AsAble.com, empowering startups

Yesterday, AsAble.com hosted a private meeting with Don Dodge for a few LA startups at Google office in Santa Monica.  Don Dodge is a Developer Advocate at Google helping developers build new applications on Google platforms and technologies. Prior to joining Google, Don was a startup evangelist at Microsoft. Don is also a veteran of five start-ups including Forte Software, AltaVista, Napster, Bowstreet, and Groove Networks.

Each entrepreneur got a chance to share with Don what they are working on. With years of his own experience in startups and from having seen so many projects, Don provided very specific feedback to each startup on their business concept, execution, pitch, technology as well as how google can help.  Some of the notes I took from Don’s discussion:

• Figure out a niche, be it a vertical, or a location, or a partner to start out, be the best you can in that niche before going broad.
• Entrepreneurs don’t have to move to the Silicon Valley to make it work.  There are different set of challenges of being in a much more saturated space of startups and where the demand for talents and cost of living are high.
• We are at an exciting time where media and technology collide.
• Having a direct saleforce is very difficult to scale.  Figure out how to have an automated front end for vendor acquisition can help a lot for scalability.  Think of a model parallel to the self serve model used in adwords.
• When you look at a trend, think about timing and see if you have enough cash to sustain until the market meet you.
• Bit.ly and Twitpic are huge because they add capabilities to Twitter.  What other capabilities can you think of to add to Twitter?

The feedback was extremely valuable and insightful.  Don also offered support through encouragement and offered to make relevant introductions for each person.

Here are some notes from those who attended:

“Don Dodge is Google’s most valuable asset in startup relations, having been in the startup trenches himself, he’s capable of recommending not only what startupscan do but also what they should do.” – Matthias Galica

“Kudos to Giang for another great meetup.  Hearing Don Dodge’s thoughts on the handful of startups in the room, as well as Google’s way of working with startups, was invaluable.  We’re looking forward to staying in touch with Don.” – Joey Flores

“I really enjoyed Don’s candid responses to our questions (when we weren’t asking him to divulge corporate secrets that is). His experience in the areas of all of our startups, from couponing to digital music distribution, gave us all perspective on what we’re overlooking by being so close to our products.” – Stefan Wrobel

“Don had a lot of great insight and feedback for all those startups at the meeting.  It’s obvious he is genuinely interested in seeing developers succeed whether they’re using a Google product/service or not.” – Josh Kornoff

“It’s always great to speak with people like Don who have an uncanny ability to deliver the sort of candid, helpful feedback that all entrepreneurs need. Honestly, there really is no panel event that tops the effect of being a part of an intimate round-table discussion like this. Awesome guest. Awesome entrepreneurs. Awesome event.” – Robert Kiraz

Like to acknowledge it or not, most early stage startups have dreamt of being acquired by Google some day.  Thank you Don, for meeting with us.

As you probably know, I like to organize small get together with interesting people like Don for early stage startup entrepreneurs. I think smaller events are more intimate. It allows us to get to know each other better.  We have had startups that received funding as a result of meeting investors in one of these meetups.  Here are some of my past events:

• Strange drinks with Brad Feld
• Fun time with Dave McClure
• Drinks with Andy Liu
• Startup Coffee with Paige Craig
• Coffee with Micah Baldwin
• Breakfast with David Hauser
• Pancakes & CrashSpace visit with Josh Fraser
• A day out to Getty Museum with David Lifson

Subscribe to our newsletter to get information about upcoming private events like this.

Right now my events are around LA.  I would like to do this for other areas as well.  If you are at startup founder outside of LA and are interested in this type of meetup, please let me know.  If I have enough interest in a certain location, I will arrange for it.

Stay wonderful.

eRoutingGuide is a new internet startup that provides a web-based tool for companies to manage distributions and logistics to meet compliance and minimize shipping cost.

This interview was conducted by Justin Hong, Associate Producer of AsAble.com.

Stay wonderful.

Levi Rosol, Caleb Harrelson and Mike Templeton, founders of ScoreYard.com

ScoreYard is a new startup that provides tools for coaches, league organizers, players, parents and fans to stay connected.  They do so by providing access to game schedules, updates about practices, photo sharing from the game, or team progress tracking throughout the season.

Here is the interview:

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This interview was conducted by Justin Hong, Associate Producer of AsAble.com.

(A special thanks to my sponsor Wistia for providing video hosting for AsAble.com)

In this lively and interactive talk, we discussed why someone should consider getting into a partnership, the difference between a business partnership and a strategic alliance. We then went through the 3 stages of partnerships: the “dating” phase before, the formation stage, and the post formation stage.  Here are some of my notes from the discussion:

Partnership: yes or no?

• Ask yourself why you need a partnership
• What are the alternatives
• What is your expectation and what equity are you willing to give up for it

Dating phase:

• Take time, get to know the person
• Make sure the person share the same value
• “Test drive” by working on small projects together
• Have a clear and open discussion about expectation and contribution
• Inspire the partner with the winning vision, strike for a bigger pie together rather than fighting over how big a slide is
• Inspire trust

Formation phase:

• Make sure the agreement is in writing
• Make sure it has vesting schedule to provide a safety net
• Make sure it has a buy/sell clause
• Negotiate with a lawyer for a delay payment deal so s/he can help with setting up the partnership properly

Post formation phase:

• Have regular check up, communication with each other not just about the business but about the partnership itself
• Resolve any problems quickly by open communication
• Bring in an unbiased 3rd party to help with the discussion if needed

Thank you, Barri, for coming to AsAble.com and shared your 17yr of experience in this field.  You can download a whitepaper on the topic from Barri’s website.  Special thanks to those who were participating to the discussion, in particularly Aaron Crayford for bringing in valuable insight.

Stay wonderful.

Brad Feld had a hectic day and full day in LA yesterday but he still put some time out to be with a few AsAble.com startup entrepreneurs. Sitting outside of Vocalno Tea in the warmth of a So Cal afternoon, we had a pleasure of hearing Brad talked about his investment philosphy, what he thinks about startups and where he thinks the VC trend is heading. It was invaluable to hear from someone like Brad who is so knowledgable and open to share.

Here are notes from those who attended:

“Being able to talk to Brad and fellow entrepreneurs in such an intimate fashion was a great experience. Brad was able to just be Brad and we were able to just be ourselves. We touched on real topics in this no-BS conversation that would never have been covered in a traditional panel discussion or networking event. Of course, trying ridiculous flavors of Bubble tea topped the day off. Thanks Giang, we could not have done this without you!” – Imo Udom

“Brad’s not a Silicon Valley VC and when you meet him, you can tell right away. He takes a long term, 20 year approach to problems both within his portfolio companies and within the startup community – whether it be H1-B Visa issues or the continued incubation of early stage companies through TechStars. He seems like the kind of patient investor that would have your back in good times and bad times. He continues to invest out of a deep passion for entrepreneurship and a sort of karma / sense of giving back to community that he truly enjoys being involved with. I hope that he’ll spend more time on the LA startup scene and bring some of the good fortune from the Boulder startup scene to Southern California.” – Ryan Born

“These get-togethers that Giang organizes are by far the best format for getting some deep information from some of the community’s brightest minds – and yesterday with Brad was no exception. It’s great to just chat, have a 2-way dialog, and talk about the industries and issues that matter most to the people who see a million companies a day.” – Joey Flores

“Brad was an excellent guest who was excited to hear about and discuss our startups despite the fact that none of us really fit into his fund’s 5 investment themes. I was impressed by his offer to follow up with us afterward and participate in the private betas of our products.” – Stefan Wrobel

“This is the ideal type of meetup for entrepreneurs and investors. By having such a small, intimate gathering of passionate entrepreneurs / investors, the discussion is elevated to a much more personalized and nuanced level. Brad shared a plethora of empathetic stories that we could all relate to, and delved into the minutia of past startup and investment experiences that is rarely seen in large forums and panel events. Another fantastic gathering of like minds.” – Robert Kiraz

Brad has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur for over twenty years. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures, a company that helped launch and operate software companies and later became a venture affiliate of the predecessor to Mobius Venture Capital. Brad is also a co-founder of TechStars. You should read his blog here and say hello to him on Twitter: @bfeld. You should ask him about the strange drinks that were served there.

As you probably know, I like to organize small get together with interesting people like Brad for LA early stage startup entrepreneurs. I think smaller events are more intimate. It allows us to get to know each other better.  Here are some of my past events:

• Fun time with Dave McClure
• Drinks with Andy Liu
• Startup Coffee with Paige Craig
• Coffee with Micah Baldwin
• Breakfast with David Hauser
• Pancakes & CrashSpace visit with Josh Fraser
• A day out to Getty Museum with David Lifson

Subscribe to our newsletter to get information about upcoming private events like this.

Stay wonderful.

Successful partnership is the key any business success, whether it is within a team, or externally with other people or entities.

Update: We had a fantastic and lively discussion on the show today.  Here are some screenshots of the discussion. We will be posting the recorded video soon.

Over the past 17 years, Barri Carian has developed an expertise on what it takes to create a sustainable business partnership, from choosing wisely to feeding and nurturing the relationship. Most of this knowledge has come from conducting dozens of “partnership interventions”, in an effort to save the relationship, the partnership and the business.

Barri just released “Creating Great Business Partnerships. A Workbook For Success”. The workbook is a culmination of her experience and contains the methodologies and tools she uses in her work with business partners. It is designed as a self-help workbook and is filled with tons of valuable exercises, checklists and tools.

I’m starting an email newsletter to keep you posted on activities around AsAble.com, including my private networking events and upcoming live web shows.   This is the 1st newsletter that went out this morning.  I won’t be posting future mail out on the site, but you can subscribe to my mailing list here.

Private networking events:

As you probably know, I like to organize small (less than 10 people) meetups with investors or serial entrepreneurs.  I think these are more intimate, allowing you to get to know each others better. Upcoming private events in Los Angeles:

• On Wednesday 8/11 at 3:30pm PST, I planned a coffee time with Brad Feld, VC/co-founder of Foundry Group.  With this newsletter launch, I have opened up 2 more slots for this event. 
• On Thursday 8/19 at 5pm I have a coffee time with Ben Huh, CEO/founder of The Cheezburger Network (I Can Has Cheezburger?, FAIL Blog, GraphJam,..).  There will be 5 slots for this event.
• In the first half of Sept, I have a coffee time with Mark Suster, VC/partner at GRP Partners.  There will be 6 slots for this event.
• I also have a coffee time with Greg Doyle, VC/partner at InLab Ventures coming up.  There will be 6 slots for this event.

If you are interested in joining these by-invitation-only events, please let me know.  I can’t include everyone but there will be more events in the future. 

Bigger events:

• Save a date: Sat 9/25 ~11:30am in Santa Monica beach: I’m planning a beach party for the tech/startup/social media community in/around LA.  Would love to hear your inputs.  More info to come.
• I recently joined the Advisory Board of Social Media Week in LA, comprising some 75+ events at various locations in LA during the week of Sept 20-24.  The events are in a wide range of categories, celebrating the impact of social media in all aspects of life and business.  This is an amazing exposure opportunity with sponsoring package starting from $5000.  Let me know if you are interested in becoming a sponsor.

Upcoming live web shows:

• On Tuesday 8/10 at 7pm PST, join me for a live web discussion with Barri Carian on “Successful business partnership – the Do’s and Don’ts”.  Click the red “Join Event” button and feel free to submit video or text questions.
• On Friday 8/13 at 7pm PST, my Associate Producer Peter Clarke will be interviewing Ken Kowal, Founder of eRoutingGuide.  Join us on http://AsAble.com for the live web interview.
• On Sunday 8/15 at 7pm PST, my Associate Producer Justin Hong will be interviewing Scot Richardson, Founder of LaughStub.com.  Join us on http://AsAble.com for the live web interview.

Some past events:

• If you missed CoLoft and AsAble.com event with Simon Sinek, here is the full recording of his talk.
• If you missed the private meetup with Dave McClure, here is a write-up of the event.
• If you missed my live web shows with investors from Tech Coast Angels and InLab Ventures, here and here are the highlight reels of the shows.

Did you know? By AsAble, I mean startup entrepreneurs are just as able to make huge impacts to the world as large corporations or government entities.  I love the startup community and thank you for your support.

Stay wonderful.