I’m usually not one for writing about myself but thought I’d share the link to the video interview I did recently with Entrepreneur.com about Filtrbox. Its short (about 2 minutes) and covers a lot of ground. Best of all we did it in one take!
If you can’t see the video, try this link
Tom Chikoore (Filtrbox co-founder) has written a great post titled “The Death of the Rocky Mountain News and the Rise of Filtrbox“. Its a good perspective on how content is king, and its the mediums and their models that are evolving.
Several weeks ago, while purchasing a commemorative copy of the Rocky Mountain News, I came to the realization that two distinct stories, symbolic of the shift in media landscape, were playing themselves out on both ends of US-36. In Denver, The Rocky Mountain News, a symbol of traditional mainstream media, was closing down after almost 150 years of publishing. In Boulder, at Filtrbox, a young new media company, we were celebrating the release of the latest version of our service, Filtrbox G2. While the people at the Rocky Mountain News were probably not aware of Filtrbox, I had a keen eye on the daily goings on at The Rocky and I looked at the whole situation at the Rocky as a symbolic passing of the media torch.
Read the entire post here, and let him know what you think about content vs. medium!
Its been a busy few weeks (or months) for me and I haven’t had much time to write here (not for a lack of desire however). Lots going on but these are the highlights that I can share…
Filtrbox announced some funding and a new version, Filtrbox G2. To me, the biggest news was that we cut the price in half and are offering UNLIMITED use. The team did a great job and reworked quite a bit of the platform to accomdiate what we want to do with G2 and the new usage model. Sign up for a free trial here http://www.filtrbox.com/signup.html
Recent coverage…
TechCrunch: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/17/filtrbox-raises-14-million-launches-revamped-market-intelligence-tool/
WebWorkerDaily: http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/02/19/filtrbox-g2-expands-service-and-cuts-pricing/
AppGap: http://www.theappgap.com/filtrbox-provides-market-intelligence-for-the-rest-of-us.html
Filtrbox blog: http://www.filtrbox.com/blog/2009/02/18/filtrbox-launches-g2-proactive-market-intelligence/
VCIR
I’ll be up at VCIR Winter next week Tuesday through Thursday. VCIR is an awesome event and I always look forward to it. Filtrbox pitched last year and it went very well for us. This year I’m just there to network and support the presenting companies. I set up a FiltrFeed to track news and buzz around the presenting companies. This FiltrFeed can be added to any RSS reader and will automatically update when Filtrbox finds a new article that mentions the company name AND VCIR. I turned off Twitter monitoring for this feed to keep the noise down. http://www.filtrbox.com/rss/WUuPMw8dtTUIz4G10SlTSg==
VatorTv
I was just out in SF with the Filtrbox team for a few meetings and we got to stop by the Vator.tv offices. Meeting the team was great and I was able to record a new video pitch for Filtrbox. You can check it out here: http://vator.tv/pitch/show/Filtrbox?document=aris-pitch. We’ll be doing more with them in the near future, so stay tuned! Thanks to Bambi, Kedric and Meliza for all the help.
Techstars
Techstars-for-a-day is coming up on Tuesday. Its a great even that helps shed some light on the process and creates an opportunity for the candidates, or those thinking about applying, to meet the mentors and graduates. Seeing as how the Techstars office is about 50 yards away, you can bet I’ll be there to mix and mingle.
SocialLeverage, LLP.
Congrats to Howard Lindzon (a Filtrbox investor) and the rest of the team at SocialLeverage – they just announced a new seed fund for social apps. Howard has been great to work with and is a prolific entrepreneur and invesor so I can’t wait to see what they get involved with. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/howard_lindzon_and_friends_lau.php
Are you trying to get your startup off the ground? Get it funded? Figure out if its worth doing?
This will be the 3rd year of the program and the companies that have come out already speak volumes about its value and quality. Techstars is like a linear accelerator for your startup – you get to success (or failure) quickly and have access to incredible resources. Even if you know what you are doing, check it out. Even if you think giving up ANY equity is ridiculous, check it out…(’cause you are wrong). In this market, especially, you are going to need every edge you can get to get noticed and funded. Still need convincing? Let me help you out… Of the first year’s program we’ve already seen 3 exits and at least 6 commercial launches. All of these companies got funded (others did too).
The 2008 class is equally impressive and has been moving quickly – these companies are all revenue-generating already and I believe most got funded too!
If you are only interested in running a lifestyle business, or a side-show don’t bother applying. If you have a loose concept but no team and nothing to show…get to work. Techstars selects participants based on the quality and potential of the team, and the potential of the ideas they possess. Your business doesn’t have to be fully baked, but you’d better be able to pitch it. If you have what it takes, and you want to maximize your chances for success I would give this serious thought. If you have any questions, or need advice just drop a line here!
I was contacted by a recent college grad who is looking to get to know the companies and the people in the Boulder start up community. I rattled off a bunch of resources and thought I’d share the list.