We recently had the chance to chat with Nathan Roth, CEO of Badger Media Inc. about their upcoming release of Badger, a new app that lets users share photos around interests. The app in itself is something completely new and innovative in the ever growing sea of social picture sharing applications, that for the most part don’t do much aside from sharing photos. Badger is different, it creates communities around the interests that people have, and lets people connect though their common likes, and more importantly in this social-location oriented market also around place.

How did you come up with the idea for your company?

I was at ITP and a former iteration of Badger was my thesis project. We thought about icons, what they mean, and how to initiate new behaviors around those icons. Especially with the ever growing prominence of mobile technologies we saw a great possibility not only in fostering conversation, but also human interactions around those things that people find most important to them. We looked at varying icons, and eventually settled on badges due to their deep rooted significance in western culture.

Any milestones that you’d like to share?

Yes, after building the initial prototype of Badger, we headed down to South by Southwest, a festival in Austin TX, to see if the platform could gain any clout. At the time we only had very limited MMS functionality, and the entire submission process was archaic in comparison to what we have today. It was enough however to get us into a Tech Stars affiliated program and brought us to where we are today, on the brink of app launch.

Can you tell us a bit about the team?

Sure, it’s composed of three guys including myself. None of us really knew how to code when we started this project, but the thing about coding is it’s pretty logical, and we just started hacking at it. I think the team is well balanced overall, as it’s myself, I have a background in anthropology, Oscar, who I met at ITP, he ample agency and graphic design experience, and J, who brought the whole business side of things to team. The funny thing is we all contribute to the technology in different ways, but really have no formal training.

Any advice to pass on to budding entrepreneurs?

Just go for it, if you don’t know how to do something, just learn it, and if you think your product isn’t ready for launch, launch anyway, you can always make adjustments as you go along the way, but one thing for certain is, plan, not for others, but for yourself. We didn’t plan in the beginning and it definitely set us back a bit.

Badger will be launching their iOS App very soon, so be sure to check them out, and spread the word on this great and innovative new startup out of NYC.

Link: http://playbadger.com
Twitter: @playbadger
iTunes App – Badger *

When you think of New Orleans the first things that typically pop into head are Mardi Gras, Katrina, Music, and perhaps Crawfish.

The city itself was devastated after hurricane Katrina, and in many ways what is happening in NOLA now can be described as a phoenix rising form the ashes.  A vibrant start-up and technology scene is taking root and starting to flourish.

Typically a distant afterthought for New Orleans, registered Louisiana start-ups in the digital media space are now eligible for a 25% tax credit on all expenditures made within the state, better yet, hire local and you can add another 10%.

This initiative stems from the success that a similar tax credit for film had on the state’s GDP. In 2010 over a billion dollars were spent by the film industry in New Orleans (NOLA). Whether digital media credits will have the same impact on the city as film credits had is yet to be seen but there are a number of people and groups pushing for the industry to develop in the region.

Building From the Ground Up

One of the groups pushing for NOLA is the Tech Stars Network, well known for bringing entrepreneurial accelerators to many a region, and one of it’s newest members is Launch Pad Ignition, with Chris Schultz spearheading the way to build a sustainable tech industry in the city.

But what about the companies? Some start-ups to follow are LiveSet, Dydra, Kin.io who will pitch in front of such Tier 1 VC firms as AOL Ventures and First Round Capital come May. Better yet, the programme managed to bring in companies from NYC (Badger), and the Valley (Game Builder Studio) as well as one international company (Rayku), to note Dydra is also half German.

Then there’s also the Idea Village an incubator focused on generating more entrepreneurial activity in the city. Sure NY has a few of these, but NY is also 8million people, NOLA, a mere 350k.

Financing Available

Louisiana’s financing situation has historically been in either industry or oil, but such initiatives as the New Orleans Startup Fund, and South Coast Angels increased interest in the tech space means there is enough money to get these companies though a series A, and interest from tier one VC’s on both coasts proves there may be worthwhile investments to be made in the swamp yet.

To sum up, New Orleans still has a long way to go before it’s on the level of New York or Silicon Valley and in fact the presumption of this crescent city known for its music, lifestyle and party will ever contend with the East / West coast big boys may be laughable at present. But with the biggest brain gain in the country, tax credit incentives, a strong and developed network to capital on both coasts and a drive to refashion the city post Katrina, one would be wary to write off the Silicon Bayou just yet. With that, “Les Bon Temps Roulle”.

The Socialist Entrepreneur

It’s no big surprise that on the European side of the Atlantic you can find many government backed programmes and initiatives that offer start-ups and entrepreneurs various forms of financial assistance.

Call up your local chamber of commerce, ask for entrepreneurial assistance, wait about fifteen minutes on hold and then you’ll receive the info you need to search for, apply and learn more about the different help initiatives coming from your European capital of choice. Do some research, pitch them an idea the way they want to hear it, put a new spin on it, and lo and behold you’ve got €20.000 to run wild with and start your enterprise

On paper, it all sounds grand, and I don’t believe anyone would sneeze at a free 20 thousand, but unlike a market such as say the States, where pretty much the only government aid you’ll get is well… none. You have non for profit initiatives such as SCORE and a handful of others, but you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone giving out free cash.

EU hand holding  vs’ U.S. hard love

While 20k is undeniably nice it does cause a problem withing the European entrepreneurship community that we’re calling the softening of the socialist entrepreneur. Meaning, the European entrepreneur that “knows” he / she will receive state aid is not as hard pressed and driven to succeed as his/her American counterpart, the pressure is simply not there to achieve as much with as little as there is in the Sates.

This lack of pressure on the part of the entrepreneur establishes a more lackadaisical approach towards work output that trickles down to the employees of the start up, and creates inefficiency – this need for milestones and successes before money runs out – is simply not there, the living on the edge, or the one foot in the grave the other on a banana peel mentality does not exist to the same degree as it does in the U.S.

Meaning, that the American entrepreneur is more driven to succeed, because he/she knows that once the money runs out, that’s game. In the EU, these disbursements can take place over time, a pre-market concept can go on hold until c grant is received, or assistance is given from a local governing body. There’s a general lack of that type of “pressure” that is so needed to go the extra mile.

Striking a Balance or Changing Mindsets?

This socialist entrepreneurship is a result of the European mindset. In the U.S., business angel and venture capital activity is much more prolific than it ever was in Europe, and especially so now in 2010. As such, finding capital financing, and even bank financing for a new idea and concept has always been easier in the U.S. than in European markets, be it for cultural reasons – or whatever. As such, governments have stepped in to try and fill that gap that is otherwise lacking in the EU. However, lacking a profit motive, the government initiative inherently fails as it’s purpose is to support enterprise, create jobs, etc… and not to turn a buck.

What needs to happen is a balance, where instead of offering grants, those government backed initiatives in the EU, need to function as totally autonomous investment bodies without any political influence – investing in companies that they see the same high growth potential in as an experienced BA, or VC, but taking on a higher risk than your typical early stage European investor, because those mindsets that have led to Europe trailing the U.S. in terms of investment activity will not change for at least another 40-60 years.

BY JACEK GREBSKI

No one said it was easy, and although in business we tend to generally talk about strategies, objectives, finance, and other business related topics, emotions come into play as well, and I would say even more so when you’re trying to get something off the ground than when you’re working for someone else.

One of these emotional issues is burnout, depression, doubt in yourself, your business, what have you, if often comes and goes, and sometimes can be a truly stifling force in your life. Long story short, Entrepreneurship is difficult, some say even a more difficult profession than say Management Consulting, or IB. Whether that’s true is a different story all together but one thing is certain, there will be ups and down on your entrepreneurial journey and getting through the valleys to reach the peaks is an important thing you just need to cope with. Luckily, you’ve got F3FundIt and we’re here to help.

As such, here are five tips that are sure to help you deal with burnout.

Tip 1. Exercise. Not only is is just all around good for your body, but exercise has been proven to help increase dopamine levels in the brain. You know, that stuff that makes you happy. Not only that, it will also make you more energetic, and make you feel all around better.

Make time for it. Seriously. Starting to exercise can be stifling, but once you’re on your way, you’ll be all the more happy for it. Take 30 minutes a day in the morning, and go for a jog. Within a few weeks you’ll see that those valleys are getting smaller and smaller.

Tip 2. Work with others. I know at present four entrepreneurs who are working from home, alone. And it gets lonely. So if you know anyone else starting a business, working from alone from home, etc… set aside a day or two a week where either you work at theirs or they at yours. You’ll see your productivity skyrocket and it will most definitely kill the doldrums of another day working solo.

Tip 3. Get out of the house or office. If you’re working alone or with partner or two, you can always bring your office to a coffee shop, or the library. Free Wi-Fi access is easily accessible and you’ll notice that being out, and changing your scenery can help a lot. This is mostly due to the fact that humans are social animals by nature, and Entrepreneurs – extroverts. Add one and one together, and you need people.

Tip 4. Take a day off. Seems like something out of science fiction, doesn’t it? But unwinding is absolutely necessary. Sometimes when trying to make something out of nothing we forget that we’re not machines, and that we need our R&R. I can’t tell you how many entrepreneurs I’ve seen just go go go. The truth is, that a missed e-mail, or phone call can be returned, and the party on the other end won’t think you all the less if it’s not immediate. So, turn off that mobile phone, shut your laptop and have a day for you, your friends, spend time with family. Not only will you feel a hundred times better the following day, but your loved ones will appreciate you for it all the more.

Tip 5. Have a 1 on 1 with yourself. Simply put, ask yourself why you’re down, identify the root of the problem. Is the burnout a result of you working too hard, is it lack of social interaction, or perhaps just stagnation in the markets. It’s hard to sit back and reflect sometimes when you’re constantly on the go, but this reflection will help not only you, but your business. Perhaps, you’re not approaching the market in the right way, perhaps no one has responded to your solicitations because you’re going about it wrong.

Simple, sit back, and think about it, and if you can’t identify the problem ask a friend. More often than not, outsiders can see what we can’t.

That said, live by these tips, they’ve gotten me through some thick and thin, and I’ve personally seen them do wonders for others as well. One thing to remember though. Sometimes the doubt, and exhaustion come from an idea that simply isn’t working, and while many will tell you to relentlessly and eternally pursue your passions. The sad truth is, some ideas aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. In that case, bin it, and start anew.

Here are just a few ways to completely and utterly dig your startup into the ground, as such read them, and do what you can to avoid them.

1. Have a poorly defined value proposition. Having a poorly defined value proposition will cause you headache after headache when looking at and presenting your business model. You have to know who you are targeting, what you’re offering and why they would want to use your product or service. Who is your customer?

2. Setting unrealistic objectives in your development and deployment pipeline. No matter what you think you will not underpin the world in a year, you will not have income of €20.000.000 in year one, and you will be greatly disappointed.

3. Focusing on the bottom line instead of on the service / product you offer your customers. Your customers are your lifeblood, if they are unhappy your bottom line will suffer, if they are happy, they’ll be repeat buyers, and even help market your product. Simple as that.

4. Involving yourself and your business in ethically questionable practices. Unsavory marketing practices, overly creative accounting are just some of the things that will in the end ruin your business, don’t do them.

5. Developing a product without adequately deploying resources to market it effectively. Sure, you may have a product that could cure cancer, end world hunger, and fly humans to the moon, but if no one knows about it, no one will use it. Market it, and market it effectively.

6. Going on a spending spree. Meaning, poor cash management. You may have €250.000 that you received in the form of F3 (Friends Family Fools) Capital and you think it’s great so you pay a premium for services that could otherwise be outsourced, delivered in a more cost effective way, and get everyone a brand new Mac Pro to write e-mails on. Not a good idea.

7. Launching too early or too late. Timing is everything, think about the market, the economy, the sector you’re in, where is it now, where will it be in 3 months, 6, a ear or two. You don’t have to change the world today, and launching today may lead to failure.

8. Flying solo. Think you can do everything yourself? You can’t. Involve others. Even if you’ve decided to start alone, bring in friends, talk to your network, and see if people will help you out. You don’t have to give them an equity stake in the beginning see how you work together. If you work well, ask them if they’d like to come on board.

9. Forgetting about scalability. Good ideas scale well, milti million ideas scale at their core. How big can your product realistically get? Who is your customer, and how can fast can you grow without compromising service.

10. Secrets are no fun. Talk, and share your idea with people you trust, friends, family, colleagues, these people are inevitable to the success of your business, you don’t know everything, and collaboration can more often than not fix problems before they arise.

11. Doubting your idea early on. Doubt is natural, you will have ups and downs, this is completely natural, but if you doubt your idea within the first month, or three of your start up career. Chances are you’ll become disheartened quite early on and quit. Save yourself the trouble and thoroughly analyze your concept before taking the plunge.

Good Luck!.

design should never compromise functionality, nor should functionality ever compromise design

Design is something that start ups tend to miss, forget about, or pay little attention to, and this is especially true for those with an engineering background.

Engineers tend to think that as long as it’s functional, and works right, it will appeal to the masses, but these engineers forget that the majority of the population are not engineers and in fact just general folk, and if your product targets the masses, one of the best pieces of advice we can offer is DON’T SKIMP ON THE DESIGN.

Remember the Volvo’s from the 80’s and 90’s? Great cars on the inside, but ugly, real ugly. Then comes Ford, buys the car division, redesigns the body and sales go through the roof, the cars, are now not only safe but cool.

Old example? Look at Android and iPhone OS. Android is open, there are no limits on what you can, can’t do, there is no parent company that strictly dictates what you can put on an Android phone, it’s open. Yet the sales are meager in comparison to the iPhone. Why? Well, it’s cool, the design is sleek and well thought out. Apple more so than any other company is known for the quality of its industrial design, and it shows, just look at the bottom line even during this recession. Now look at Compaq. Who?

Are you starting to see the point?

But thing is as a start up you don’t have the resources to splurge on IDEO, or hire some of the best industrial designers in the industry. Problem? Not really.

If you’re by a major metropolitan area chances are there’s a school which exclusively teaches design, or at least has faculty or a programme that deal with it. Your best bet is to contact them, explain what you’re looking for and see if you can’t involve students in a project, or even hire one as an intern. When it comes to design most of these students will be light years ahead of you and your engineers, they’ll be overjoyed at the possibility of getting some real world experience, and best of all, they’ll make your product attractive to the wider community.

A few things to note.

1. Some designers may go overboard and make it the best looking whatever it is, but completely non functional. Stay away from these and ask to see previous projects.

2. As an engineer, you’ll most likely describe what it is the product does in a way that the designer won’t understand. For this we recommend looking over our older post on value propositions and elevator pitches. Good communication is key.

3. Let the designer do what they’re good at, design. You’re there to get the business going, not micro manage.

4. And remember, design should never compromise functionality, nor should functionality ever compromise design.

And if you’re looking for a design school near you – just click here.

Cut and dry, if you can’t tell me what your entrepreneurial project does in a sentence, you’ve got a problem.

I can’t begin to tell you how common a mistake it is among budding entrepreneurs to delve into the mundane details of their projects. It usually starts off like this.

“We at New Mobile Platforms Ltd. have developed a revolutionary platform that will change the way in which people communicate. By utilizing free wifi access across major urban areas we were able to relay signals and triangulate the locations of other individuals using the same application on their mobile devices, thus pinpointing the users location to 2.3m. Other users and subscribers to friend’s devices, can see other users via real time database query’s that are updated on their mobile devices from street to our data centre and their handset every 15 seconds via, GPRS, EDGE and G3 network connections, as well as free Wifi hotspots. If you look at our programming schematic, you will see that etc… etc… etc…”

Long story short, to most investors, individuals, and to the general public you might as well be speaking Ancient Greek. The majority of the population are not engineers, do not know industry jargon, and most importantly are not interested in detailed programming schematics. What it is that they are interested in is how the product will help them in the course of their day to day lives and what need it satisfies, and when dealing with investors, they’d also like to know how it makes money.

So let’s take the above example, and rephrase it into something that can be pitched in an elevator setting.

“We’ve developed a mobile app that lets you know where your friends are on a map. It’s great for trying to meet up with people and can help you navigate unknown areas, find meetings, and the like. We monetize via Mobile Advertising.”

And that’s it. No long elaborate explanations, no technical details, just what we do, what it offers, and how we plan to make money off of it. Now whether or not this idea is a good one, is a different story all together, but being able to summarize what it does in a sentence is the most important part of any elevator pitch. You get your message across clearly, effectively and quickly.

To summarize.

• Stay away from lengthy explanations that can be confusing.
• Cut away all industry jargon.
• Get to the point and keep it simple.
• Say what you do, how it fulfills a need, and how you monetize it.

There’s a reason why firms pay top money for MBA interns from some of the top schools across Europe and the U.S. They’re worth it. So the question is… how can you capitalize on what large established companies such as Goldman and McK have known and used for years?

Well, here’s the good news. On average entrepreneurial interest in MBA programmes is high, and annually approximately 10% of MBA’s go off to start companies on their own or join start-ups. Figures differ from school to school and when approaching a MBA programme it’s advisable to see what the school specializes in. NYU Stern for example is known for Finance, whereas IE in Madrid is known for Entrepreneurship.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

That said, get involved with the school, call up the school’s entrepreneurship club, see what activities they have planned and see if you can participate. MBA’s are hungry to know what the life of an Entrepreneur is like, some of the trials and tribulations you’ve gone though, issues that you’ve had with acquiring funding and so on and so forth.

If you’re and earlier stage entrepreneur MBA’s are a fantastic source of critique when it comes to your business model.You can often have them analyze it, dissect it, and present their findings for next to nothing.

When it actually comes to getting an intern. The best thing to do is present your company at the school. Many professors will happily invite you to speak, and if for whatever reason you’re not able to book a class, then the school’s entrepreneurial club will be thrilled to have you. Also, be sure to advertise your position with the school’s career services. They’ll add you to the database, and will in all likelihood include your offer in their weekly newsletter as well as their online application system.

GETTING TO KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU

When it comes to the interview there are a few major things to remember, and while they may seem obvious we’re still going to mention them.

• Treat current students as equals. Nothing is wore than heading in for an interview and having the interviewer ask you to sing your favorite song (true story from a Forture 500 company interview, in fact why don’t we call them on it as this type of practice should stop, it was TechData), and after all you’ll be working with them for a few months.
• Ask questions to see the way the person thinks. Being a start up, you’ll be working closely together, and culture, fit, mix, whatever you call is about the most important thing in building your team.
• Pick someone that compliments you. It’s easy to hire someone just like you and with a similar background. See where your lacking, what can you improve on, and what area of your business needs the most attention, and get the person who can do that job right.

GETTING TO HOPE YOU LIKE ME

Once you’ve chosen your candidate and shortlisted two more be sure to give them an offer that’s fair. If you’ve been funded, offer them a salary. It doesn’t have to be a Morgan Stanley salary, but try and offer something. MBA’s know that you’re short on cash, and they’ll be appreciative of the fact that you can pay them.

If you haven’t been funded and can’t offer cash incentives, be frank and say so upfront. But do express what you can offer, knowledge, insight, networking, day to day entrepreneurial experience.

Did we miss anything?

This should be a no brainer but you’d be surprised juts how often people think that “I’ve got a website, I’ve added some tags, worked on some SEO, and that should be enough to get traffic to my site.” The sad truth is that this method will get you traffic, but organic growth is so slow that by the time you’re noticed the competition will have left you in the dust. You could of course spend hard money on AdWords and other ad solutions, but why not give these methods a go before you dive into those pockets for that oh so needed cash.

1. Submit your start up to relevant sources, the list below comes from – marketingstartups.com and we thank them dearly, you can find the link to the whole article here.

• KillerStartups.com- Use their online form (http://www.killerstartups.com/submitted)
• Launchfeed.com- Use this site to announce the launch of your service. Not as important on the site itself, but other sites subscribe to launchfeed and use the info on their blogs.
• Simplespark- Another source of what’s new online
• MOMB- (Museum of Modern Betas)- A site listing new apps
• Go2Web20.net- A flash directory of startups that actually delivers some fairly decent traffic.
• TechCrunch- The grandaddy of internet startup blogs. You can enter your information here: http://www.crunchbase.com/companies/new
• CenterNetworks- Another great web 2.0 blog
• mashable!- Awesome blog covering all that’s new on the web. Read this post before submitting your site: http://mashable.com/2008/04/10/get-your-startup-on-mashable/
• ReadWriteWeb- http://www.readwriteweb.com/contact.php
• Blogstring.com and MarketingStartups.com- Hey, it’s easy. Just contact me (nathan.burke@gmail.com), let me know what you do, and if your site or service is relevant, I’ll review it here.

2. E-mail everyone you know and their mother, tell them about your product and how good it is and how it will change the face of mankind forever, and elaborate on how much wonderful karma they’ll get if they basically start a chain letter from it. Is it spam? Well loosely yes, but the trickle effect should get you a decent initial user base, and your friends won’t really hate you for it in the long run.

3. Socialize the heck out of it. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, post on forums, write a brief about it on EZineArticles, HubPages, and make a Blogger Site or two that links back to your site, and while you’re at it, add a Wikipedia entry. Not only will this increase your exposure, but it will also help in building back-links to your site, which will in the end help you generate traffic to your site, and spread the word on your product. Oh, and get Wibiya on your site, they recently opened it up to everyone.

4. Network as if your job depended on it, because it does. Most cities have entrepreneurial events that are held quite frequently, look on sites such as Meetup.com, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others to find out where they’re being held, if people like your stuff, they’ll spread the word, never, ever, underestimate the power of networking, and you may even get to know people who in one way or other could help you.

5. Send out press releases to everyone and anyone who may be interested. Write one and then email your local newspaper(s), magazines that cover your industry, websites, and bloggers.

6. Targeted SPAM. We hate it as much as the next guy, but targeted e-mail ad campaigns are one of the most effective ways to communicate what it is you’re selling / doing / building etc….

With that, good luck, and let us know if you have any other ideas on getting your site noticed. We’d love to hear them.

When we started planning for Next Top Startup, we had in mind that the first installment of the event would span maybe two to three European countries, and that if we’d get any traction whatsoever from across a major body of water, it would be excellent and a successful achievement on it’s own.

We had no idea however, that the scale of this competition of ours would reach as far and as wide as it did – in the end, people from 14 countries are coming together to participate in this competition in both a mentor-ship scope and contestant capacity, and as of now we still haven’t reached out to the investment community.

By trying to challenge convention, and doing what we can not to become just another Y Combinator copy, we opened the contest up to all industries – and as such saw projects come in from across the board, some of the more interesting sectors applications that we received came from the following industries: Sports, Clean Tech, Aerospace, Cloud Computing, Social Enterprise, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, amongst many others.

There was one concurrent theme in all this  – technology – in one way shape or form it’s the decisive communal factor which is driving today’s entrepreneurs forward, and while we would have liked to invite all our applicants to participate, ten does seem to be about the right number, and with that we would like to announce the ten finalists to compete for the title of – wait for it – Next Top Startup.

In alphabetical order they are…

. FastTaxi – will be an interactive platform for taxi drivers and customers to get real time information through their smart-phones in order to find and order cabs within easy reach in urban centres.
. Foundation for Global Collaboration & Peace – A serious non-profit concern that aims to build a virtual peace network that benefits the global community through the dissemination of universal human commonalities.
. Getagreatboss.com – The concept is built around a crowd-sourced Interactive Manager Review.
. INBLOON / Zero2Infinity – is a start-up whose mission is to raise our planetary consciousness by offering near-space experiences.
. Lexpertia – aims to commoditise the legal services profession by creating a database and online directory for lawyers based on specialty, operating as a legal advisory search platform for lawyer services.
. Teambox.com – Is an online resource collaboration tool for enterprise and project management.
. Touchland – provides environmentally friendly disinfectant hand wash to the consumer via direct sales and 3^rd party resellers that install their dispensers.
. WeCard – is not a typical static loyalty card but an innovative smart channel of information, and user-business relations.
. Wellknown.as – A mobile platform for delegates, exhibitors, conference organizers and sponsors.
. Xtremgo.com – enables people to easily access action sports through Internet by creating a one off marketplace to book activities online.

Good luck to all of them, and we’ll keep you posted as to the winner, and we ought to have some other treats in store for all our readers after the competition closes. Stay tuned!

VIDEOS

And to get you as excited as we are about our contestants, we’re including those videos that we received from them. Enjoy f3fundit TV

Getagreatboss.com

INBLOON

Toucland

Wellknown.as