Forum Launch
Friends,
I have just put together a discussion forum to complement the Blog that I write, and you so enthusiastically read and comment on. The goal, of course, is to have more of your voices engaging in interactive discussions.
I have arranged a few topics, as follows, but we will see how the conversation threads develop, and adjust accordingly as we go along … enjoy, and be sure to make suggestions on how you want to see this evolving.
General — This discussion forum is intended for the readers to converse and collaborate on topics such as new entrepreneurial ideas, fund raising issues, market and marketing challenges. You can also use it as a way to connect with other entrepreneurs, potential team members, mentors, as well as investors. My intent is to provide the forum. It will become what you make it.
Seed Funding — Seed Funding is becoming increasingly challenging and haphazard. There was a time when venture capitalists funded seed deals, and a deck of power point slides and good ideas, research, strategy and hypothesis would get you 250-500k to get started. The startup business has changed. VCs no longer fund that many seed deals. Hence, you need to find Angel money or Friends and Family money to launch. Well, dumb money comes with its own set of challenges. This forum is a venue for entrepreneurs to seek and find pointers to seed money. Angel investors are welcome to post their investment thesis and solicit business plans as well.
VC Funding — So you have got your business launched with a bit of money. You have made a lot of progress. But lack of resources prevent you from fully hitting your stride, so you need to raise more money. Or, you have raised money already a few times, but haven’t quite hit the stride with the product/service uptake. Discuss with fellow entrepreneurs, investors, mentors how to address your top of the mind issues. The issues startups face have patterns. The same issues come up again, again, and again. If you are facing an issue, others probably are too. Or they have faced, and solved. Leverage the collective intelligence of the community.
SME Markets — The biggest growth opportunity for technology and technology-enabled services in the next 5-10 years, Small Medium Enterprises, with their Trillions in spending power, is waiting for your entrepreneurship. Whether you market products on behalf of large companies, or you are an entrepreneur, this is a market not to be ignored. Discuss challenges, solutions, strategies.
Enterprise Markets — Technology businesses have made the maximum money so far off enterprise customers. It is, however, now a mature market. What are the opportunities going forward, as Web 2.0 meets Enterprise 3.0? Your challenges. Solutions. Strategies.
Consumer Markets — The startup market recovered from a prolonged ailment in early 2005 on the wings of a boom in ad spending. Eyeballs became hot. MySpace’s acquisition by Murdoch launched the social media craze. Skype’s acquisition by eBAY brought back valuation-without-revenue as an acceptable business model. VCs who were nervous for the previous five years started coming back into the market with a vengeance. All of this happened because today’s consumer is a tremendously web-savvy, participative entity. What is the destiny of this market from software/hardware/media/chips/services points of view? What are your plans, issues, challenges? Discuss.
Internet Media — As Second Life fashion becomes equally as important as the trends spotted in Milan and Paris, and Harry Potter and Da Vinci Code become the greatest blockbuster financial successes of this generation, what is the future of Content, user-generated and otherwise? What are your plans, issues, challenges? Discuss.
Electronics — Long gone are the days when Electronics only impacted a few lives. With Cars, Phones, Homes, Toys - all heavily loaded with electronics, what are the opportunities for innovation? If you are already in the midst of an innovation cycle, what are the obstacles to commercialization? For example, VCs are shying away from chip deals these days because the cost of bringing a chip to market has become prohibitive. On the other hand, iPod has been one of the most phenomenal eco-system development phenomena of recent times. Finally, designing electronics needs tools far more sophisticated than before. Discuss innovation opportunities, open problems, your personal challenges, solicit expertise.
India, Inc. — One of the two largest growth markets in the world, India is finally booming. Infrastructure and maturity challenges abound, however. If you are doing business in India, you have your own set of constraints and challenges. Access to capital and experienced management are only some of them. Use this forum as a bridge.
