Let’s Get Started!
ITEC Houston is today at the George R. Brown convention center. If you have the chance to go make a point to look for some Houston stars like Marc Nathan, Erica O’Grady and yours truly from Startup Houston (both of us). Erica will be putting on a social media clinic from 2:15 pm - 3:00 pm, which will include some thoughts from one of us as well.
See you there!
UPDATE: Also on this panel that I missed were Katie Laird, Matthew Wettergreen and Charles Lewis.
As we wrote here, Guy Kawasaki is coming to Houston to speak at the Houston Technology Center about his book, The Art of the Start. We will be there covering the event and asking questions that we hope will help Houston’s entrepreneurs and startups. In addition, we’d like to ask for your input.
What questions would you like to see us ask Guy that you think would help entreprenuers and startup companies in Houston to succeed? Add your questions in the comments section.
We had a great time at the April Houston Startup Happy Hour this past Thursday with the JamsBio launch. The turnout was greater than we expected and filled the entire bar area (see photos and video below). We went with a different venue (The Tasting Room) and format (Demos + Networking) for this month’s startup happy hour and I’ll have to say that while we still have some tweaking to do, it was a great event.
Stephen Newman, Matt Williams and the rest of the JamsBio crew did a great job with their demo as well as bringing lots of free T-shirts for everyone and we were excited to be part of their launch. Also, many thanks to JamsBio for also sponsoring the event so that we could offer free drinks to many of you who made it by early.
I learned of two new social media startups at the event that are due to launch in private beta soon, and one established startup that just successfully secured their second round of funding. Unfortunately, I can’t report on them yet, but there are a lot of details that will be coming out soon. Marc Nathan of the HTC also announced Guy Kawasaki’s upcoming appearance at the HTC to give a presentation on The Art of The Start. Overall, very exciting to see the many new things going on in Houston’s startup community.
Here are some of the other startups and tech companies that were seen at the event:
Based on our April experience, here is how we plan to run the May event.
Let us know your thoughts. Did you make it to the Happy Hour? Was it a good event? Did you meet new and interesting startups and people? Did you like the demo or would you recommend another way to show off Houston’s hottest startups? Tell us what you think in the comments section.
The first ever Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference is being planned by the team behind Search Engine Guide and Small Business Brief, two sites that have long devoted themselves to demystifying online marketing for small business owners. They’ve taken the feedback their readers have shared about other marketing conferences and decided to put their own spin on this event to help small business owners get the knowledge they need to market themselves online.
Instead of hearing a panel of speakers share four different viewpoints, (leaving you to figure out which one is right) they’ll give the stage to one expert who knows how to explain the nuts and bolts of their topic to the small business audience. You’ll get the information that’s vital to improving your online marketing techniques and you’ll get it without the techno-talk and industry jargon so common to larger online marketing conferences.
On day two, they’ll take things a step further, breaking the show down into intensive work-shops that actually walk you through the process of beginning to market your site. Whether it’s keyword research, viral marketing, paid search advertising or a variety of other topics, their expert marketers will walk you through the actual steps of launching your online marketing campaign and will send you home with the knowledge you need to finish the job.
Cost: $975 (includes breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Discount: STARTUPHOUSTON = $125 off
When: April 21-22, 2008
Where: Northwest Forest Conference Center, Cypress, Texas
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I had a chance to catch up with Kurt this morning and heard that last night’s event was a stellar occasion. Looking through the pictures makes me really miss seeing everyone. Unfortunately, I have been under a cloud of allergies and a sinus infection which kept me bedridden for most of yesterday. Sounds like we may need to make a few tweaks to the format but overall it was a huge success.
So we do this event and the Open Coffee event (with the HTC): what else would you like to see us do? I am all ears (now that they have unclogged).
I found out today via Marc Nathan and also via Dwight Silverman’s TechBlog that Guy Kawasaki is coming to the Houston Technology Center to speak about The Art of The Start on Thursday, April 24th at 7pm. I can’t tell you how excited I was to hear this news as this is obviously the type of speaker that could increase visibility for Houston in the startup world.
Apparently Guy was pretty impressed by all of the Houstonians at SXSWi and asked Dwight if he could set up an opportunity for him to come to Houston and speak. With all of the great minds in the Houston tech and startup communities, I’m sure we’ll have a lot more to impress Guy with when he gets here.
You can find more details over at Dwight Silverman’s Chron TechBlog.
You can register for the event on the Houston Technology Center site (here)
Also, we’re putting together a list of startup questions for Guy, so if you have any good ones that you would like to share or get answered, make sure to add them in our comments section.
Update: Hurry and register now because I’m told that they are already nearing capacity
Startup Houston and the Houston Technology Center are proud to present
The April Houston Startup Happy Hour.
Sponsored by JamsBio
The April Houston Startup Happy Hour features a completely new format including a live presentation of JamsBio.com launched publicly this week by Mouth Watering Media LLC. JamsBio is a new and unique website created by and for music lovers to exchange memories about life experiences and the music associated with them. There will also be an open mic opportunity for all startups to share recent announcements with the rest of Houston’s startup community.
New Location! New Format!
Here is your chance to meet Houston’s growing network of emerging startups, entreprenuers, investors, and technology enthusiasts to share drinks, tips and beta invites. Swap business cards and war stories and learn something new about Houston’s Tech Scene!
Join Us For:
The Tasting Room
When:
Thursday, April 3rd
6pm - 9pm
Where:
The Tasting Room @ River Oaks
2409 W. Alabama
(713) 526-2242
(Click here for map)
RSVP (here)
Meet Houston’s most innovative startups and entrepreneurs!
The Tasting Room at River Oaks has a great venue where there is room to socialize with the group, as well as areas to have side conversations. Try some great wines (and other mixed drinks) and share the latest and greatest info on yourself and your new tech venture. The wine cellar room also has a plasma screen TV and laptop that can be used to give other demos and show off your site.
Continue reading ‘Join Us for the April Houston Startup Happy Hour this Thursday’
The Houston area is emerging as a center for the life sciences industry. Numerous start-up companies have emerged in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, and telemedicine. This is generating a demand for leaders with a background in both entrepreneurship and the life sciences. To educate these leaders, Rice University Executive Education, the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, and BioHouston have collaborated to offer the Life Sciences Entrepreneurial Management Certificate. Participants will learn about market opportunities, intellectual property issues, life science business plans, sources of funding, and the successful launch and management of a life science start-up.
Registration:
General Registrants ($995)–Register Online
Members of Houston Academic Institutions ($500)–To register, please contact the Registrar at 713-348-6060
| Course Schedule: Spring 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unit 1: Understanding the Life Science Industry and Business Environment
Unit 2: Business Strategy and Planning in Life Science Entrepreneurship
Unit 3: Company Formation in Life Science Entrepreneurship
Participants will receive admission to the 7th Annual Rice Alliance Life Science Technology Forum on May 15, 2008. |
Applications for the 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year Awards are due THIS FRIDAY 3/28. Hosted by Ernst & Young, this is a great opportunity to recognize men and women around the country who have successfully built businesses of all sizes.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
Successful entrepreneurs from companies of varying sizes-emerging businesses to middle-market companies to enterprises-who take businesses to the next level. An Entrepreneur Of The Year nominee must be an owner / manager of a private or public company with primary responsibility for the recent performance of the company and an active member of top management. The nominee’s company must be at least two years old.
You can apply yourself or nominate others online.
Thanks to Steve Latham at Spur Digital for the heads up.
Data Call Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: DCLT) announced today that it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire 100% of Podcast Ready, Inc., a local Houston startup and portfolio company of DFJ Mercury, in an all stock deal.
Podcast Ready was created to accelerate adoption of podcasting by making subscribing and listening to podcasts easier and more portable. Recently, Podcast Ready closed a deal to have their myPodder software pre-loaded on over 5 million MP3 players of Sansa and Coby. Data Call will be able to leverage this distribution along with their Digital Signage technologies.
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