ITNorthWest Voice

This is a blog for all the technology entrepreneurs based in the North West of Ireland - musings about our business, companies, interests, trends and any other random thing that hits us.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Web 2.0 Elevator Pitch Generator

How to make millions in months... sign up now !! This is funny ....

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Decker Marketing: Five Factors of Word of Mouth Marketing

Decker Marketing: Five Factors of Word of Mouth Marketing Cheapest form of marketing !!

Our Man in Nirvana: The Art of VC: Backing your CEO

A very thoughful piece - which applies to any startup CEO (with or without VC funding)

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Marketing Playbook: VC Pitch Tips

some great tips on VC presenting....

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Business Opportunities Weblog | 10 Steps to a Successful Web 2.0 Company

# Solve the smallest possible problem… # Get a responsive and chatty audience using the product. # Launch. Now. Tomorrow. Every day. # Distribute. Distribute. Distribute. # Don’t hold users against their will. # Be mindnumbingly simple. # Get people hooked on free. # Don’t waste any money on marketing. # Don’t overfund. # No one sucks. original - This is Going to Be Big

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Business 2.0 :: Magazine Article :: Features :: The $50 Million Giveaway

Business 2.0 :: Magazine Article :: Features :: The $50 Million Giveaway Get going.. .$50million up for grabs....

EirePreneur: Geek Gael Get-together growing greatly!

GaelCamp (FooBar Camp in Gaelic :-) getting organized.... Do sign up.... check here

Monday, August 22, 2005

EirePreneur: Wanted: more geek get-togethers in Ireland

Barcamp for Ireland - that would be cool... James has the details

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Doerr: Don’t Skip the Fundamentals

From the Stanford GSB August newsletter.... “Please, please, please,” he told the students, “in your drive to become great leaders, don’t forget the fundamentals. Learn about recruiting, hiring, firing, inspiring, managing, developing, and motivating others with the kind of tough love that makes leaders very effective. Not this Donald Trump thing: ‘You’re fired!’ There are extra points for humor.”

Thursday, August 18, 2005

EirePreneur: Irish start-ups account from 40% of VC funding

EirePreneur: Irish start-ups account from 40% of VC funding I would guess that web2.0 ventures accounted for 0% out of the 40%... what will that figure look like in 2006 !!

Moonwatcher Spanning: Ruthless Product Management

Moonwatcher Spanning: Ruthless Product Management The Microsoft model is not far of this :-)

Feld Thoughts: An Entrepreneur on Building a Team - Trust is Essential

Feld Thoughts: An Entrepreneur on Building a Team - Trust is Essential check the original article as well - good nuggets of info

Seeing Both Sides: What is "Market"?

Seeing Both Sides: What is "Market"? Start dividing for the Irish market.....

Ashish Kumar - Tekriti Software - Developers vs Programmers

Ashish Kumar - Tekriti Software �- Developers vs Programmers very important for small lean startups....

RED HERRING | Startup Hours Threaten Health

RED HERRING | Startup Hours Threaten Health Not half....

Infectious Greed: Ideas are Worthless (Sort of)

A great post.... i know plenty of people who have ideas (worth $1 based on this model) and i know a few who are worth $10 million (even $20 million).... ideas is one thing, execution is another......

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Gautam Ghosh on Management: Mediocre top managers?

Gautam Ghosh on Management: Mediocre top managers? In a nutshell.... business strategy is one thing, execution is another. People make "things" happen - hire well and you will do well

HBS Working Knowledge: Entrepreneurship: The Founding CEO's Dilemma: Stay or Go?

HBS Working Knowledge: Entrepreneurship: The Founding CEO's Dilemma: Stay or Go? "NB: Is it inevitable that founders will not be able to go the distance? Wasserman: Not inevitable, but probable. We teach a case in our first-year entrepreneurship course on a Silicon Valley VC firm called Onset Ventures, which lays out a 'test' for all entrepreneurs it considers backing. It's called the 'Rich versus King' test. It gets to this essential trade-off around what drives an entrepreneur: Is it the need to control the company (that is, to be King), or is it the drive for success, particularly financial success, which may require that the entrepreneur step aside once certain business milestones have been reached? Onset does not like to invest in founders who 'want to be King' out of concern that they will not want to be replaced if such a step is required in order for the company to be successful. Once the company's product is defined and the business model has been developed, Onset—and indeed most VC firms—wants to be able to bring in a new CEO if required. Thus, the only founders who can assure their ability to continue as CEOs are those who don't raise outside money from Onset and its peers. Of course, that outside money is often necessary to build a valuable company, so King-motivated founders usually have to give up a lot of potential growth to remain King. In the entrepreneurship class, I push students to think hard about why they are choosing to be founders to begin with, and then to make conscious choices that are consistent with those motivations. The founders who get into trouble are often the ones who make decisions without regard for 'Rich versus King,' and who therefore decrease the chances that they will achieve their goals because they haven't made choices consistent with their motivations."

Friday, August 12, 2005

Toni Schneider’s Blog - Paul Graham on Startups

Toni Schneider’s Blog - Paul Graham on Startups a great list of "list of ’startup tips’ and some insightful commentary from Toni

Thursday, August 11, 2005

CEO - "he's got the weight of the company on his shoulders'"

A VC: VC Cliche of the Week CEO - "he's got the weight of the company on his shoulders'." Our network helps unloading some of that weight ... "self help group"

Monday, August 08, 2005

Flickr development process... how it was done...

interview with flickr's eric costello on how they morphed FLickr from a multi-player game.... a must read for anyone who is developing (or had developed) an online service

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Software Only: Venture Financing Concepts, Process and Documentation

Software Only: Venture Financing Concepts, Process and Documentation Great post from Jeff