My TED Story, What TEDactive is Like
TED aka the Technology Entertainment and Design conference. Some people call it Elistist and some call it “humbling, inspiring, and moving on many levels“. Here is my take:
My TED Story
The first TED talk I ever watched was Jill Bolte Taylor’s stroke of insight which was emailed to me by my old college roommate. The video is of Jill, a brain researcher, who had a massive stroke and recounted her story from the inside out in great scientific detail. She went through emotions, showed a live brain on stage, and opened up on stage and let it all out in her talk. I had no idea what this TED thing was but I was hooked.
I spent the following weekend watching as many TED talks as humanly possible in the span of 48 hours and I was completely inspired. I still had no idea what TED was, besides being a conference, but I knew I needed to attend this and it was since my dream to speak at TED.
Fast forward a bit, once I graduated college and was running [Startup Digest] I got a very random email asking if I wanted to be a part of TEDx Silicon Valley. The story actually wasn’t that simple, what started off as one email led to a very odd and “skull and bones” esq situation that is too long for the post. Next time you see me in person though ask me about it, it’s a great story.
Photo by ValleyZen
Long story short I was part of the founding team of TEDx Silicon Valley which happened on Decmeber 12th 2009, and it ended up being the biggest TEDx in TED history. TEDx events are independently organized TED’s and to find out more check out here.
After the conference ended I was officially part of the “TED family” and was invited to attend TEDActive which is the simulcast of the big TED conference which is going on right now, the same time the main TED conference is. It is a more intimate and fun gathering of TEDsters around the globe bringing together a good group of TED translators, TEDx organizers, TED prize winners, and other entrepreneurs, scientists, artists, and people making a big difference.
What TEDactive is like
For all the fuss and negativity TED occasionally gets, I have to admit that the conference is nothing short of unbelievable. The speakers, presenters, and performers are some of the most unbelievable people doing things that completely humble me.
A good example of this was Dr. Kevin Bales talk today. Kevin has dedicated his life to the eradication of slavery which surprisingly enough is still very prevalent. Worldwide he quoted there are 27 million slaves and a human person is sold for $3,000-$10 depending on the country (I had no idea there was a market price for this?!). Kevin has set up an organizing which not only helps these people get out of slavery but teaches them the life skills to stay out of slavery forever. If you are interested check out Free The Slaves.
But the real value of TED is not only in the live talks themselves but the people who attend. I’m getting to spend 5 days with people from all over the world (Uganda, Korea, Germany, etc) who are all extremely passionate and active in their communities. Just this morning I met a guy from Kentucky who sold his software company to HP and spent a 1 hour breakfast session with us expalaing the ins and outs of the printing, printers, packaging, and labeling industry. Now I have absolutely no interest or involvement with the printing industry but it is so cool to hear a passionate entrepreneur talk about their industry. Where else can you get such a diverse group of passionate doers together?
From the dinners, afterparties, PJ sessions, flash mobs, music videos, and all of the other weird and wacky things were doing at TEDactive, the real value of TED is the chance to spend real quality time with the world’s leading doers all around an atmosphere of intellectual stimulation and inspiration.
I am so excited for the finals two days of TEDactive and if I haven’t met you here at Palm Springs yet come say Hi! 
[Startup Digest] Summary: Twiistup 007 Los Angeles
[Startup Digest] Summary: Twiistup 007
I’ve been listening to everyone’s feedback from the [Startup Digest] and one of the most asked request from our users was more information about the actual events we feature. I’m going to try doing these “[Startup Digest] Summaries” and give a bit more insight to the events I attend, anything interesting I come across, and sharing more of the detailed about the events we cover.
I’m here live-blogging and tweeting in Los Angeles for Twiistup 007 which is LA’s largest startup showcase known for their wild parties. I was excited to attend this event because I have been hearing a lot of things about the LA startup and investment scene recently, here is a recent tweet I saw:
Kind of depressing when you hear that 60 tech companies are filing for IPO’s in the Bay Area and only 3 in Southern California via @jeffcohn
Personally I think the LA startup scene is a very undervalued place. Yes its fragmented, yes the VC/Angel industry is tough here, and there are a whole host of factors which make it hard to start a company here. But people like @jaynol1 who is the founder of Column Five Media who are excited and passionate about the scene here makes me feel positive
My feedback so far on the Showoff side of the event are there are were way too many “social aggregator apps” that were picked to present. Next time get some variety and mixup the presenters based on what they are presenting.
UPDATE: So far the keynotes have rocked (especially Eric Ries’ talk) and the networking sessions is where its at. Already closed an advertiser deal and met a couple companies in the process of raising series-A. Good stuff and looking forward to this highly talked about after-party.
Pictures
http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/view/29219824
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wmsproductions/sets/72157623184051477/
Here are what some others thought (via twitter)
“#twiistup is interesting, a lot of innovative startups, I just wish one of them was about aggregating my social networks. 
” – @JasonCampbell
Favorite startups at #Twiistup – @lunch_com, @nsyght, @ranker_com and @yourversion – check them out! – @EmilyJS3
RT @danmartell: I LOVE @ericries talk – he lays it down w/ great stories and solid tactics to avoid failing. #leanstartuptwiistup #
just want to say the blogger setup has been awesome at Twiistup – power, internet, round tables near the front = happy Danielle #twiistup – @DanielleMorrill
Congrats to @TheMan @jerpoop on another #Twiistup. Smart evolution from social media strokefest to focus on entrepreneurs. – @clintschaff
Theme of #twiistup : social aggregation & information overload. – @fritcher
whew hoo! #Twiistup was a hoot. some sweet tunes & very cool peeps. gonna pack it up now. ‘night – @biskeeee
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Here is the detailed event info:
Format:
Two day event: 1st day is wildcard demo night and a reception party at night
2nd day had a mix of keynotes, panels, and demos, with a huge party at the end
Speakers:
Richard Rosenblatt and Om Malik – The Evolution and ROI of content
Eric Ries – The Lean Startup
Lisa Stone and Bambi Francisco – Opprotunities and colleges facing women tech entrepreneurs
Dave McClure – Startup Metrics for Pirates
Paul Graham and Om Malik – Starting up fast and cheap
Peter Guber and Brian Solis – Online and offline, it’s still about telling and selling your story
Company Presentations:
Collecta, Geodelic, Lunch, Mingly, Nsyght, NutshellMail, Qlipso, Ranker, Rippol, YourVersion, and wildcard pick
Sponsors
Epic Advertising, Microsoft, HUGE, Text Link Ads, PeopleBrowsr, CentralDesktop, Corporate Counsel Group LLP, ClickBooth, Rubicon Project, TweetFind, TechZulu, Frosty Web Design, and Eventbrite
Entering a Startup Community
Photo by wallyg
You moved to Silicon Valley, NYC, Vancouver, Seattle, or another worldwide startup hub to follow your dream of starting your own company, you’re new to the scene or new to the area. How do you get started?
If you’re like most entrepreneurs you spend a lot of time alone or with your small team, working long days and nights on your product for 14 hours every day. You don’t have the time or luxury to spend a lot of time away from your company and even less for meeting others.
The truth is, no matter how old you are, how smart you are, how good your product is, or how big your target market is you need help and support from others. Events are one of the easiest ways to get plugged into the startup eco-system.
Startup events can range from industry specific events, which are great for customer feedback, to general entrepreneurial gatherings which can inspire the continued drive within you. Each event has its own unique flavor, focusing on founders, hackers, college students, getting funding, or embracing failure and depending on your situation certain events may be more fitting to your tastes.
Here are 5 reasons why I think the best way to enter a startup community is through startup events:
- Startup life can be a lonely endeavor
Just the simple act of surrounding yourself with other entrepreneurs going through similar situations can help tremendously with your persistence and sanity. Plus the added benefits of surrounding yourself around other passionate driven individuals and groups can create an infinite realm of possibilities. - Startup events are one of the few places the eco-system converges
I can’t think of any other instance besides startup events where the whole entrepreneurial eco-system consistently comes together and is easily visible. All good startups events though should aim to bring the whole startup eco-system under one roof including: potential employees, potential co-founders, investors, potential customers service providers, and mentors. - Startups need continuous feedback and to find those early adopters
There are only a few customers and companies crazy enough to buy products and give initial feedback on alpha/beta versions. Events are a very easy and efficient place to pitch your initial product or concept to a wide group of individuals with startup experience and develop some initial assumptions of who their customers are - Startup events can lead to unexpected randomness
I can’t even begin to describe the unexpected randomness I experience at events which leads to a whole new path in my life. In fact I can point my whole entrepreneurial journey to one event at my University where I was inspired and empowered to develop my own unique life path.
I love startup events so much that my own company the “[Startup Digest]” is dedicated to delivering you the best startup events in your city once a week. The goal is to save you the time and hassle of finding these events yourself, and to be the empowering force that brings startup communities together worldwide.
The purpose of the [Startup Digest]
To start off new years 2010 right, here are my thoughts about why I started the [Startup Digest] and what we hope to accomplish with it.
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![[startup digest]](http://entrepreneurialactivism.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/startupdigest_logo.png?w=330&h=60 "[startup digest]"){kind=logo}
I started the [Startup Digest] because I was relatively new entrepreneur when I first moved to Silicon Valley in June after graduating college. I had no family that lived here and not many friends who lived in the area, but I wanted to go to as many startup events as possible to meet other entrepreneurs and become part of the entrepreneurial community here.
After 6 months of work, I can proudly say that I feel I am part of the startup community here in Silicon Valley. I want to spread this feeling and the power of local entrepreneurial cultures to cities worldwide. The [Startup Digest] is simple but the vision is vast, here are the 5 things we would like to accomplish.
- We want to promote the entrepreneurial lifestyle and the culture of DOING, to help change the world into a better place
- We want to strengthen the pre-existing entrepreneurial communities no matter how small or large they currently are
- We want to create stronger bonds between entrepreneurs through relevant events where the startup community meets each other physically in-person.
- We want to promote the cross-pollination of ideas & people, from startup communities who would normally never interact with one another
- We want to empower the leaders in these startup communities and give them the tools and inspiration to create a huge difference.
If you would like to be part of our journey sign up here www.thestartupdigest.com and join us.
If you are already a subscriber of friend of the [Startup Digest] we would love your thoughts, comments, and feedback below.
TEDx Silicon Valley – Lessons from a Social Media Campaign for an Event + 6 tips
I recently gave a talk at Edith Yeung’s meetup group: “The San Francisco Entrerpenuer Meetup Group” during the middle our social media campaign for TEDx Silicon Valley, but now that the event has ended I wanted to reflect back and expand the points and share the lessons I learned.
For TEDx Silicon Valley I strategized and executed our whole social media campaign for our first inaugural event on December 12th, 2009. The result of the campaign was our event was attended physically by 200 people at Stanford’s campus, the event was watched virtually on UStream by over 100,000 people in over 45 countries worldwide, and we generated 11.8 million social media impressions worldwide. I define a “social media impression” by the number the times a piece of content was seen by others on the social graph, for example each tweet by Hiten Shah with ____ followers would generate _____social media impressions.
First a short story about my experience and then I’ll lay out 6 tips to help you with your social media campaign for your event. If you want a short and abridged version of what I learned skip down to the 6 tips and start from there.
Photo by Shirley X. Lin
My story began 2.5 weeks before December 12th, 2009 when we had around 30 fans on our TEDxSV facebook page and less than 100 followers on twitter. When we started the campaign at first we were only releasing speaker announcements, new initiatives, and updates about what the team was doing. We did this continuously for a week and half with some success, fans/followers increased but our overall engagement and conversions did not increase.
The real turning point of our campaign happened a week before our event. Ron and Andrej, two of the creators and team members for TEDxSV, really pushed me to become a leader of the campaign instead of just executing it.
We assembled a team of 20+ TEDxSV members and volunteers (from our waitlist) who wanted to help spread our social media message, and my role shifted from releasing everything myself to informing and inspiring our new team of people. I did this by creating a small email list of our small team, and on a daily basis I would write out a list of all our releases for the day, interesting new stories, ideas on how the team could participate, and inspiring the team to share this info with their friends and own social graphs.
The tipping point of this effort came the day before the actual event. The team created so much buzz around the event that it eventually spread to the key influencers in our market (Chris Anderson, Robert Scoble, Dave McClure, etc) who picked up the event and spread it to their large networks. The result of this was extreme leverage which literally took our event global in a few hours before the event.
Literally thousands of people began talking about the event, watching the event, and spreading the message during the event and I didn’t even have to participate to keep up the conversation anymore. During the event my role shifted again from pushing out the message to serving the community that was built around TEDxSV. People began asking questions about the schedule, how to view the event on their mobile phones, what the speakers background were, etc and my job was to answer all of these questions and to repost interesting things our community was talking about.
Before I share the 6 tips on leading a social media campaign, I first want to thank Rachel Masters, Jen McCabe, Jen Barr, and everyone on the team who helped out with the social media effort. All of this would have never been possible without all of your help and individual contributions.
Here are now 6 tips on leading a social media campaign
- First have an end goal in mind and know what you are trying to accomplish with your social media campaign. For us at TEDxSV it was getting as many people as possible to watch the UStream channel and to start conversations around the talks.
- Have some basic metrics set up to know where your baseline is, know if you are moving closer to your goal, and using metrics to motivate your team (or yourself).
- The purpose of your social media campaign should be to empower others to take your message and spread it to their individual networks. If you do so correctly you gain the benefits of leverage and multiply your efforts
- Building upon #3 make it as easy as possible for others to participate. This includes creating pre-made example tweets and status updates people can use and doing the work in finding relevant contact (relevant news, blogs, etc) and giving it to your team.
- Solidify a few social channels and do them well. For TEDxSV our main channels were twitter, facebook, and UStream
- Ramp up your social media campaign during the final days before your event. The amount of content being created by your audience should expand exponentially right before your event to build up buzz around what you are doing and eventually reaching that tipping point as I talked about in my story.
Take this list and be inspired to tap into the social graph to its full potential right before your next event. If you have any other points to share, add, or improve upon please share them in the comments section. Much of what I learned was from our team and our community and I encourage you to improve this and share it with others.
BASES [Startup Digest] November 16, 2009
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Under the Radar: Mobility
[StartupDigest] Summary: NextGen Conference with Cory Levy
NextGen Conference was the last event I attended for this week. It took place yesterday all day so it might be a bit early for a summary but I’ll be adding in more content as it comes in during the week.
Full Disclosure: I had the pleasure to help organize, speak, and throw the after-party for the conference so I personally might be a bit biased in how cool it was
The conference was put on by Cory Levy, 18 year old entrepreneur who has already worked for 2, yes 2!, venture capital firms at his age. He literally cold called me a couple months ago asking for advice and help with this conference idea of his and there was no way I could refuse. Here was the premise of the conference:
The inspiration
The Next Generation Conference is primed—uniquely so—to take on the extraordinary challenge of renewing our economy. It’s not recovery that is needed; it’s the revitalization that comes from innovation, creativity, value building, and entrepreneurial spirit invested in all of our work. NextGen has been founded to help you.
About the conference
NextGen is a one-day conference at Stanford University in the heart of Silicon Valley.
NextGen’s mission is to help you succeed, by providing lectures, panels and networking opportunities on areas that are vital in building and maintaining your business.
Some of the topics will include:
- How to pitch (what you need to present in your deck and how to be prepared)
- Importance of asking for help / mentorship
- And plenty more topics!
Overall the conference was a little long but a lot of fun. Here are some videos of the talk, the lineup of speakers, and a couple blog posts about it.
Video’s of Conference
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nextgenconf
Lineup of Speakers
http://www.nextgenconf.com/speakers.php
Blog posts about conference
http://www.corylevy.com/2009/10/05/nextgenconference/
http://www.danielbru.com/2009/10/04/nextgen-conf/
[Startup Digest] Summary: ETL Talk – Steve Blank, Stanford Professor and Serial Entrepreneur
Sadly I couldn’t make it to this weeks Entreprenuerial Thought Leaders series with Steve Blank 
but as I’ve highlited before in my last ETL post here, they are some of my favorite events and talks.
So for not being able to make it I thought I would highlight his last talk here and info on where to find future ETL talks:
All of Steve Blank’s E-Corner Video’s here:
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2048
MP3 of his 2009 ETL talk:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/edcorner/uploads/podcast/blank091111.mp3
Post about what is customer development by Eric Ries
http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2008/11/what-is-customer-development.html
For future ETL talks go here
http://etl.stanford.edu/
http://bases.stanford.edu/
[Startup Digest] Summary: Cal Poly Venture Challenge
Hey everyone and welcome to a new week of [Startup Digest] Summaries! The test last week of this new column went so well I am going to continue to write these summaries every week of the events I attend for the week.
This week was a bit slow for Startup Events but on Tuesday I had the pleasure of speaking at my Alma Mater Cal Poly San Luis Obispo during their entrepreneurs workshop series. A lot of big changes are happening at Cal Poly and I wanted to dedicated a summary to their main initiative the Cal Poly Venture Challenge.
Basically the Cal Poly Venture Challenge (CPVC) is a collection of a startup competition, engineering competition, speaker series, and summer incubator program very similar to what BASES at Stanford is doing. In fact we are copying much of what BASES has done at Stanford during its early years since its one of the best entrepreneurial organization models at a University I have ever seen.
The event I spoke at was how to effectively write an Executive Summary to move forward in the competition. Sadly there is no video or pictures of the event (Come on Cal Poly!) but here are a few links of interest about the program. And if you are in the San Luis Obispo area I would highly encourage you to get involved and attend all of their events.
Cal Poly Venture Challenge main website:
http://calpolyventurechallenge.com/
A few articles about the program
http://pacbiztimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=963&Itemid=47
http://calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2006/July/iq_awards.html
http://www.ee.calpoly.edu/announcements/cal-poly-venture-challenge-and-innovation-quest
http://www.billtrammel.com/2009-ray-scherr/
A few of my own blog posts about the program
http://entrepreneurialactivism.com/2009/03/14/bill-trammel-cal-poly-business-plan-competition-the-wrap-up/
http://entrepreneurialactivism.com/2009/03/22/2009-cal-poly-business-plan-competition-photos/
[Startup Digest] Summary: SNAP Summit’s FailCon 2009
The last startup event for review today is SNAP Summit’s FailCon 2009 put on by event organizer extraordinaire Cassie Phillips and her company Room Full of People. Out of all the events I have attend this year, the theme of this conference was one of the most unique and interesting. Here it is in their own words:
About SNAP Summit
“SNAP Summit: FailCon” is a full-day conference focusing on the trials and tribulations of now successful entrepreneurs. You aren’t a real entrepreneur until you’ve had to deal with failure, and recovering from it – financially, emotionally, and practically – can be challenging. Hear how some major players in the industry have dealt with startup troubles, recovered, and kept a positive, tenacious, and energetic attitude through it all.
This year’s conference brings together a full spectrum of attendees, including independent developers, up-and coming startups, all the way up to large companies looking to get in on the next big thing.
The conference will debate questions such as:
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- What variables do VCs watch for to preemptively prevent a company going under?
- How do you financially prepare for the possibility of failure: legally, fiscally, and in your team?
- What have some of the leading executives today learned from their past experiences?
- What are you watching out for with the current social web and rising companies?
- How do you layoff or fire an employee or partner?
- How do you save a failing company?
- How do you recover from a failed product or marketing campaign?
They brought a great line of speakers to the event http://snapsummit.com/speakers/ who got a chance to speak freely and openly about failures. One of my favorite talks was by Max Levchin who talked about his company before PayPal which failed during his trip to Chicago trying to raise capital. And instead of thinking about why this happend he just jumped right into his next company with no fear, all because of his desire to create something great and follow the entreprenuerial excitement.
Sadly there isn’t a full collection of video’s but here is some media about the event, a video of one speaker, and pictures.
Video of Mark Pincus’ talk
http://www.justin.tv/failcon
FailCon Pictures
http://www.sivajitv.com/movie-gallery/failcon-2009-meet-photos.htm
NPR Interview with Max Levchin
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114271856&ft=1&f=1006
Article about the event
http://www.womenentrepreneur.com/2009/11/failcon-entrepreneurs-explain-where-they-went-wrong.html
Interview with Cassie Phillips
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jenniferlindsay/2009/08/21/Featured-Guest-Cassie-Phillipps-Organizer-FailCon
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