My new best friends (see smiley faces on right) are waiting for me at our stylin' pad. I think they ate all the Salt Lick BBQ, though. Will have to have them read the friendship contract again.
My new best friends (see smiley faces on right) are waiting for me at our stylin' pad. I think they ate all the Salt Lick BBQ, though. Will have to have them read the friendship contract again.
Innovate! 2010 Europe has kicked off and Guidewire Group has started accepting applications from promising technology startups. On a rolling basis, Guidewire Group’s analysts – led by Chris Shipley – will review all applications for eligibility and will select the best ones as semifinalists.
Innovate! is a unique program dedicated to fostering relationships between local entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world and the global entrepreneurial ecosystem centered in Silicon Valley through in-person events and the annual Innovate! 100 list of top startups.
Innovate!’s mission is to identify and showcase the most promising early-stage startups across the globe, and to help dramatically accelerate those businesses by connecting them with world-class partners, investors and press.
Semifinalists will be invited to participate in one of the Innovate! 2010 Pitch Slams which will be held in over 10 cities throughout Europe and Israel in March 2010. Like the poetry slams by which they’re inspired, the Pitch Slams will provide entrepreneurs with valuable feedback from their peers and a panel of expert judges.
Using Guidewire Group’s proprietary assessment framework, each Innovate! 2010 startup will be given a G Score that reflects its overall viability, and offers a detailed evaluation of its business and product execution strategies, team and business model. Participants will also be invited to take part in the Innovate! 2010 Silicon Valley tour, a weeklong trade mission featuring intensive mentoring workshops, private introductions and meetings, and exclusive visits to some of Silicon Valley’s leading companies.
The top-ranked companies will be named to Guidewire Group’s Innovate! 100 list of the most promising early-stage technology, media and telecom startups. Selection as one of theInnovate! 100 confers extraordinary endorsement, validation and promotion. Contact GuideWire Group to be informed when applications and nominations open.
You’re also invited to learn more about Guidewire Group’s 2009 Innovate!Europe program, which helped to accelerate the global expansion of Europe’s top startups.
Huge shout out to @duffalex for this one, a design your own car company, Local Motors, based in Massachusetts. Follow the founder @johnbrogers on Twitter.
My recent 15 hours of fame during the Eurotunnel debacle got me thinking about the nature of social media.
I am all about the democratization of the web. Always on the David side of any David & Goliath equation, I am delighted to see the little guy finally having his day. However, there is an inherent problem -- the tyranny of the formerly oppressed.
Say what you will, but the beauty of pokey traditional media was that there was a process in place, one that involved editing and fact checking, which meant that stories were presented without an editorial slant and containing verified facts. Now the most ill-informed rumor can spread like wildfire and even be picked up by traditional media, thus giving it an air of credibility and the status of truth. The citizen journalists -- us citizen journalists -- have no editor, no fact-checker, no filter.
I challenge us all to stick to these guidelines:
Try to uphold journalistic integrity, even if you're not pulling down a journalist's pay. Yes, Leila, I hear you laughing.
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Mini Seedcamp Paris aims to connect the region's start-up community with the wider European start-up scene.
We will be bringing together 20 of the region's best seed stage tech start-ups with experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and developers from both France and all over Europe to participate in a day of intense mentoring, panel discussions and presentations at the super-cool Microsoft Technology Center in Paris.
This year, Mini Seedcamp Paris is extending its search and inviting fresh and fantastic talent from beyond France to include Spain and the Benelux region. By doing so, we hope to unearth even more promising start-up teams that are itching to break through the surface and build a kick-ass business.
As a team in Mini Seedcamp Paris you will:
Team applications are open until February 9th at midnight. You can apply by going to the following link: http://apply.seedcamp.com/
Mike Butcher of TechCrunch joined us on the 26th and 27th of November at Sofinnova to meet some French start ups -- we called it his "French Start-Up Speed Dating Day." The list included:
Later than night, we had cocktail at my house, but those pictures are NSWF, as usual.
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