Check Out Katy, Our Community Manager!

Posted in: Featured, Members, News, Uncategorized by katy on April 12, 2012 | No Comments

Our very own Community Manager, Katy Tackett, is featured in the May issue of Every Day with Rachel Ray magazine. If you didn’t already know, Katy is crazy about pickles and has been writing about her passion for the past 4 years on her blog www.picklefreak.com
You can read the feature article here, follow katy @thepicklefreak on twitter and of course, find her around Launch Pad!

The Pickle Picker

How to be an awesome business co-founder

Posted in: Uncategorized by Chris Schultz on February 22, 2012 | No Comments

A few weeks back, I wrote a post about finding a technical co-founder.  I’ve been having some conversations lately with developers who are looking for a business co-founder.   I like the model of hustler & hacker co-founders. Here are some qualities of a great business co-founder.

An awesome business co-founder is:

• A great producer of work-product – skilled at excel for financial models, powerpoint or keynote for pitch decks, writing for web copy, email updates. By great I don’t mean a resume that says “capable” at those software programs – I mean someone that knows how to create a financial model, builds beautiful decks, and writes really well.  You should be impressed when you see their stuff.
• A hustler – someone who likes talking to people, has done cold calling in sales at some point, has a knack for getting meetings, loves going to networking events.
• A leader - has taken a leadership role in their community, organizes events, has a blog, has an opinion, speaks at conferences and events – someone who puts themselves out there.
• A doer - takes stuff and runs with it.  Sometimes termed a self-starter, I prefer “a doer” because they are going to get it done, whatever it takes. This may mean delegating, outsourcing, or hiring, but it means the job will get done.  You need to be focused on product development, you want a co-founder who makes your life easier by doing stuff, not talking about it.

A bad business co-founder is:

• A fake co-founder - someone not up to the challenge that you are plugging in just to fill the role b/c you think you’re supposed to have a co-founder
• An idea guy or gal - someone who thinks they have brilliant ideas that someone else should implement
• A talker – the opposite of a doer, a talker just talks about stuff that should get done, but never seems to be pulling their own weight
• A big leaguer – someone who has had a successful career as an executive so they think the daily grind of getting stuff done is below them

Of all of those, the one I look for is the producer of work product.  It’s so important to be able to produce high-quality output.  Just like writing code, a business co-founder should be capable of producing business stuff.  What do you look for in a business co-founder?

Getting into an (our) accelerator

Posted in: Uncategorized by Chris Schultz on February 1, 2012 | No Comments

I’m writing this post after the tough process of making decisions for Launch Pad Ignition and communicating the good and bad news to the companies that applied.  It was a very competitive process and we had a lot of great applicants, which made the decisions hard.  This year we added an advisory board to Ignition made up of investors – 2 NOLA, 2 NY, 2 SV.  They provided very valuable guidance and feedback and ultimately we made the decisions.

While its fresh, I want to share some thoughts on why some companies did or didn’t get in, so you can be better prepared to apply next year or to another accelerator.

You need:

• Shovel-ready product development - even if you don’t have product yet, we need to have confidence you’re ready to hit the ground running.  If you’re not building or ready to build, you’re not ready.
• Hustle and drive - the best way to communicate how good you are is to show that you are building this company anyway, with or without Ignition.  We had a founder who went from talking about his idea at our info session in December to having a prototype built before he finished interviewing. It was clear he was building this company with or without us, and this communicated a lot about his drive.

Deal breakers:

• All founders not able to attend the whole program - last year we flexed on this a bit and learned why its so important for all founders to attend the entire program.  If you we’re able to commit to being in New Orleans for the whole program, we didn’t let you in.  The value of an accelerator is in being part of it, and if only one founder attends, it leads to companies not being calibrated.
• Uncommitted founders – founders who still are working full-time or have a second company were a deal-breaker.  You may be able to bootstrap a company or self-fund it this way, but its not an appropriate structure for an accelerator or attractive to investors.  You may see it as a safety net, but we need you all-in.
• Unable to communicate vision – several companies left us scratching our heads as to what they did or wanted to do, even after multiple interviews. You need to be able to communicate your vision succinctly.  Practice this with regular people. If they don’t understand it, simplify and refine.
• Kitchen sink approach – take your core value proposition and then layer on everything else you might possibly build. Not a good approach.  Refine your core value to its core functionality. You can build up later. But you must have something core that makes people want to use your product.

We’re excited to be announcing our class Feb 13.  Hopefully this feedback is helpful to applicants who didn’t get in and to those who will be applying next year.

TribeCon 3 Impact Report

Posted in: Uncategorized by katy on November 14, 2011 | No Comments

Howdy!

Thank you so much for participating in TribeCon 2011. It was a huge success and we were thrilled to have you as a part of it. TribeCon is something that has been very special to me, as you know this year was my last as the producer, and I look forward to seeing things evolve as the community takes things forward.

Katy produced an impact report in your own words… er, tweets… take a look. It’s a great recount of our experience together and the impact of the event:
Impact Report: http://scr.bi/s7XwOB
Pictures from Taylor Davidson: http://on.fb.me/sw245S
Speaker Slides: http://slidesha.re/bKOcdm
If TribeCon is important to you and your community, send me a quick email to share why, so next year’s “Big Chief” can make TribeCon 2012 the best yet. I’ve had a number of people reach out about taking a leadership role in TribeCon next year, if you’re interested in being part of that conversation, please email me.

Thanks so much to our speakers, sponsors, and volunteer team who made TribeCon possible. It’s been an incredible run and now it’s time for this Big Chief to sign off, thank you for making TribeCon such a special experience for all of us.

- Chris Schultz & the Tribe

Launch Pad Featured in Wall Street Journal

Posted in: Blog, News, Press by katy on October 4, 2011 | No Comments

Launch Pad is proud to be featured in an article in The Wall Street Journal about the evolution of work space and the trend towards collaborative shared office space.

View the article online here

Can’t Afford an Office? Rent a Desk for $275

Long Popular With Tech Start-Ups, Shared Workspaces Grow in Popularity as Workers Seek Affordable Facilities

By EMILY GLAZER

Forget privacy. Shared workspaces are the latest trend in office space.

The offices, set up in a variety of ways but emphasizing open space and the ability to rent a single desk, are also known as co-working spaces. Such offices have long been popular with technology start-ups in the San Francisco Bay Area looking for cheap space, but as the latest tech wave rises, shared workspaces are popping up in cities around the country.

Besides the cost advantages, entrepreneurs in technology and other fields say they like co-working spaces because their open floor plans boost collaboration, offer more flexibility on leases and can even help land investors.

“Nowadays with the shared workspaces you don’t need to buy furniture, you don’t need to set up Internet, you don’t need to sign a long-term lease,” said Saeed Amidi, founder and chief executive of Plug and Play Tech Center, a co-working space in Sunnyvale, Calif., with about 1,000 workers. “You can just get started… within two hours of walking in.”

Enlarge Image

Emily Glazer/The Wall Street JournalWorkers share deskspace at General Assembly, a New York co-working space that opened in January.

Plug and Play is exploring expansion to Pittsburgh, Chicago, San Diego, Denver and Vancouver, said Mr. Amidi.

Meanwhile, reserved desks at General Assembly, a new 20,000 square foot co-working space and educational center that opened this past January in New York, are filled, according to the company.

Investors are also showing some interest. General Assembly said last month it raised $4.25 million from Yuri Milner of investment firm DST Global, and venture firms affiliated with Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and Starbucks Corp. founder Howard Schultz.

Loosecubes, a start-up that has created an online marketplace for office sharing, lists more than 2,300 spaces across almost 500 cities and 60 countries, and claims 7,000 registered users. Last year, it raised $1.23 million led by prominent venture capital firms Accel Partners and Battery Ventures.

Office spaces amenable to co-sharing are proving to be more popular and lucrative than traditional Dilbert-like offices both for established companies looking to change their atmospheres and companies hosting the spaces for start-ups. The total vacancy for a “creative” space with open floor plans ideal for co-working was 2.54% in San Francisco in July, and the asking rent ranged from $32 to $53 per square foot per year. Meanwhile, more “historical” spaces with closed-door offices that lack open space had a total vacancy of 10.55%, while the asking rent ranged from $21 to $36 per square foot per year, according to commercial listing broker The CAC Group.

Owners of stodgier office spaces are tearing up their floor plans to chase the market. Earlier this year, a building at 115 Sansome St., in downtown San Francisco, started remodeling for a more flexible layout to appeal to high-tech start-ups.

“We are transforming this project because we think we will achieve greater demand for the space as well as higher rents than could be attained by maintaining the traditional office space,” says John Winther, founder and managing partner of Emeryville, Calif.-based Harvest Properties, which is leasing the building.

Other spaces, like the roughly 12,000 square-foot Launchpad in New Orleans, help entrepreneurs by housing service providers that can help expand their business. Launchpad, which is popular with “techies” and creative types such as filmmakers, has expanded twice since its June 2009 opening.

Common workspaces are spurring innovation and providing start-ups with the collaborative atmosphere one might find in academic settings, but with more opportunity for venture capital. WSJ’s Andy Jordan reports from New York’s “General Assembly”.

Workers pay $650 to $1,600 per month for a closed-door office, $450 per month for a permanent desk, file cabinet and personal landline and $275 per month for any available desk. The space can handle 70 companies and up to 170 people.

“If you need your LLC started, there’s a lawyer upstairs; if you want to get your books down, there’s an accountant right there; if you want a commercial start on the Web, there’s a filmmaker in house,” said Co-founder Barre Tanguis. “We’ve done a lot to nurture that and deliberately curate so we have the right people around and the right dynamic.”

Collaboration is another part of the appeal of sharing space. Software firm Atlassian lets start-up Odiago use its space for free. In return, Odiago engineers offer Atlassian their expertise in open source software. “It’s a full on win-win,” said Jay Simons, Atlassian’s president. “We take our people and basically embed them in [Odiago's] team…. the best way to learn is to sit next to each other.”

The emphasis on learning has been such a draw at some workspaces that they organize workshops or demonstrations of the latest technologies. General Assembly hosts lectures regularly in addition to events such as a recent start-up demo night. Its layout includes a communal area with large, cushioned couches and industrial wooden tables in addition to breakout rooms, small phone booths or even cocoon-type seating for privacy.

Since the action is growing at co-working spaces, investors are also hanging out there more. At Plug and Play, angel investors, including Sand Hill Angels, Band of Angels and The Angels’ Forum, typically visit every Monday afternoon to review the business plans of start-ups. More established venture capitalists including Sequoia, Menlo Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners, typically drop by every other month for deal reviews, Plug And Play’s Mr. Amidi said.

Write to Emily Glazer at emily.glazer@wsj.com

Lunch & Learn September 21st

Posted in: Events, Uncategorized by katy on September 19, 2011 | No Comments

Hi Everyone-
Be sure to RSVP to this month’s Lunch & Learn program presented by Orian Williams of Fleur de Lis Financial. Orian will share with us tips on “Protecting Your Business (That You’ve Worked So Hard to Build)”!

Free pizza from Reginelli’s will be provided by Fleur de Lis Financial.

Click here to RSVP

Lunch & Learn Joins www.skillshare.com!

Posted in: Blog, Events, News by katy on August 22, 2011 | No Comments

Our next Lunch & Learn program is this Wednesday, August 24th at Noon.

Show Me the Money: Getting Approved for Loans

The program will be presented by Lindsey Navarro of Accion LA and will discuss exactly what they are looking for in an ideal candidate for a small business loan. This event is FREE and even includes your lunch! Lindsey is making a homemade dish called Arroz con Pollo that is her native Panama’s version of Louisiana’s beloved jambalaya.

All of our events will now be listed on the Skillshare website so please join and follow Launch Pad and sign up to share your skills with the rest of New Orleans!

Venture for America-StartUp Summit

Posted in: Uncategorized by katy on July 8, 2011 | No Comments

Launch Pad will host a great opportunity from Venture for America on

Tuesday, July 12 at 6:30 PM in the IP Boardroom

Please read the invite below from Andrew Yang of  Venture for America

RSVP to: eileen@ventureforamerica.org

Hello -

With your help, we want to send 10+ of the top college graduates from around the country to New Orleans to work for your companies.

Venture for America (VFA), a new national non-profit, will begin recruiting at top colleges around the country this fall for its inaugural class of 2012 Venture Fellows. VFA (patterned after Teach for America) will be offering a competitive fellowship program for top college graduates to work in select start-ups or early-stage companies for 2 years.  At the same time, the organization aspires to spur enterprise and encourage entrepreneurship in parts of the U.S. that struggle to attract top college graduates.  The goal of Venture for America is to create 100,000 U.S. jobs by 2025 and train hundreds of future founders and CEOs.

You can find out more about the organization at www.ventureforamerica.org.

Our goal is to place at least 10 Fellows at entrepreneurial companies in the New Orleans area starting in the Summer of 2012. To that end we’ll be hosting a Start-up Summit on Tuesday, July 12th at 6:30PM  at Launch Pad in the IP Boardroom. Light fare will be provided by Capdeville Restaurant and everyone is invited next door to Capdeville for drinks after the event.

We are expecting a good turnout and hope you will plan to be part of it!

Please RSVP to Eileen Lee (eileen@ventureforamerica.org), and let us know if we can provide any other information that might be helpful.

Congratulations on the great work that you’re doing – we’re eager to send young people to both support and learn from you.

All of the best, – Andrew

Venture for America

Launch Fest Impact Report

Posted in: Events, Press by katy on June 14, 2011 | No Comments

Friends -

Its hard to believe it just a month ago we gathered for Launch Fest to celebrate the startup spirit in New Orleans. Having Brad Feld and Scott Case in New Orleans was truly a highlight!

It’s been an amazing month since then with the Launch Pad Ignition founders hitting New York for TechCrunch Disrupt last week and headed out to Silicon Valley for meetings next week.

We want to take a moment to reflect on the experience and share the impact of Launch Pad Ignition and Launch Fest on the entrepreneurs who we fund and support.

LAUNCH PAD IGNITION

Please give our 2nd Annual Impact Report a read to see all about what was accomplished through Ignition.

We funded 6 high-growth startups in March. Those startups went through an intensive 7-week program prior to Launch Fest that has continued over the last month. We’re proud of what we’ve built:
Most startups funded in Louisiana in 2011.
First startup conference in Louisiana – completely free and open to the public.
The first Launch Pad Ignition class includes:
Dydra – cloud-based database as a service
Gamebuilder Studio – cross platform game creation tools
Badger – social picture sharing around interests
Rayku – peer-to-peer micro-tutoring network
Kinio – sell films online
Liveset - HD streaming platform for live concerts
MEDIA & LINKS
Tech Cocktail – Launch Pad Ignition Blasts Off First New Orleans Startup Class
Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital – New Orleans Start-Up Accelerator Ignition Launches Six Companies
NOLA.com / NOLAVie – Six local startups pitch their ideas at Launch Fest
TechCrunch – Absolute Must Watch: Office Hours With Paul Graham at TechCrunch Disrupt
TUAW – Companies to Watch at Disrupt
Pictures from Launch Fest
Videos of the presentations
Videos of the Ignition pitches

SUPPORTERS

Thank you to all of the investors, speakers, mentors, attendees and volunteers who came together for the event and supported these founders. A big thank you to all of our sponsors, without whom it would not have been possible.
Microsoft BizSpark, New Orleans Downtown, UEP Kauffman Foundation, Louisiana Entertainment, FBT Investments, BVM Capital, LGDI, Jones Walker and Launch Pad.
NEXT STEPS

Stay tuned for big announcements coming from Launch Pad Ignition companies. Applications for Launch Pad Ignition open December 1st. And you can get a leg up on things by kicking off your entrepreneurial venture now by joining Launch Pad.

Thanks again!

- Chris, Barre, Peter, Will, Katy & the Launch Pad Ignition founders

Everything You Need to Know About Launch Fest

Posted in: Uncategorized by katy on April 29, 2011 | No Comments

Hey folks!

Jazz Fest is here and Launch Fest is right around the corner. We hope you’re as excited as we are. Please save this email, its got everything you need to know!

THE DEETS

When: Wednesday, May 4 & Thursday, May 5 – 2-5pm – Registration opens at 1pm
Where: New Orleans Museum of Art, One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park New Orleans, Louisiana 70124 (Map)

We’ve got a great lineup of speakers.
Brad Feld – Foundry Group
Scott Case – Startup America
Stephen DiMarco – Compete.com
Anne Driscoll – Ning
Bob Dorf – Customer Development
Sean Greene – SBA
Leah Culver – Convore
Brent McCrossen – Audiosocket
Wednesday, May 4 – Entrepreneur Day – Programming targeted towards startups
1pm – 2pm – Conference registration at NOMA
2pm – 5pm – Sessions
7pm – Speaker + Investor + Mentor + Founder dinner (invitation only)
Thursday, May 5 – Investor Day – Demo Day – Ignition company pitches & investor sessions
Noon – 1:30pm – Investor roundtable luncheon in NOMA boardroom (invitation only)
2:00pm – 3:15pm – Startup America panel & Brad Feld
3:30pm – 4:30pm – Ignition demo day pitches – if you can just make one thing, you don’t want to miss this!
4:30pm – 6:30pm – Investor + Founder reception
THE LAGNIAPPE

A few tasty extras to fill ya up on Launch Fest.

Dress is casual
We want you to be comfortable and ready to enjoy all New Orleans has to offer while you’re here

Transportation to NOMA/Launch Fest/Jazz Fest
There is a shuttle bus making continuous trips from the French Quarter/Downtown to the Fairgrounds each day. You can purchase tickets and learn more here.
NOMA is a 15 minute cab from downtown hotels.

Parking Info
Parking is available around NOMA in City Park. On Thursday Jazz Fest will be going on, so plan a few extra minutes to find a parking spot. Parking will be available by the tennis courts.

Admission to Launch Fest May 4-5th
Paying for admission to the New Orleans Museum of Art is NOT required, just mention you are here for Launch Fest. If you have not registered, please do so now, but don’t worry about bringing tickets, we’ll have your name on the list for check in.

Attending Jazz Fest May 4-8th
Purchase your ticket online or at the gate For more information and full line up click here

Attending Barre Fest May 5-6th
If you’ve read this far, we’ve got a treat for you. Our very own Barre Tanguis is hosting his own fest Friday & Saturday alongside the action at Jazz Fest. Stop by Barre Fest before or after your day at Jazz Fest, walk ups welcome and encouraged. We’ll be socializing during the day and partying at night Friday and Saturday. Cold beer, bbq, live music and Barre! What more could you want?
1459 Verna Court (map)

Happy Launch Fest! See you Wednesday.

- Katy, Barre, Peter, Chris, & Will