By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Want to find a dance partner near you? Want to find a workout partner near you? Want to find a tennis partner?
A new website called CribSocial.com can help you. This Bay Area startup, which was launched in November of 2009, provides a platform where people with similar interests can connect and socialize offline through activities in their neighborhood.
While many social websites such as Facebook and MySpace are mostly viewed as indoor activities that are enjoyed alone in your house or apartment, CribSocial.com encourages offline interaction, indeed that is the entire point of the site.
It’s free service which allows people to create and participate in social activities in many different categories such as dancing, hanging out, sports, education etc. People can look for a dance partner, hiking groups or simply someone interesting to hang out with. Besides the individual activities users can also create social groups that meet regularly as well as one time special events such as a sports event or music concerts.
Read More >>
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
I have some entrepreneurs named Daniel and Alicia Adams whose leap of faith into the United States economy is extremely interesting.
In 2006 Daniel and Alicia Adams, former business professionals based in Germany, saw this country not for the decaying economy, but for the prospect of starting the north eastern United States largest Suri alpaca farm.
Alpaca farming is not a get-rich quick business, but the Adams’ have created a two-fold business. Daniel turns a serious profit by careful breeding and selling of the Accoyo bloodlines while Alicia started a blossoming manufacturing business selling women’s apparel, baby clothes, and homegoods using the luxurious, super-fine fibers collected from their own alpaca herd. Although their entrepreneurship presents its challenges and struggles every day, it has continued to increase revenues without any major setbacks.
Besides breeding for excellence in conformation, fleece and character, one of our main goals is to preserve the pure Accoyo bloodlines in the United States, and also to introduce them into our colored breeding program to further enhance the fiber quality of the company’s colored herd.
Read More >>
By: Co-Editor, RS:
As the decade came to a close, I took a small amount of time to reflect on another year of my life and how the business world has changed. For one reason or another, I started to think about various businesses that used to be in my neck of the woods on Long Island, New York.
One of the things I started to realize is that despite all of the advances in technology its impact on business over the last 10-15 years, the overall effect has not been good for the entrepreneur or the small business owner.
Can you imagine if you wanted to open a hardware store in the suburbs of any large or small city? Good luck. You will never be able to compete with the likes of The Home Depot. How about opening an office supply business? Once again, good luck, as Staples or Office Depot buys in such bulk that one cannot possibly compete on pricing or national advertising.
My recollection of the beginnings of this trend of “Big Business” domination ruining it for entrepreneurs, started in the mid to late 1980’s. It seemed that on every corner of the universe you were able to find a neighborhood video store. Then in the late 1980’s after Wayne Huizenga acquired the Blockbuster name, we started to see these mega-video stores all over the place. There were times you could find numerous Blockbuster stores within a few miles of each other. This phenomenon crushed the small mom and pop video retailer as everyone enjoyed the variety that Blockbuster could offer the consumer due to its ability to carry more inventory.
Read More >>
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Today, I will discuss a site that can be an extreme help to our readers and small businesses and startups everywhere. The site is called docstoc.com.
Docstoc.com is the premier online community and marketplace to find and share professional documents. Docstoc provides the platform to upload and share documents, and serves as a vast repository of free and for purchase legal, business, financial, technical, and educational documents that can be easily searched, previewed and downloaded.
Docstoc, Inc was founded by Jason Nazar and Alon Shwartz. Its product was subsequently launched to the public in November 2007. It is backed by the venture capital firm Rustic Canyon. They founders also received funding from the co-founders/investors in MySpace, LowerMyBills.com, Mp3.com, PriceGrabber and Baidu. The company is located in Santa Monica, California.
Docstoc also provides technology through various APIs and Widgets to help facilitate the sharing and promotion of documents across the web. The site has popularized the use of embedding documents throughout the blogosphere and mainstream media.
Read More >>
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
As my readers know, this space does not focus solely (or even primarily) on gadgets or the latest technology craze. We focus on startups and issues affecting startups and small business. However, I was recently tipped of to the latest offering from Skullcandy.com. The company that recently launched new earbuds, and based on the fervor in which people espouse the “coolness” of Skullcandy’s other products, this interested me.
As an iPhone user and a user of many things Apple, I am consistently intrigued with how other users defend and protect their mode of headphone (be it earpuds, noise cancellers, etc.). Moreover, the type of headphone (or earbud) one uses can apparently say something about one’s style. Skullcandy has been wildly successful reaching that market.
Skullcandy is a privately held company based in Park City, Utah. Skullcandy designs headphones, mp3 player watches, audio accessories and other audio-enabled lifestyle products, such as backpacks with built-in speakers and iPod controls. Skullcandy also collaborates with select brands to integrate its audio technology into products from snow helmets to outerwear, apparel, packs and bags. Skullcandy gear is sold worldwide through top retailers, specialty outlets.
Read More >>
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Professionals and students alike can now leave the laptop behind and share files securely thanks to Sayabit.com. The service is a free links-based file storage web service, which shortens and redirects long URLs while providing web and click analytics.
Launching in beta in October of 2009, Sayabit.com also allows users to upload and share images, documents and videos securely for real-time conversion into trackable URLs.
Small businesses and individuals now have an affordable solution for secure virtual storage and it is in the “cloud”. Sayabit.com, pronounced “Say A Bit” also acts as a new and free virtual filing cabinet and personal organizer that gives users a new mode to manage and access files anytime, anywhere, whether it is a PC or mobile device.
Serial entrepreneur Ken Huang, also the co-founder of Webnotes Inc., is on a mission to offer solutions that enhance life beyond the screen and bring people back together in the real world.
Sayabit.com is powered by SayagleTM, a Cambridge, Massachusetts start-up, which is planning its beta launch of a first of kind location-based social networking marketplace later on in the first quarter of this year. Sayabit.com is a stand-alone product that integrates seamlessly with Sayagle to enhance its mission of giving people access to important information beyond the screen.
Read More >>
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
When the history of the beginnings of the Internet is written, one web phenomenon that will be discussed will be so-called “Internet meme”. For the great unwashed, an Internet meme is is a phrase used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet, much like an esoteric inside joke. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although this concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.
Perhaps the most famous early Internet meme was the so-called “lolcat”.
A lolcat is an image combining a photograph of a cat and a humorous caption in language that typically parodies Internet slang. In this case the slang LOL for “laugh out loud”.
I Can Has Cheezburger? sparked an Internet phenomenon by creating a weblog that featured lolcats. Launched in January of 2007 by Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami, the site was sold to Pet Holdings, Inc., a Web startup based in Seattle.
Pet Holdings, Inc. then started the Cheezburger Network.
Read More >>
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Zero Motorcycles Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells high performance electric motorcycles. The company, formerly known as Electricross, was started in 2006 near Santa Cruz, California. The company was founded by Neal Saiki who was a former NASA engineer and has also won numerous design awards in the sports world.
They are known for their line of dirt bikes and most recently the popular Zero X. They have begun branching out into the street world with a motorcycle called the Zero S (Zero S) which began shipping in 2009.
The Zero S shares some of the same styling cues as its off-road little brother, the previously mentioned Zero X. The motorcycle has highway appropriate tires and a “projector beam” headlight. With a peak horsepower of 31 and 62.5 lb-ft of torque, the clutchless one-speed “Zero S” gets to its top speed of 60 mph in no time. Its four kWh battery can keep you going for up to 60 miles. The intergrated charger allows you to fully charge in less than four hours.
It is very light, and therefore very quick. The battery warning light goes on with about 20 miles to go.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
I am one who has always been skeptical of personal coaches and self-help gurus. However, there are organizations in this space that are doing good and valuable work. EntrepreneursSource.com is one of those organizations.
Franchising’s leading career and business coaching company recently launched a free, innovative online virtual coaching experience. The virtual coach elicits ideal income, lifestyle, wealth and equity dreams from visitors. While defining their objectives in a series of questions, a picture board dramatically builds on the screen allowing people to visualize what they aspire to attain through business ownership. Once the series of questions have been completed, the virtual coach helps identify the type of investment that could ultimately provide personal fulfillment.
Additional enhancements to the site include a blog that will be routinely updated with business buying tips from company leadership and more than 100 pages of valuable insight into entrepreneurialism. Studies show more than 70 percent of the U.S. population looks to be self sufficient rather than working for somebody else but only 5 percent of the population actually accomplish the feat. The problem is that many of them call it quits before they even get started.
Read More >>
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
In the famous Chinese Restaurant episode of Seinfeld the maitre’d continually barks out the patrons names as their table becomes available. The cast waits for hours for their table before finally giving up. Just when they leave the restaurant the maitre’d yells “Seinfeld, Four!”
I thought of that episode while checking out a new website Textaurant.com. The Seinfeld episode demonstrates how quaint we used to be about dealing with dining options and wait times. The first advancement I remember is when restaurants began to use beepers so they could beep you when your table was ready. But the range was limited and you had to be ready right away so you could not wander off too far anyway.
Other restaurants have used the Internet and technology to deal with wait times. The Shake Shack, which is a wildly popular burger stand in Madison Square Park in New York City, uses a “Shack Cam” so patrons can monitor the wait online.
Textaurant.com offers a more comprehensive twist. It is a Massachusetts based company that acts as a web-based waiting list and as a management application for busy restaurants that consistently have their patrons waiting for tables.
Read More >>
