It’s a bold vision: “build the discovery engine for hte social web”… and that’s precisely what excites us about Spindle. Based in Cambridge, MA and started in Dogpatch Labs, Spindle aims to deliver actionable information and news that you wouldn’t have found otherwise… using location, real-time data and your social and interest graphs.

Today, Pat, Simon, Alex and Alex announce Spindle as the discovery engine for the social web and open to beta registrations:

“We believe that we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible via the social web and that discovery needs to be reimagined from the ground up. Location, device, time of day, the structure of the physical world, the social graph, and your interests can uncover better content than keywords. (read more)“

- Spindle on Facebook
- Spindle on Twitter

Note: this article originally appeared on TechCrunch: Designing for Mobile: 7 Guidelines for Startups to Follow

As an investor, I’ve seen hundreds of mobile application pitches. And as a consumer, I’ve downloaded hundreds more – some out of curiosity and others in the hope that I’ll find something so useful and exciting that I’ll make room for it on my iPhone’s home screen.

From both perspectives, I am rarely excited by download numbers. What gets my attention is engagement: how frequently an application is used and how engaged those users are. This ultimately is the barometer for an application’s utility and/or strength of community. And if either of those two factors are strong, growth will certainly come. Just ask Instagram, Evernote, LogMeIn and others.

Creating great mobile experiences requires dedication to building product specifically for mobile. It sounds obvious, but it’s so often overlooked. Mobile users have different needs, desires and environments; and as the application creator, you have different opportunities to create utility and engagement. With that in mind – and with the help of my former eBay colleague and Dogpatch Labs resident, Rob Abbott (founder of EGG HAUS and Critiq), we’ve put together 7 design guidelines to consider when building for mobile.

Just like the presentations on leveraging Facebook (both on-Facebook.com and off-Facebook) and Twitter, success comes from building meaningful experiences that are honest to the native environments.

Read all of the startup presentations:
- Leveraging Facebook for Startups: Part II, On-Facebook
- How to Leverage Facebook for Startups: Part I, Off-Facebook
- 14 SEO Tips for Startups
- How to Grow Your Brand on Twitter. 5 Overarching Guidelines. Tons of Examples.
- How to Create an Early-Stage Pitch Deck

7 Guidelines to Great Mobile Design

Note: this article originally appeared on TechCrunch: 10 Ways to Leverage Facebook for Startups: Part II, On-Site

Part I: Off-Facebook Strategy
Part II: On-Facebook Strategy

Yesterday I discussed how to improve user acquisition, activation and activity by building Facebook directly into your web experience. There is of course another half to the equation: leveraging Facebook.com to expand your reach and engage your users.

On-Facebook success is less product-heavy than success off-Facebook, although they both ultimately aim for the same outcome: engagement. While it is as much an art as a science, if you optimize for engagement and continually test your way across Facebook’s myriad of products – you may well find yourself sitting alongside The Rock (Facebook’s best personality?) and Spotify (terrific example of being a platform first-mover).

As a startup, you may not reach the scale Spotify or the brand / reach of Starbucks (27 million fans) – but this guide will help you think about strengthening relationships with your fans, expanding your fanbase and unifying your off-Facebook experience with your on-Facebook presence.

Note: this article originally appeared on TechCrunch: 10 Ways Your Startup Can Hook Into Facebook, Part I: On The Web

Part I: Off-Facebook Strategy
Part II: On-Facebook Strategy

Having already covered how startups can use search and Twitter to find customers, here’s 10 steps for finding people on another key marketing platform: Facebook

Facebook has evolved from a social network into the fabric with which much of the web is constructed: identity, product, data, experience and so on. Even if you chose to no longer use it as a social destination, you would still find immense value in it through your every-day web usage: registration, personalization, sharing, interaction, etc.

This is of course a huge opportunity for consumer-focused startups. Facebook plays a core role in touching each step along the standard product / user funnel:

- Acquisition: virality, referrals, paid traffic
- Activation: conversion paths from new to active users
- Activity: user engagement and retention

Below is a slide presentation with five ways to think about leveraging Facebook to affect those three steps on your web experience. Tomorrow I will share five ways to find success on Facebook.com.

Note: This article originally appeared on TechCrunch (“14 Steps to Successful SEO for Startups”).

For startups, it is dangerous to entirely separate product and marketing – both strategically and organizationally. A great product isn’t overly useful without an audience. And a great marketing strategy can’t save a poor product. Product and marketing have to coexist.

So when imaging, building and eventually launching your product, it is important to also hone the marketing strategy. There are five core channels:

- Paid marketing (SEM, display, affiliates, etc)
- Social & viral marketing
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Partnerships & business development
- PR

For early-stage companies, advertising at scale is expensive and consequently difficult. Furthermore, PR and business development become easier efforts as the company matures. So where does that leave you as a resource-constrained startup?

Marketing needs to come from the product itself. Last week I explored the role that social and virals play. And while the tech world is fascinated with social media and major platforms like Facebook and Twitter, we shouldn’t overlook the role of SEO (and consequently Google). Like Facebook and Twitter, SEO is another opportunity to expand your funnel and increase your audience — without an advertising budget! Also like social, SEO is far more effective when built directly into the product (“from the ground up”). Here are 14 guidelines for thinking about SEO.

Note: This article originally appeared on TechCrunch (“5 Ways for Startups to Grow Their Brands on Twitter”).

Last week I began an effort to answer those questions I get asked most frequently, starting with how to create an early-stage pitch deck. Today, I address the next most popular question: how best to grow your brand on Twitter?

Twitter is the ultimate marketing platform. But the scale of Twitter is so extraordinary (250 million tweets / day) that it is actually quite easy to get lost in the noise.

Separating yourself from the masses really begins with the recognition that Twitter is first and foremost a platform for conversation. If you believe that, you avoid the mistake most brands make: treating Twitter as a mechanism to push content rather than create engagement.

And once your goal is to foster conversation and engagement, you can follow these five guidelines:

1. Listen.
2. Be authentic.
3. Be compelling.
4. Find the influencers.
5. Extend off-twitter and onto your site.

In the below presentation, I breakdown these core themes and provides examples of people and companies successfully using Twitter to drive engagement and grow their brands.

Note: This article originally appeared on TechCrunch (“How To Create An Early-Stage Pitch Deck For Investors”).

It is the first in a series of posts / decks that I will be doing on those questions I get asked most commonly. Of course we will start with the question I get most: how to create a great pitch deck!

When raising capital, a combination of your company’s product, vision, team and execution are what ultimately attract investment. And while the pitch deck is ultimately less important than vision and product, it exists to convey both elements and get investors hungry for more.

Like other investors, I come across hundreds of pitches each month — some in person, others in email; some as PowerPoints, and others as full-fledged business plans. Your goal is to craft a deck that is both:

- crisp: succinct enough that it is easily digestible (in person, email, etc)

- and complete: thorough enough that it conveys the big vision and current traction

I looked back on many of the pitches I reviewed over the last couple years (good and bad) and compared it to public pitch decks of familiar, successful companies like Airbnb, Foursquare, and Mint. The output is this guide to creating an early-stage pitch deck. It’s intended for companies seeking seed and series A investments.

There are five core themes followed by a suggested structure:

1. Have a great one-liner
2. Know your audience
3. Keep it to 10-15 slides
4. Beware of the demo
5. Expect the deck to be shared

And remember: it’s the story and the conversation that is important – not the imagery and colors. If you can convey the passion that drives you (and your users / customers!), you will have created a powerful pitch deck.

As we build out Dogpatch Labs Palo Alto and meet with potential residents, we have had the opportunity to reflect on Dogpatch Labs… which is now a little more than years old. Credit for this exercise should be given to Dave Barrett (blog here, twitter here) who wrote a great, thorough piece on BostonInnovation.com and on his blog.

I encourage you to read the articles as they do a great job explaining Dogpatch Labs’ history, operations and success. I’ll repurpose the highlights here…

And if you are interested in applying to any of the four Dogpatch Labs locations, please do so here.

Some interesting numbers from across the 4 Lab communities:

- To date, over 350 emerging companies have been residents.

- Right now, there are more than 70 teams in the Labs.

- Team quality has never been higher & incredibly-interesting stuff is being worked on. The waiting lists in each location range from over 60 to over 100 interested teams.

- About 100 total DPL companies — or about one third — have received funding. Rounds have ranged from $100K to $10M.

-Over $140M in capital has been invested in @dogpatchlabs companies.

- So far, 15 more companies have been acquired by the likes of Google, PayPal, Trulia, BlackHawk, Buddy Media & others.

-So far, Polaris has invested in a little over 10% the total teams funded. That ratio feels great.

Read more: on BostonInnovation.com and on his blog.
Follow Dogpatch Labs: Twitter, Facebook, Blog
Follow Polaris Ventures: Twitter, Facebook

A big, important and timely update by ReadyForZero (note: portfolio company). With over $75,000,000 of credit card debts already being tracked and managed in their system, ReadyForZero today expanded their product to service other debts – including student loans, mortgages, etc.

It is timely because the US will surpass $1 Trillion of unpaid student loan debt this year and as President Obama stated yesterday, “Student loan debt has now surpassed credit card debt for the first time ever.”

Read more on TechCrunch and give ReadyForZero a spin at http://www.readyforzero.com.

Like Mint For People In Debt: ReadyForZero Now Supports Mortgages & Loans

Note: this post originally appeared on TechCrunch: Startups, Seed Funding, And Avoiding Empty Pockets (October 13, 2011). I have reposted it here.

Thanks in part to the Wall Street Journal’s “Web Startups Face Cash Crunch“, much has been made about the state of early stage investments and investing. While there is debate as to whether the article is accurate and/or overstated, let’s look at how we arrived here:

1. Pace of innovation. It is unlike anything we’ve seen before. This is happening because today is a better time to launch a company than ever before: technology, speed, cost, and capital all support the trend. The continued maturation of the internet, the cloud and the emergence of mobile platforms have changed everything involved in building product, targeting users and engaging customers. It has changed the fundamental operating and time constructs behind building compelling businesses.

As a result “entrepreneurship is in vogue”, using Fred Wilson’s words.

2. Capital. Over the past few years, it has flowed quickly into early stage technology – and it’s come from all directions:

Like entrepreneurship, angel investing is in vogue. Mark Suster summed it up: “Everyone Now is a F**king Angel. Look at Twitter Bios. Everybody is ‘my day job’ + ‘angel investor.’”

‘Super angel’ funds have also become more common. These funds can range from $10-50m and they represent a willingness and appetite to make larger investments: $100,000 – $500,000 or more. The fund size allows for larger investments… and the fund economics dictate it.

Meanwhile, large venture funds are more actively participating in seed deals. These deals vary in size and type: many participate on a convertible note and others are larger investments that lead and price the round. Some firms have dedicated seed investors and/or capital pools.

3. Cascades. As more money flows into the seed stage, it affects the investments.

Most obviously: more financings get done.

Less obviously: the financings look different.

There are more early stage investors and those investors want to put more money to work…and invariably the deal economics shift. Entrepreneurs have a desired dilution amount and investors have a desired ownership amount —those move in relative concert. For instance, those rates are the same for a $500,000 round on a $2.5m pre-money valuation as they are for a $1m raise on a $5m pre.

Furthermore, it affects the deal structure. The majority of today’s seed deals are done on convertible notes—in part because it is often a more efficient way to raise a round and in part because the investor makeup looks different: a slew of great investors perhaps, but no true lead(s). These ‘headless seed’ rounds—without a lead investor to help support and shepherd the raise process alongside the founding team—can make downstream Series A fundraising challenging for those other than the rocket ship startups.

4. Cash Crunch. The “cash crunch” for a company comes when it is time to raise the subsequent round.

There has been a surge of seed-funded companies, many financed at strong valuations and by a wide network of investors; consequently, the burden is on the company to differentiate itself, show meaningful progress and grow into a subsequent funding in-part influenced by the initial round (capital and valuation).

Great companies won’t struggle here, but the reality is that there is a limited number of firms who can write these size checks and a limited number of companies that can support those valuations. Hence the “crunch”.

So what does this mean? Some simple advice I’d offer early stage founders:

Stay lean before and after funding. Sounds obvious but early capital infusions should be raised and spent according to plan.
Raise enough capital for 12-18 months. I meet too many seed companies who optimize against dilution and in turn plan to go to market in 6-9 months. This is frightening because it requires you to demonstrably grow within a very tight timeframe. And you will have to go to market well before the capital dries up.
Optimize for near term success and long term company value—not for seed valuation. Sure, it sounds self-serving coming from an investor… But it’s true. Craft your seed round such that it puts you in the best position to grow, deliver on your vision, and raise a strong Series A.
One of those factors is people. Be thoughtful about your investors. Think about the value each investor brings and what the larger investor makeup looks like. Can the group help you achieve those non-financial milestones? And if needed, can the group guide and help you if you feel “crunched”.

Two questions I always ask seed companies:

“What will success look like at the end of the seed phase?”

“When do you know it’s time to raise your A round?”

If you have a great handle on those questions, the rest will fall into place.