• Affinity Lab – two locations currently in Washington, DC (disclaimer: host of some great events, including a Startup Rockstars event in 2009)
• Emerging Technology Centers – Baltimore, MD
• Montgomery County Department of Economic Dev – Maryland
• bwtech @UMBC – Baltimore
• Technology Advancement Program – University of Maryland
• Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (Virginia) – navigate to the Community Business Partnership’s Business Incubation Center, which offers office space by the month, or even by the day, along with conference rooms and mailboxes.
• Mason Enterprise Center at George Mason University
• Fairfax Innovation Center
• The Entrepreneur Center @ NVTC
• Teqcorner – Fairfax, VA – has office space and other capabilities.  (disclaimer: host to Startup Rockstars in 2008)

There also is the Maryland Business Incubation Association.  This article in Chubby Brain has an analysis of Maryland incubators.

The video is about six minutes long.

Motivation is a feeling you can have. Action is actual activity that brings results (positive & negative).  Many are motivated, many dream, and relatively few take action. Anyone can have a lull in the action, and sometimes it just takes listening to others to get going again.

1. Think Big – Donald Trump: An audio clip of Trump discussing thinking big, staying focused, and momentum. Focus on the solution, not on the problem, and see an opportunity for what it is. Use frustration as a motivator. Be passionate, and see yourself as victorious.  “Never give up, never quit.”

2. Taking Action vs. Procrastination: Jeff Chavez. Why do we procrastinate?  Three suggestions: (1) we’re bored, (2) we’re overwhelmed, and (3) you’ve lost confidence.

3. Action Creates Energy: – In this video, more on action, in a discussion with peak performance expert Ed Tseng. Dr. Rob Gilbert states “Action creates energy” at just past the five minute mark in the clip, and mentions that energy level doesn’t have to be connected with how you feel.

Four

If you are a tech startup (or thinking of starting): you can plug in now into the Mid-Atlantic region’s growing community, including events every month (see DCTechEvents), to help grow and expose your business to the world.

Besides the list of events below, there also is Bootstrap MD – a workshop/panel format that will inspire and inform you.

Below are the startup organizations we found that presented or showcased their stuff live during 2009, and the event(s) which they were showcased, and in some cases links to video or other media from the event:

The events included above are:

1 – SR4 – Startup Rockstars 4 – 03/12/2009
2 – SMS - Social Matchbox Spring – 04/02/2009
3 – TC5 – TechCocktail DC 5 – 05/20/2009
4 – SR5 – Startup Rockstars 5 – 06/03/2009
5 – LBD – Launchbox Digital Demo Day 09 – 08/05/2009.  The LaunchBox Digital accelerator program.  Event writeups include: SomewhatFrank,(video), TechCrunch, and many others.
6 – SMS - Social Matchbox Summer Social (<-click for writeups) – 08/20/2009
7 – TC6 – TechCocktail DC 6 – 08/27/2009 (photos).  Writeups include: SomewhatFrank, Poptoid
8 – SR6 – Startup Rockstars 6 – 09/09/09

Please let us know of additions & corrections.  This matrix will be updated through the end of the year, adding media links, and including more events that are still being scheduled.

We are also creating the 2010 Washington-Baltimore Startup Directory and invite you to submit your startup (or your favorite startups) using the submission form here.

Those interested to help in future versions of this list are encouraged to volunteer using the contact form.

Success is a continuous journey – Richard St. John – talks at a TED event about success in terms of learning and re-building… an initial “success” is not the end-game.

The video is just under 4 minutes long.

The second clip is a two-minute montage from down under (Australia) -

Passion Is The Key - an Australian TV show, Your Business Success, provides business tips from leading entrepreneurs. This video discusses concepts including unbridled confidence, momentum, and persistance, along with the statement “it’s important to have a passion for what you do“.

And the next video uplifts from a realistic view of the spectrum of success -

A Kinder, Gentler Philosophy of Success – Alain de Botton – talks about success in terms of many areas, including talking about types of “self-help” books, careers, meritocracy, and other topics in the context of alternatives.  Memorable quotes include: “You think you know what [success] means“, “…a lot of the time our ideas of what it would mean to live successful are not our own“, and “…make sure … that we are truly the authors of our own ambitions.” and “Let’s make sure our ideas of success are truly our own.”

(17 minutes)

and, wrapping up, another upbeat short clip is presented…

8 Secrets Of Success – Richard St. John – talks about success in terms of:

• Passion
• Work
• Focus
• Persist
• Ideas…

…and the rest of his 8 secrets, in just 3 1/2 minutes:

Whatever the day, these videos and ones such as John Wooden on True Success can get your motivational mojo going!

1. The slide deck below is “Designing For Social Traction” and starts off with issues related to users of a (new) website, and moves on to how design affects users & behavior on a website. It includes some of the psychological reasons for what happens online as users decide to commit to joining and interacting with a site (& community):

2. Marketing online now includes old-school PR & ads, and newer social media campaigns.  The largest social media site, Facebook,  may one day become the largest social marketing site.  Online startups need to factor a Facebook presence into their marketing strategy (and participate in the community that is there):

3. The presentation below is “Find Investors” and covers some of the basics:

4. 12 Fold Way To Venture Capital Funding – shows a longer overview including roadmap, business plans, financials, and investor pitches:

5. And to wrap up, a humorous yet serious look titled “Startup Metrics for Pirates: AARRR! (SXSW March 2008)” that mixes a hearty pirate outlook with web 2.0 aspects. Besides looking at customer lifecycle & conversion behavior, it gives a real-case experience of challenges faced by dogster. And, did you ever want to know the definition of “AARRR“? Click away, maties:

As a follow-up to last week’s post DC Investors Venture Capital (VC) List, here are some resources to reach out beyond your local geographic area, wherever you are.

Some of these sites attempt to use the best aspects of online social communities to enable entrepreneurs to help each other, in areas of financing their ventures, and in other areas such as networking and business planning.

Before we get to the list, you may want to take an online quiz or take this online survey to see if you’re ready for funding. Or, perhaps read up on why some plans don’t get funded.

Online Funding Communities For Entrepreneurs

 
Angelsoft

A community designed “to bring the power of collaboration technologies to the early-stage investment industry”, from both the entrepreneur side and the investor side.

eFactor

“Entrepreneur Factor” – A community and virtual marketplace portal that includes a venture Financing section, along with a jobs directory, coaching, videos, events, networking and other tools.

FundingPost

An online listing service for entrepreneurs & investors.   They also have in-person community events and conferences, and have videos of past events online.

Go4Funding

Online portal “platform to bring entrepreneurs, business owners and investors (angel investors and venture capitalists) closer”, including a section for posting & viewing ideas.

GoBigNetwork

Provides a “virtual rolodex” portal for funding requests, along with business plan help from advisors and experts in the community.

Mid-Atlantic Investor Network

A regionally-focused, web-based matching service, which also connects entrepreneurs to investors in “30 of our other investment network sites located around the world”.

Prosper

Focuses on small loans, including entrepreneurial start-up funding.

RaiseCapital

A portal who’s mission is “to connect entrepreneurs and investors”, and also showcases submitted videos on RaiseCapitalTV.

TheFunded

A portal which is an “online community of entrepreneurs to research, rate, and review funding sources worldwide”.

Vencorps

A “community powered capital” website that allows funding of ideas using crowd-powered techniques.  Members can submit ideas, and also vote on ones they like with a points-based system.  Winners get real financing.

Other Resources

These additional sites below offer similar resources to those listed above by operating as more of a listing or evaluation service without as much community-based interaction:

• CapitalVector – offers a paid downloadable list
• FundingUniverse - makes recommendations based on each funding needs situation
• VCAonline – A listing service along with related tools sold to help in the pitching and funding aspects.
• vFinance – A site that has both a VC search and an angel search.

The video for this post is a bit tongue-in-cheek connection to the subject discussed – Dire Straits‘ “Money For Nothing” song, performed live in October 1985 at Wembley Stadium in London, England.

The video is almost 7 minutes long. If you want to hear a version with Sting singing the “I want my MTV” part you can try here for a 1997 live version including Eric Clapton & Phil Collins (Music for Montserrat concert).

An additional piece of lingo that may be involved in financing your venture is term sheet, which is a document containing the basic terms and conditions of a yet-to-ironed-out agreement.  You may want to understand some of the nuances of these documents, including what an investor may think is ideal.

There is at least one online business planning option with the online term sheet generator (from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati).

And thanks to embeddable slides and documents, you can also view some sample term sheets below, along with a slide deck of term sheet hacks.

Here is an example (embedded) – a ficticious term sheet designed to help entrepreneurs get a start on creating their own:

Term Sheet

A downloadable customizable term sheet (from TheFunded) is embedded below:

FFI Plain Preferred Term Sheet –

And from 2007 are these term sheet hacks from Dave McClure:

The term sheet hacks and sample term sheet above can be read while listening to this post’s video – Shedaisy’s “In Terms Of Love” song.

The video is about 3 1/2 minutes long.

Where does passion come from?  It depends on what type of passion.  One way to divide it is into the two camps of  “Carrot” or “stick“.  The carrot is pleasure, reward, success, money, and other positive outcomes that one has pulling them forward.  The stick is pain, fear, concern, failure, and other negative areas.

Are you looking to save the world from ecological disaster?  Stick.  Are you looking to retire by age 35 with the admiration (and envy) of friends and family?  Carrot.  Are you looking to help people avoid catching the H1N1 virus with a plastic sneezeguard to make a quick fortune?  Carrot and stick.

Your passion – that energy – also contributes to confidence.  The energy of your pursuit flows through you and builds confidence. (And that confidence may be what makes you be the one who is launching when others are still waiting).

The video for this post is the Rolling Stones “Waiting on a Friend” from 1981.

The video is about 4 1/2 minutes long.

You’ve heard the saying “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” (Robert H. Schuller), and for some people they appear to not worry about failure.  In many cases it is true – they were too busy, and they had confidence that their dreams were destined to materialize.

Many of us consume information in the area that we want to grow and develop in.  People who are pursuing their dreams are drawn to stories, resources, and other information sources that help them.

Much of the focus on this blog is on ventures platformed on the social web and companies who have online services and products.

And like many leaders of 21st century web startups, they are inspired by the crowd.

“There go the people.  I must follow them for I am their leader.“ - Alexandre Ledru-Rollin

The dreams of the crowd can inspire individuals to act to make those dreams become real.  Perhaps those dreams are the biggest of all, as they are the dreams of many.

And in writing this post, it occured that the reverse is true – and is part of the business model of companies such as Genius Rocket: to take the dream of one and allow the crowd to help fulfill it. (Genius Rocket presented at our June 2009 event, and their community creates media for others in a crowd-sourcing type of way).

And the video for this post is Beyoncé’s “Sweet Dreams“ (as opposed to The Eurythmics 1980’s hit “Sweet Dreams” [are made of these]):

The video is about 5 minutes long.