On-Line Sites For Contract Technical Help

Add comment August 8th, 2010 10:23pm skmurphy

A question came up in a recent breakfast about sites where you can post projects and recruit temporary technical help. The group came up with the following sites:

• www.odesk.com
• www.guru.com
• www.elance.com
• www.rentacoder.com (now www.vworker.com )
• www.Scriptlance.com
• www.GetAfreelancer.com

Wordpress – From Start to Finish

Add comment July 27th, 2010 05:12pm tshafer

I recently went to a great workshop by a fellow bootstrapper member Massimo Paolini.  He has a special offer to other members. It is worth checking out.

Wordpress – From Start to Finish

Thursday, August 19, 2010

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM (PT)

Mountain View, CA

More Info

Contact us for a discount code.

Looking for co-founders

Add comment July 27th, 2010 03:59pm tshafer

I am working on a revolutionary, location-based offer platform and am looking for some co-founders with 1) large-scale consumer web platform development, 2) iPhone/Android/mobile app development, 3) product & UI design, and/or 4) business development & marketing expertise.

Interested parties contact us

Verdafero Seeking Programmer

Add comment July 26th, 2010 03:11pm tshafer

Verdafero is seeking a programmer for an interim project:

A web-developer and php-programmer to help with the development of a web application. Candidates must have expertise in PHP, MySQL and JavaScript and
experience in JavaScript tools such as Jquery. Experience with CodeIgniter a plus. Ability to work and fit within a small start-up team a must.

If you can help or know someone who would be interested in learning more:

Contact:  Alistair Hood:  alastair_hood@ash-ba.com

Verdafero: Verdafero offers consulting and software as a service (SaaS) tools for sustainable business development.

Wanted: AI Expert & Developer

Add comment July 26th, 2010 03:09pm tshafer

MB Deans, CEO PalazzoTech, Inc. is looking to fill two slots: One for an AI Expert, the other a developer/data miner. Job postings follow.

Developer/AI Expert for Bootstrapping Start-Up
Have you been looking for a job where your opinion counts? Do you want to join a team where you can build a product from scratch? We need an expert like you who is:
- Familiar with the current body of work in Natural Language Processing
- Able to evaluate Bayesian, Neural Net and Support Vector technologies
- Comfortable assuming existing project and making it your own

You must be comfortable in a start-up environment, doing what needs to be done, and meeting deadlines with limited resources.

Please send a cover letter and resume to inquiry@palazzotech.com

Internet Developer with Data Mining Expertise
Have you been looking for a job where your opinion counts? Do you want to join a team where you can build a product from scratch? We need an expert like you who is:
- Familiar with some of the following technologies: XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, Ajax, Prototype, jQuery, ExtJS, YUI, JSF, JSP, ADF,  Servlet,  Struts, Ruby/Rails, Oracle (5 years),  MySQL(3 years), SQL Server , JPA, JDBC ,  Ruby(3 years), C++ (9 years),  JavaScript, C,  SQL, Win2K / WinXP ,  Linux
- Able to design, develop and implement information extraction, data normalization and de-duplication, and interfaces to MySQL or other RDMS
- Comfortable assuming existing project and making it your own

You must be comfortable in a start-up environment, doing what needs to be done, and meeting deadlines with limited resources.

Please send a cover letter and resume to inquiry@palazzotech.com

Incorporation Checklist: Why, When, and How

1 comment July 26th, 2010 01:24pm skmurphy

Disha Bheda is our coordinator for the San Francisco breakfast, she has pulled together a checklist of questions for entrepreneurs to think about as a part of planning to formalize their business structure.

First let’s look at why form a corporate business structure? Incorporation is the forming of a new legal entity that is effectively recognized as a person under the law. A couple benefit of having a new legal entity are:

• protect personal assets
• provide container for intellectual property your team is creating
• enables you to do business with larger firms
• formalizes agreements between business associates and certain stakeholders
• you want to compensate third parties/employees by stock initially when cash flow is scarce
• raising funds is easier

When (how long can you put it off)

• When you are not the sole founder
• once your core team is formed
• when there are many stakeholders-intention of hiring people
• the idea/product begins to sell or launching a service

A bootstrapper’s start-up can be either sole proprietorship, a Corporation, Sub-S, or a Limited Liability Company (LLC). What kind of corporate business structure makes sense for you? Definitely include your accountant in these discussions, it is important to understand the current tax implications of one structure over another. Tax treatment is often the biggest reason for one over another.

• While deciding a business structure, you should keep in mind:
  • The tax implications for each structure.
  • The kind of liability provisions offered by each structure.
  • How much regulatory paperwork you want to file.
• Both a S-Corporation and LLC eliminate the double taxation incurred by owners of corporations and sole proprietor.
  • The main differentiating factor though, is the employment tax paid on earnings, which is significantly more in the case of LLC.
  • A LLC does have less recordkeeping rules so you may have to tradeoff that off against the tax liabilities.

How

• Either do it yourself or hire a lawyer.
  • Good lawyers are typically from small law forms with a handful of employees.
  • They tend understand the mindset of start-ups better.
• Business name check to ascertain if the business name is available with the state of incorporation
• File papers for formation of the business entity – Certificate of Incorporation – which is filed with the secretary of state
• Create the initial bylaws – procedures affecting the governance of the business entity-the structure of capital such as common stock, preferred stock, etc-whether the corporation is forever or renewable
• Put in place appropriate Non Disclosure Agreements
• IP assignment
• Software License Agreement

Success Factors Founding Principles Good For Bootstrappers Too

Add comment July 25th, 2010 10:16pm skmurphy

From the Succes Factors Founding Principles

1. Insist on measurable customer success & delight.
2. Superior excellence & Kaizen!
3. Deliver affordable, frictionless applications.
4. Increase worldwide productivity by 50%.
5. No jerks!

What You Can Expect At A Breakfast

Add comment July 20th, 2010 08:41pm skmurphy

I received an E-Mail this week from an early stage entrepreneur

I am committed to getting my start up idea off the ground.

However, I am still in the planning/gathering information phase.  I do not have the business entity yet, but currently working on creating a network and building a team.  What stage of entrepreneurs are you looking for to join bootstrappers? What information can entrepreneurs expect to take away from this event?

If you are seriously considering starting a technology business and want to learn more about bootstrapping you are welcome to attend and meet other entrepreneurs. We have a number of folks attend who are considering starting a business, active first time entrepreneurs, and serial entrepreneurs. Here are some related blog posts.

• What are Bootstrapper Breakfasts Like?
• Pre-Entrepreneurs and the Entrepreneurially Curious are Also Welcome
• You Are Welcome to Attend

Mark Florant on “Business Development for Startups” July 20

Add comment July 14th, 2010 04:19pm skmurphy

You’ve started your business, now what?

– How well do you understand the market you are in?

Mark Florant, will discuss a number of key issues you should be thinking about:

• Understanding the size of your market: current key players/competitors, and customers.
• Selling into your market: decision makers—who are they, targeting different exec. levels/areas within a company and why.
• Factoring in changes in the marketplace

Mark Florant currently is working with three early stage start-ups; Aquabella Organics,  Wspider and 360iCoach helping them with sales, market development, marketing strategies.

Mark’s passion and expertise is taking a product with no revenue and establishing a market, along with building strong relationships that enhance the process.  His has experience working with large organizations, IBM, Cisco, Hitachi and Intel (having held positions as Sr. Account manager at Cisco as well as  US Sales Dev Mgr for the Optical Platform Division of Intel.  He has also been at successful start-up organizations such as  LightLogic, where he was VP of Worldwide Sales.  Mark earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University in Psychology.

Managing Global Teams

Add comment July 9th, 2010 06:41am skmurphy

Disha Bheda, our coordinator for the San Francisco breakfasts, has written a nice summary of a conversation we had in San Fransisco last month about managing global teams:

So as to make more effective use of resources, lower costs and utilize time better, today’s businesses are seeing a very distributed workforce. As people across various continents work on the same project, managing global teams poses various challenges.

Not being able to meet or know your colleagues is a serious cause of concern. Managers interact with their team mostly over email. What is forgotten is that there is a person reading and responding to the email. Effective communication is key. Management should take as many opportunities as possible and go out of the way to communicate through the phone and through video conferencing.

The challenge posing constant communication is the different time zones. When it’s time for the manager to work, it might be the end of day for his team. Care should be taken such that meetings are scheduled to accommodate everyone. This is difficult and one team member or two might be inconvenienced. The times of meetings can be changed periodically so that not only one part of the team is inconvenienced.

People have found having a five minute meeting everyday where the tasks to be accomplished over the next 24 hours are discussed, nothing more, nothing less to be great. Having chatroom where people sign in when they come to work and sign out when they’re done has proven effective for some.  Having a local manager as a point of contact with the team in a particular geography is another solution. As the naysayers say, “Communicate and things happen less often”.

There is the challenge of building trust with colleagues. When interacting with them online, the manager faces a constant dilemma whether to believe if the colleague really needs a day off. There also comes into the picture cultural differences. Being aware of differences and events happening locally goes a long way. Building trust with colleagues and giving them the benefit of doubt can help set the dynamics of the team on the right footnote.