SeedStart Media 2011, is a New York City based summer program that will attract the most innovative startup companies in digital media, e-commerce, ad infrastructure and mobile technology from all over the United States.  The purpose of the program is to provide promising entrepreneurs with funding and a network of mentors, investors, and leading industry experts to advise them.  Participating in the program are some of the world’s largest media, advertising and technology companies including AOL, Comcast, Hearst, MTV Networks, News Corporation, Time Warner, Vivendi and others to be announced shortly.

Up to ten promising startups will be invited to come to New York City to participate in the 12 week program, starting in mid June.  Each team will receive $20,000 to support the development and launch of their company.  Through a program of lectures, coaching and networking events, each company will interact closely with representatives of traditional media companies, digital media companies, e-commerce companies, experienced venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.  Representatives of these firms and other experienced entrepreneurs will serve as mentors to the program participants, helping them refine their ideas, develop their products, and accelerate their companies’ growth. The program will conclude with an “Investor Day,” in which each company will present to a group of venture capitalists, angel investors, and potential customers and partners.  Five venture capital firms will provide funding and mentorship for SeedStart Media 2011 including Contour Venture Partners, Comcast Interactive Capital/Genacast Ventures, NYC Seed, Polaris Venture Partners and RRE Ventures.

This program offers a very unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to work directly with some of the greatest brands in traditional and digital media as mentors and potential partners.  One of the most difficult things about building a company from scratch is gaining access to the companies and people that might have a significant impact on a new business. SeedStart’s vertical focus makes this a reality.

Applications open today.   If you know of great entrepreneurs who  are building really interesting companies in digital media, e-commerce, ad infrastructure and mobile technology please refer them to SeedStart.

We would like to invite any and all entrepreneurs who are working on interesting projects to signup at  http://bit.ly/DPLatSxSW and tell us about yourself and your company.  While we do not have unlimited space we will try to accommodate as many entrepreneurs as possible.

Additionally, Peter Flint (@pflint), Mike Hirshland (@vcmike), Dave Barrett (@dbodbo) and Ryan Spoon (@ryanspoon) will be holding office hours at Dogpatch Labs and would be very interested in meeting with companies.   You can sign up here for meeting time slots:  http://ohours.org/PolarisVentures

Here’s the full Dogpatch Austin Schedule:

9am-11pm          DPL open for entrepreneurs.

3pm-6pm            Polaris Office Hours: http://ohours.org/PolarisVentures

5pm-6pm            Informal Open office hours with Partners

8pm-11pm          DPL SXSW Party (private invitation)

Monday:

9a-11pm              DPL re-opens for entrepreneurs.

3p-6p                    Polaris Office Hours http://ohours.org/PolarisVentures

8pm-10pm          Partners vs entrepreneurs foosball tournament (private invitation)

Having spent many years in the cable tv business I remember when satellite television was introduced and the negotiations content providers had with the cable operators to allow their programming to be distributed over satellite.  Years later Direct TV embraced technology innovation to compete.  They introduced DVR enabled set top boxes before cable and they introduced HD programming faster than cable.  These two intitiatives enticed millions of consumers to abandon cable and place a dish on their roof.  Apple TV and perhaps even Google TV pose a similar threat once they achieve scale.

When MTV launched in 1981 with the I want my MTV campaign consumers were encouraged to call their cable operator and request it.  I can’t wait for the day when programmers will be as agressive about getting their content on Apple TV.

In January we will have another group of companies leaving Dogpatch NY as they expand their teams.  While it is really sad to see them go this creates an opportunity for new entrepreneurs to join us.

Here is what we are looking for:

1. You must have a very collaborative personality.  The strength and uniqueness of  Dogpatch Labs is the environment where people are genuinely interested in helping one and other.
2. Your product is in the early stages of development and is at least at the prototype stage.
3. Your team is between 1-3 people now.  There are opportunities to grow to five over six months if there are desks available.
4. You and your team will be working at Dogpatch on a full-time basis.

If you are interesting in applying or know someone great here is the application.

As we look to invest in consumer Internet companies, content and commerce, while the team is always a driving force in our decision, so is the quality of the content.  Building a destination site that is able to build a user base of meaningful size is not an easy task.  Candidly even with great content it is a daunting task.  When doing seed deals in this space it becomes an even harder decision because you don’t know how good the content will be and if the consumers will gravitate to it.  The inspiration to write this post came during a recent Board meeting.   JIBE is in a very competitive space…job boards.  The founder Joe Essenfeld had the belief from day one  that if his team could build a product with the best social features combined with quality jobs from brand name corporations JIBE would become a significant player in the marketplace.  While it is still early…JIBE is off to a spectacular start!  Others who have entered this new world of social media recruiting are more concerned about building a user base before they offer content.  Yes job listings are content.

So once again I have been convinced that content is more than just music videos(MTV), movies(Showtime) and merchandise(QVC) and that any company planning on offering a consumer content platform, on cable, the web or on mobile should be as focused as Joe Segel was about quality, quality, quality.

Let me start out by saying never make a candidate an offer unless they tell you they want the job.  You have to assume that your candidate is talking with other companies and will be weighing their options.  Don’t start negotiating until you know that agreeing on the compensation package is the only thing needed to close the deal!  Ask them this question directly!  If the candidate says they are leaning in your direction, don’t make an offer.  Don’t get in a position where your offer is potentially being used to get a better offer from the other compay.   Trust me this happened to one of our companies.  The CEO did make an offer too early and I believe this offer was used to get a better deal with the other company.

Once you know the candidate is really committed then you should make a verbal offer.  BTW I would also try and learn as early as possible, prior to offer,  if the candidate is more motivated by cash or equity.   Try to come to an agreement on the cash and equity before sending an offer letter.  You will be surprised how this expedites the closing process.  From this point on the other issues are for the most part legalise.

While you may be anxious to make the hire, don’t rush the final part of the process.

No one likes to give bad news. Most people don’t like controversy. But we all must learn how to deliver bad news in a way that is constructive and deal with controversy directly. This is true in business and personal relationships. Someone recently told me that their son broke up with his girlfriend via text!

Many people, especially the younger generation entering the work force need to understand that hearing the tone in someone’s voice or observing their mannerisms in a meeting tell more about the situation than the written word. I would suggest that before sending an email or text is the message you are about to deliver better communicated by picking up the phone or dropping by someones office.

This position may be one of the best jobs in New York! You get to work with a very successful Venture Capital Firm. You will work out of Dogpatch Labs NY, and collaborate with entrepreneurs from our San Francisco and Boston Dogpatch Labs. On a daily basis you will be meeting and working with smart and interesting entrepreneurs. You get to spend your day looking at new companies as potential investment opportunities. You will be collaborating with existing Polaris portfolio companies and all of the great companies and people in Dogpatch Labs NY.
We will consider candidates with many different professional skill sets and life experiences. We are looking for intellectually curious, motivated individuals who have good instincts, have achieved some level of success in their career, love to network and meet new people, are fun to work with and are all about working as a team.

If you have been working inside an early stage consumer internet or cloud services company and have product, business development or marketing backgrounds, you certainly would bring valuable practical experience to the job. Of course, we won’t hold it against you if you’ve already taken a walk on the dark side, and will consider candidates from Venture Capital roles.
You are probably familiar with Polaris – a partnership of experienced venture capital investors and technology executives that invests in seed, first round, and early stage technology and life science businesses with exceptional promise and helps them grow into sustainable, market-leading companies. With over $3 billion under management, Polaris is headquartered in Boston and operates Dogpatch Labs in New York, San Francisco and Boston.

If you are interested in learning more about this position please email Peter Flint at pflint [at] polarisventures.com .   We look forward to hearing from you!