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Automattic picks up Intense Debate

September 30, 2008

Automattic is the company behind Wordpress, Akismet, Gravatar, and now Intense Debate.

Much has already been written on this acquisition, but of course I wanted to throw in my two cents.

Intense Debate was one of the companies that came out of the TechStars class of 2007 that I was really excited about. Jon and Isaac are true rock stars, and did a great job of listening, testing, reacting, and cranking out code last summer. Right away at the end of last summer, they had some tremendous competition such as Disqus, SezWho, and JS-Kit. In fact, I think Disqus launched within just a few days of Intense Debate last summer. This competition proved to be really good for Intense Debate, and I’m guessing it was good for the other companies as well. It was awesome to watch all of these companies innovate and make each other better over the course of the last year.

It was mid summer at TechStars last year when Brad wrote about the problems with comments being the Dark Matter of the Blogosphere. It’s thanks to the efforts of all of these companies that the situation is now much better. And with this first deal (of what will likely be several) in the space, we’re going to see massively widespread adoption of an enhanced comment system for the first time across the Wordpress ecosystem.

But, alas, things could still be much better. It’s still not possible to easily see all of the comments left across the blogosphere by one individual. Sure, search engines are emerging, but there is no open standard for comments yet to be developed. I always thought it would be interesting to build a ping server of sorts for comments, such that comments could travel with the related content wherever it goes. We still can’t search comments universally like we can do with blog posts. And, regardless of the good work of these companies, commenter reputation barely has even a start.

I hope these companies all keep innovating and improving the options we have as publishers to engage our communities and to increase the quality and quantity of what is being discussed on the web today.

Here’s Automattic CEO Toni Schneider talking about the acquisition at TechStars Demo Day in Mountain View, CA last week. Congrats to Intense Debate!


Video Courtesy of Vator.tv.

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Written by David Cohen · Filed Under Blog |  

Jud Valeski wins the Google Chrome comic book

September 30, 2008

Image representing Google Chrome as depicted i...
Image via CrunchBase

Thanks to Jud Valeski of Gnip for his check made out to the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado as a result of winning the Google Chrome comic book that I recently auctioned off.

Congratulations are also due to Filtrbox for recently joining and pledging 1% equity to the foundation. That brings the number of awesome companies who have pledged equity to the foundation to twenty!

If you’re an entrepreneur in successful company, or an angel or venture backed company, I hope you’ll considering having your company join the foundation as well. In fact, the next such company that does so gets my second copy of the very rare Google Chrome comic book. Please contact me if you’d like more information on how to join.

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Written by David Cohen · Filed Under Blog |  

DEMOGala is this week

September 28, 2008

This Thursday, October 2nd is the fourth annual DEMOGala in Denver. The conference features over 100 speakers on 25 different panels discussing the newest trends in technology. Twenty hand-picked companies from more than 100 nominees are also going to be present for interactive demos.

There are a bunch of interesting panels featuring great speakers from companies such as Google, Sun, eBags, Microsoft, eBay, Zappos, Mint, CP+B, Dogster, Like.com, Daily Candy, MySQL, and many more.

I’m on one panel at 2pm called Innovation in Venture Capital, and Angels, Changing the Terms, which is being moderated by the founder and CEO of TheFunded.com, Adeo Ressi (yes, I’ll be nice to him).

It’s great to have a big demo event like this in Colorado. Hopefully you’ll register and join us.

Written by David Cohen · Filed Under Blog |  

Hey Devs: Visit Boulder for free

September 28, 2008

If you’re a software developer living somewhere outside of Colorado and have been hearing all these great things about the startup scene here, it’s time to come check it out. For free.

Twenty of Boulder’s most interesting early stage companies have teamed up to fly 100 developers in, put them up in a nice Boulder hotel, and show them around town for two days. This is 100% paid for by the 20 sponsoring companies, including Aegis, EventVue, Filtrbox, Fuser, Gnip, HiveLive, Me.dium, Printfection, Rally, Return Path, Socialthing, and more. You’ll get your chance to infromally interview with every one of them you’d like to during one of your two days here in town. The other day is for checking out the city, and for hanging out with some of the people from your favorite startups.

There will be dinners, fun events, and basically one big party that week. It’s taking place October 26-31 (you’ll come for two nights sometime during that week). The application deadline is October 13th, so get your application in soon for a chance to win your trip.

Remember to tell your friends (who are also developers that might consider a move to Boulder) about this. Boulder is even more fun when you bring a friend or two!

Check out with Mike Arrington of TechCrunch had to say about this event.

I hope to see you in Boulder for this fun event! If you end up applying, be sure to reach out to me and I’ll be sure you get a chance to check out TechStars while you’re here.

Written by David Cohen · Filed Under Blog, Startups |  

Colorado Angel Capital Summit is November 21st

September 19, 2008

The Colorado Angel Capital Summit is looking for interesting companies to present at this second annual event. Some good coverage from last years event can be found on Dave Taylor’s blog. I was out of the country for last years event but I plan to attend this year.

Here’s some text from the organizers:

The Summit will feature the smartest investors and the most innovative entrepreneurs in the Rocky Mountain Region, with an anticipated audience of over 500 entrepreneurs, private investors and service professionals.

To apply to present, go to angelcapitalsummit.org.  There, you will find step-by-step instructions.  The deadline to apply is Friday, October 10. There is no fee to apply.  However, once selected to present, companies will be required to submit a registration form and a $300/$350 fee (members/non-members). There will be a mandatory “pitch practice” one week before the event.

Written by David Cohen · Filed Under Blog, Startups, Venture Capital |  

Cory Levy on being open

September 17, 2008

This summer, we were fortunate to have Cory Levy, a 16 year old student and entrepreneur from Houston, TX join us at TechStars as an intern. Recently, Cory and I had an email exchange about being open on the web, and I wanted to post his words and thoughts here. This is a some good advice from a smart young man. Cory said:

This is a lesson that takes people a while to learn. It took me several months. Just over a year ago, I was cold connecting with people to learn more about start-ups and to receive feedback on my ‘startup idea’. Before giving any details, I would ask for a signed NDA. That was one of my biggest mistakes early on. A few people here and there would sign NDAs and send them back to me, however NDAs were/are ultimately worthless. Once I realized that NDAs are useless, the amount of people I was able to reach out to, along with my response rate greatly increased. The amount of data/advice I was getting from people significantly rose. I received over 50 typed pages of emails/facebook messages in July and August of 2007.

I strongly believe the more open you are on the web, the more successful you will be. You shouldn’t be worried that someone will ‘steal’ your idea. It is very likely that over a dozen of other companies have the same idea as you. I personally try my best to get my ‘idea’ out there. I tell people about it and ask for feedback/suggestions. I have yet to create anything but have learned so much by being open.

Right on Cory! Share your ideas with smart trusted folks, and recognize that it’s all about execution!

Written by David Cohen · Filed Under Blog |  

Tip #7: Obsess over core metrics

September 17, 2008

For those of you with good memories, you’ll recall that I have been blogging a series of startup tips. I’ve previously done tips 1-6 of twelve startup tips that I derived from my TechStars experiences.

This tip is about “core metrics.” I think most startups should have 2 or 3 core metrics that they use consistently to evaluate their business. If you have many more, then it’s hard to focus your efforts. Having just one probably oversimplifies things. So 2-3 core metrics is a good rule of thumb.

I’ll give you an example from last summer. Intense Debate is a company from TechStars 2007 that replaces the crappy built in comment system on most blogs. Subsequently, it drives subscriber engagement and page views. Early on in the life of the company, we often talked about the number of publishers (blogs) using the service. It was a metric everyone had in their heads. We also obsessed over “number of commenters per post” early on. We thought that improving engagement primarily meant getting new people into the conversation. At first glance, these seem like reasonable metrics. But we quickly learned that they’re lousy metrics, and certainly not metrics that we want to orient the business around.

Think about it for a minute. Should they go out and just get every tiny little publisher as a goal? Is Intense Debate really “about” number of publishers? Does that somehow increase the value they create? Sure, it’s nice to improve more and more blogs, but in the end they needed to monetize the service somehow. Number of publishers and commenters per post were quickly replaced as a core metrics for the company with core metrics like “total comments per post” (subtle difference - who cares how many commenters there are) and “page views per post.” If you’re a blogger, I’m sure you’ll recognize that comments per post and page views per post are good things to be focused on.

It turns out that Intense Debate has an enormous impact on both of these core metrics where substantial existing communities are present. We quickly learned that comment systems don’t (necessarily) create user engagement. Instead, where there is already user engagement, they enhance it greatly.

This meant that it was doubly important for us to focus on the new core metrics, not the original ones that we theorized might be true. It seems so obvious looking back. However, for many early stage web startups I meet, they appear to be obsessing over either a) nothing, or b) seemingly inappropriate core metrics.

So the first point here is: Obsess over the correct core metrics. Harder than it sounds.

The second point is to actually obsess over them. Everyone in the company should know the current values of these core metrics. Experiments should be undertaken with the goal of manipulating them.

One of the tactics that we regularly use with TechStars companies is that we insist that they build core metrics into the product very early on. In my experience, there’s a definite correlation between building measurements for these core metrics right into the product and long term success. It turns out that it’s very easy to build these sorts of measurement and reporting systems into the product early on. But it’s often surprisingly difficult to do it later on once the product is sufficiently complex. So the lesson is simply: Build in automated reporting systems for your core metrics very early on.

Most TechStars companies with products in alpha, beta, or launch phase have a daily email that goes around to the founders and mentors with detailed statistics relating to their core metrics. Those that don’t often send weekly updates with this information. They make their core metrics visible. When things change in a major way, they’re often asked what moved the needle. It’s like the old adage: If you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it. So stick them in everyone’s face!

In my opinion, the best startups have 2 or 3 metrics that represent true drivers of their business, and they literally obsess over understanding and improving those numbers on a day to day basis.

What are your core metrics? How do you report and communicate them?

Written by David Cohen · Filed Under Blog, Personal |  

Auctioning my Google Chrome comic book

September 16, 2008

Google sent me two copies of the Google Chrome comic book. It’s a beautifully printed version of the lengthy comic strip explaining Chrome that you’ve probably seen online, and it’s pretty rare.

Following in the footsteps of others, this post marks the start of an auction for one of these rare Chrome comic books. TechCrunch’s auction ended up at over $1500, so don’t be shy! The auction will end at 10pm Mountain Time on Wednesday, September 24. Once this auction is over, I might sell the second one here too - we’ll see.

The highest bidder will need to bring me a tax-deductible check made out to the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado. We’ll then donate the money together. To place a bid, just enter the amount you’re willing to pay in the comments to this post. Please read the other comments and be sure your bid is higher than any others before bidding. Regular non-bidding comments are welcome too!

Win or lose, I hope you’ll consider having your company join the 20+ awesome companies in Colorado that have already joined the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado. Socialthing did, and when it recently sold to AOL, a good chunk of cash went right to the foundation and is being put to work at non-profits right here in our community. Here’s how it works. You pledge 1% of the equity in your company to EFCo so that giving back is totally integrated into the very fabric of your company. If you’d like to learn more about having your company join EFCo, please contact me.

Let the bidding begin!

Written by David Cohen · Filed Under Blog, Startups |  

Parentricity - Dads are parents too ya know

September 16, 2008

How do you compete with the likes of CafeMom.com, MayasMom.com, MomJunction, and MothersClick.com? You guessed it, you include the dads in the message and in the solution.

Irked that when he became a new father, he couldn’t find a place to interact with other new parents that wasn’t totally geared towards moms, founder Eli Mandelbaum told me that Parentricity is different from most of the competitors in four key ways. These are that it is “(1) the only site that is product centric for parents; (2) the only site in the category for mothers and fathers; (3) the only site that allows parents to find, share, and see what their friends and other parents think of products that they are buying; (4) the only site in the category that hosts business profiles.”

The site is quite broad in terms of the number of capabilities it has. Video sharing, advice, blogging, forums, product reviews, and even contents are part of the mix.

Parentricity launched a private alpha in December of 2007 and has attracted about 33,000 parents so far. Somewhat ironically, less than 1/3 of these parents are male. Parentricity is aiming for both fathers and mothers, but so far most of the interest in products like this comes from the moms.

The three person company has raised a small round of financing from friends and family, and is currently seeking a larger angel round of about $500k.  The company plans to monetize the service through advertising, e-commerce, commission-based relationships and strategic partnerships.

Parentricity is still in a closed “alpha” period, but Eli is allowing any Colorado Startups readers to use the site now. See, I get you in everywhere daddy-o.

Written by David Cohen · Filed Under Blog, Startups |  

What’s it like to work on a web startup?

September 11, 2008

Well, it’s like this:

(From an article at Ft. Worth Startups - Thanks Bradley!)

Written by David Cohen · Filed Under Blog |  

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