simply go to http://www.ventures.io/apply and fill out the form with as much detail as you can.

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This guest post is from Sally Grisedale. "Pivoting" describes what entrepreneurs do when they get stuck. It involves recognizing your business idea is failing and making a radical change. In week three, our team objective was to interview 20 concierge at four star hotels in the Bay Area and get four to test our prototype on a free trial basis. Through customer development interviews, we hoped to validate our business idea for “GuidePad”.

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