PR for Startups: Dogpatch Labs Event with VentureBeat & TechCrunch

Wednesday evening, Dogpatch Labs hosted a "PR for Startups" event alongside Anthony Ha of VentureBeat and Jason Kincaid of TechCrunch. Topics included: - what is newsworthy - how and when to engage press / bloggers - who to engage and with what tact - when to use internal vs. external PR leads

Below is a list of 11 great takeaways written by David Hua of Wellsphere and Health Central. The pictures are from Dogpatch resident Art Chang (of FanPulse). Art also has a list of six takeaways from the evening - available on his blog.

Takeaways from PR for Startups Event (by David Hua)

1. Short and Sweet - Send concise emails stating what your company does and why it is interesting. 48-72 hours of notice before a launch is recommended.

2. Video Walkthroughs - Emails with a youtube video walkthrough (1-2min) is helpful

3. The Elephant in the Room - Don't be afraid to compare yourself with the competitor. Do show how you are different.

4. Pay attention to the Calendar - Plan your launch with the calendar in mind. Do not release your news around big events, announcements, or a busy day of news.

5. A Day in the Life - Tech Bloggers put out 3-6 posts a day. If it is a slow day for them, email them something interesting and cc their tips@URL.com email (launches, acquisitions, and funding are big news items)

6. Headlines - Don't suggest one and don't use a misleading subject line, it's annoying

7. Assets Ready - In the follow up email or phone call with the writer, make sure you send an email with screen shots, company information, and video (optional).

8. Build relationships - If you know something interesting that doesn't pertain to your company, send the tip along to the writer, they are helpful.

9. Meetups - Invitations for lunch, dinner, and events are welcomed

10. Clear communication every step of the way - Be very clear what you mean about "exclusive". (i.e How long a particular writer has an exclusive for? Notification if you are moving on with the news to another publication.)

11. Traffic Observations – Techcrunch sends firehose amounts of traffic over the course of a few days whereas VentureBeat sends a consistent amount of traffic over a longer period of time

iPhone OS 4: Five Takeaways

Today Apple announced iPhone OS 4 - which ships in the summer for the iPhone and iPod Touch and in the winter for the iPad. Lots of incremental and much needed changes (ie App Folders) but a few significant updates for consumers AND developers:

1. Multitasking. ... and ... 2. Background Tasks (consumers) We have asked for it essentially since Pandora's app launched... you will be able to run background services for: - audio (ie Pandora - a huge winner today) - voip (ie Skype) - location (ie directions, maps)

3. Enhanced Mail (consumers) This is particularly important for iPad users: multiple Exchange accounts, threaded conversation, improved attachments, etc.

4. iAd (developers) We knew this was coming with Apple's recent Quattro acquisition... and it arrived today. Apple will become an ad platform for the app ecosystem: selling and hosting the ads on a 40/60 split (40 to Apple). Ads are fully interactive and done in HTML5 (another big win for HTML5).

Not only is this an opportunity for HTML5 developers and web marketers, it is an opportunity for app developers to reach new users and drive downloads. Powerful.

5. Game Center (developers) Traditionally, mobile apps have not been as 'viral' as Facebook apps... with iAd and Game Center there are new ways for developers to drive adoption. Game Center is Apple's take on Xbox Live: a gallery for players, leaderboards, achievements, etc - effectively a heightened platform to foster game mechanics and drive usage.

More reviews at: Gizmodo / Engadget / TechCrunch / VentureBeat

Living Proof Launches "Hold" on QVC

Before getting to more iPad posts (see this am's here and here), I have a couple of portfolio related posts.

On QVC yesterday, Living Proof announced their new No Frizz Try Me Kit and the launch of their new hairspray Hold.

You can learn more about the set, watch the QVC live video (featuring Living Proof CEO Rob Robillard) and purchase the set.

Equally exciting, two of Living Proof's products (No Frizz Shampoo and Full Thickening Cream) were named 2010 CEW Beauty Awards finalists. Within the beauty industry, these are prestigious honors; and, the winners will officially be announced May 21st, 2010.

iBooks: iPad's Book Experience Stomps Kindle's

I have long wanted an Amazon Kindle, but held out because of the looming iPad. Despite arriving a year longer than I initially assumed / hoped, I am glad that I waited as the iPad's book experience is exceptional. The biggest difference: the iPad's big, gorgeous screen makes content (web, apps, books) look stunning. Whether it is the pre-installed Winnie the Pooh book, Marvel Comics or Chelsea Handler, the book looks great. Furthermore, because of the screen's real-estate and ability to be viewed in landscape vs. portrait, it really does feel like a normal book (whereas the Kindle at times feels small and full of compressed pages). Two other difference is of course the platform. Apple pre-installed the Winnie the Pooh book because it demonstrates what publishers can do with this device. The Pooh book has graphics that are rich, colorful and wrapped in text. No other device currently supports that... but it's just the beginning - publishers could embed interactive media or create content that is dynamic based on user input. Just as the iPad represents numerous opportunities for magazines and newspapers - book publishers have similar freedom to think big and innovate.

Lastly, the book experience really is slick. The device feels great in the hand, but it's the navigation, bookmarking, searching and ability to rotate the screen that makes it so intuitive and fun.

And finally two complaints:

1. The inventory of titles is not yet where the Amazon's is... this should change over time (after all, over 700,000 iPads moved yesterday!) 2. I find the bookshelf really corny... for some reason, it looks so hokey and makes the experience feel more childish.

Update: ReadWriteWeb has a good overview of reading on iPad.

iPad Review: 24 Hours with the iPad

After ~24 hours with the iPad, I decided to post a few 'mini-reviews' of the device, experience and applications. Here is my take on the iPad itself, with a couple more posts coming on particular apps: Background: I have the 32GB wifi iPad and also carry a Verizon Mifi card (which can act as the 3G provider for the iPad).

In short: I had very high expectations / hopes going into this ... just look a handful of my excited blog posts. The iPad exceeded my expectations by a landslide, and everyone else who came into contact with it - some Apple fanatics and some cynics - had the same excited response. I really cannot recommend the iPad enough - it will change the way you travel, interact with the web at home, and interact with branded applications.... and you will have a ton of fun using it.

Pros:

- It is a beautiful device. It looks great and feels sturdy and nice in your hands / lap. - The iPad hums. Unlike the iPhone or a regular computer, everything flies on the iPad: applications, emails, bootup, app transitions, etc. - The screen is terrific - crisp, dynamic and rich. Looking at photos and colorful websites like ESPN is a treat. - Typing is much easier than I anticipated. In landscape mode, traditional qwerty typing is doable, intuitive and fast. - Mail, calendar and contacts are much better than I expected. The apps are very intuitive and efficient - particularly navigation. - Books are outstanding... sorry Amazon, but this is a *much* better experience - there is really no comparison. - iPad-specific apps are beautiful, fast and able to take advantage of the large real-estate. More to come on this in future blog posts - but it really is a new realm of development opportunity - The speakers are far better than I expected. Normally internal laptop / cell-phone speakers are pitiful. This isn't a Bose system, but it is quite good.

Cons:

- The biggest downside is that there simply aren't a ton of iPad-specific apps yet. Running iPhone apps on the iPad is really disappointing. Of course this will change over time, but app inventory is limited. - Similarly - and this too will change - book inventory is not as deep as Amazon's. - No camera: it still bothers me that there is no front-facing camera for chat. - There are some minor UI annoyances (ie why are downloaded apps stuck on a new screen?) that I assume will be fixed in upcoming software updates.

Gorgeous Beta Launch: WordPress & VaultPress

If you're an active blogger and WordPress user, you should be excited about the new launch of VaultPress - a backup and monitoring service for your sites. Vaultpress launched this week as a Beta and has the best looking "Beta Applications" I have seen... and in the world of optimizing funnels (registration paths, purchase flows, etc), this is a great lesson in thinking about how to apply that knowledge and analysis to fuzzier aspects of the business (like the Beta launch). What can be learned?

1. It is simple and clever... all within the VaultPress brand and look 2. It cleverly captures all of the information typically requested (name, URL, etc) 3. It captures directional information that will help inform usage, customer type, etc: as examples, "How much would you pay?" and "Why would you pay?" 4. VaultPress understands the Beta applicant and therefore can intelligently invite / control the invitation process (such that they can have early users of whatever type / pattern they prefer)

Note: Polaris is an investor in Automattic (parent company of WordPress).

Android: 2% Smartphone Requests in Feb 2009, 24% in Feb 2010

AdMob's monthly mobile metrics reports provide terrific, real insights into mobile trends (hardware, software, OS, and mobile usage).The February report has two important trends that I have highlighted over the last few months:

1. Android continues to ramp and take significant market share: "Android was the fastest growing operating system in the AdMob network year-over-year. Android's share of smartphone requests increased from 2% in February 2009 to 24% in February 2010. The top five Android devices worldwide, by traffic, were the Motorola Droid, HTC Dream, HTC Hero, HTC Magic, and the Motorola CLIQ."

2. The iPod Touch and other web devices are becoming significant mobile devices... and wait until the iPad and tablets emerge

"The mobile Internet device category experienced the strongest growth of the three, increasing to account for 17% of traffic in AdMob’s network in February 2010. Although the vast majority of traffic in this category comes from the iPod touch, the category also includes devices like the Sony PSP and Nintendo DSi."