April F2C Conference

UPDATE: Live audio available now at Freedom to Connect
However, FYI, political podcasts and streaming video feeds will be banned during Singapore's next general election. See InfoWorld April 4, 2006

Lawrence Lessing: "This year’s Freedom to Connect (F2C) conference (April 3&4, Washington DC) promises to be quite a show. The battle over network neutrality is coming to a head. And this conference, hosted by Pulvermedia and David Isenberg, will be a focal point in that debate."

O'Reilly Radar "There have been many disturbing signs of the emergence of a two-tier internet, with proposals that various classes of application get preferred connectivity based on backdoor deals. David Isenberg and Jeff Pulver have teamed up to organize a conference in Washington D.C. April 3 and 4 to raise awareness of this issue."

Martin Geddes "Reed Hundt is giving the Conference Keynote. Representative Rick Boucher D-VA is confirmed." This site includes the list of speakers.


Information and registration at F2C Conference

Technorati Tags: F2C, Isenberg, Pulvermedia

Wisdom: Crowds vs Experts

Robert May, of Louisville, writes in the Business Pundit that " There is a war against expertise on the web and in the business press."

He goes on to say that "Crowds fail in so many areas because they are conventional. Their ideas, by definition, represent conventional wisdom. Crowds don't notice counterintuitive things. Crowds don't turn off their cognitive biases. That is what being an expert is all about. Experts study something until they can look past the conventional wisdom of the subject.
In business, crowds are the current buzz. Entrepreneurs need to ignore it. Why? The opportunities are in expertise. The opportunities are in niches."
March 24, 2006

Technorati Tags: crowds, experts, entrepreneurs

Web 2.0 Tipping Point?

According to Stacy Cowley, of IDG New Service, "The idea that the Web is transitioning to a new era is grounded in real examples. [e.g. Flickr, Del.icio.us, Dodgeball, Dabble db] As the World Wide Web evolves into a more collaborative platform, the technologies and business models involved in that transition are being swept up into the "Web 2.0" rubric, a term vague enough to encompass almost anything one cares to push under its banner, but catchy in summing up the widespread sense that the Internet is at a tipping point."
IT publisher Tim O'Reilly coined the term for the debut Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco in October 2004. His description is available at O'Reilly
Snippet from InfoWorld.com March 23, 2006.

Technorati Tags: web 2.0, tipping point, dabble db, O'Reilly

Blook Tours

DotHill Press began their blook tour in January this year. Nine authors are participating. Look for reviews of books published serially online, as well as links to the publishing sites.


Technorati Tags: blook

Justices Take on Question of Patents

WASHINGTON (AP) -- What can - and cannot - be patented?
That fundamental question is before the Supreme Court for the first time in 25 years. How it's answered could lead to restrictions on new patents and open up to challenge literally tens of thousands of older patents on drugs, medical devices, computer software and other inventions.
The case is Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Metabolite Laboratories Inc., et al., No. 04-607.
Snippet from AccessNorthGa.com , ref. to articlcle by Andrew Bridges, Associated Press Writer

Technorati Tags: patents, US Supreme Court

Creative Commons License Upheld

A court in the Netherlands has ruled that a Creative Commons license is binding, in a case brought against a Dutch gossip magazine by an ex-MTV star. This is one of the first times that the license--which offers more flexibility than traditional copyright licenses--has been tested in a court of law, according to legal Web site Groklaw.

"The Creative Commons licenses are quite new, so there has been very little in the way of case law so far, so this is a significant development," Groklaw reported.

The Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 license, which states that while the licensed content can be used freely for noncommercial purposes as long as the source is made clear, the content cannot be used for commercial purposes unless the creator of the content agrees to waive the conditions.
Snippet from Groklaw ref. to article by Ingrid Marson, March 21, 2006
More information at CreativeCommonsCanada

Technorati Tags: Creative Commons

Collaboration: Innovations and Trends at CVG

The Charlottesville Venture Group presents Professor Gregory Fairchild. He will be speaking about the critical role of connections within and across communities, and the role they play in building entrepreneurial communities. His interest in what has been called "social capital" reaches beyond ways that individuals may create value, but the way entire regions do and don't come together.
Tomorrow morning, March 21, at 7:30 AM, at the Darden School of Business

Technorati Tags: Social capital, Darden, Fairchild, entrepreneurial, CVG

CVG Welcomes Charlottesvile Area CEOs

The Charlottesville Venture Group introduces the Virginia Council of CEOs roundtables to the Charlottesville area tomorrow morning, March 21, at 9:30 AM at Darden School of Business.

Technorati Tags: CVG, Charlottesville, Darden

VA Businesswoman with Hollywood Connections: Entrepreneur of the Year

Blue Moon Galleries Co-President Stacey Strawn Evans was awarded the 2005 Entrepreneur Spirit Award for Entrepreneur of the Year by The Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce in Augusta County, Virginia.

Chamber President Neysa Simmers cited Blue Moon Galleries' continued connection with Hollywood celebrities as one reason for the honor. Silver Gallery, one of Blue Moon Galleries' family of web sites, was named as the Official Picture Frame Provider for the 12th Annual SAG Awards again this year.
March 20, 2006

Technorati Tags: entrepreneur

Virginia Incubator Conference

The Virginia Business Incubator Association annual conference on March 27, 2006, will feature keynote speaker Marianne Hudson of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, speaking on "Building Businesses Together". Ms. Hudson is the Director of Entrepreneurship for the Foundation, and Director of the Angel Capital Association. She will be discussing cooperation among incubators, businesses, economic development agencies in relationship to the entrepreneur landscape.

Technorati Tags: VBIA, Kauffman Foundation, entrepreneurship, business incubators

People Power

Richmond executives share their experiences on the impact of Human Capital on their company’s ability to meet and exceed strategic objectives.

Panelists for the March 22 Venture Forum event have been announced:

Evan Wooten: President, Premier Pet Products
Bob Kelley, PhD: CEO, Pure Culture
Gordy Fox: CEO, Home Care Delivered

The Moderator will be Dean Madison: CEO, TD Madison & Associates, a national retained executive search and leadership firm known for the ability to identify individuals that meet the demands of the position as well as fitting with the existing team, culture and the strategic direction of the organization.

Register with the Venture Forum

Technorati Tags: human capital, Richmond, Venture Forum

Entrepreneurship expanding

First of a series on Second Acts from BusinessWeekonline
Snippet from January 17, 2006

Given the cycles of economic and labor-market volatility, ... and the growing number of baby boomers who prefer to roll up their sleeves rather than quietly retire, entrepreneurialism is becoming an attractive choice ...

"The world has changed," says Monica Doss, president of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, a nonprofit organization that works to help create and expand high-growth entrepreneurial business in North Carolina's Research Triangle Region. "It's not about getting a job -- it's about making a job and making your own way."

Tip #6 from the second article: Network, Network, Network

Technorati Tags: entrepreneurship, CED, networking

WSI Maid to Perfection in Richmond

from PRWEB March 14, 2006 ... Dave Tindall, President of the Maid to Perfection franchise in Richmond, VA, hired WebStrategies, Inc (WSI)to develop a website and market the company on the Internet... He reported that his company’s average monthly revenue generated by his website rose 94% from the prior year.

Neal Lappe, President of WSI -- Richmond, and a member of the Venture Forum of Richmond, states that WSI specializes in effective website design services and Internet marketing plans for small and medium sized businesses throughout the state of Virginia. WSI is a locally owned affiliate of the largest Internet consulting company in the world.

Technorati Tags: Richmond, Venture Forum

VW and Google Navigate Together

"Together with the graphics card manufacturer nVidia, a revolutionary new navigation system is being developed in Volkswagen's Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) in Palo Alto, California. This new system uses data from Google Earth to generate 3-dimensional images of the route.

Volkswagen, Google and nVidia have been working on developing this new navigation system since October 2005. In January 2006 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the partnership was able to present its first prototype." March 13, 2006

Snippet from AutoMotoPortal

Technorati Tags: Google Earth, navigation

Slivercasting

Snippet by Cynthia Brumfield on IP Democracy

"Saul Hansell has an excellent piece in the March 12, 2006, New York Times recapping the ability of very, very niche programmers to create video outlets on the Internet. He starts out with a London-based sailing enthusiast who, when he couldn’t make the economics of a sailing channel work with BSkyB, launched a web-based sailing channel, Sail.tv.

Even the big media companies are picking up on this long-tail, or “slivercast” trend. Hansell’s piece notes that Discovery Communications is gearing up to launch a series of new online video channels, with one kicking off tomorrow."

Technorati Tags: slivercast, online video

Start-up Business E Loans

On February 21, 2006, America's First People-to-People Lending Marketplace, Prosper was announced. An ''eBay for Credit'' for small Loans, the site currently has 20 loan opportunities, ranging from $1,500 to $25,000.

Founders are Chris Larsen, co-founder of E-LOAN, and John Witchel, technologist and entrepreneur.
March 12, 2006


Technorati Tags: Start-up loans, small business credit, prosper

BGN Events: Audio

(46 Seconds)

Entrepreneurial Proverbs

Marc Hedlund recently posted some proverbs for entrepreneurs at O'Reilly Radar.

On Ideas: Pay attention to the idea that won't leave you alone

On Money: The best investor pitches are plainspoken and entertaining (not in that order) -- think about what this implies. A plainspoken pitch is the surface of a very solid business. ... Entertaining implies a fun person to work with ... If you don't bring the funny, bring the person who brings the funny.
Snippet from O'Reilly Radar.

Technorati Tags: entrepreneur, business, investor pitch

NFIB Business Plan Competition

The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) is sponsoring a business plan competition for high school and college students who are aspiring entrepreneurs. Submission deadline is May 31, 2006. Prizes include seed capital.

Detailed contest information will be available March 15 from NFIB (see Young Entrepreneur Competition)

Technorati Tags: business plan, entrepreneur

Business and Networks for Entrepreneurs

In an interview with David Teten, Pamela Walker Laird discussed her new book, Pull: Networking and Success Since Benjamin Franklin, a history of networking and mentoring in American business.

"As a business historian, I repeatedly come across biographies of so-called self-made men whose careers had in fact depended on mentors and access to powerful networks. I began this project to determine for what portion of well-known businessmen this was true. Pretty quickly it became clear that the statistic was easy to calculate: 100%. That is, not one case of a successful businessman or woman exists for which mentors and/or networks were not essential."

"Why is this? It is possible to get rich by gambling, either at a roulette table or by day trading, without participating in networks. But real business is a social process. Learning the trade, getting leads, making connections, closing deals, getting promotions: they all require social interactions."

"Because business is a social process, interactions are at its core. "

Snippet from Virtual Handshake, February 26, 2006
Technorati Tags: Entrepreneur, networks, mentors

Dabble Under the Radar

Best in Show at Under the Radar: Dabble db
March 3, 2006

Find out more about Dabbledb at Smallthought and Under the Radar, where you can also see a good example of Quimble, used to tally the people's choice awards.

Technorati Tags: under the radar

Visible Path Award

"The International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA) awarded its first annual Visible Path Graduate Student Award for new research on social networks and professional performance today.

The winner, Nathaniel Bulkley, a doctoral student working with Assistant Professor Marshall Van Alstyne at the University of Michigan School of Information, conducted surveys and studied six months of email data and accounting records from an executive recruiting firm ... An interesting finding was that characteristics of the recruiter's internal networks were statistically significant predictors of performance, but the size of their private rolodexes were not.

Bulkley's winning paper, "An Empirical Analysis of Strategies and Efficiencies in Social Networks" can be downloaded from his website ."

Snippet by Stan Wasserman, CentralityJournal March 1, 2006. More about Visible Path

Technorati Tags: visible path, social network analysis

BGN Welcomes the Virginia Active Angel Network

The Virginia Active Angel Network, based in the Charlotteville area, is now allied with the Business Growth Network.

Technorati Tags: venture+capital, angel+investors

BGN Welcomes Virginia Gateway

The University of Virginia's Virginia Gateway is the newest Associate to affiliate with the Business Growth Network.

Virginia Gateway provides contacts and resources for inventors at U.Va. who may have a product or an invention that they wish to take to market, or a company they may wish to establish, and for investors looking to sponsor research of this kind.

Virginia Gateway also serves as a guide to the process of technology commercialization, offering a number of pathways that will help to facilitate the journey from discovery to product, service, or business.


Technorati Tags: invention, technology+transfer