Christine

Startups Woo Coders with Cloud-Based Development Environments

Rafe Needleman continued his developers-in-the-cloud theme at the Microsoft campus this afternoon, with an Under the Radar judging panel that includes First Round Capital's very own Rob Hayes.

Here are the presenters, roughly in my order of personal preference:

Testing in the Clouds at Under the Radar

The mission critical - but decidedly unsexy - need for application testing is the latest part of the developer ecosystem to move into the cloud. At today's Under the Radar conference, Rafe Needleman moderated VC panel pitching from a number of vendors using the cloud to accelerate test processes. Since these companies aren't overly competitive with each other, I've listed them roughly in order of my own personal interest:

Lane Becker's Therapy for the Under-employed at SXSW

What are you going to do with yourself, now that the economy has collapsed? Lane Becker, co-founder of creative commercial endeavors like Get Satisfaction and Adaptive Path, brought together a team of survivors to discuss the issue at SXSW today. (Disclosure note: First Round Capital is an investor in Get Satisfaction.)

Most of the panelists had great tactical sound bites - here are the top five:

Great Unconference Sessions at FreeTech (ETech) Today

Feeling poor since you tightened your startup's belt last quarter? There's a GREAT set of free, community-scheduled sessions for today’s FreeTech unconference at ETech 2009, being held at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose.

The current schedule is pasted below, and we’ve been keeping the FreeTech wiki fairly up to date (thank you Kevin Epstein!!) as new things get posted. As a reminder, all sessions are held in the Valley Room:

DEMO: the Queen is gone, long live the King

The news is spreading today on Chris Shipley's departure from the IDG DEMO conference. Count me in as someone with great admiration for Chris' work on and off the DEMO stage - she brings intelligence, class, and thoughtful analysis to what can often be a snarky business. The DEMO baton is being handed to Matt Marshall of VentureBeat - someone else that I have a great deal of respect for. Since there's to be a change, Matt is a fabulous choice for the role. He'll bring a fresh, interesting set of opinions as he carries on the constructive culture of DEMO.

(Photo of Chris Shipley originally uploaded by Robert Scoble.)

First Round Entrepreneur Outreach at Stanford and SXSW

Just a quick note to get the word out on two upcoming outreach sessions that I'm participating in...it's a blast to get out and talk to shiny new entrepreneurs. Feel free to get the word out to those that would find these events useful:

Girls Gone Geeky - and Getting Funded

I'm glad to be supporting TWO upcoming events designed for women entrepreneurs. If you're a woman entrepreneur in Silicon Valley - or would like to encourage one - then read on, forward this information, and register.

First Round Heads to Vancouver

Following close on the heels of our successful Palo Alto Office Hours experiment in October, First Round Capital is hitting the road with its first international drop-in session.

Vancouver Office Hours will be held on Thursday, January 15th from 4pm to 6pm at Agro Café - 1207 Hamilton Street in Vancouver. Chris Fralic and Kent Goldman will be available for informal ~15 minute chats. There’s no agenda. Ask what we think of the market environment or share an idea for a company – we’ll be sure to have plenty of napkins available to help draft that first product plan. We’ll listen, share our perspective, and pay for the coffee.

If you think you'll drop by, a heads-up on our RSVP list or on Facebook would be great.

Happy Holidays (and Dancing) from First Round Capital!

Some fun and holiday cheer as a respite from the morning news...I (and the entire First Round Capital team) want to express our intense gratitude to everyone whom we have been lucky to collaborate with in these challenging times, with special thanks to our 70 portfolio companies. There’s much work ahead for us in 2009, but also much passion and joy. Let’s together remember the happiness of simple things, and take the time to laugh with our friends and colleagues.

Best wishes to all for a New Year worth dancing about!

Green Data Rules at Web 2.0 Summit Launch Pad

Today's Web 2.0 Summit Launch Pad revealed the new trendy areas for Web-based startups: "green" data (Carbonetworks, GoodGuide, and Sungevity) and enhancing visual content (Everyscape and Qik). The audience ranked GoodGuide #1 from the presenters, but I preferred Carbonetworks because of my sneaking sense that commercial emissions management will be strongly encouraged, if not mandated, given the recent changes in political power.

John Doerr's 11 Tips to Help Survive the Downturn

As crisply shared by John Doerr at today's Web 2.0 Summit...requiring no embellishment:

Amazon Announces Easier, Eco-Friendly Packaging Effort

When I hopped over to Amazon.com today to pick up a copy of Visio, I was surprised to see this holiday-ready announcement: Amazon is working directly with manufacturers such as Fisher-Price to develop "Frustration-Free Packaging." This means no plastic clamshells, no wire ties, no molded plastic holders. Just a few simple recyclable cardboard bits.

A Caffeinated Idea: First Round Capital 'Drop In' Hours

Despite the recent doomsday predictions, the team here at First Round Capital is firmly convinced that good entrepreneurs will continue to receive funding. (And yes Virginia, we are continuing to make new investments.) To help shake off the market doldrums - and selfishly, to meet new entrepreneurs - we're hosting an open drop-in next week.

Mentoring Women for the Next Y Combinator (10/17 Deadline)

Y Combinator, a technology incubator based in Mountain View and Cambridge, is taking applications through Friday, October 17th 10pm PST for its winter 2009 Mountain View incubator cycle. Former AOL and Yahoo! exec (and current Tech Stars participant) Susan Mernit has galvanized a small group of us who are interested in seeing if we can help increase the percentage of women accepted this time around. So:

Last Call for Web 2.0 Expo Speakers

Just a quick last call for Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco 2009! Our deadline for speaker submissions ends this Wednesday, and we'd be thrilled to get your submissions. The 2009 call for papers ends this Wednesday, October 8th at midnight Pacific time. Get your ideas in!

Last Chance Offer for STARTonomics

Dave McClure is sounding the last chance horn for attendance at STARTonomics, his new conference on startup metrics. The event is this Thursday, October 22nd in San Francisco, and there's a last chance offer for 20% off of registration - just register using promo code START208.

Explaining the Large Hadron Collider (for Dummies)

Tomorrow's the big day: the mad scientists at CERN are starting up the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to finally discover if we're on the right track when it comes to particle physics. This is a Big Deal and ideally humanity will be able to validate some key theories without collapsing the Earth into a black cloud of antimatter. If you'd like to see what all the fuss is about, here's a hilarious rap video from the LHC staff...particle physics for dummies! (READ: It's for those of us who chose technology, or even just spending time with the other humans, over science.)

For bonus points, head down to Stanford for a tour of SLAC. (Stanford's linear accelerator.) Even without the 17-mile scale of the LHC, it's an awe-inspiring visit.

Best of Monday at TechCrunch50: Yammer

TechCrunch50 launched today with multiple waves of new companies and memes. Like many folks, I was most intrigued by the startups in the Enterprise cluster. Of those, I had one clear and immediate favorite: Yammer. At its most basic, Yammer is Twitter for groups; at its most sophisticated, it's a productivity tool for teams and workgroups. I'm usually not an early adopter, but I found Yammer compelling enough to actually give them my credit card number.

Shameless Promotion: CircleDog, CRM for Small Business

From the Shameless Promotions Department: I received a happy e-mail today from Mission Research CEO Charlie Crystle, who was thrilled to share that the team launched CircleDog today. (Disclosure note: I have common equity in Mission Research, and on top of that would like to see my do-gooder friends do well.)

Of Flaming Dolphin Fireballs, and Logos

I howled at this, so I decided to share...As some folks know, I've had a quirky desire for blog graphics for some time. Of course I don't need them, but with a graphic/logo I could then (a) have fun with christine.net stickers, and (b) get inspired for a general blog redesign.

Getting Started for Burning Man (and Open Kitchen Camp Announcement)

We're just five weeks away from heading to Black Rock City, and we've decided to be mildly daring. We're sharing our plan for an Open Kitchen Camp on the playa with our ether friends and followers. Specifically, we are planning something for 'Friends of Open Kitchen' on the playa, so comment on this post if you'd like to be on our guest list.

My husband (who is joining the Rangers this year) has been nagging me to share a Getting Started checklist, and I finally did so tonight. I've reposted it below in case other folks would also find it useful.

Help Nominate The Electric Company for AmEx funding

As a Sesame Workshop supporter, I recently received this pitch from the organization: cast your vote for bridging literacy at American Express for the (perhaps becoming annual?) Members Project, which gives away $1.5 million in nonprofit funding. If you're concerned about literacy issues, or perhaps just nostalgic, please check it out.

BlogHer '08 Wrapup, Through Newbie Eyes

Earlier today, I volunteered my stepdaughter Katy to craft a post on her experience at BlogHer '08. Not only because she's a bright, baggage-free 15-year-old, but also because it's healthy for 'we the jaded' to see social media through fresh eyes.

Overheard at the BlogHer '08 Morning Keynote

A couple of snippets worth sharing from this morning's BlogHer '08 keynote panel....paraphrased, of course:

Blog Monetization Redux: Dump Google AdWords, and Sell Product

This afternoon's lesson from BlogHer '08: Monetization happens, but you have to be strategic, and you probably need to sell directly. Take a look at these blog mavens for concrete examples: