Steven Cox - Founder of TakeLessons. Build Something You're Proud Of

Upcoming Events for San Diego Start Ups Jan 15-30, 2012

San Diego StartupDigest

Several great events the next couple of weeks. There's something for everyone, so get out and mingle! :)

For newcomers: The San Diego StartupDigest is an event list, created by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, that is laser-focused on the needs of startups in the San Diego area.

San Diego StartupDigest is curated by: Brant Cooper - Author of the Customer Development Book

What's Going on in the San Diego Startup Community

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appMobi - HTML5 mobile apps and game dev platform
When: Mon, Jan 16, 6:00pm
Where: Ansir Innovation Center, 4685 Convoy St, San Diego

Steve Tsuruda from appMobi will discuss cross-device HTML5 developer tools for creating iOS, Android mobile apps, plus HTML5 web apps.

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MIT Enterprise Forum featuring ai-one
When: Tue, Jan 17, 5:00pm
Where: Salk Institute, 10010 North Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla

Great Panel will discuss how "Lean Startup" ai-one might create awareness of their evolution in artificial intelligence and get past the naysayers that say BII can’t be done and find the early adopters who will pioneer the new platform. (Panel moderated by your friendly local Startup Digest curator!)

Discount available here.

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CES 2012 Recap
When: Tue, Jan 17, 5:30pm
Where: Knobbe Martens, 12790 El Camino Real, San Diego

Didn't make CES this year? Technology journalist Harry McCracken in person who will be discussing the Consumer Electronic Show.

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SandCHI
When: Wed, Jan 18, 6:30pm
Where: Websense, 10240 Sorrento Valley Rd

Designing Mobile Augmented Reality Tools for Monitoring Urban Forests with Ruth West of Calit2 at UCSD.

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San Diego Scala Users January Meetup
When: Thu, Jan 19, 7:00pm
Where: Ansir Innovation Center, 4685 Convoy Street #210

Come hack on the Scala Koans exercises from bitbucket for most of the evening. The Scala Koans are a good way to learn about Scala in small steps by fixing test cases so that they pass.

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SDVG VC Outlook 2010
When: Tue, Jan 24, 7:00am - 9:00am
Where: Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine

Panel of VC prognosticators tells you what is in store for the Venture World.

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Geek Girl: Women in San Diego Tech Startups
When: Thu, Jan 26, 6:00pm
Where: Ansir Innovation Center, 4685 Convoy Street #210

Some of the coolest Geek Girls in San Diego will discuss what it's like to work in tech!

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David Cohen Meets SD Tech Founders
When: Fri, Jan 27, 6:30pm
Where: IR/PS Robinson Auditorium, UCSD Campus

Serial entrepreneur and TechStars founder David Cohen comes to share his startup wisdom.

Steven Cox Interview on The Big Biz TV Show

TV Interview: I had an opportunity to share the TakeLessons story with Sully and Russ of The Big Biz TV show last week. In the interview, we talked about the problems that TakeLessons solves for customers and musicians. We then talked about how we got started and our funding raise with CrossLink Capital.

 

Click here for a full transcription

Wise Words from my Early Mentor on Becoming a Millionaire

“Set a goal to become a millionaire, but not just because of the money.

Set the goal for learning the disclipline, sacrifice, dedication, and acumen that it will teach you in order to achieve it.

Those lessons are worth much more that the million you will earn while learning them.

Set the kind of goals that will make something of you to achieve them."

 

Steven Cox Interview on Fox 5 News - Finding the Right San Diego StartUp Company to Work For

 

 

http://StevenCox.com. Even with the unemployment rate in San Diego hovering around 10%, the city's startup scene is bustling with activity and creating new jobs for San Diegans. TakeLessons.com CEO, Steven Cox, talks about the 10x100x100 event where 10 startup companies that have collectively raised over $100 million in venture capital and will be hiring 100 new employees next year.

A lot of technical and web people move to the San Francisco area to find work, but you're saying there's work right here and they don't have to move?
• That's Right!
• Cheaper to buy and rent housing here than in other hotbeds such as SV, NYC.
• A lot of startups are hiring

What's it like working for a startup?
• Incredible! Faster pace. Quicker decisions. My startup: http://TakeLessons.com

For College Graduates:
o Instead of making coffee, make a difference.
o No cogs in the wheel
o Chance to work on things at a young age -- (BEST BUY example)

For Senior people
o A chance to take your knowledge and build something you're proud of.
o Make a positive, lasting impact.
o Grow leaders underneath you.
o Potential stock upside

Everyday, I wake up thankful that I get to go to work.
o Focused on building the new sort of company.
• A company with a conscious.
• A company that makes more than money, it makes a positive difference.
o Awesome people all focused on building a great company.
o Super laid-back dress code.
o No politics.

A lot of young Internet companies didn't make it in the dotcom crash. What should a job prospect consider when looking at startups?

Not all startups are created equal.
• Management -- is there adult supervision? People who have built and ran companies before.
• Culture -- Do they have a strong sense of purpose, yet flexible enough to change on a dime.
• Funding -- are they well-funded. http://CrossLinkCapital.com
• Product or Service -- is it something that truly adds value to people's lives?

What type of jobs do startups hire for and what tips do you have on landing a job there?
• Big focus on Software engineering, product management and developmet, IT
• Marketing, Sales, Customer Support, Finance, HR

Tell us a little bit about the 10 x 100 x 100 event.
• StartupsAreBetter.com
• 6pm Dec 1 at Sweet Labs (http://sweetlabs.com)
• Joe Kraus -- Google Ventures focused on mobile, gaming, local services
• Michael Robertson -- SD Local tech hero. MP3.com
• Focused on engineering and product talent

More information can be found at these sites:
http://10x100x100 and http://StevenCox.com

What's it Like Working for a Startup?

Come find out this Thursday December 1st!

Our friends at SweetLabs have banded together with ten top San Diego startups (including TakeLessons) that have collectively raised over $100 million in venture capital and looking to hire for 100 new positions.

Visit this site to register.

Why are we doing this?

We want to get the message out that you don't have to move to the Bay area to find an awesome job!

San Diego tech startups are creating new jobs right here in our backyard, in the midst of one of the worst economic times we’ve ever seen.

While big companies (i.e. HP laid off 500 San Diego employees last month) continue to struggle, local entrepreneurs and innovators have been able to build disruptive startups, secure funding, and create new jobs.

We’ve joined forces for this event with 9 other startups who have collectively raised $100 million in venture capital and have created more than 100 new jobs for San Diego. 

 San Diego’s not only a great place to live, but a great place to innovate. We’re shining a spotlight on the local technology startup community.

We all know that San Diego is the best place to live, and we want to show Silicon Valley and the rest of the world that you don’t have to sacrifice quality-of –life and settle for congested freeways and bad weather in order to work for an exciting, life-changing company that’s on the cutting-edge.

People think of San Diego as strictly a biotech town or a military town (or a lazy beach town) and assume that only interesting technology companies are in Silicon Valley. But in fact there are a number of great, innovative startups in San Diego doing really interesting things.

At SweetLabs, for instance, they’re re-inventing the PC by bringing the modern app experience to the desktop, so that anyone can enjoy services like Facebook or Twitter or Groupon with the same ease and elegance they enjoy on their mobile devices.  They have a great group of investors led by Google and Intel, and plan on doubling their staff over the next twelve months.

 BrightScope helps you make critical (yet too often confusing and ignored) financial decisions, such as retirement plans and wealth management.They are led by a great group of people and will be adding new people next year.

Here at TakeLessons,we're the nation's largest music lessons company, and provide the leading online platform for connecting anyone who wants to learn music with safe, certified music teachers. Backed by Silicon Valley venture capital heavyweights, CrossLink Capital (think Pandora) and SofTech Ventures (Twitter, Facebook, Groupon), we're building our teams in tech, sales, support, marketing, and product development. We're currently at 75 people and plan on adding 60-75 new people next year. 

Deal Current Network is the fastest growing white label daily deal software provider in the US and Canada. Deal Current provides deal software, deal inventory, deal distribution, and expert training to over 200 publishers. Their goal is to be the largest deal distribution network in the US in 2012. They are hiring for positions immediately.

Related articles

• Upcoming Events for San Diego Start Ups (stevencox.com)
• San Diego Tech Startup Launch Quickpitch Event (stevencox.com)
• Music Lessons Start Up Wins $20,000 (prweb.com)
• Intel Capital Leads $13M Round for SweetLabs in Bid to Re-Invent Desktop Experience (xconomy.com)
• Job growth is dependent on Start-ups (kauffman foundation)

Upcoming Events for San Diego Start Ups

What's Going on in the San Diego Startup Community

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Agile San Diego
When: Thu, Dec 1, 6:30pm
Where: The Linkery, 3794 30th St., San Diego

Dave Churchville will talk about Agile Planning. If you are into or interested in Agile, you should come hear Dave, who knows his stuff. Plus, the Linkery is a nice restaurant/pub!

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10 Startups - $100M - 100 new jobs
When: Thu, Dec 1, 6:00pm
Where: SweetLabs Office, 510 Market Street , San Diego

San Diego startup Sweetlabs is hosting this recruiting slash mixer event to celebrate local startup success stories. Google Venture's Joe Kraus and "big win" local entrepreneur Michael Robertson will be on hand to talk about the local startup scene. Hard to pass on this one.

Also there will be TakeLessons, DealCurrent, Mogl, Brightscope, and more.

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San Diego Tech Founders - How to be a Lean Startup
When: Fri, Dec 2, 6:30pm
Where: IR/PS Robinson Auditorium, UCSD campus

By now you have probably heard of Lean Startups and Customer Development and their requisite buzzwords like pivot, MVP and product-market fit. But what do these terms really mean and how can you put them to work in your endeavors? Yours truly will be spreading the lean startup gospel. :)

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Customer Development Day
When: Sat, Dec 3, 9:30am - 3:30pm
Where: 770 11th Ave, San Diego

If you are at all inspired by Friday's talk, spend Saturday putting Customer Development into practice! Alline Watkins will do a deep-dive on customer development and attendees will actually apply the principles during the event.

 

San Diego StartupDigest is curated by:
Brant Cooper - Author of the Customer Development Book

Michael Lazero of Buddy Media On the Value of Beating Fear

I met Michael back in the late 90's when he was working on UWire and I was working for an early social network called CollegeClub.com. He's done great work with his company, Buddy Media.

Here's a recent video of him speaking on how he was able to use the realization of his own mortality to look fear in the face and press forward.

Thanks to Chris Waldron for turning me on to this vid.

In his words:

"I spoke about the relationship between corporate innovation and mortality and used my personal experience as a two-time heart surgery patient has a backdrop.

The primary point I was trying to make is that it's easy to innovate - to pivot, to change courses - when you come face to face with your own death. It's much harder to do the unimaginable when things are going well. Companies (and people) who reinvent themselves when things are going well build long-term value (and live the lives they want to live)."

 

 

San Diego Tech Startup Launch Quickpitch Event

On Wednesday, November 2, Brant Cooper and the gang hosted the San Diego Tech Launch event where ten start-ups gave their 30-second elevator pitch and everyone got a chance to vote on their favorites. The Tech Launch was also a great place to network and dig for talent.

Funded companies that attended included TakeLessons, Brightscope (ran by super-talented Mike Alfred),  and event sponsor, SweetLabs (ran by my buddy Chester Ng).

Below are videos and links to watch.

The Participants:

 

Official Videos:

The Winners (1-3 place)

The Runner Ups

My Video

 

When Pitching Investors, Einstein Said it Best

I'd add something to this picture if I could, but Einstein sums it up perfectly. This is necessary when seeking financing for your startup and making your investment deck.

The Road to Success

 

Start. Stop. Turn.

Stop. Go fast. Run.

Jump. Backpedal. Think.

Twist. Get depressed. Pull yourself up.

Build a team. Fall down. Get up.

 Take another step. Get you footing. Build something real.

And never ever doubt that you will make it.

 

(Image borrowed from rockstar Megan O'Brien)