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Best software startup information - Week 11

Ted Graham General
  1. TechStars is a Boulder, Colorado based clone of Y Combinator.  They are doing their first round of companies this summer.  They provide $5k/founder, plus office space, servers, classes and some pretty serious contacts.  They take 5% of the company.  They have received 175 applications so far, and accept a maximum of 10 companies.  I plan to attend their end-of-summer presentations to Angel Investors, and I'd be surprised if a couple of the companies don't get another round of funding.
  2. I just discovered Techquila Shots, where Steve Poland posts random business ideas.  I like Classifieds by Cell best and hope it is chosen for RingsideStartup.  If you are looking for business ideas, check it out.
  3. I attended the launch of the Colorado chapter of the Keiretsu Forum this week, and was impressed by the passion of the existing members who came from other chapters for the launch.  CTEK Angels and RVC are already active in Colorado, it will be interesting to see how Keiretsu fits into the mix.  Keiretsu Forum's ability to syndicate large deals to other chapters will make them appealing to entrepreneurs looking to raise larger rounds, and deal flow of already funded companies to the Denver chapter seems likely to attract Angels.  As a novice Angel, I'm attracted to their commitment to education through the AcademyIf you are curious about Angel Investing, this article provides a good introduction.  I also like the book Winning Angels, although it is heavily flavored by the tech boom and Capitalyst angel fund that the authors started in the boom is dead.
  4. Everyone wants more traffic, many of the traditional suggestions are discussed in this thread.
  5. Setting up the accounting for a micro-ISV can be painful for a first-timer.  QuickBooks is the standard, and has a free edition, although I've been tempted to try Microsoft's Small Business Accounting package.

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