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Founder Mentors is Here to Solve Your Problems: Applications Due This Friday

Finding the right mentor can be the difference between success and failure for a startup. But a truly committed mentor isn’t easy. Enter Founder Mentors, a program to match entrepreneurs with mentors who have direct experience on specific challenges that the entrepreneurs are facing.

It’s been just over a year since Viximo cofounder Sean Lindsay created Founder Mentors, and since then the program has helped 80 founders, several of whom transitioned from part-time to full-time thanks to the help of mentors.

During the first cycle Founder Mentors matched 30 young entrepreneurs with successful mentors. The entrepreneurs were coached at the beginning and end of their cycles to get the most of our the mentor relationship. “Founder Mentors literally changed my life. Within a week of my first meeting I decided to give my notice and go full time on decktOut,” said Liza Adams founder of decktOut.

The program is getting ready for its next match cycle, and the application deadline for founders is this Friday, February 24th. Click here to apply.

Since its last session Founder Mentors has added the following mentors:

  • Chris Aronis, co-founder of Dataware Solutions
  • Jay Batson, co-founder of Acquia
  • Bob Mason, co-founder of Brightcove
  • Scott Weller, co-founder of SessionM

“Our mentors give of their time and expertise because they care about their fellow founders and want to give back the startup ecosystem,” Lindsay said by email. “Despite the growing list of resources and programs available to startups, interest in our program continues to grow, which is a sign we’re doing something right.”

The program also runs periodic events, like one in November focused on customer acquisition. Don’t hesitate to sign up and remember to pay it forward.

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/2012/02/21/founder-mentors-is-here-to-solve-your-problems...

It’s the Network, Stupid: How Social Media is Replacing Spin Doctors


Every four years politicians vie for media attention, travel country-wide for votes and charm those on the fence. But what sets this election cycle apart?

Veteran political strategist Joe Trippi chimed in with the answer, “It’s the network, stupid” at a Social Media Week event addressing social media, elections and the battle for Internet dominance, along with Washington Post political reporters and bloggers.

Trippi was riffing off James Carville’s old quote, but he has a point. Social media presence in political campaigns increased by 78% since the 2008 election, according to Cristina Bell, senior analyst at Experian Hitwise.

Washington Post political correspondent Karen Tumulty addressed the rapid pace of news flow with social media in the mix. “The bubble doesn’t exist anymore,” she said. Tumulty said she realized it burst after a four-day bus trip following Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign.

Trippi spoke to a similar loss — the spin room, where reporters used to meet with candidates before or after debates. The spin room has gone the way of the dinosaur, he says; all the debate and conjecture happens in real time on Twitter.

As the fight for the Internet continues, how do you think the budding social media relationship between politicians and their audience will affect a political reporter’s job?

To view the livestream of the session, click here or view the Twitter feed of the event here.

Follow @margylooney

More About: Politics, Twitter

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/02/20/its-the-network-stupid-how-social-media-is-rep...

Where’s the Beef? Scientists Turn Stem Cells into PETA-Approved Meat [VIDEO]

Hamburger meat could be grown in a test tube as soon October. In a bid to protect the environment, Dutch scientists are exploring lab-grown meat options.

Fake meat might sound gross, but scientists say an alternative meat is essential. Raising cattle takes an enormous amount of water, feed and energy. All in all, about 100 pounds of resources is required to obtain 15 pounds of usable meat. Artificial meat could improve that efficiency by at least 35 percent.

Mark Post, chairman of physiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, is conducting the $330,000 experiment, funded by an anonymous donor. He has begun transforming stem cells from a herd of cattle into inch-long strips of muscle tissue. The meat strips can be mashed together to create a hamburger patty. The color of the meat is wavers between whitish pink or pinkish yellow.

The research has support from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which is also urging scientists to create stem-cell chicken by the end of June for a $1 million prize. PETA’s competition started four years ago. Like the red meat, the chicken would edible. PETA says it supports eating meat as long as the animal isn’t killed or inhumanely treated.

Post did not offer any information about the healthy benefits from the artificial meat and we don’t know whether the meat tastes the same as regular meat. We do know that with less real meat going around, E. coli and other food borne illnesses would be reduced.

Would you consider eating artificial meat hamburgers? Tell us in the comments below.

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Flickr, Passive Income Dream.com

More About: Food, Video

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/02/20/wheres-the-beef-scientists-turn-stem-cells-int...

Barnes & Noble offers to repartition Nook Tablet storage, concedes you may need more than 1GB

Nook Tablet
Are you one of the many infuriated with Barnes & Noble over how it partitioned the storage on the Nook Tablet -- leaving you just 1GB for you own files? Well, it looks like the company has learned from its mistakes. While only about 5GB is free to load with apps and media on the new 8GB model, just 1GB of that is reserved for Nook Store content. B&N is also offering to retroactively fix the 16GB boondoggle as well. If you visit a brick and mortar shop starting March 12th, a support rep will gladly help you repartition the internal storage, freeing up more than just one of the 13 available gigabytes for personal use. Having to bring it to the store is a bit of pain, but we suppose it's better that getting stuck with 12GB of Angry Birds and e-books.

Barnes & Noble offers to repartition Nook Tablet storage, concedes you may need more than 1GB originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/22/barnes-and-noble-offers-to-repartition-noo...

Can Social Media Turbocharge NASCAR on TV?


When most people think of tech-savvy social media users, they probably don’t picture fans of NASCAR. At this weekend’s Daytona 500, though, social media will play a central role in television coverage of the event.

Speed TV, which carries much of the Daytona 500 coverage and will broadcast Saturday’s final practice round, has imported its Social Garage to a live sporting event for the first time. The Social Garage began last year at as a digital dashboard on the network’s website to facilitate fan conversation with one another and broadcasters across Facebook and Twitter during coverage of an auto action. But for Daytona, the operation is taking physical form.

It functions as an on-site social and communications headquarters of sorts at the race, said Laura Gainor of GMR Marketing, which helps with Speed’s social strategy. Inside the space, Speed’s social media team provides live updates, works on behind-the-scenes features and guides the online fan conversation. Any time a fan tweets with the hashtag #Daytona500, the message is streamed through the Social Garage, where producers and on-air talent at Daytona respond to questions and comments and converse with fans. And as top auto racing analyst Rutledge Wood interviews drivers at Daytona, he can see a feed of fan questions he can then ask on-air with an accompanying graphic to credit the Twitter sender.

SEE ALSO: Pinsanity: How Sports Teams Are Winning on Pinterest

“This is by far our strongest effort and the biggest dedication of resources by the network of integrating social media into what our producers and reporters are doing to provide our audience with a high level of interaction,” Erik Arneson, Speed’s vice president of media relations, said in an interview.

When the network debuted the physical manifestation of its previously-virtual Social Garage at another car auction last month, viewer reaction and conversation was so positive that implementing it at Daytona wasn’t a tough decision, Arneson said.

NASCAR as a sport has had a rocky last few years on TV. Ratings increased last year by almost 5% for all coverage, but that followed three consecutive years of decline.

But Arneson said Speed didn’t see the same hits as other channels who broadcast the sport and that, while the Social Garage is a bid “make the network more sticky,” it’s also part of a natural evolution. Before social media became dominant, Speed viewers were encouraged to interact with broadcasts online — for example, by having viewers guess the final selling price of cars at auction through the Speed TV website.

Nonetheless, building a physical social headquarters at Daytona represents a significant step for the network, and one that Arneson said will definitely be considered for future live racing broadcasts.

“When you do something like this on the level that we’re doing it for Daytona, you have to step back and see what worked and didn’t work, but I don’t see it going backward,” he said. “I think we crossed a major hurdle this year, and now with viewers there’s an expectation that there will be higher level of interaction.”

Image courtesy of Speed TV

More About: Facebook, Social Media, sports, Twitter

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/02/24/can-social-media-turbocharge-nascar-on-tv/?utm...

NextView Ventures Closes Inaugural $21 Million Fund Days After its First Exit

Congrats to David Beisel, Rob Go, and Lee Hower of NextView Ventures, the Boston-based seed stage venture fund that today announced it had closed its inaugural $21 million fund. If you thought the fund was already closed, that’s because they already have a portfolio of 15 companies. (They held an initial close last March and wrapped up the remaining commitments at the end of 2011.)

NextView is focused on early-stage internet companies, both consumer and B2B, and looks to invest $250-$500k. The fund already has its first exit in Hyperpublic, which was acquired by Groupon just days ago.

Hower has a blog post up about the full story behind the fundraising, which is worth a read. Writes Hower:

As one of our mentors is fond of saying, being a VC is easy… all you have to do is raise a fund and invest it successfully.  Neither are easy, but Rob, David, and I are excited to be done with the first part and can focus our energies on creating a successful first fund and building an enduring firm around our strategy and ethos.

Fortune’s Dan Primack broke the news this morning, adding:

What Boston continues to lack, however, are micro-VC firms. We’ve got plenty of established venture firms and a burgeoning angel phenomenon, but few new institutional groups focused exclusively on seed-stage companies.

We’re excited about the role of NextView – a BostInno Channel partner – in the Boston ecosystem. Back in late 2010, we went so far as to wonder whether Rob Go could be Boston’s Fred Wilson.

An exit before the first fund closes isn’t a bad start.

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/2012/02/21/nextview-ventures-closes-inaugural-21-million-...

Social Media for Startups

Northeastern University student Jennie White, IDEA’s Director of Social Media, former Staff Writer at BostInno and marketing coop at where, Inc., has found immense value in the outlets offered by today’s popular social media tools. After doing some research of my own, I sat down with her to discuss how student entrepreneurs can effectively use these websites as a means of promoting their budding businesses.  

Why is social media particularly important to new businesses?

As a relatively new business, you want exposure. You want to show investors and everybody else that you have a strong following and interest in your product. You want people to talk about your product and spread that word so that you have a large community. Investors want to see a dedicated following.

How can student entrepreneurs use social media to build their business?

New businesses should stick with Twitter and Facebook. Take it one at a time to see how much time you can devote to each. I think that starting out on Twitter is your best bet because Facebook requires a deeper level of engagement. Twitter allows you to have a conversation with large audiences and spread your message faster. The number one thing to keep in mind is to be personable and share interesting things that you find, not just things related to your business.

How do you suggest startups use different social media outlets?

Twitter: You’ll most likely need to build a community on Twitter. A conversation doesn’t happen right away, however, so you need to be patient. I would suggest using Twitter to give a behind-the-scenes look at what your company is doing. Post pictures of your team having lunch, or various updates on what you’re doing. People love to see human interaction, and Twitter is the most appropriate outlet for that sort of thing. Most importantly, tweet as though you are talking to your friends.

Facebook: Facebook is super valuable for student entrepreneurs because of the extremely large networks that individuals have already built since Facebook was created. Use your existing connections on Facebook rather than solely trying to gain new audiences.  Create a fan page, link events, and share pages in order to get “likes”. Frequency matters on Facebook—you need to be careful not to post too much or else people will “unlike” your page. Facebook is valuable because you can have pictures, conversations, and see all of the interactions in one place.

LinkedIn: I think that everyone should have a LinkedIn account. Its main value is meeting the right people. You can use your connections within the layers of LinkedIn to make new connections. The site also allows you to see trends and who other people are connected with. I think using LinkedIn is the best way to build your personal community. Be your own face on LinkedIn, not the face of your business or brand.

Pinterest: Pinterest is not for all new businesses; it depends on your product. This social media site is perfect for someone marketing a tangible product, like IDEA venture Lily and Ivy.

Blogs: Blogs can be a great tool for promoting your business, but only if properly maintained. You should be posting at least once a week; otherwise it just looks silly and careless. You should only create a blog if you have the time to dedicate to it.

How do you know what to say?

You can talk about anything—start off by simply tweeting about a TV program you have found interesting. ASK QUESTIONS.

Start a conversation by asking random questions, and then you can ask deeper questions. Over time, the topic goes viral. It is perfectly okay to tweet about things that aren’t related to your business or field. In fact, I think your conversations should be 50% promotion and 50% other content. You can talk about fun things; just keep it PG. You want to be personable and relatable.  As a student entrepreneur you should promote other startups, show support, and in turn grab from their communities. As for opinion statements, I say go ahead. They get reactions and get people talking.

How personal should you get on your business account?

This is really a grey area. My first rule is absolutely no foul language. Don’t call out customers and avoid argumentative tones. Use your best judgment.

How can social media potentially harm your business?

First – if you have both personal and business accounts, make sure you are always aware of which one you are using. Be very careful not to mix the two up, especially when it’s the weekend and you’re out with your friends. Second – make sure your team is all on the same page. You need to have a discussion with whoever is representing your company regarding your social media plan to ensure that you all share the same values. Mixed messaging can cause confusion.

Finally, what are some general tips and strategies for effectively utilizing social media?

  • Talk to your audience as though you are speaking to your friends. Don’t be who you think you should be. Just have fun and let your personality shine through.
  • Schedule time out of your day to maintain your social media accounts. People don’t like inconsistency. Also, too many platforms are difficult to maintain and can dilute your message. Be sure to select those that are right for you and your business.
  • Don’t get overwhelmed by social media. If it becomes too overwhelming, ask for help. We are a culture of instant gratification and therefore tend to get discouraged when things don’t happen right away. Know that it takes time and will pay off.
  • If you make mistakes, you recover from them and it shows that you’re a real person. Don’t be a robot on social media. Just be you.
Follow Jennie on Twitter @jenniewhite and @IDEANEU. To learn more about IDEA, please visit our website.

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/channels/social-media-for-startups/

Your Next TV Interface Will Be a Tablet

waderoush writes "You can forget all the talk about 'smart' and 'connected' TVs: nobody, not even Apple, has come up with an interface that's easy to use from 10 feet away. And you can drastically curtail your hopes that Roku, Boxee, Netflix, and other providers of free or cheap 'over the top' Internet TV service will take over the world: the cable and satellite companies and the content owners have mounted savvy and effective counterstrikes. But there's another technology that really will disrupt the TV industry: tablet computing. The iPad, in particular, is the first 'second screen' device that's good enough to be the first screen. This Xconomy column argues that in the near future, the big-screen TV will turn into a dumb terminal, and your tablet — with its easy-to-use touch interface and its 'appified' approach to organizing content — will literally be running the show in your living room." Using a tablet as a giant remote seems like a good idea, and a natural extension of iPhone and Android apps that already provide media-center control. Maybe I'm too easily satisfied, but the 10-foot interface doesn't seem as hopeless as presented here; TiVo, Apple, and others been doing a pretty good job of that for the past decade.

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from Slashdot http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/12/02/25/1716202/your-next-tv-interfa...

How Social TV is Taking Over the Oscars and How You Can Win [CONTEST]


The Oscars are getting a big dose of social TV integration!

From the official Oscar.com Backstage Experience to special promotions and activities from entertainment checkin services and second screen companies, the biggest award show of the year is taking big steps towards being more social and digital.

Mashable will be getting in on the fun with our own live chat during the ceremony. We wanted to do a quick overview of some of the biggest social TV promotions related to the 84th Academy Awards. Be sure to read all the way to the end to find out how you can win a one-of-a-kind prize straight from the Red Carpet gift bags!


Oscar.com and iOS Apps


The Academy Awards introduced its Oscar Backstage app last year. The experiment — one of the first true “second screen” iPad apps of its time, was a huge success, even winning an Emmy.

This year Oscar.com and the Oscar Backstage app are back and bigger than ever. Not only is the app free this year [iTunes link], the content is even more digitally focused.

During the show itself, users can watch while logged into Oscar.com or using the Oscars app for iOS and get their pick of different camera angles on the red carpet, access to the control room, see winners interviewed as they leave the podium and get an inside look at the Governor’s Ball.

Before the show, Oscar.com will also be running commentary and insights from across the world of entertainment. I was even lucky enough to participate in a few Oscar Dailies video chats myself!

Oscar.com has the entire Oscar Sunday schedule rundown.


GetGlue


Social checkin service GetGlue is going all out for Oscar Sunday.

As the company details on its blog, users can checkin to the show in advance of the awards to earn stickers for watching nominated films, previews of the 84th Academy Awards and even a special Billy Crystal sticker for checking into some of his best known films.

On Oscar Sunday, fans can check-in throughout the night, starting at 7e/4p. Throughout the night GetGlue wants fans to continue the conversation and chatter around the ceremony on GetGlue itself.


IntoNow


Yahoo’s second screen app IntoNow has a few tricks up its sleeve for Oscar. Fans who use the iOS or Android app while tuned into the Oscar broadcast will be able to:

  • Rate red carpet looks with thumbs up/thumbs down buttons
  • Get information about nominees and take part in synchronized polls about the nominees and categories
  • Pick the winners
  • Connect with friends in real-time using the app’s chat functionality

Umami


Social TV startup Umami has made some updates to its iPad app just in time for the awards.

Users of the Umami app can now take FreezeFrame moments of the show they are watching and share those images with friends on Facebook and Twitter. Umami is likening this feature to Pinterest and it hopes that Oscar fans will get some big use out of it.

Umami has also rolled out is new “Dishboard” which is a social TV dashboard visualizing the conversation taking place around a show as it takes place. This show information such as how many people are talking about a program, what topics are trending and what tweets are more active.


Viggle and Bing


Viggle is a new iPhone app [iTunes link] that rewards users for checking into their favorite shows. The app is sort of a mashup between GetGlue and IntoNow because it uses audio-recognition software to check a user into a show but then gives the user points for their checkin. These points can be redeemed for items such as gift certificates to Amazon or iTunes, apparel and other swag.

Viggle is partnering with Bing to build a live event around the app and the Oscars.

Users who use the app can play along in a trivia contest to earn up to 10,000 bonus points. Users can also predict the winners in key categories and earn more points and they can rate the ads during the telecast.

The Bing partnership is particularly cool because users will be treated to a pre-populated search session to quickly get the answer to all of the trivia questions before time runs out.


Will You Connect With Social TV or Tune Out…Win an “Oscar-Worthy” Prize


With all of the various social TV activity taking around the Oscars, we wanted to know — will you engage socially while watching the awards or is all this stuff too distracting.

If you let us know what you think, you’re in for a treat and you can win a special one-of-a-kind reward! Motorola created a Special Edition “Red Carpet” Droid Razr Maxx. This limited edition phone will be delivered to select nominees and presenters.

This is a very limited edition model of the phone but Mashable has one and we’ll be giving away to one of our readers! Just let us know if you’ll be using social TV to watch the Oscars and why (or why note) and you’ll be entered to win.


How To Enter The Contest


  • Share your best answer in the comments below, OR
  • Tweet your story with the hashtag #grammymash, OR
  • Tout us your answer by sending us a short video clip.
  • Submit your answer by Sunday, Feb. 26 at noon ET
  • Please use your real identity in the submission so that we may credit you in the follow-up post.
  • We will announce the winner of the contest on Wednesday afternoon after reading all the submissions

Please see our full contest rules here.


Image courtesy of iStockphoto, EdStock

More About: academy awards, contest, Droid RAZR, droid razr maxx, Oscars, second screen, social tv

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/02/24/social-tv-oscars/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_me...

TiVo software coming to Pace set-top boxes

Pace HD DVR
You may have never heard of Pace, but you might have some of its hardware in your house right now. If you're a DirecTV subscriber, that satellite receiver you rely on every day might actually be made by Pace. Or, perhaps the box your cable company gave you that you just never gave much thought to. The up and coming set-top box maker has recently even had some success with the biggest cable company of them all, Comcast. The latest partnership for the company trying to overthrow both Motorola and Cisco in the cable box space? TiVo. This global partnership will ensure that TV providers that buy hardware from Pace and software from TiVo will have almost no work left to do. In other words, it'll make way for an out-of-the box TiVo-verified platform. Pace indicates this will help answer the "strong interest" from TiVo's list of service providers, but that seems a bit optimistic. Our cynical side reminds us of all the great Sling powered hardware marketed to those same providers that years later, still has not been put into use.

Continue reading TiVo software coming to Pace set-top boxes

TiVo software coming to Pace set-top boxes originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/24/tivo-software-coming-to-pace-set-top-boxes/