Besides the feel-good factor of “helping out”, you will get listed on the About page.  Contact me for more info:  ncstartupblog at gmail dot com

1) What is your 30 second elevator pitch?

David Coyle:  Coylebilt Industries specializes in helping our customers who use Apple products, to meet their goals and increase their productivity.  We provide a complete range of services supporting all Apple platforms, ranging from the Xserve to the iPhone.  We believe in complete, open and honest communication, with agile development that’s responsive to the customer’s needs: you the customer are the most important member of our team.

2) Describe the planning leading up to your launch?

David Coyle:  There was no discrete start point for this business: you could either say fifteen years of planning, or no planning at all.  I’ve brought all my experience in research methodology and scientific experimentation, coupled with years of IT consulting experience, to create an environment in which we work together with customers to really solve problems by examining their issues critically and from all angles. On the other hand, the mechanics of starting this business—which is virtually based—took no real time or planning beyond securing a domain and setting up and maintaining a website.

3) What market need do you fill?

David Coyle:  We cater to small to medium sized businesses, that need unique solutions, that fall in the IT donut hole of too complex for COTS, but too small and resource constrained to be of interest to the conventional IT consultancies.  In addition to that, we have expanded into the iPhone app market, leveraging our Objective-C language experience that extends all the way back to 1992.

4) What is your and your team’s background?

David Coyle:  I have a PhD in Geoscience and worked for a number of years doing pure research at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics.  There, I did extensive computer modeling, simulation and visualization that required a deep grounding in Object-Oriented design.  After that, I worked for ten years in a variety of IT consulting companies, mostly working on really large enterprise systems.  I have an extended virtual team in Europe and North America that allows Coylebilt to grow to meet the needs of any project.

5) How are you funded and what is your revenue model?

David Coyle:  We are self-funded, we work on both time and materials based billable projects, as well as iPhone and iPod touch applications that we sell through the Apple iTunes App Store.  We have two applications for sale now, Deckster and Harry, and are expanding quickly into creating ever more media-rich applications.

6) What is the importance of being based in NC?

David Coyle:  North Carolina is a great location to do business: it is a significant market in its own right, but it also has great transportation infrastructure with easy access to all of the eastern US and Europe.  The balance between lifestyle and work is excellent.  I could not imagine starting a business anywhere else.

About once a week I review the list of my new Twitter followers and make decisions about following them back or ignoring them.  I can’t find the post now, but I think I talked before about my rationale for following back.  Its something like this…

This is a blog about Startup activity in NC, so  I will follow you back if your Twitter account is either Startup related or you are located in NC.  Neither complex nor sophisticated, but it allows me to make quick decisions.

Still, there may be reasons why I choose not to follow you back:

• you have no tweets (have you nothing to say?)
• your tweets are offensive (I might even block you)
• your tweets appear to be entirely self-serving, i.e. you only talk about yourself (read your own tweets and gag!)

I probably follow back about 80% of my followers.  Or so it was anyway.  The last few weeks, I’m finding fewer and fewer followers that I want to follow back based on the same rationale.  I think my “follow-back” percentage has dropped to 20-30%.

So that got me thinking…  Am I already following everyone that is worth following for me?  Have I reached the end of my Twitter universe?   If we’re really using Twitter to follow the activities of people we know or care about, doesn’t it make sense that at some point we’re following everyone who matters to us (except for the occasional “new friend”).  There may be 5 or 6 million users on Twitter, but there are still only so many people you can “know”.   Maybe the web isn’t so big after all…

If you listened to Robbie, you know that he believes in being open about his business model, operations and even his plans.  So I was not surprised he send me a link to Scribd with the full presentation. 

Here is an abbreviated text-only version:

Everything you’ve been told about Entrepreneurship is WRONG!

There is no “right” way to start a company despite what VCs, Academics, Entrepreneurs, and the title of this presentation might lead you to believe

• Myth #1. Startup failure rate
  False: 9/10 business fail in the first year
  True: SBA says 50% survive 4+ years
  Never apply a broad stat to your situation. Demographics matter (e.g. divorce rate)
  Ed Roberts (MIT) data showed that only 16% of tech-based companies out of MIT failed after 5-7 years
• Myth #2. Must be a 20-something right out of college
  When I started StatSheet:
  - Early thirties
  - Married
  - Mortgage
  - New baby
  - Employed
  Kauffman study showed more entrepreneurs among 55-64 year olds
• Myth #3. Can’t do it by yourself
  Why not?
  Can be much more nimble than my competition
  Can be lonely at times, but that’s what your mentors/friends/spouse are for
• Myth #4. Guard your secrets
  I encourage competition!
  I have a head start and plenty of stodgy competition. A bigger competitor copying me validates what I’m doing and makes me more attractive to others.
  Be open about your plans (it will differentiate you)
• Myth #5. Laser focus
  In the web world, you can miss opportunities by being “laser” focused
  Burn a hole right through your business
  More irons in the pot diversifies risk
  But how much is too much?

Some conventional wisdom is wise

• Truth #1. Execution over Ideas   
  Ideas are a dime a dozen
  People have already had your idea before
  Solid execution is the only reason StatSheet is in business today
  At least 4 people have told me:
     “I had that idea (for StatSheet) years ago”
• Truth #2. A startup is hard work   
  I’m willing to outwork my competition
  If you aren’t willing to work harder than your competition, your execution better be top 1%
• Truth #3. Raising money is hard (but not impossible)   
  Money is out there
  Best to show progress first
  If you have a viable business model, that puts you ahead of most web-startups

This is excellent stuff and a real moral boost to any struggling startup.  Its all good advise, but I see these three as the golden nuggets:

• Take the time to work out your business model (without it, all you have is a hobby).
• Spend as little money as possible, it will take you longer than expected to be profitable.
• Work hard and expect a rollercoaster of set-backs and successes.

Robbie had a nice slide at the end that showed available support resources here in the Triangle.  It was a good slide that could have been perfect had it included this blog as a resource  ;-).   Here it is:

First there is Full Throttle Development, a Raleigh based web design firm, that is running a “Small Business Stimulus Initiative” by giving away 10 free Basic Business Websites valued at $10,000 each, to assist small businesses with their online presence.  Details here.   CORRECTION:  10 websites at $1,000 each, for a total value of $10,000.

Heads up for the Inc. Magazine Newpreneur of the Year contest.  Apply with your early stage or idea stage startup and you may win a grant from $5,000 to $50,000.  Deadline is August 14th and details are here.

If your startup is Twitter based, check out this analysis done by ChubbyBrain, a NYC based initiative that tracks startup and investment data.  As controversial as the business model behind Twitter may be, VC’s to date have invested over $23M in Twitter related startups.  Details here.

Have a great weekend!

The apparent reason for the picture requirement is that “This is NOT your typical Social Network with millions of members where logos and avatars are the norm and it’s okay to be anonymous.”  That’s a quote from an email Pat sent me.  I’m not sure how I make myself anonymous by putting my name and other identifying information next to a logo.  I think the picture requirement points to mistake #3.

My reasoning for using the blog logo was that many local people know me from my blog; its simply part of my online presence.  As a point of recognition, I think the logo is more important than my picture because the blog is about Startups, not about me.  (And if you must see my picture, go to the About page.)

Before I had a chance to respond, I found myself banned.  The Inside919 URL diverted me to http://inside919.ning.com/main/index/banned and I saw this message:

I sent a polite response to the Administrator (also Pat), but heard nothing back.  I quickly fixed the diversion to the “banned” URL by deleting the Inside919 cookie.  I could register again (I didn’t), even with a fake name and somebody else’s picture and Pat would never know.

So what’s wrong here?  I see at least three things that will be problematic for any online social community:

• Mistake #1:  you can’t build an online community on the back of someone else’s online community.  Although Ning is a platform for social networks, it is intended for small, specific, non-commercial networks.  If you get too big or too successful, you could threaten your host and find yourself without a platform.  There are plenty examples of this happening.  Marc Freedman (aka LinkDaddy) got booted from LinkedIn when he turned his DallasBlue group on LinkedIn into a business and it got too successful too fast.  And Robbie Allen, the local founder of StatSheet, found his StatTweets accounts suspended on Twitter.  When you own the store, you can kick people out.
• Mistake #2:  area codes are so 1980’s.  People that are connected online use mobile (smart) phones, and area codes just don’t matter anymore.  Basing your social community on a relic of the wireline past is a clear sign of not understanding your audience.
• Mistake #3:  in online communities you don’t need to set requirements (other than prohibiting profanities, etc).  Instead, the community will blossom from the benefits of compliance.  The more complete and meaningful your profile is, the more likely that other members want to interact with you.  If you contribute to the overall community, you will benefit individually.  For example, on LinkedIn, a complete and detailed profile (with a picture) will get more interest form recruiters.  On eBay, leaving buyer and seller feedback will create more credibility as a buyer or seller.

Inside919 will find more members, but with its flaws and with the increasing proliferation of online social communities, Inside919 and its other area code copies, will struggle.  To be successful in this space you need critical mass and for that you will need to give your customers what they want, not what you want.

The SynergyStreetTRADE Online Barter Community is composed of people who trade products and services. Participants trade by placing a value on the item traded, which can later be withdrawn to trade for other things needed to grow a business.

If you attend today’s meeting, you’ll receive $50.00 toward your trade account so you can start trading right away. Here are the details.

Date: July 1st, TODAY
Time: 6:00pm-8:00pm
Location:
Joseph-Beth Booksellers SouthPark Mall in the meeting room above Bronte Bistro
4345 Barclay Downs Drive, Charlotte, NC 28209
Price: $5.00 for guest members and first-time visitors, or free for SynergyStreetTRADE Preferred Members and Affiliate Marketing Associates
Contact: (704) 602-9800

Drinks, hors d’ oeuvres, dinner, are available from Bronte Bistro. Everyone is responsible for their own tab.

For more information and to register, log onto the Charlotte Entrepreneurs Organization’s Meetup Page.

San Antonio Startup Blog: Finding a Wilderness and Making it Flourish

Highlight:  “Ed found a desolate wilderness and made it flourish,” Orna says.Ed tells the story in his just-published autobiography, “Milk and Honey and High-Tech”. His influence can be split into two parts: his spell from 1979-1992 as the first Executive Director of the Israel-US Binational Industrial Research & Development (BIRD) Foundation, which provides funding for joint projects carried out by US and Israeli companies, and his activities since 1993 as a venture capitalist after he established Gemini.

In his book, Ed holds the reader with entertaining anecdotes involving high-powered executives, world-class scientists and one of Hollywood’s greatest actors; along the way he provides valuable insights into how to conduct business relationships and close deals.

Kentucky Startup Blog: Company profile: Starborn Solutions

Highlight:  Starborn Solutions is a startup founded by Randy Lynn.  Randy is an IBM guy who has built an impressive team and is taking on the challenge of e-medical records for the home health industry.  Randy spoke to me about his startup.

What is your company’s 30 second elevator pitch?

An average per day cost for a hospital stay is above $5,000. An average per visit cost for a home health visit is about $130. Whether it is privately or federally funded, home health will remain and will likely grow as a priority contributor to the complete health care team.

Texas Startup Blog: Is your VC well Connected?

Highlight:  Two years ago Yael Hochberg, Alexander Ljungqvist and Yang Lu wrote a paper called “Whom you know matters: Venture Capital Networks and Investment Performance.“  This may seem obvious, but their research is very interesting.  Erick Schonfeld’s piece today titled, “The Top 100 Networked Venture Capitalist” explores the paper’s findings. 

Detroit Startup Blog: Ignite Ann Arbor

Highlight:  If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Around the world geeks have been putting together Ignite nights to show their answers.

Colorado Startup Blog: Startup2Startup is Tuesday - don’t miss it

Highlight:  I’m really excited that Dave McClure is bringing the popular Silicon Valley event “Startup2Startup” to Boulder this Tuesday night. I’m moderating a discussion called the “Ultimate Platform Hotness Smackdown: iPhone, Twitter, Facebook, Google, and the native web”. We’ll be comparing and contrasting these platforms and others, for the relative benefit and interest from the startup perspective on a variety of platform topics (features, distribution, monetization, etc).

(George Osgood / Star-Gazette)

What corporate function was driving this thing?

Last night we had Startup Drinks (jointly with the Triangle Refresh meeting) over at Viget Labs in Durham.  It was a great time; a lot of familiar faces and a whole bunch of new ones.  Robbie Allen of Statsheet presented his lessons learned on Entrepreneurship and busted some common myths.  I’ll see if he will share his slides and I’ll summarize his main points here.

Happy Friday!