The best from Federated Media authors on

Sep 11

v.1

Grab our RSS feed

Add to My Yahoo!

FM Feature:

How To Bootstrap Your Startup

From Read/Write Web

The first in a series of posts about how to run a startup and develop a product, written by guest author Matt Rogers of Aroxo - a person-to-person trading exchange for consumer electronics, computer gear, whitegoods, and more.

The aim of many entrepreneurs is to take a business idea and convert it into a professional and functioning business on a low budget. This is typically called “bootstrapping” and it is fraught with potential pitfalls and dangers. But when done well it can really help get a company going fast, professionally and without the founders having to give up much (if any) equity - or bankrupting themselves.

Over the next 5-6 posts I’ll outline the process which I’ve now followed at several corporates and which I’ve honed to work with my own startup, Aroxo. I’ll discuss what skills you’ll need, how to write your requirements, how to source developers and designers, how much to budget, how to agree a development contract, how to manage your vendors, how to plan your release, all the documentation you'll need, and much more.

What is bootstrapping?

So, what does it mean to bootstrap a company? Bootstrapping involves launching a business on a low budget...
Published on Read/Write Web at September 11 PermaLink

Find Federated/Tech on this date:

Sep 10

Yesterday's News

Sponsored by:

Advertise with us

Record Labels Set To Debut “Ringles”

From CrunchGear

It appears that the record industry is finally realizing the CD won’t last another 10 years. In a desperate move to drive sales up and profit from new Top 40 singles, major labels will release “ringles” upon the world...

Published on CrunchGear at 2:06 AM PermaLink

AllPeers BitTorrent Plugin Preview For TechCrunch Readers

From TechCrunch

UK/Prague based peer to peer file sharing startup AllPeers has launched a sneak peek of their latest release candidate (0.7) just for TechCrunch readers (available here), which includes a fully functional BitTorrent client. AllPeers is a Firefox plugin that lets you easily share files amongst your contacts...

Published on TechCrunch at 3:10 AM PermaLink

Laptop Locker Keeps Laptops Safe

From Ubergizmo

Laptop Locker keeps laptops safeSince laptops are portable, it makes sense that they tend to get lost a whole lot more often compared to desktops. The Laptop Locker helps minimize that risk, featuring a laptop-specific safe that is easy to tote around in a portable bag. This theft deterrent locking safe can be mounted under your desk or...

Published on Ubergizmo at 3:03 AM PermaLink

Kajeet’s Phone for Kids, Will it Avoid Pitfalls of Predecessors?

From VentureBeat

kajeet.jpg In a highly risky strategy of piggy-backing on other carriers’ networks, Kajeet has raised $36.8 million in a second round of financing to offer cellphone services to tweens and teens.

It offers a dashboard for parents to control when the phone can and can not be used, along with wallpaper, games, ringtones, applications and more...

Published on VentureBeat at 3:01 AM PermaLink

Metro Round-Up: The Hangover Is Starting to Life, Muni-Fi?

From Wi-Fi Networking News

A number of articles today indicate that the last few weeks' haze may be starting to lift slightly: More reasonable, targeted, smaller (at least initially) Wi-Fi networks will be built in cities, and we're starting to see some of that news percolate out. If you haven't seen it already, read my interview from last week with EarthLink's CEO, Rolla Huff...

Published on Wi-Fi Networking News at 2:49 AM PermaLink

Yahoo's Overhaul-less Overhaul

From Infectious Greed

According to a Kevin Delaney story in Monday's WSJ, the 100-day overhaul at Yahoo is going to result in ... more of the same. He says people are telling him a "major overhaul" is unlikely, and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang is playing down the significance of the 100-day deadline next month...

Published on Infectious Greed at 2:43 AM PermaLink

Space Efficient Furniture From Tetris

From OhGizmo!

Chair Sofa BedIf you live in a teeny little apartment, or even if you don’t, this combination furniture might come in handy. Depending on how you fit the pieces together, you can create chairs and a low table, a sofa, or even a bed. My only real question is what materials would be used...

Published on OhGizmo! at 2:38 AM PermaLink

Wales Bags Biggest Mobile Phone Recycling Facility in Europe

From MobileCrunch

wales1.jpgExcel Fortune Holdings announced that Europe’s largest mobile phone recycling facility will be built in Wales, UK. Excel has committed GBP (Pounds) 6million for the venture with an estimated total start-up investment, including capital turnover, of GBP15million. A 120,000 sq ft facility will become Excel’s European hub and headquarters...

Published on MobileCrunch at 2:24 AM PermaLink

TMZ Gets a Real TV Show. Debuts Tonight.

From Mashable

tmz-l.pngTMZ, the snarky epicenter for online entertainment and celebrity news, is getting its own TV show.

Debuting tonight (check your local listings), the show aims to be a real look at Hollywood. Many of the stories from the popular website will be “fleshed out” on the small screen, highlighting the celebrities we love to hate to love...

Published on Mashable at 2:21 AM PermaLink

Yahoo: Thanks for the Idea, but Nope

From Searchblog

Yahoo apparently considered outsourcing search monetization (WSJ), but decided against it:

....over the summer, Mr. Yang did actively assess one major sacred cow: the Web-search-advertising business it built up at great expense in recent years. Under the scenario discussed by top executives, Yahoo would have outsourced that search-advertising activity...

Published on Searchblog at 2:16 AM PermaLink

Coby Monitor Doubles as TV

From Gear Live

Colby /Monitor/TV Coby has come up with a “two-fer.” Use the TF-DVD 1591 flatscreen as a monitor with its 1024 x 768 resolution and 15-inch TFT LCD or utilize it as a TV with its built-in tuner. Even more creative is its slot-loading DVD player neatly packaged on the side...

Published on Gear Live at 2:12 AM PermaLink

You’re Invited to a Free Virtual Seminar on Windows Vista

From Ed Bott’s Windows Expertise and Media Central

The good folks at Books24×7 are putting on a series of online seminars under the Windows Vista Essentials label. Later this week, I’ll be sitting down with my Windows Vista Inside Out sidekick, Carl Siechert, to host a 45-minute presentation on how to make the transition from XP to Vista without going insane...

Published on Ed Bott’s Windows Expertise and Media Central at 2:08 AM PermaLink

1966 Prediction of Home Computer in 1999 (Video Link Updated)

From BoingBoing

Picture 2-74 It's amazing how accurate these predictions from 1966 were about home computers in 1999, and not just what they can do (or having them at all) but what many people would inevitably use them for most of the time...

Published on BoingBoing at 1:57 AM PermaLink

Intel And AMD Gearing up for Battle Over The OLPC's CPU Slot

From Ars Technica

It may have once dismissed the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) Project as a "cheap gadget," but Intel appears to have changed its mind. The company is now involved in talks to provide CPUs for the $100 (actually ~$175) systems.

According to the EETimes, Intel's newfound interest in the project is just fine...

Published on Ars Technica at 1:52 AM PermaLink

VC Bigs Invest $40M In Solar Thermal Power Plant Startup

From Alarm: Clock

$40M is an adventurous amount for a startup to raise in its first round. But Palo Alto-baed Ausra has major expenses as it plans utility scale solar plants. Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins put up the money. The company appears to have been funded late last year...

Published on Alarm: Clock at 1:48 AM PermaLink

Danah Boyd Is Confused By Facebook Success

From /Message

Cousin danah is puzzled:

[from apophenia: confused by Facebook] I am utterly confused by the ways in which the tech industry fetishizes Facebook. There's no doubt that Facebook's F8 launch was *brilliant*. Offering APIs and the possibility of monetization is a Web 2.0 developer's wet dream, but...

Published on /Message at 1:46 AM PermaLink

Sponsored by

Advertise with us

Greatest Hits

`