By SCOTT AUSTIN

Start-ups hungry for cash are often expected to pay a fee to pitch to angel investors. But some free services are cropping up to counter the so-called pay-to-pitch model.

Earlier this year, Internet entrepreneur and blogger Jason Calacanis started Open Angel Forum, which holds free pitch events in various cities where entrepreneurs selected from a pool of applicants can pitch to about 20 to 30 angel investors. At Open Angel's first event in Boulder, Co., in February, three of six companies found new investors.

 

Another free service, AngelList, started in February by angels Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi, vets dozens of deals before highlighting the best ones in emails each week sent free to a group of 200 investors.

Messrs. Ravikant and Nivi—who also run Venture Hacks, a for-profit site that provides advice to start-ups—say they have received pitches from more than 1,000 start-ups, mostly consumer Internet companies. Of the 48 companies featured so far on AngelList, about half have received funding, they say.

Marco Zappacosta, founder of Thumbtack Inc., a site that lets people book services like tutors and dog walkers, won three commitments from angels after pitching his company in March at an Open Angel Forum event in San Francisco. He then turned to AngelList and received three more commitments to close a funding round at $1.2 million in June. The service, he says, "is good at getting worthy start-ups into the inbox of investors."

The free services come in the wake of recent criticism of the pay-to-pitch model, which some angel investors have argued is justified because they offer advice and should be paid for their time. Mr. Calacanis, an outspoken figure in the tech industry, last fall publicly admonished angel investment groups for charging bootstrapped entrepreneurs hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to pitch to them.

More on Angels

• What's an Angel Investor?
• How to Win Angel Funding
• Tips for Finding Angel Investors

Last month, Chris Hurley shut down his Revolutionary Angels service that proposed to charge entrepreneurs $4,995 for advisory services and entry into a business-plan competition that would award $250,000 to the winner. After soliciting submissions in October, Revolutionary Angels received only 20 entries, far short of its goal of 60 participants.

In retrospect, "$5,000 is a lot of money for early-stage entrepreneurs," said Mr. Hurley.

But the new free services aren't entirely altruistic. Both AngelList and Open Angel give their founders inside access to companies in which they might be interested in investing, and Messrs. Ravikant and Nivi can use AngelList to indirectly market Venture Hacks' start-up guides.

"We're just trying to open up the way entrepreneurs and angels connect," said Mr. Ravikant, a serial entrepreneur who has founded companies such as Epinions Inc.

Not all entrepreneurs have won investments. Jen Lilienstein, one of six entrepreneurs selected to pitch last month at an Open Angel forum in Los Angeles, hasn't raised any cash for her start-up, Kidzmet.com, which helps parents enroll their kids in extracurricular activities.

But Ms. Lilienstein says the event was helpful because angels stuck around for hours to proffer advice. Ms. Lilienstein says she is now in "a dating phase" with investors and continuing conversations.

Some pay-to-pitch services have changed their business models amid the criticism. In September, FundingUniverse LLC stopped charging a $125 fee for entrepreneurs to pitch at its events, attended by angels and loan providers like banks. The winners of its events receive a few thousand dollars in in-kind services, and sometimes, investments.

FundingUniverse does, however, sell products through its website, such as a $99 online "diagnostic tool" that analyzes a business's funding prospects. "We think the services we do charge for are perfectly acceptable," says Alexander Lawrence, a partner at the company.

Write to Scott Austin at scott.austin@dowjones.com

He's a bit scary, overly hairy, and he doesn't quite reflect the way Americans looks today, does he? As an icon created to help recruit young soldiers into military service--this particular version was created by James Montgomery Flagg in 1916--we'd say our patriotic persona Uncle Sam needs an upgrade. A few months ago we helped the public radio show Studio 360 get the word out about their challenge to Redesign Valentine's Day, and this week, they're launching another holiday redesign challenge for the Fourth of July.

 

Designers, illustrators, artists, we'd like to recruit YOU to help us retool a tired icon. Submit your ideas for a new Uncle Sam to the Studio 360 Redesigns Uncle Sam Flickr pool. Deadline is June 20, and the winners will be announced on the Fourth of July weekend. And for the songwriters in our midst, Studio 360 is also looking for a revamped national anthem.

Here are a few early entries plucked from the submissions.

j.Daly1 creates a new Uncle Sam who looks eerily like another famous American we know...we just can't put our finger on it.

Maria Manhattan created a female version in a sharp pin-striped suit: Auntie Sam.

LegoLeah envisions Sam wearing Levi's, representing a country that's "youthful, hardworking and still a dreamer."

Got an idea for Uncle Sam? Post it to the  Studio 360 Redesigns Uncle Sam Flickr pool by June 20!

[Studio 360]

Beyond the Business Center

A new breed of high-tech hotels for road warriors.

By John Brandon |  May 1, 2010

 

Christopher Silas Neal

Tired of spotty Wi-Fi and outdated lobby workstations? These hotels are redefining business travel with high-tech amenities.

Aria Resort & Casino

Walk into your room at the Aria in Las Vegas, and the shades automatically rise as the lights brighten. Rooms feature bedside touchscreens for controlling the shades, lighting, temperature, TV, and an electronic do-not-disturb sign. Resortwide Wi-Fi access costs $15 a day.
COST: $149 a night and up

Aloft

Check-in is a breeze at this trendy chain, which has 40 hotels in Phoenix, Beijing, and 38 other cities worldwide. Guests receive a keycard in the mail before their trip and a text-message room assignment on arrival day. The keycard even unlocks the door remotely when you near your room. Wi-Fi is free hotelwide.
COST: $125 a night and up

Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers

Starting in June, guests at this Midtown Manhattan hotel can hold videoconferences in a Cisco TelePresence suite for $500 an hour. The revamped property also has a lounge with printers and Windows 7 computers. In-room Wi-Fi costs $14.95 a day; access is free in the lobby.
COST: $239 a night and up

Joie de Vivre Citizen Hotel

Rooms at the stately Citizen in downtown Sacramento have free high-speed broadband, a Mac Mini computer with a webcam and wireless mouse and keyboard, and an iPod docking station. Joie de Vivre plans to add high-tech touches to more of its 35 boutique California hotels this year.
COST: $149 a night and up

 

LA Scores Big Microsoft Con

By Tina Dupuy on May 10, 2010 09:39 AM

Oh how we love geeks and their geek money!

Hugo Martin writes:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to announce Monday that the city will host Microsoft Corp.'s Worldwide Partner Conference 2011, a gathering of the company's staffers and business partners July 10 to 14 next year.

The conference is expected to bring about 15,000 attendees, who would spend an estimated $45 million, officials say. It would be one of the biggest gatherings at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The article also speculates that LA is in the running for Comic Con. We say it's a red herring. Downtown San Diego was built on nerd sweat and they will do anything they can to keep their golden geeky goose. They will likely do far more to keep Comic Con in San Diego than LA or Vegas will do to move them.

What do you guys think? Discuss.

AT&T extends exclusivity with Apple, no Verizon iPhone until 2011?

by Kelly Hodgkins on May 6th, 2010 at 12:13pm
Filed under: AT&T, Apple, Rumors, Verizon 207 Comments

 

Take this one with the largest grain of salt that you can find…the latest rumor on the status of the Verizon Wireless iPhone suggests that the phone may not come to fruition until 2011. As we all know, AT&T is offering data plans for the iPad on a non-contract basis at the lowly price of $15 for 250MB of data and $30 for unlimited data. According to analyst Brian Marshall of BroadPoint AmTech, AT&T would not have agreed to such a drastic price reduction, and no-contract plans, without receiving something big from Apple in return. That “big something”, he hypothesizes, is an extension of the iPhone exclusivity agreement that AT&T currently has enjoyed with Apple in the U.S. Under this quid pro quo agreement, AT&T’s exclusivity would be extended until the end of 2010, effectively shuttering any plans to launch the iPhone on Big Red in 2010.  

Lost a Smartphone? Track It and Erase Data

By Marc Saltzman

These days, a lost smart phone is not just a shame. It’s a potential nightmare for a business. That phone may have confidential data about customers, partners, or your company stored on it in e-mail, text messages, the address book, or the notebook function. Protect your business's data, remotely, with wireless technology.

The unfortunate reality for those who lose a smartphone is the cost to replace the hardware should be the least of your worries. Rather, the data that resides on the smartphone -- including potentially sensitive information about your company's plans, sales, and customers -- isn't something you want falling into the wrong hands.

"Organizations have been hearing a lot about the threat of mobile security breaches. However different from PCs, the threat on mobile isn't the compromise of the device itself to be taken over and used for malicious ends, it's the data that resides on these devices that should be the critical area of focus for organizations," says Chris Silva, executive vice president for research and service delivery at IANS, a Boston Mass.-based IT research company.

"Therefore, the threat of viruses and malware, while still nascent and therefore not an area of intense focus, is not where most organizations should be focused. Rather, their sights should be set on how to protect the data on devices such as customer information, e-mails, contact details, and other sensitive information," adds Silva.

Locking a smartphone with a password isn't enough. Instead, many vendors, and third-party software developers, are offering ways to remotely wipe the data from lost or stolen smartphone.

"The way it's done is a small packet of data is sent down to the device's firmware, remotely, that will start to scrub the device of its information," explains Ken Dulaney, vice president of mobile computing at the Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner research and consulting group. "Most consumers could probably care less about this, but it's incredibly important for businesses to have a remote wipe feature in place for its employee's phones."

Using GPS and/or cellular triangulation, you might also be able to track a missing phone -- say, if you left it at a nearby restaurant after a business lunch -- or if stolen, the information could be given to the authorities to pursue.

Whether you use a BlackBerry, iPhone, or Windows device, here's a look at the offerings (and cost) of what's available today:

iPhone

Apple's MobileMe service ($99/year), which synchronizes all of your information between Apple devices -- such as e-mail, contacts, and calendars -- can also be used to remotely lock, wipe, or locate a lost or stolen iPhone.

When you realize your phone is missing, the first step is to log into your MobileMe account on a computer and remotely set a four-digit passcode lock to prevent anyone from using it.

Then, you can have it ring (in case you left it under a pile of clothes), type a text message that appears on the iPhone's screen (e.g. "Please call me if found") or you might want to locate the phone on a map.

If this, too, proves unsuccessful, you might want to remotely wipe the iPhone's data, which is also an option once logged into your MobileMe account. Or you can do this through a Microsoft Exchange Server wipe command, too.

Windows Phones

Designed for Windows Mobile 6.0 phones (and newer), Microsoft's My Phone (free) offers a number of handy features including automatic back-ups of your phone's info (such as contacts, e-mails, and text messages) and the ability to access it all online.

Once you sign up for the service, you can erase your phone if it is missing by sending a command to restore the device to its original factory settings. My Phone can also find your lost phone by pinpointing the last location it was synchronized.

Many phones -- including the upcoming Windows Phone 7 devices -- will have My Phone already bundled on the phone but it's also available as a free download.

BlackBerry

There are a few free third-party tools available for users of Research in Motion's BlackBerry smartphones.

For one, SmrtGuard lets you remotely track or wipe your phone. A "Pro" version of the software also gives a "data protection package," enabling you to backup and restore your data.

BuddyGuard also lets you remotely access, lock, wipe, or retrieve a missing BlackBerry (via GPS). Similar to MobileMe, you can also have the BlackBerry emit a loud tone -- even if the phone was left in silent mode -- if you suspect the device is somewhere in the home, car, or office.

 

The bad news at Toyota is in overdrive. Since the recall of the Prius for its deadly acceleration problems, the carmaker has been hemorrhaging sales and consumer confidence. Now, even its luxury brand, Lexus, is under investigation for "stability" problems. Ouch!

Megabrands implode all too often. The bigger they get the more fragile they become. It may be as troublesome as unethical labor practices or just too many coffee shops. Most are expert at crisis management and eventually survive. In the best case they fix the problem and a forgiving public embraces them once again. However, there's always a lingering memory of a tarnished image that can compromise a brand whether it is Toyota or Tiger Woods.

As part of the recovery process some brands seize this occasion to refresh their brand identity or logo to signal positive change. This is usually coupled with earnest ad campaigns to help shore up brand loyalty.

At Walmart for example, their logo change was introduced when they started to feel the heat from bad press about questionable environmental and HR policies. The change has lightened their image but it's up to them to mirror it in their behavior.

In a prescient move BP became "Beyond Petroleum" to push the "green button" while looking ahead to our post-petrol world. But if their clean-up of the current spill off the Louisiana coast is not quick and complete, their green image turns to black.

 

Blackwater, embroiled in multiple violations in Iraq, including murder, changed to "Xe" (pronounced "Zee"), the most covert of logos for their continually covert business. However, maybe they're planning to launch a new fragrance line.

Great branding is not the design of the symbol or typeface. It's keeping the promise the brand identity projects. Proof? Even a logo by a legendary designer (Paul Rand) can't protect a toxic brand (Enron).

 

Toyota's problems are clearly beyond logo design. But what should they do with their brand if they weather their current tempest? I'm not certain and they haven't asked. However, having refreshed many brands over the years, I have a few suggestions on what they should avoid.

What do you think Toyota should do?

I was headed to Mammoth Mountain, about five hours north of L.A., for a quick dose of late-season skiing. I'd been up there plenty, but this time I hoped to ditch the après-ski fare for once and try having a civilized dinner somewhere in town. Yelp reviews were scarce, and I couldn't find a decent dining guide to the area online. So I tapped Fancy Hands, a new personal assistant service where subscribers pay $30 a month to email requests (or tasks) to a team of assistants located throughout the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

Within 21 minutes the first of three emails I would receive over the course of the next two days came flying back to my phone. A courteous person named Kristie had selected five potential restaurants for consideration, along with Web sites and contact information. The next morning, before I jumped on the chairlift, I selected the one I liked the best and I emailed Kristie back, asking her to make a reservation for four at 7 p.m. Even though the restaurant didn't open until 5 p.m., at 12:36 p.m., Kristie wrote back to let us know she had secured us a 6:45 reservation. I was on the slopes--and mostly out of cell range--the entire time.

Ted Roden started Fancy Hands thinking that others might be similarly relieved of such burdens, which, according to the Web site, can range from securing a car service with an infant car seat to reviewing fantasy league baseball picks. (Roden does draw the line, though, at a few other requests.) Although Roden is reluctant to give any figures about how many subscribers Fancy Hands has gathered since its launch last month, he has hired over 100 assistants so far and has more who he describes as "ready to work."

When a task comes in via a subscriber (you sign in using your Google account), an algorithm sorts and routes it to the assistant who is available and best suited to handle it. Roden, who recruits assistants with online job postings, pays those assistants according to task complexity--the harder the task, the more they'll get paid. But he says that most of those assistants are still working full-time at other jobs. "When I hired them all I sent them an email saying 'don't quit your day job,'" he says. "However, I absolutely expect some of them to start making a living doing this, sooner rather than later." (Roden, ironically, also has a day job--he works in the research and development group at the New York Times.)

Kyle Castleberry, a 25-year-old based in New York City, was brought on board a week after the launch of the site after seeing an ad online. Due to his love for traveling, Castleberry prides himself on staying marginally employed--selling goods on eBay, being an extra in films, walking dogs--but Fancy Hands, he says, goes along with his lifestyle. "It is my dream job to have the ability to work anytime, anywhere, from a spiffy phone or laptop," he says.

The number of tasks Castleberry completes in a day can range widely, as can the amount of time spent on each task. But he claims he doesn't automatically go clicking over to Google for answers. In some cases he uses the Internet for preliminary research looking up terms or definitions to find out what the client is asking. "Sometimes," he says, "my personal experience yields better information." He also says he has reached out to a personal contact as a "life line" for information if they specialize in an area. Roden says training for the assistants is minimal. "I give them a pretty big test before I hire them which gives me a pretty good idea about how good they'll do," he says, but that's pretty much it.

Right now, subscribers pay $30 a month for up to 15 tasks, a plan that was introduced to lure early adopters. But Roden doesn't think that price point will change too much, even as more people sign up. "I think we've more or less hit scale and can make that work for basic services," he says. "However, we're going to be rolling out higher service levels in the near future. I've been shocked that users are requesting 'more' not 'cheaper.'" For example, Roden is preparing to offer a new feature of "hourly workers," where clients can request X number of people working for Y hours on a task. "It's quite a bit more expensive," he says, "but this has actually been my #1 most requested feature."

Fancy Hands is far more classy than other ad-supported "ask a question" sites like ChaCha or Ardvark, which can receive and send crowdsourced requests via IM. When I tried a similar request for Mammoth restaurants at each of those services, I got zero answers. Fancy Hands' privacy factor also gives the impression that an eager-to-please person who seems to know what they're doing is fully dedicated to your every need. Plus, Kristie's Mammoth restaurant advice to me was right on, according to a local who I asked to review it for me.

It was a simple request, and I've been hard-pressed to come up with other tasks I would entrust to Fancy Hands outside of researching my articles (which they will do, says Roden, but not write them for you). Most of the time, my iPhone or a Google search seem to do the trick. But in my case, a reservation was made without a hitch, and hours before I would have even thought to call. I suppose I could have spent more time researching spots, or even stopped to ask a hotel clerk, then taken some time when I was on the mountain to make the reservation call. That's the equation you have to work out for yourself--what is your time worth?

For Fancy Hands' assistants, it's less of a debate, since completing tasks is almost kinda...fun.

"I usually learn something I didn't know before," says Castleberry. "They get helped and have more time on their hands to do as they wish, and I can get compensated for it." For instance, says Castleberry, before working for Fancy Hands, he did not know what a dropshipper was, or what entertaining nightlife options were to be found in Berlin, or what free online learning resources are available from reputed universities, or that many airlines keep 20% of their seats open on flights. "I could learn all that in a couple hours, while working, and helping others," he says. "The way I see it, everyone wins."

Photo by Justin Ouellette

The Best Collaboration Tools

Five free tools to keep a virtual company humming

By Max Chafkin |  Apr 1, 2010

Dropbox. Think of it as your virtual hard drive. Dropbox gives you 2GB of storage space on its servers, which you can access from any computer. The service also makes it easy to share presentations and spreadsheets.

Basecamp. Beloved by techies and virtual companies, Basecamp is a project management tool that helps users keep track of shared tasks, due dates, and time spent working.

Yammer. This is a dead-simple collaboration tool that many companies use as a virtual water cooler. Yammer resembles Twitter, but it is totally private, so that only your employees can see what coffee shop you are working from or what you thought of the latest episode of Lost.

Gmail and Google Docs. Google's suite of office software is easy to use, can be accessed from any computer, and -- well, you know where this is going -- is totally free.