Pitch Perfect: What one investor looks for before supporting a tech startup

 http://business.financialpost.com/entrepreneur/fp-innovators/pitch-perfect-what-one-investor-looks-for-before-supporting-a-tech-startup

This article discusses some questions investors ask themselves to determine whether or not tech start ups are worth investing in. Essentially, they are trying to predict whether or not the company is profitable, will it succeed, and how long will it survive? Further they be able to attract customers, does it make creative use of existing inventory and are the products reoccurring? We are well aware that the KW region is the new and innovate location for tech startups thus the reason I chose this article to be relevant.

The link attached called, What Tech Entrepreneurs Can Learn from the Startup that Beat Google discusses an algorithm that was founded in 2005 that beat Google in a facial recognition challenge. The company, named NTechLab confirmed that their success was due to a close team of computer sciences. They set out to create a technology that would meet an existing need rather than solve a problem. And that was the key to success.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/290503

After reading my post do you think there are any existing needs that need to be met? What is it and problem product or service could meet this need?

The Spread of the Social Media Stories

Even since Snapchat became widely popular, the introduction of ‘stories’ has been copied among other forms of social media. This idea of ’stories’ originated from Snapchat - a way for users to share snaps (photos of videos sometimes with locations, stickers, and text over it) that are visible to all your ‘friends’ that last 24 hours before they’re automatically deleted, rather than disappearing for 1-10 seconds to a select number of users. Snapchat users can share these snaps in a narrative way as well.

But recently, Instagram (acquired by Facebook) and Facebook, as Facebook’s Messenger product have introduced ‘stories’ on their own platforms, angering many people within the tech sector and many Snapchat devotees. Miranda Kerr, who is engaged to Co-founder and CEO of Snapchat, cannot stand Facebook. In an expert from an interview she did with The Times, "'I cannot STAND Facebook,'  [Kerr] volunteers. She is not on Facebook itself, but she does have ten million followers on Instagram, which is owned by Mark Zuckerberg's company. Instagram recently introduced a range of Snapchat-esque features, which has drawn out her protective streak. ”’Can they not be innovative? Do they have to steal all of my partner's ideas? I'm so appalled by that. ... When you directly copy someone, that's not innovation.' And then a sudden look of panic crosses her face. 'Do I get to approve this interview? Crystal!' She admonishes her publicist who long ago drifted out of the conversation. 'Oh I don't even care. It's a disgrace. How do they sleep at night?'"

Snachat's April Fool's Day filter

I found this interesting because people consider Facebook to be an innovative technology that changed social media and communication. But when Facebook started, they were very similar to the them-popular platform, MySpace, except Facebook has some extra features including relationship status and was originally exclusive to Ivy League students. This isn’t Facebook’s first time copying other tech companies. In response, on April Fool’s Day this year, Snapchat released a geofilter taking a little jab at Instagram. 

As this ‘stories’ concept has been spreading across multiple social media platforms, there have been many Internet memes making fun of this. The Internet has joked that stories have become introduced and added to pregnancy tests, calculators, and even McDonald's kiosks.

What do you think? Is Facebook really being innovative? Do you use Instagram and/or Facebook stories or are you a Snapchat devotee? Or are these ‘stories’ features not really your thing?


Works Cited

Godwin, Richard. "Miranda Kerr: Motherhood, love and my billionaire boyfriend." Times2 | The Times & The Sunday Times. The Sunday Times, 6 Feb. 2017. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/miranda-kerr-sex-and-the-snapchat-ceo-the-life-of-a-frustrated-supermodel-9z70hhbtc>.

Kumparak, Greg. "Snapchat wins April Fools’ with its jab at Instagram." TechCrunch. TechCrunch, 01 Apr. 2017. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/01/snapchat-wins-april-fools-with-its-jab-at-instagram>.

Moreau, Elise. "Here's What You Need to Know About Posting Stories on Snapchat." Lifewire. N.p., 20 Apr. 2017. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-snapchat-story-3486000>.

Millennials as Tech Leaders: The Case of Sophia Amoruso

TL;DR: Sophia Amoruso was a community-college dropout and former nomad who founded online retail store Nasty Gal at age 23. At 25, she left as CEO the company, stayed on as executive chairwoman and was named ‘America's Richest Self-Made Women’ by Forbes (2016), Fortune 40 under 40 (2014), Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list (2013), Forbes 30 under 30 (2013), and Inc. 30 under 30 (2013). By age 30, she was a success, featured on all these powerlists and her company was valued at $350 million. At 32, this past Fall, Nasty Gal had filed for bankruptcy.

Some don’t consider Nasty Gal as a tech company was it was just an online retailer that first started off as an Ebay store. But Amoruso was innovative with her business. She searched through thrift stores to find good clothes and resold them for way more than the initial cost. Certain pieces, she would cut, fix, or restructure. Some people flip houses, she flips clothes. Not many people were doing this and Amoruso would sell out on Ebay and even on her own ecommerce site. Nasty Gal became the fastest-growing retailer in the States. The business gains a large online following through young women on social media, which exponentially grew revenues. The New York Times even called Amoruso “The Cinderella of Tech.”

Amoruso's thoughts about an article posted about her

Last month, I saw a post on social media, which Amoruso commented, "What a dumb ass piece" with the link to an article on Inc. titled "Does the Failure of Nasty Gal Prove Millennials Aren't Ready to Lead?" A media publication that once titled her “30 Under 30” was now featuring articles that discussed the falling of her business. Author Kevin Daum writes, “The Nasty Gal is one of many Gen Y-led startups that showed early promise before falling flat. Some would say that this example and other press-worthy failures like [Theranos’] Elizabeth Holmes are evidence that this generation is still too young or immature to lead well, despite a few shining outliers like Zuckerberg and the Olsen twins” followed by a list of advice to avoid “missteps” like Amoruso. But there has been a number of tech company founders that have become widely successful worldwide including: Pinterest, Instagram, Dropbox, Box, Airbnb, Tumblr, Quora, Snapchat, Asana, Stripe, Lyft, Oculus VR, Tinder, and Eventbrite.

So are millennials ready to lead? For many entrepreneurs, failure is inevitable. There's that famous mantra within the startup world, "Fail fast, fail smart, fail often." I believe that Amoruso was extremely successful, doing things that many people her age and even older have never accomplished in their lives. She's working on a lot of new projects now: has two best-selling books, is an executive producer on a Netflix shows based on her memoir/the story of how she founded Nasty Gal, and founded a community and media company focusing on redefining success. Through her new business, she and her employees have started a foundation that awards over $100,000 grants to women in the fields of design, fashion, music, and the arts. Millennials are tech savvy and have introduced numerous technological innovations that we used everyday. They think differently and are disrupting best practices and industries we didn't think needed change. But even those Gen X-ers who are leaders within these organizations are leading and managing millennials or Gen Y-ers are training them to become leaders. However, millennials are using organizations to reinvent how they are lead and managed. They want to know that their work has purpose, they are looking for constant feedback from their leads, they want to focus on their strengths, and growth and development is one the greatest drivers of millennial engagement. There are different traits within these different generations and we have to learn how to adapt and work best to who these people are and how they think. I think, at times, those who criticize our generation forget who raised it. What do you think?

Works Cited

Amoruso, Sophia. "Starting Over After Bankruptcy and Divorce." LinkedIn. N.p., 10 Apr. 2017. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/starting-over-after-bankruptcy-divorce-sophia-amoruso>.

Daum, Kevin. "Does the Failure of Nasty Gal Prove Millennials Aren't Ready to Lead?" Inc.com. Inc., 28 Feb. 2017. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <https://www.inc.com/kevin-daum/does-the-failure-of-nasty-gal-prove-millennials-arent-ready-to-lead.html>.

Perlroth, Nicole. "Naughty in Name Only." The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Mar. 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/technology/nasty-gal-an-online-start-up-is-a-fast-growing-retailer.html?_r=0>.

Shontell, Alyson. "The Most Powerful Millennials In Tech." Business Insider. Business Insider, 03 Nov. 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <http://www.businessinsider.com/most-powerful-millennials-under-35-in-tech-2014-11?op=1%2F#w-see-who-the-most-important-up-and-comers-are-in-nyc-tech-31>.

The KW Region's Evolution: Tech Startups

Over the course of the semester – mores specifically the second half we have learnt how much purpose and how many benefits the KW region has towards tech – startups. As BlackBerry and rim begin to feather out, the Waterloo region has begun attracting a younger and more educated entrepreneurial community. According to the reading Innovation Linkages in New and Old Economy Sectors in Cambridge – Guelph – Kitchener – Waterloo (Ontario) by Munro and Bathelt , the Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph region have become so up and coming and so successful in regards to tech startups is due to the students, co-op programs and urban space. The schools surrounding the area especially Laurier and Waterloo and known for their engineering and business programs. With these schools and programs come incredibly eager individuals looking to learn. This is beneficial to start up entrepreneurs because they do not have much money to pay for staff and most driven university students want hands  on experience and knowledge which they are able to obtain by working for or with these start ups either in their spare time or on co-op placements. Furthermore, this reading (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/kitchener-waterloo-startup/article25558263/) expresses why Waterloo is the next startup city and the high- tech fever which is reshaping the region to benefit not only startups but also the surrounding students.

If people were more aware of the KW region being the new startup city do you think students would chose Laurier, UW, Guelph or Conestoga over other schools solely with the hopes that they will benefit not only from the school but from the region?

Personally, I believe that as the tech industry continues to grow, and the start ups boom in the Kitchener Waterloo area, that new students will begin to migrate to this area knowing they will not only obtain learning from the school but also from the start ups surrounding the city and the possibilities of obtaining hands on experience.