Watching an HBO series on DVD and just pondering this. HBO caught a generation with the “Dead Channel” intro (even spoken to by William Gibson) but it’s a lost meme. What would be the meme today? A 404 going to a webcast/web stream? Not sure if there is a translation to what they made a staple.
Contemplations.
Oct 8
Mobility Startup Contest
Jun 17
Startups – are you focused on Mobility? Get your app on Windows Phone Marketplace for no cost to you!
The details: You meet the BizSpark conditions* and are looking to release an application on the Windows Phone platform. To enter, send your Windows Phone 7 application description to BizSpark@austinwheats.net with a contact email and certification of BizSpark Eligibility (“I meet BizSpark Requirements”.) All entries receive a fast track to the BizSpark program and the top 5 entries receive a new free registration to Create.MSDN.com*.
Contest ends June 27th, all winners will be notified by July 5th. Winners subject to Judge’s decisions, all judgments are final.
* Companies must be developing Software or Software services for customers, be less than 3 years old, have less than $1M in annual revenue, and be privately held.
*Cannot reimburse previous registrations. New registrations subject to program acceptance.
BizSpark has a lot of offers, but I actually was surprised myself when I saw what LawPivot is offering through the program. Until November 2011, BizSpark companies in the US get up to 3 free legal questions a month. Impressive. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of the offer. And if you’re not already in BizSpark, let me know at BizSpark@Austinwheats.net and let’s see if we can correct that!
If you’ve been following the BigData movement, one startup you can’t help but have heard about is Infochimps. I’m very happy to say that they have their first dataset live on the Azure DataMarket – TrstRank Need to find out if that follower is someone you should be listening to? Want to rate yourself on how others see (and trust) you? This is the dataset for you. Using the InfoChimps API’s, you don’t have to be a BI Architect to slice, dice, and puree the data to get the insights you need or to create the mashup you’ve always wanted.
Patrick Foley (one of my teammates) helps Software Vendors get the most out of our Microsoft programs. And he’s let me know of a program we have going right now to get some marketing funds for your company if you’re using Azure in your product or solution. Find the details at http://patrickfoley.com/2011/06/02/an-easy-way-to-get-250/.
Just a quick update.
Mar 21
I finally got around to updating some of my links and the Contact Me page. Hopefully, I’ll remember to keep things more up to date.
Coming out of South By SouthWest Interactive and bouncing between the community events and our Incubator program, one thing that struck me was how many Startups know about BizSpark, but aren’t taking full advantage of it. Many (most?) of the startups I talked with are loving the program, but generally only have their primary technologist registered. The thing to remember with BizSpark, is that the tools and platform benefits are for ALL your developers and designers! Not to mention the full company benefits like Azure hours or hosted online meetings, Exchange, and SharePoint. EACH of your developers and designers can have their own MSDN subscriptions – all you have to do is add them to your company’s BizSpark account. I’ve heard a couple of people question – why do I want to take the trouble? I’m covered with what I’ve got now! Two big reasons. First – we hope you’re using the software we give you. We hope you’re using it a LOT. So we want to make sure you get all the activations that are coming to you – I’ve had several startups come to me and ask “how do I get more keys?” Well, they had all their devs just using one account. After we got everyone set up on their BizSpark account, they were both thrilled with the additional options they could explore, and there were no more delays in finding additional keys – everyone had PLENTY! Second – Startups are fluid. People join and leave much more rapidly than with larger companies. So getting each person their own MSDN subscription means that if someone leaves and “leaks” their keys – well just those keys gets deactivated and no one else is bothered.
So take a second to review your BizSpark enrollment – don’t leave $20K+ of software per developer/designer sitting on the table. We WANT you to have it and I’ll bet your guys would be thrilled to get their personal access – I expect it’ll be worth the 10 minutes or so to get everyone their own account.
(And if you’re a startup and not signed up to BizSpark, jump on that right away, or just use “Contact Me” on this blog (or leave a comment here) and I’ll make sure we get you fast-tracked!)
BizSpark
Mar 2
With all the startups I talk with these days, I’m still running into some that aren’t aware of BizSpark. Most of the conversations start with “So why should I join?” The answer is simple – as a startup, you get the same level of access to our platforms and development tools as the largest companies – but you get them for free (as in beer.) The only requirements are that your startup be less than 3 years old, have less than $1M in annual revenue, and be privately held, though it helps a LOT if you’ve already registered your domain and sign up with an email on that domain. When you do that you get an MSDN subscription for each of your developers, production licenses for select servers, Azure hours to help develop your cloud based solution, BPOS (hosted Exchange, SharePoint, Communicator, and Live Meeting), support incidents, and the chance to be spotlighted on sites such as TechCrunch and Mashable.
After we go over that, the next question tends to be “OK, so what’s the catch? There’s got to be some fine print somewhere in that.” And the answer is nope. Zip. Nada. When you sign up, the software is yours. The only bill you would ever get is if you choose to buy additional resources on Azure. Your software doesn’t expire – and when you graduate from the BizSpark program, either through growth or time, we give you some great deals on keeping the benefits even then.
So why are we doing this? We want you to have no barriers to evaluate the platforms. When you’re running a startup, you’re always short on two things, time and money. We remove the time problem of finding the right licensing configuration and path and we remove the money problem by opening up the vault of software for you to ensure that you’ve got access to whatever components you need to get started.
To join BizSpark, you can sign up at http://bit.ly/BizSparkSignup or send me a message through the “Contact me” here on my blog.
If you’re using the FEZ or USBizi boards like I do, you’ll be interested to see a new SDK went online yesterday. Details can be found at http://tinyclr.com/forum/12/2491 and there are some really great new features included.
Students to Business
Feb 8
One of the things that I’ve been doing lately (lack of blogging probably indicates how much) is talking with students and non-traditional developers about how to get into the software business – by creating their own startups or finding small companies that are doing amazing things. Well, I’m not the only one and there’s a new site up now from Microsoft to help connect Students with Internships, training, and jobs in the industry – basically a great place to get up to speed on what’s going on in the tech industry and get some support for getting that first, all important job. If you’re a Student and you’re getting ready to step into the job market (yes, you Freshmen should be part of that statement) then take a minute and head over to http://s2b.experience.com/, you might find some help and good information!
