Arundel County Chopper

Chopper
A friend in Maryland sent me a picture of Chopper. He kind of looks like Paul Sr., who is an entrepreneur. Other than that I don't know how it pertains to anything in this blog, but the picture was too funny to leave in my inbox. Enjoy!

Those darn kids and their text machines!

Matt and his crew at Scrimple have made good use of the Ithaca winter. They decided to stay inside and develop something simple and cool to save us all a few bucks.

Scrimple recently introduced text coupons to their site. I absolutely LOVE this feature. No printer? no problem! But more importantly, how many times have you printed something, and then forgot to pick it up? Happens to me all the time. Introducing the solution:

Yep, that little button is the solution. See your coupon, press the button, text yourself. It's easy and free. I like easy. I like free. I love text coupons!

Well done Scrimple!

An antidote to the 'California No'

I am a big fan of the Venture Capital Investment Competition conducted each year by the University of North Carolina at top graduate business schools around the world.


A Honest Good Time

I recently encouraged Jon Greene of Widetronix to participate as an entrepreneur at the Harvard VCIC. The VCIC is one of the few times entrepreneurs get to hear honest feedback from real venture capitalist about your business.

Venture capitalists typically give a myriad of excuses for why they won't invest in your company. This is casually referred to at the "California No". VC's do this to keep their options open in the future. Saying "You aren't really in our investment space" is a lot easier and less risky than saying "We hate your business plan and we have no idea what your technology does". Nobody wants to piss off the next Google/Yahoo/eBay. However, it never really helps the company get better. The beauty of the VCIC is that the companies get the honest feedback, AND they get to hear how valid that feedback is. It's a great experience all the way around.

I have had the good fortune of participating as a student, a faculty adviser, and twice as an entrepreneur of a VCIC venture. If I someday attend as a venture capitalist, I'll have hit for the cycle!

Pique Investor Interest at the Peak

Borealis Ventures, High Peaks Venture Partners, and Fresh Tracks Capital are once again hosting their unique Peak Pitch events this March.


Bringing New Meaning to Green Trails
This is a clever invitation-only event where investors and entrepreneurs get to talk shop while hitting the slopes. The basic premise is that the entrepreneurs tell their story to a different investor on each chair lift ride up the mountain. Then the investor gives feedback during the ride down. Where it goes from there depends on interest on both sides.

The event is free to attend, but you have to be apply for an invitation. To get one of the coveted blue entrepreneur's bibs, apply here.

Good luck! I hope to see you on the slopes!

Opine on Superbowl Ads and win money!

Adjack.tv is a website where you can watch and rate television advertisements, share you opinion on them, and win money! The site is free and fun. They already have all the Super Bowl ads, including my favorite with Will Ferrell drinking Bud Light.


Adjack: The place to tell Amp that a dancing redneck using jumper cables as nipple clips doesn't make you thirsty

AdJack was founded by fellow entrepreneur and Johnson School alum Dave Boland. He has been working on the idea and details for awhile, and made sure the site launched in time for the Super Bowl. Now he is up and running and giving away $ to people watching and rating ads. Here's my lucky number:


Good luck with yours!