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3Qs with Blinksale Co-Founder…

August 29, 2008

NOT!

I think it’s safe to say that every freelancer has heard or used Blinksale, the service that easily lets you send invoices online. So it seemed like a no brainer to contact them for a quick email interview for this blog, considering they are based in Southlake.

Apparently, not all companies like free PR and an opportunity to engage with the startup community they were born out of. I was pretty surprised to receive this email in response to my request:

Thank you for your interest! Unfortunately, we are focused on some
large projects at the moment and won’t be able to participate.

Best wishes,

Brian Bailey
Blinksale.com

According to the Firewheel Design website (creators of Blinksale), they have something brewing and they have “taken an oath of secrecy.” I guess this means they can’t spare 10 minutes.

Too bad.

Written by Bradley Joyce · Filed Under Blog, Startups |  

3Qs with DeaLoco.com Co-Founder Steve Cospolich

August 29, 2008

DeaLoco- DeaLoco is in a pretty big, competitive space. At the end of the day, what brings people to DeaLoco and keeps them coming back?

We have put a lot of effort into making the site as user-friendly as possible.  The site features a nice, clean layout; and all data necessary for our users to make a buying decision is presented in one place.  We are the first - and only - deal site that we know of to provide product reviews and price comparisons for every deal on the site.  Another feature of our site that gets great feedback from our users is the “Grief Factor” we assign to each deal.  From our FAQ - “Grief Factor is a quick and easy way to determine the difficulty of pulling off a deal. The scale ranges from 1 to 5 (1 is the easiest, 5 the most complicated). If you’re not in the mood to fill out lengthy mail-in-rebate forms or to drive into town for a price match, stick to the “1″s and “2″s and you’ll be stress free.”

We also pride ourselves on keeping our eyes and ears open for user feedback.  We’ve done extensive user testing with our friends and family and are currently running an iPerceptions online survey to help us gather even more user feedback. The response so far has been great.  We’re posting more and more deals each day and our users love the idea that we’re taking the legwork out of online bargain hunting.

- What’s your take on the entrepreneurial and startup community in DFW and how do you think it can be improved?

We are a relatively young startup and haven’t had much opportunity to seek out many resources in the area.  I know there are several entrepreneurial meetup groups out there, and Dallas seems to be a hotbed for SEO consultants/firms.  I did attend SXSWi down in Austin this year - and would highly recommend it for any other startups out there.  The energy in the convention center that week was amazing.  I’d love to see a major Web conference come to DFW.

- What’s the hardest lesson you’ve learned so far from your entrepreneurial endeavors?

Accepting the fact that just creating a great tool/resource does not ensure you will be an overnight success.  Marketing has played a much larger role than we first envisioned.  We were recently featured on a few news stations, and a station in Louisiana may be airing a spot on our site this Sunday (depending on what happens with Hurricane Gustav)…so we seem to be gaining more and more momentum. We’re always looking for new ways to spread the word about the site.

Written by Bradley Joyce · Filed Under Blog, Startups |  

Update: TECH Fort Worth: Business & Technology Incubator

August 28, 2008

In my last post, I wrote about my initial thoughts of TECH Fort Worth (TFW), the self-described “Business and Technology Incubator” here in Fort Worth.

Brent Sorrells, TFW’s Operations Manager, was kind enough to show me around the TECH Fort Worth facilities and tell me more about what they are all about.

The history of TFW is a little stormy. The organization started out in 1998 as MedTech and was focused on medical device technologies and the Health Industry. Over time, the non-profit (which it still is today), seems to have experience a high turnover of directors and vision/purpose.

Since Brent and current Executive Director, Darlene Ryan joined TFW in 2006, the murkiness of the TFW mission has been refined and clarified to what it is today.

The overriding focus? Help entrepreneurs with solid ideas backed by some proprietary technology (in most cases) build a business here in Fort Worth that will impact the local economy and create jobs.

TFW aims to accomplish that through their relatively recently created Incubation and Acceleration progams.

The Incubation program consists of hands-on workshops designed to help entrepreneurs answer three questions about their potential business: So What? Who Cares? Why You? The program also helps entrepreneurs hone their business plans, set up seed money from savings, family or friends and apply for any applicable state or federal grants.

The Acceleration program is aimed at companies that are already executing on their vision to some level, and provides resources, consulting and coaching to take it the ‘next level.’ The program gives companies access to subsidized office space and consultancy services, mentorship and coaching on pitching to investors and even access to the insanely expensive Frost & Sullivan database (in 3 markets). That fact alone could pay for the program fees many times over if a company take advantage of it.

TECH Fort Worth is subsidized heavily by the City of Fort Worth (the 3 paid TFW employees are actually City employees ‘on loan’ to TFW) as well as the University of North Texas Health Science Center (where 3 TFW Accleration program clients reside).

On a service by service level, it appears that what entrepreneurs and companies get for the cost of a TFW program is a pretty good deal. Brent also says that the fees help weed out entrepreneurs who are serious about building a business that will benefit Fort Worth in the future.

That being said, because the current TFW programs are relatively new, they don’t yet have a shining beacon of success they can point to as a justification of the cost and proof they are really adding value to their client companies and the Fort Worth startup community at large.

In addition, TECH Fort Worth is facing a shrinking subsidy from the the City of Fort Worth as it struggles to get its budget under control. How this will affect the ability of TFW to serve its clients and not raise fees remains to be seen.

Overall, the impression I got of TFW is pretty positive and I think that it will prove to be an asset to the entrepreneurial community here in Fort Worth as it matures under its current vision. However, it’s not for everyone. For example, the TFW staff and many of their consultants aren’t deeply involved or connect with software/web technologies and may not be the best fit for the next big internet startup.

TECH Fort Worth

1120 South Freeway

Fort Worth, Texas 76104

Phone: 817.339.8968

  • Fax: 817.810.0167
  • Email: info@techfortworth.org
  • Attention: Brent Sorrells

Map of TECH Fort Worth - Guinn Facility

Written by Bradley Joyce · Filed Under Blog, Startups |  

TECH Fort Worth: Business & Technology Incubator

August 25, 2008

I stumbled across the TECH Fort Worth website early last week when doing some research for this blog, somewhat surprised to see that something of this nature existed in Fort Worth.

What is TECH Fort Worth? From their website:

What we do:

We identify technologies with high potential for success in the marketplace, match resources of the community with the passion of entrepreneurs, and then mentor, coach, and relentlessly push the entrepreneurs toward success.

Our targeted clients:

Companies based on unique and/or proprietary technology, with a high potential for success in the marketplace, and with an entrepreneur who has the potential to take this company through incubation and acceleration.

For a fee…

Depending upon which program an entrepreneur/startup chooses, fees range from $1,000-$5,000. Their website provides quite a bit more information on how their programs work and what resources they have to offer.

My first question upon visiting their website, how can a technology incubator have such an outdated web site design? Putting that aside, it’s hard to tell what value TECH Fort Worth is bringing the clients, and still harder to tell the level of success of their listed clients.

So, in order to learn more about TECH Fort Worth, what all they do and get some info on their client companies, I’m meeting tomorrow with TFW Operations Manager Brent Sorrells.

Some of my questions for Brent:

  • What value is TECH Fort Worth adding to their client companies?
  • Is TFW for-profit or non-profit?
  • How are the ’strategic partners’ involved in TFW?

If you have any questions feel free to post them in the comments and I’ll do my best to get answers.

Hopefully, the tour and information Brent provides can show us what TFW is all about and how it can benefit the startup community.

Written by Bradley Joyce · Filed Under Startups |  

Why Building a Startup Community in DFW is Important

August 22, 2008

This past Monday was the first meeting of the SpringStage Angel/Entrepreneur Meetup. While there wasn’t a ton of progress made towards getting the group off the ground, it was an important step in the right direction for the DFW startup community.

A step in the direction of facilitating engagement between startups, their entrepreneurs and the angel investor community here in the metroplex.

So what is this so important? As a perfect example, I happen to come across a really cool website today thrown together by a couple of guys in one night. As I was chatting with one of the creators and the subject turned to funding he mentioned he didn’t really know what an angel investment was.

Neither did I until I happened to stumble across the Texas Startup Blog last year when I moved to Fort Worth. I also didn’t know was seed funding was or Series A and a number of other things that are pretty important to a lot of startups.

It seems that there is this sort of underground here in DFW of smart people doing smart things, but nobody knows about it, and entrepreneurs don’t necessarily know where they can go to get the help and advice to take their ideas to the next level.

We need to change that, and I think that is was SpringStage is (hopefully) about.

With a thriving, well-organized community focused on mentorship I believe we can build a thriving startup environment that will rival Austin, Boulder, San Francisco and any other place well known for startups. Such a community will go a long way in keeping smart entrepreneurs building really cool stuff here where they can have an impact on our local economy, inspire more local innovation and help solidify DFW as a place where startups can succeed.

Written by Bradley Joyce · Filed Under Startups |  

Fort Worth Startups?!

August 22, 2008

This may be your first response upon seeing this blog, one of the newest members of the SpringStage Startup Blog Network. So cowboy and steer jokes aside (is that the stereotype? I’ve only been here a year) what is the Fort Worth Startup Blog all about?

Building the DFW entrepreneurial and startup community.

Since the blog went live and I’ve started actively seeking out startups to profile, I’ve come across a bunch of really cool people doing some really cool stuff. This blog and the SpringStage network, is about connecting people and communities across the country and fostering engagement.

So, stay tuned for startup profiles and other news from the startup community here in Fort Worth (yes Fort Worth!) and around the DFW metroplex!

Written by Bradley Joyce · Filed Under Startups |