J-term entrepreneurs getting some press

My friend Ryan Petersen from Cluster Y 2008 just had his startup ImportGenius discussed on the Freakonmics Blog. It was also recently profiled on KillerStartups.com as well. It's a pretty interesting concept.

You should also read this post Ryan wrote for the CBS blog about starting a business while in school. A must read for any applicant who is wondering why they should choose CBS as a place to launch their startup.

Amen to the Cold Call

Mike Hirschland, a VC at Polaris in Boston just posted about how he got his job at the firm. He had a very non-traditional background but was able to make a connection with one of the partners, and as they say, the rest is history.

I remember Mike came in to see us at RecordMyCalls.com at the beginning of our fundraising. I remember him as a real nice, laid back guy who was enthusiastic about trying the product and someone who seemed great to work with.

Again, I think the key takeaway here is that you can't be afraid to make that cold call. They are often uncomfortable but you really don't have anything to lose in making them. So do it!

Even Darth Vader sucks at Powerpoint

(Image courtesy of this link)

One of the bloggers I follow just posted about his experience in Edward Tufte's class. Tufte is one of the foremost authorities on the art and science of presenting information, and a big opponent of Powerpoint.

Given that MBAs are going to be doing many presentations in class and outside of class (in their jobs, internships, etc), it really pays to hone this skill. I have rarely seen strong presentations and presenters, but let me tell you that it is a real joy when you come across one (or both). I think its also a great way to stand out from the crowd and your peers.

Check it out when you have a chance.

Easy way to track VC funding and M&A activity

Yesterday I spent some time messing around with Yahoo's Pipes service. Basically this free service allows you to create mashup feeds from a variety of web-based data sources (RSS ,XML, HTML, etc) and filter the output based on whatever criteria you like.

I used it to create an RSS feed that aggregates all RSS feeds from Feedburner's VC network and a few other blogs I read. The output feed is filtered based on keywords like "aquires", "Series A", etc so that now I have a way to easily track VC fundings and M&A activity without having to hunt around individual blogs. I will still read individual blogs, but this really gives me a one stop shop and saves me some time.

You can read the feed in the box below (give it a minute to render, sometimes it takes a few seconds) and in the bottom right corner you can click the title (M&A and VC funding Pipe) to subscribe to it.

My Uncle Richie said it best

I just sent out an update to my family about our soon-to-be-born twin girls (28 weeks, everything is looking good) and my Uncle Richie sent me this gem back in response:

That is great and enjoy these nice quiet moments while you can before all hell breaks loose.

I think that pretty much says it all!

Bringing passion to your job hunt

I just read this post from a guy who was just hired by Amazon to be their Web Services evangelist in Europe. Loved it.

Although he's doing something dramatically different (from a career perspective) than what most people who read my blog are seeking to do, he shows how passion can really help you stand out in the interview process.

Give it a read.