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1709
Cape Wind and NECEC Make Moves
4/30/2010

It has been a big week in the MA clean energy space. First of all, Cape Wind has finally been approved! After 9 years of near constant battles over environmental issues, aesthetic appeal and everything in between, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar finally gave the stamp of approval for Cape Wind to move forward. This amazing feat is due to the entrepreneurial drive of Jim Gordon, CEO of Cape Wind, as well as the $45 milion to needed to meet government requirements and fight back. Granted it is a slightly more scaled down version than orginally planned, but it sets a precedent for future off-shore wind projects across the US. Jim Gordon embodies the passion that entrepreneurs must have in order to succeed. http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/04/29/cape.wind.ceo.profile/ 

Additionally this week, Nick d'Arbeloff, formerly the president of the New England Clean Energy Council (NECEC), took a job as VP of enterprise energy management with EnerNOC. For those of you not familiar with the NECEC, it is a non-profit that works to promote a clean energy economy across New England. Peter Rothstein has taken over his position. It will be exciting to watch what, if any, changes will happen within the NECEC as a result of this leadership shift. http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2010/04/28/darbeloff-departs-new-england-clean-energy-council-for-enernoc-rothstein-replaces-him/

All of this goes to show that things are happening in the MA clean energy ecosystem and more excitement is to come. Good news for all of the clean energy entrepreneurs out there.

By Christine Ribeiro. Christine is an Associate at MassChallenge.

Business, clean energy, Entrepreneurship, news, startups > 2 Comments
1690
Bad Publicity - How Good Press Coverage Can Be Bad For You
4/29/2010

 

Bad press can severely damage a company, but I found out that good publicity can also damage a company.

A friend I know was working at a startup that became well-known. The marketing VP did a very good job of keeping them in the public eye. They were regularly written about in the trade press. They were on Sunday newspapers’ ’hottest startups’ lists. They even won awards. But this publicity was bad for them in the end.

The publicity was aimed at gaining customers and making it easier for them to get VC funding (frankly, I think sometimes it was aimed at VC funding alone). In this respect it worked well. The problem is, the publicity was consumed internally too.

Everyone would read what was written about them in the trade press and in the newspapers. In company meetings, the coverage would be quoted and used to support the proposition that they were tremendously successful (just not yet profitable).

All the heady talk went to some staff members heads. They started to believe that they were the very cream of the crop. They crossed the line from confidence to arrogance. This made them harder to manage. It also made people resistant to hearing criticism. It’s very hard to tell someone that they need to change and listen to customers, when they’ve just read a flattering review of the company in a Sunday newspaper. It’s hard to get people to focus on the mundane issues of fixing software bugs, when they’re reading how great they are in the trade press.

The publicity contributed to poor decision making borne of hubris. Instead of acting cautiously and building a new product line using partnerships and through customer feedback, they tried to do everything themselves and offer a complete product to the market. They didn’t listen to critics inside the company who cast doubt on what was being attempted (why should they listen when they were a ‘hot startup’). They didn’t listen to negative feedback from major prospects (they were confident they would ‘get it’ later on). But in the end, the market didn’t want the product line and its failure severely damaged the company.

They might still have made the bad decisions had they not had the publicity, but it’s my belief the publicity bred over-confidence in their abilities. It made them resistant to change. That is killer in a startup.

At the end of the day its not about whose in ‘hot startup’ lists in various publications. Very few companies manage successful exits. Full stop. This is a risky business and to be successful you have to stay focused on what it is that gave you the great publicity or the success thus far. Humility is essential. Hard work is even more critical.

That's why with MassChallenge there's been press coverage but we don't rely on it for marketing. We've met with around 3,000 people. Most people have met our staff and talked to us directly and people have found out about the competition through word of mouth. We're actively using email, social media, and partners to help get the word out. At no point have we been complacent because we know at each turning point there is even more work ahead. We're lucky to have a hard working staff and even more supportive community that believes in our mission. We want entrepreneurs to win. And to win you have to humble. Full stop.
 

arrogance, Business, confidence, humility, marketing, publicity, startups, success > 5 Comments
1367
Entrepreneurship is Manly Business, or Is It?
4/9/2010

 

I work at a non-profit start-up. When people hear the first part of that statement they assume I work with all women. When they hear the last part they assume all men. I’m happy to share we’re a pretty diverse group over here at MassChallenge and not just when referring to gender. What is it about startups, venture capital, and entrepreneurship that maintains the gender gap? I’ve been wondering this for a while especially since I arrived in the startup scene back in October. I’ve certainly noticed some women, especially in communities like DartBoston, but across conferences and networking events and especially amongst investors the prevalence is that men are writing checks for men. And don’t get me wrong men are doing amazing things but I’d love to see more women in the mix and that’s why I was so excited to learn about LearnVest.

What is LearnVest? An article by Venture Beat highlights the women involved in this company and the niche it serves.

 

LearnVest is a financial planning and literacy site aimed at women which has recently raised $4.5 million in a first round led by Accel Capital. The deal is a bit of an interesting story — it pairs one of the very few female founders around with one of the very few female VCs around.

When founder and former head of business development at Drop.io  Alexa von Tobel debuted the site on-stage at TechCrunch50 last fall, she was grilled by a skeptical and mostly male panel of entrepreneurs and investors. They questioned why the web needed a female-focused take, when Mint and Yahoo Finance were readily available. But Von Tobel stood her ground on-stage, and it looks like the company may have found its match with Accel partner Theresia Gouw Ranzetta coming onto the company’s board. Ranzetta is an expert on niche-focused content properties and advertising networks, with seats on the boards of women-focused  Glam Media and real estate search engine Trulia. As audiences have become fragmented, Ranzetta has consistently bet that tightly-focused niche services will increasingly attract advertising dollars and sponsorships.

The New York Times highlights how Alexa came up with the idea:

Ms. von Tobel came up with the idea for LearnVest in 2006, during her senior year at Harvard. She speaks at an auctioneer’s pace and uses tidbits from Warren Buffett and neuropsychology to bolster her arguments. Yet in 2006, when she had a job offer from Morgan Stanley’s hedge fund, she realized there was something she was not confident about: managing her finances. “How is it possible I’m going to be a trader and I don’t even know how to open a credit card properly or my credit score?” she asked herself.

LearnVest has made significant traction with over 100,000 users including yours truly. 40% of users open up the daily newsletters proving once again that content is king. LearnVest has done an excellent job of focusing on planning rather than how to save money on say a pair of shoes. I use LearnVest as an additional tool with Mint.com rather than as an alternative.

Do you know of any other female entrepreneurs that have started interesting companies? What about female VCs? How do you find the male/female gap in the entrepreneurial communities that you are a part of?

By Salimah Nooruddin. Salimah is an Associate at MassChallenge.
 

 

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Business, entrepreneurial communities, Entrepreneurship, financial planning, Innovation, nonprofits, startups, technology, women entrepreneurs > 1 Comments
1003
Why I'm Bullish on a Startup Renaissance in Massachusetts
2/23/2010

I’m convinced we are poised for a major startup renaissance with its epicenter in Massachusetts & New England.

Some people think I’m crazy. I disagree. Here’s why.

We find ourselves in the latter half of a major economic recession in which multiple industries are experiencing major crises: media, healthcare delivery, real estate, automobile manufacturing, energy generation, desktop software …  the list goes on.

Why so many crises, and how does this relates to renaissance?  

There’s no single cause, but many of these crises are catalyzed by rapid technology advances, which are challenging the business models on which these industries are based. Why pay for newspaper delivery to get day old news on my doorstep when I can get news instantly on my laptop or cell phone? Why pay for desktop software when universal connectivity enables me to store my data and preferences in the cloud for seamless access on multiple devices wherever I want? This process is not new. Innovative technology always challenges business models predicated on old technology – but the scale and scope of theses challenges are greater than we have seen in decades.

So where’s the renaissance?  

So far, we have mostly seen the new wave of technology weakening and destroying old business models, but over the next several years we will witness an acceleration of startups whose business models are explicitly based on the availability of new technology. The horse and buggy industry has shown weakness – here comes the Ford assembly line.

We are already seeing the emergence of game-changing technology. Like online media distribution, renewable clean tech, hybrid non-profit business models serving key social needs. This next wave will produce dozens of high-growth, game changing startups across multiple industries. That’s the renaissance. And it is upon us.

So why Massachusetts?

These game-changing innovations will occur in a broad set of industries and will require lots of talented, hard-working young people. Massachusetts has one of the most diverse startup environments on the planet. We are strong in virtually all sectors of every major industry: not just healthcare generally, but also specifically in telemedicine and biotechnology; not just energy generally, but also specifically in thin film solar technology and hyper-efficient battery technology; not just hardware, but robotics and other cutting-edge technology areas … you get the idea. We’re really good at technology.

We also have the most and best universities of pretty much any region on the planet. Yes, historically we have lost many of these young people to California and elsewhere upon graduation, but right now Massachusetts is better positioned economically to capture this wave of growth and I am convinced we can attract and retain the brilliant minds that will usher in this renaissance.

There has been a lot of reassuring activity organized for and by young innovators in Massachusetts lately. WebInno, MassInno, DartBoston, Greenhorn Connect, Techstars, the proliferation of co-working centers, the ever-expanding Cambridge Innovation Center, Boston World Partnerships, the Microsoft NERD Center … plus dozens of great entrepreneurial university programs.

So that’s how I see it. Crisis is giving way to opportunity. That opportunity will require smart, well-educated, passionate young people. We have a lot of them right here, and they appear to be readying themselves rapidly. I have never been more bullish on Massachusetts. We are on the verge of a period of great innovation and growth, the likes of which we haven’t seen perhaps since the industrial revolution.

What do you think? Do you agree or am I just crazy?

 

By: John Harthorne

John Harthorne is the CEO and Founder of MassChallenge. Click here for John's bio.

Business, Entrepreneurship, Massachusetts, Renaissance, Startup > 4 Comments