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Recap of Venture Club

November 19, 2008

The keynote presentation was by Wes Keltner.  Wes is CEO of the TAO Agency , an experimental media lab and of Game Cinema HD, a site that is a cross between consumer reports and CNN for gamers. Wes and his team help companies use cutting edge technologies to build their brand and interact with consumers.

The presenting company was Komfort Kruz, manufacturers of motorcycle to trike conversion kit.  The company was started by two passionate enthusiasts and they have some patented technology that set them apart.  We will have more on Kustom Kruz shortly as well.

Written by Richard Stump · Filed Under Blog, Events, Startups, Venture Capital |  

Startup Weekend is this Friday

November 17, 2008

 Startup Weekend is being held this Friday in Lexington.  We have over 40 attendees signed up.  If your planning on attending, please sign up here.  We will have good food, and a lot of fun in addition to some great ideas.

Written by Richard Stump · Filed Under Blog, Events, Startups |  

E-Club Forum

November 14, 2008

Last night I sat on a panel with Wes Keltner of the Tao Agency, Tommy Cunningham of TC Motions, Brian Raney of Apax Software, and Evan Morris from Bluegrass Beat.  We were asked to tell our stories and interact with the UK E-club.  In addition they pitched their ideas for feedback.  The ideas ranged from new software applications to some new ideas for more main street businesses.  Of the five ideas pitched, I would say one was outstanding, one was good but probably could be great with a bit of a switch in focus, two were average main street businesses but could be good lifestyle choices and 1 was not worth any effort.  Most of those pitching were undergrads so overall I think the quality was pretty good.  Now the challenge for them is to work on these further for the December Idea Fair where the winners will be chosen to represent UK at the statewide business plan competition.

Written by Richard Stump · Filed Under Blog, Startups |  

Lexington Tweetup

November 13, 2008

I have been informed the next Lexington Tweetup will be next Thursday, November 20th, 7 pm at the Patchen Pub.  This could be a good warmup for Startup Weekend in Lexington which is next weekend, the 21st through 23rd.

Written by Richard Stump · Filed Under Blog, Events, Startups |  

Embarrassment for Lexington

November 11, 2008

Rick Segal, A VC with JLA ventures and the Blackberry Partners fund had the following post about the pitches he receives.  Unfortunately, a poor soul here in Lexington gets singled out:

“1 email with: “Steve Jobs has done an amazing thing with these Blackberry devices and my application can continue the drive for total RIM dominance.” Now, what’s cool about this one was the Steve Jobs, Blackberry and RIM words were all in Bold and different font.  This was from a fine fella in Lexington KY.  Yeah, [DEL].”

I am sure this was just a mistake and the guy knew that jobs and apple is the pairing but I assure Mr. Segal that most of us do.  Just a small black eye.

Written by Richard Stump · Filed Under Blog, Startups |  

Obama & Entrepreneurship

November 10, 2008

Below are links to articles and posts about The President Elect and entrepreneurship:  Good analysis and well worth the read:

Obama Ran a capitalist campaign, Will he grasp the lessons from his campaign as he crafts policy?

Mark Cuban’s take

Sramana Mitra on Stimulus for entrepreneurs and asking Obama to Listen to entrepreneurs

Preelection take on the effect of Obama’s Tax plan on Small Business from Conservative Heritage Foundation

Texas Startup Blog on American Entrepreneurship

 

UPDATE: Kauffman Foundation open letter to the President-Elect

Written by Richard Stump · Filed Under Blog, Politics, Startups |  

Social Web Strategies Presentation

November 7, 2008

The Digital Di@logue event sponsored by the Lexington Ad club was well attended.  The panelists gave a very basic overview of how to integrate social media tools into your business whether it be a Fortune 500 company or a small start-up.

You can get a copy of the full presentation here and the basic primer is available here.

Written by Richard Stump · Filed Under Blog, Events, Startups |  

10 tips for building a startup

November 5, 2008

Dharmesh Shah at Onstartups has an interesting post about a talk he gave at the business of software conference. A few that stuck out for me as particularly relevant were:

“Your idea can suck.  Just get started”

“You can be in the middle of nowhere and still build a great business”

“Not having cash breeds good behavior.  It’s helpful to have constratints”

“In defense of the modest outcome:  You don’t HAVE to build the next Facebook.  Modest liquidity events are highly under-rated”

Written by Richard Stump · Filed Under Blog, Startups |  

Digital Di@logue Event:Conversations about New Media

November 3, 2008

The Lexington Advertising Club is hosting an event about Social Media Strategies, Web 2.0 and Advertising. A panel of experts will be talking about Social Media, Search Engine Marketing, Web Advertising and other “Web 2.0″ topics.

EVENT DETAILS

5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. networking / appetizers / cash bar

6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. digit@l di@logue panel discussion

$10 to attend. Register online at

lexingtonadclub.com/rsvp.html

(pay online or at the door)

Panelists:

Nick Huhn: Nick works with companies to help them make the best use of the web. He’s worked at or with organizations you know: Papa John’s, Norton Healthcare, YUM! Brands. He’s a self-proclaimed creative versatilist – meaning he likes to be involved in a lot of creative endeavors. Nick lives in Louisville with his wife and daughter. www.nickhuhn.com

Scott Clark: Scott starting working in website development and internet marketing in 1994 while in Silicon Valley. Currently he spends most of his time working in the fast moving worlds of organic and paid search optimization,social medial marketing, split and multivariate testing of website offers, and integrated marketing strategies. He is an accredited Google Adwords Professional, a Yahoo! Small Business Partner, A Yahoo! Search Marketing Ambassador, and hold several certifications in web marketing skill sets. www.sitecreations.com

Jason Falls: Jason is the Director of Social Media at Doe Anderson Advertising in Louisville. Jason’s accomplishments include increasing online exposure for top brands, a 50% increase in PR for a national ad campaign, and developing multiple online marketing and advertising campaigns. He is also one of the founders of the Social Media Club in Louisville. www.jasonfalls.com

Moderator - Bill Dotson: Bill recently purchased WebMedley – a web, e-mail, and domain name hosting company working with over 800 clients – and consults for a few companies interested in growing through the use of Internet technology. He lives in Lexington with his wife and three boys. Bill’s Company site: www.webmedley.com and personal site: www.billdotson.com

Written by Richard Stump · Filed Under Blog, Events, Startups |  

My article on Startup Weekend

October 30, 2008

My article on Startup Weekend for Business Lexington is now published.  I am going to occasionally guest write on entrepreneurship for the magazine. We are looking forward to a great Startup Weekend event in Lexington. Hope to see you there.

Written by Richard Stump · Filed Under Blog, Events, Startups |  

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