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!

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).

• ShareMeme.com – Ahson Wardak, Luc Castera
• Contribune.org – Michael Mayernick
• Diditz.com – Sohit Karol
• MixedInk.com – David Stern
• MyDealBook.com – Mark Shacknies

Here are some clips from last week that were put together in a quick montage of some of the presenting sites. The sites featured in the video are MixedInk, Contribune, and Diditz.

You can get a free ticket at the Startup Rockstars event ticket page.