Spudaroo.com

Spudaroo.com is a website that allows people to pay 3rd parties to create website documents, business plan, blog content, slide presentation, and even resume for lazy people. This is a Canadian startup and I wonder how effective is to outsource this type of work to others. I can’t imagine someone who doesn’t know me to write up my resume. Even worse, it is not a great idea to ask someone else to write a business plan for you if that other person doesn’t know the business or the industry at all.

Lastly, I think the name is really hard to spell and search on Google. Though, it is creative.

It is so hard to come up with a nice name for startup or new blog when most of the basic names are all registered. Then, most people come up with strange or too creative names to their website which are hard to search. But imagine that you can search for domain names with prefix and suffix easily and Nomaine can provide that type of domain name search. I will use this tool and some others (Google Insight for Search) for domain name registration.

http://nomaine.com/

http://penzu.com/

This is strange. A Canadian company created a blog system that provides private blog posts as a default choice. This means that users of this blog system will create their blog post privately and not sharing to other people. This defeats the notion of blog because blog’s main objective is to share and not to hide. Also, WordPress and even Blogger provide privacy settings that block the public access to blogs or specific blog posts. So, there should be no need to create a service specific for that. Maybe, this is an indication of asymmetric information.

http://tinychat.com/

Tinychat provides free video and audio chatroom for the mass. People can use this tool as a DJ room, virtual meeting presentation room or live interactive TV. I like this website because it’s free and for startups, this tool can connect our team member even if they are in different parts of the world. I think this is a Webex competitor only that Webex is focused on corporate customers and Tinychat is focused on the consumer customers.

If this service catches on, it would be a great acquisition target for big companies like Cisco, Google, Microsoft and even Yahoo. I believe that with the adoption of higher speed internet network and the integration of video and audio into gadgets, the reality is that people will prefer to use video and audio to communicate rather than writing, SMS or IM.

I am very impressed and glad by the speed that Stribe has replied to my post. A good entrepreneur should be able to react to the current dynamics of how people comment and make opinions about his product. A fast reply like that is a plus. He got me from this positive attitude.

I registered for the beta and I will check it out and compare with other similar tools from the web. I will update my findings in another blog post once I tested them all.

Below is the reply from Kamel, the CEO of Stribe.

———————————————————–

Hello Chim Kan,

Thanks for sharing. it’s very interesting to have your point of view. I am going to try to show you the key differences between Stribe, Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect :
- Stribe is an embeddable White Social Network. That means the social network can be fully branded with look & feel of the website;
- Stribe is a B to B service. The ownership of data and content generated by the users of the community is the ownership of the “Stribed” website.
- Stribe provides the analytic of the social activity of the community to let the website drives and understand their members online;
-There is no downloading neither technical requirement to stribe a website. Indeed, you just a Javascript code let you embed a Stribe Social Network. All Internet users will be able to see/join/share with your community IN your website without downloading anything.

Finally, the speed of the website is not impacted by the Stribe Social Network because it is loaded only if the end-user want to interact or engage with the community.

What do you think about these explanations? it is helpful to better undersdand our value proposition?
Feel free to contact me to move forward.

Thanks again for sharing.

All the Best,

Kamel
@stribe

——————————————————————————–

Share and Enjoy:

]]> http://www.chimkan.com/2009/12/13/stribe-fast-response-to-my-previous-post-about-its-product/feed/ 1 http://www.chimkan.com/2009/12/08/make-your-own-shirt-mug-and-many-other-things-companies/ http://www.chimkan.com/2009/12/08/make-your-own-shirt-mug-and-many-other-things-companies/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:19:54 +0000 Chim http://www.chimkan.com/?p=773

It is hard to make money on the Internet. Currently, there are two famous ways to monetize on the Internet: advertising and e-commerce. In the advertising side, we have Google AdWords, Yahoo Marketing or Microsoft Advertising. These companies make money by having big audience that attracts advertisers’ money. For instance, Google gets money when users click ads. In the e-commerce side, we have eBay, Amazon, Newegg, etc. They gain profit from buying low and selling high price. They have strong brands and first-mover advantage. It is almost impossible to create a company to compete against these behemoths.

However, that did not stop entrepreneurs to come up with more startups. A lot of entrepreneurs created other viable ways to make money on the internet. One of the most interesting way is the Make-Your-Own-Stuff Web 2.0 companies. They are characterized by Ajax site structure with big buttons and fonts and crowdsourcing or customization features in their websites. They make money by selling cool things that a lot of people like. Some companies sell t-shirts, mugs or print arts for your iPhone.

I’m going to present four companies that fit in this Make-Your-Own-Stuff Web 2.0 category:

Threadless home page 2009 winter

Threadless is a company that sells crowdsourcing designed t-shirts (from Chicago). Simply, people send their t-shirt designs; other people vote for the best and cool designs; Threadless make t-shirts from those winning designs to the mass. People buy them. [This is a classic successful web 2.0 company that relies on crowdsourcing and social interaction.]

Gelaskins Canada Startup Homepage 2009

Gelaskins is a Canadian company that sells cellphone and other electronic gadget special skin protection with very interesting design. They have a lot of designers that create cool designs for all those cellphone protectors. The protectors are made of a special plastic-rubber easy to remove and glue that not only make your iPhone or Blackberry more beautiful, but also protect your gadget from scratches. [Great potential to grow.]

Scarfmaker an Estonian startup

Scarfmaker.com is a startup from Estonia and it allows users to customize scarf with their own designs. I think the idea is great and it may grow very very fast. Currently, I think the company is backed by Swedish VCs. I will be watching the developing of this company.

Crazy Custom Caps Home page 2009

Crazy Customs Caps is a typical company that offers customized caps. There are many many companies that allow people to create customized caps but not many of them set up a website. Although, the idea of this company may not be original, the business framework of allowing users to customize their products is definitely catching on in the web 2.0 landscape.

All these companies belong to the e-commerce category of money making website, but they are able to compete against big players because they have a special value proposition to customers. Most of them offer unique items created by the crowd or by user’s customization of the product. Interesting niche market.

MIT Open Course Ware

Managing Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Managing Innovation: Emerging Trends

Managing Innovation: Emerging Trends

Early Stage Capital

Early Stage Capital

Designing and Leading the Entrepreneurial Organization

Designing and Leading the Entrepreneurial Organization

Law for the Entrepreneur and Manager

Law for the Entrepreneur and Manager

Entrepreneurial Marketing

Entrepreneurial Marketing

Entrepreneurial Finance

Entrepreneurial Finance

Listening to the Customer

Listening to the Customer

Pricing

Pricing

The Nuts and Bolts of Business Plans

The Nuts and Bolts of Business Plans

Technology Strategy

Technology Strategy

G-Lab: Global Entrepreneurship Lab

G-Lab: Global Entrepreneurship Lab

Share and Enjoy:

]]> http://www.chimkan.com/2009/10/21/resources-to-support-entrepreneurs/feed/ 0 http://www.chimkan.com/2009/10/18/book-review-the-back-of-the-napkin/ http://www.chimkan.com/2009/10/18/book-review-the-back-of-the-napkin/#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:23:06 +0000 Chim http://www.chimkan.com/?p=638

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures

I read this book and it is really great to show a new way of structure problem solving framework.

It provides a a good introduction about the benefits of the visual thinking. Then, it provides a step-by-step walkthrough about how to detect, solve and show problems through the use of our visual faculties.

It first shows us how we can enhance our ability to see critically by looking, seeing, imagining and showing. Then, it provides the SQVID method of analytical thinking. It helps our right-side of the brain to be better connected to the left-side. So, we can draw and think at the same time. Moreover, it provides the [6][6] framework that helps us to problem solving.

The book is very easy to read, but it does not lack anything from its simplicity. It provides a complete framework solution for business issues and it’s a great book for those who wants to see creative ways of problem solving.

I would also recommend this book for those who loves TUFTE. Tufte’s books give guidelines of what is good or not in the information design knowledge. The Back of the Napkin provides the how to create amazing graphics and pictures of our problems.

What is negotiation?

Last weekend, I had an introductory training about Negotiation at Dale Carnegie. It was a very interesting experience to know other people, different negotiation techniques and negotiation styles.

Starting today, I will post a lot of little posts about what I’ve learned during the two day course. 

Today, I’m going for the definition of negotiation.

Negotiation is an art where two sides discuss and agree on terms leading to achievement of their goals.

Human beings negotiate every single time. For instance, salary, prices, services, what restaurant to go, etc.

Personally, I see that if I get myself prepared to the negotiation, the odds to have more success is much higher for me. I will be able to defend my interests better and I even know when I have to stop negotiating when something is not favorable to me.

There is an awesome place to read negotiation deeply: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negotiation

Differently from Wikipedia, I will show the techniques and advices that are different from what is being told from Wiki.

David Seah is a functional designer creating very interesting calendar such as the Compact Calendar 2009. It allows you to make a big picture plan of what the most important days are and what you have to do on those days.

Official Compact Calendar Page

Check it out and create your on calendar now: http://davidseah.com/page/compact-calendar

Another great tool from Google: Google News Timeline.

Google News Timeline - Venture Capital results from 2001

It shows all the news that you search in a timeline! You can see the news in a more coherent way. It is much easier to build stories and check for historical patterns.

Before moving to my comparison of Internet Burst news and the current crisis, let me ask you when these headlines were written (don’t read them yet)?

Venture Capital On The Rocks

Venture Capital Firms Face Stricter Regulations

Venture capital harder to find for companies in search of funding sources

Venture capital investments plunge 23%

Boston-Area Venture Capital Firm Slashes Investment Fund by 63 Percent

Attempts to Find Capital Frustrates Toledo, Ohio, Wireless Internet Founders

Venture Capital: Cautious VCs again looking at incubation

Second-Quarter Chill Continues for Venture Capital

Venture capital downturn worsens

Guess what? All these news were written in 2002! They are very similar to the news that we have about the venture capital industry today as you can compare here:

Venture capital slashed $476 million in quarter

Is Venture Capital in Trouble?

Venture capital performance among worst in a decade

College Endowments Deserting Venture Capital

Bleak outlook for venture capital as Silicon Valley tries hand at self-funding

National Venture Capital Association predicts investment slowdown into 2009

Venture capital industry squeezed

Venture capital-backed IPOs hit 30-year low in 2008

Venture Funding in First Quarter Drops 50 Percent

As you can see, it looks that the news are very similar between 2002 and 2009. Who knows if we may have a similar downturn period of two years as you can see below.

Internet Boom Burst

The bad news started to pop up from April 2002, with the news: Venture capital harder to find for companies in search of funding sources, until February 2004, with the news: Technology Venture Capital Fund-Raising Accelerates.

2 years of VC industry downturn.

Current Crisis

It started from October 2008, with: The Tech Sector’s Venture Capital Is Drying Up, and it continues with today’s: Venture Funding in First Quarter Drops 50 Percent.

Seven months of VC industry downturn.

If this pattern happens again, we may still have to wait 17 months before any big good news! It will be the time of my MBA graduation.

This is an impressive beta tool from Google: Similar Images.

As you can see, I’m searching for Sao Paulo’s images in the tool.

Google Similar Images - Sao Paulo

Then, I select one of the picture to get similar images and the tool gives back a list of images related to what I was looking for!

Similar Images results for Sao Paulo

Impressive!

Load Impact - check how well you website can handle heavy workload @ http://loadimpact.com/

Seedcamp – check an entrepreneur event where you can meet with a lot of interestign people with interesting ideas @ http://seedcamp.com/

Chocolate Cookies – I made some cookies today with this recipe @ http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateCookies.html

A Run - an Ivey student blog about his preparation for the MBA @ http://totalenthu.blogspot.com/

Ivey Entrepreneurship – Ivey’s blog about entrepreneurship in Canada and elsewhere @ http://iveyentrepreneur.blogspot.com/

Job seekers guide for venture capital – Rotman Business School’s listing about interesting information for those who are going to become VC someday @ http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/bic/CCC/targetVenture.htm

Introduction to Financial Accounting – Online course (UC Berkeley Extension) @ http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/cat/course328.html

Introduction to Managerial Accounting - Online course (UC Berkeley Extension) @ http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/cat/course542.html

Essentials of Business - Online course (UC Berkeley Extension) @ http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/cat/course330.html

Business Writing Review - Online course (UC Berkeley Extension) @ http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/cat/course91.html

Business Valuation - Online course (UC Berkeley Extension) @ http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/cat/course123.html

General Psychology - Online course (UC Berkeley Extension) @ http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/cat/course1467.html

Introduction to Writing Fiction - Online course (UC Berkeley Extension) @ http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/cat/course180.html

Introduction to Capital Budgeting - Online course (UCLA Extension) @ https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=U8561

Essentials of Business Plan Writing (Online) - Online course (UCLA Extension) @ https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=U8526

Elements of Corporate Finance (Online) - Online course (UCLA Extension) @ https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=U8370

Introduction to Mergers and Acquisitions (Online) - Online course (UCLA Extension) @ https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=U8375

Fundamentals of Business Administration and Management (Online) - Online course (UCLA Extension) @ https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=U8639

Planning for Success - Online course (UCLA Extension) @ https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=U8549

Fundamentals of Business Strategy - Online course (UCLA Extension) @ https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=U8547

Introduction to Boards -  Online course (UCLA Extension) @ https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=U8560

Entrepreneurial Marketing -  Online course (UCLA Extension) @ https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=U8559

Introduction to Venture Capital -  Online course (UCLA Extension) @ https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=U8373

Flip your words

This is a fun tool that flips and invert the words that you type.

Take this example:

I love venture capital and entrepreneurship. I also love Google too.

Using this tool, I get:

˙ooʇ ǝlƃooƃ ǝʌol oslɐ ı ˙dıɥsɹnǝuǝɹdǝɹʇuǝ puɐ lɐʇıdɐɔ ǝɹnʇuǝʌ ǝʌol ı

It was a success in my facebook.

Check out for this tool at http://www.revfad.com/flip.html

Highrise is my new adopted contact manager and personal CRM! It is a great tool to get myself organized about personal tasks with other people and an awesome tool for keeping track of my networking activities.

Balsamiq Mockups Intro

Hey,

I usually do not promote things (except for exceptional and high-productivity products or tools). I’ve just found out an interesting software that allows us to create a product layout in a couple of minutes.

It is a software called Balsamiq and it is a very very easy to use. Check the video next to this post to see it in action!

What you can do with it:

- Really fast prototyping.
- Create mocks for Websites or desktop softwares.
- Create GUI and interface that suits your project needs.
- Share and export easily to your team members.
- Type to find interfaces to your mockups

Go to there website to find out more: http://balsamiq.com

Pixlr.com - Online Image Editing Tool

It is an online image editing software. If you are in somewhere with no image editor program, you can go to Pixlr.com upload your image that you want to edit and change it.

The site is really quick and it comes in many languages. Also, it is very easy to use. I’m impressed. I thought that it was not possible to have a kind of online Photoshop but I’m wrong.