Finding the right cofounders
“I’ ve got metformin hcl 850 mg this great idea.” You hear it all the time, but how often do you hear a follow up of, “This thing has really taken off!” One of the MANY reasons for would-be-entrepreneurs talking rather than doing is that they are not able to find the right people to partner up with. Over a year ago, I felt that I had uncovered a large problem concerning how fashion sites were using their users’ social graph. I had an idea that I thought solved this problem and I decided to take the next steps to uncover whether or not I had...
read moreInSITE Fellow Victoria Cheng awarded prestigious ‘Kauffman Fellowship’
Victoria Cheng, an InSITE Fellow and MBA student at Columbia Business School, has recently been selected to be part of the ‘Kauffman Fellows Program’ as a Kauffman Finalist, in a two-year program granted by the Center for Venture Education that aims to educate, develop and network emerging leaders in the venture capital industry and to cultivate new high-technology, high-growth and high-impact companies. Each year, 30 people are chosen worldwide to be part of this fellowship and selection signals membership among an elite cadre of the...
read moreInSITE Fellow Benjamin Sesser publishes an essential guide for wannabe entrepreneurs
Benjamin Sesser, an InSITE Fellow and MBA student at NYU Stern (class 2012), has recently published an invaluable guide for aspiring entrepreneurs. You can read the full guide below or in his blog. Ben has worked in strategy, corporate development and investment banking, and is currently working on a venture in the health and wellness space that is “like LearnVest for fitness and wellness”. In his words, “I can’t say enough about how important InSITE has been for me. I came back to Stern and knew I wanted to do either VC...
read moreLegendary NYC’s VC Fred Wilson talks to InSITE
In what has become InSITE’s ‘State of the Union’ speaker event, last Monday over 50 fellows had the privilege to hear and talk to Fred Wilson, one of New York’s most-prominent venture capitalists, who regularly blogs on the popular ‘AVC: musings of a VC in NY’ –mostly about investing and technology. Fred, a graduate from MIT and MBA at Wharton, began his career in venture capital in the mid-‘80’s. In 2004, he co-founded Union Square Ventures and has made successful investments in companies such as Del.icio.us, Twitter, Zynga...
read moreBreakfast with Steve Martocci
This Wednesday, InSITE Fellows Joe Rizk, Sean Weinstock, Adam Kalamchi, Marianna Zaslavsky, and myself were fortunate enough to have breakfast with Steve Martocci, who co-founded GroupMe with Jared Hecht in 2010. For those of you who don’t know, GroupMe is a group messaging startup founded in May 2010 at TechCrunch Disrupt and was sold to Skype (Microsoft)… about 14 months later. Steve, who joined us straight from Sundance (#winning), touched on a number of interesting topics from the perspective of a recent founder, a unique and valuable...
read moreHappy Holidays! BestVendor Raises $3 million in Series A Fundraising
On Monday, BestVendor secured $3 million in Series A funding to support the company’s mission to become the leading resource for business professionals looking for the best web, mobile and desktop applications. Seeking to capitalize on a market segment seemingly neglected relative to the consumer app space, BestVendor is building a community that reviews and recommends work applications for prospective users, thereby generating optimum results that are in line with its goal to let people ‘discover work apps you’ll love.’ BestVendor...
read moreThe Startup Elevator Pitch
Over the last couple of years I’ve attended dozens of tech startup events and heard probably a couple hundred project pitches. Some were part of formal presentations to large groups while others were just quick informal pitches over a handshake and a beer. The ideas that stand out are not always the most novel ideas, they are the ones that are clearly conveyed. I have found that there are four common components of an effective elevator pitch. Paint the Picture One of the best ways to start your elevator pitch is by describing who the...
read moreRightsFlow Acquired by YouTube
YouTube has just acquired RightsFlow, a startup that manages music licensing and payment services. Launched in 2007, RightsFlow helps online music services, record companies, distributors and artists license music and lyrics while also managing royalty payments for the rights-holders. The company’s proprietary licensing technology and 30-plus million song database allows RightsFlow to license content, render accounting, and pay royalties on behalf of clients. As CEO Patrick Sullivan writes in his announcement: We’re pleased to now be...
read moreInSITE Pitch Event
“The spirit, the will to win and the will to excel – these are the things that will endure and these are the qualities that are so much more important than any of the events themselves” (Vince Lombardi). It is as important for athletes to win championships as it is important for entrepreneurs to hit homerun exits fortheir companies; but value cannot be placed on the bottom line alone. Value is created by the determined people putting their heart and soul into making their dreams come true. InSITE’s end of the semester event, which...
read moreLeadership breakfast with David Tisch
Earlier this fall, a few InSITE fellows sat down for breakfast with TechStars’ David Tisch (@davetisch). Techstars is one of the most prominent accelerators/incubators in the country. They currently have branches in Boston, Boulder, New York City, and Seattle. David is currently the Managing Director of TechStars in New York City. Our conversation ranged from how David ended up in his current position to what makes a great startup team to deal sourcing and more. One of the most interesting aspects of our discussion centered around...
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