Fashion Fridays continue – cocktail style

Nicole Glaros6 Comments

#FashionFridays cocktail dress

Today’s #FashionFridays outfit is a cocktail dress. (Like I said, I’m going to wear EVERYTHING in my closet except my wedding dress!). You should have seen me leaving the gym today, people were giving me the funniest looks! “Hey Nicole, why the HELL are you wearing evening attire at 9am?” In Boulder, if you’re a lady in heels, you’re probably a tourist. Me, I just look like a lunatic. Happy to make a fool of myself for your amusement!

Anyway, what do you think? Keep it? Or sell it on ClosetGroupie.com? (feel free to vote on everything, shoes, dress, necklace).

Fashion Fridays begin

Nicole Glaros16 Comments

I’m not a very fashionable girl. Never have been. I’d rather buy the latest gadget, or a new pair of skiis, then purchase an expensive purse or outfit. Unfortunately for me, that means I always usually look like crap because I don’t really care what I wear. And because I’ve basically spent the last 3.5 years of my life either pregnant or recovering from pregnancy, I have a closet full of clothes I don’t wear anymore.

Enter ClosetGroupie. It’s a startup that’s in my program this summer (TechStars! Woo hoo!). Founder Kelly James is a really smart, strong woman who’s convinced that there are hordes of women, like me, out there who don’t wear 80% of the clothes in their closets.

So in an effort to a) improve the way I look, b) support ClosetGroupie and c) get rid of stuff from my closet, I’m introducing “Fashion Fridays”. It’s the one day a week I’ll wear something from my closet that I haven’t worn in forever – the goal being to wear EVERYTHING in my closet (ball gowns included, only exception will be my wedding dress). I’m hoping you’ll help me get rid of stuff by telling me “that looks bad Nicole, get rid of it!”! If the consensus is I should get rid of it, I’ll sell it on ClosetGroupie.

So I’m asking you to join me! First of all, join in the Fashion Fridays fun. Wear something on Fridays that you haven’t worn in a really long time, and ask people if you should keep it or get rid of it. If you get rid of it, sell it on ClosetGroupie (and give Kelly some feedback in the process so she can improve her company). Also – just vote! Tell me if I should keep it or toss it.

Here’s week 1’s outfit! What do you think? Keep or toss? (looking for honesty here!)

Fashion Fridays #1

 

I bet veterans make awesome entrepreneurs.

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In one of my favorite initiatives by TechStars – we’ve announced a Patriot Boot Camp, to help veterans and military service members start technology companies.  They get mentorship and guidance, and will be able to network with other veterans to help find co-founders, and the 3 day program will culminate in a mini demo day, just like we do at TechStars.

I love love love this.  My grandfather was in the military, my father-in-law was in the military, and I just don’t think we do enough as a country to support the people that enable us to sleep peacefully at night.

If you know service members that have an entrepreneurial spirit, hook them up with Patriot Boot Camp, and lets help increase their odds of startup success!

Good at naming stuff? Want to win $500?

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One of the TechStars Boulder 2012 portfolio companies, Palmling, is going through a re-branding exercise, and they need your help!

First off, Palmling is an awesome service that I wish I had years ago.  They provide access to language translators, from any phone, at any time.  Say you’re sick in Thailand and desperately need Immodium (this happened to me!), but how the hell do you say “I’m having major bowel issues and desperately need something to help!” to a pharmacist?  Now, it’s easy.  You whip out your phone, you call a number, you put the call on speakerphone, and you get a live translator that will help you communicate with the pharmacist.  BRILLIANT!  They’re literally breaking down the language barriers in every single corner of the world (that has a phone or cell signal…)

Anyway, we all agree that the Palmling name sucks (sorry Ryan & Kunal, but it does!).  So they need a new name!  Submit your name idea here, and if that name ultimately gets chosen, you’ll win $500.  Sweet!

Go yee and name.

Windows with a new home

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My husband and I have been going through a slow and long process to finish our basement.  Last summer we ripped out our old aluminum windows and replaced them with double-pane energy-efficient ones, and we posted those old windows on CraigsList.  I figured someone would have a use for them.

Turns out, that someone is living an awesome little dream.  Meet Greg, who is converting a beat-up old camper into a little mini-house that they’ll park on the beach somewhere in Mexico.  He bought our old windows for his new house.  This makes me unbelievably happy.  To think that my old windows are retiring on a beach in Mexico just makes me smile.

Anyway, I thought I’d share his website as he recently reached out to me to share their progress.  I love it when people set their minds and build something amazing.  You go Greg.

Read more about his Little Casita Project here.

7 steps to startup success

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Tomorrow is day 1 for TechStars Boulder 2012, and I’m sitting here this evening putting together the orientation presentation.  My final slide is called the TechStars Survival Guide, and it consists of only a few bullet points.  It strikes me as I finished the slide that they’re not just bullet points to survive TechStars, but on how to radically increase your chances in any startup.  So let me share them with you.

1.  Be intellectually honest.  It basically means you have to know yourself, know what you’re good at and what you suck at.  By identifying what you suck at – you can easily surround yourself with those who have strengths in your areas of weakness.  Being intellectually honest means being open to feedback, even when that feedback is negative.  I’m a firm believer that successful entrepreneurs leverage their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses by hiring the right people.

2.  Deep engagement with mentors.  This is true even for startups not associated with an accelerator like TechStars.  Find mentors, experienced entrepreneurs and leaders who have knowledge in what you’re doing.  By engaging with mentors, you can avoid easy-to-make mistakes.  But the key is to engage with mentors deeply.  Empirical observations suggest that founders who are good at this tend to do much better with their companies than founders who don’t.

3.  Find the truth.  Startups are risky business.  But if you want to radically decrease the chances of failure, engage in lean startup methodologies.  It isn’t about your idea anymore, it’s about what customers are willing to pay for.  I don’t care how good your hunch is, get to the truth by getting feedback from customers early and often.

4.  Prototype rapidly (or my favorite – code badass shit).  Don’t spend months and months building.  Know what a minimum viable product is, build it fast, and get it out there to start generating feedback.  This will help you get to the truth more quickly.

5.  Synthesize data & decide quickly. Many TechStars founders get analysis paralysis as they try to synthesize the sheer volume of feedback they get.  Get data, decide, act.  If you’re wrong, fine, just fix it.  If you struggle to decide, you waste valuable time and it becomes harder to fix a wrong decision (notice I didn’t say bad decision).

6.  Develop a rhythm.  Almost everything we do can benefit from a rhythm.  (I’m still learning this trick).  Everything from code releases, to blogging/tweeting, to email updates to mentors, to staff meetings.  Developing a rhythm will keep you in sync and ensure you don’t forget important stuff.

7.  Do the right stuff, fast.  We’ve all heard the analogy of the jar filled with the big rocks.  Is it full?  Of course.  But then you add smaller pebbles.  Now its full?  Not quite, you can still add sand.  Finally, it’s full… until you pour in water.  The key here is to know the difference between busyness and productivity.  Keep your eye on the big rocks – moving those items forward.  Don’t let the minutiae bog you down (I personally struggle with this one).

Feel free to add tips if you think I’m missing something.

GiveForward on Mother’s Day

Nicole Glaros1 Comment

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Mother’s Day is Sunday, and unforuntately I won’t be spending it with my mom.  I never know what to get her either, she’s the hardest person to shop for.  It was fortuitous that in the process of trying to figure out what to get my mom, I read Brad Feld’s blogpost about paying it forward and helping to alleviate the medical bills of someone you’ve never met.

It really struck a chord with me.  We all need help at some point in our lives, and medical bills are one of the scariest of the threats.  It’s not about the medical bills themselves, but if you have a real illness on your hand, it can be lost wages, travel, childcare, medications… all the things that insurance doesn’t cover.  And that’s terrifying.

So this year, in honor of my mom, the most generous person I know, I’m donating money to Justin, a guy from TX who discovered he has testicular cancer. My mom would help him if she could.  I think she’d rather give someone a gift like this than get flowers anyway.

If you aren’t sure what to get your mom this year, try GiveForward.  Find a person to help, and just help.

Thanks Mom for teaching me to be a good person!

 

 

The Thank You Card

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The art of the thank you card has largely gone by the wayside, which is unfortunate because I love them.  We’re all so busy, that just to take the time to hand-write a note, find an envelope (just in case you forgot what one was), and even get a stamp – it speaks volumes and always sticks out in my mind.  Plus 99.99999& of all mail I get are bills, so just getting something truly personal is a breath of fresh air.  I just wanted to give a public shoutout to the teams at Lasso, Doccaster, MyReci, and Insatiable Genius for the fun thank you cards and gifts.  You’re awesome.

Why yesterday was my worst day

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I spent the last 12 weeks reading over 1000 applications for 10 spots to the TechStars program in Boulder.  Of those teams, I probably talked to 500+ companies, either in person or over email.  I got to know them as people, not just as a business name.  My head hurts with all the companies I’ve crammed in there over the last 3 months.

And yesterday, I had to cut 95% of those teams.  It’s gut wrenching and it’s the worst part of my job.  I spent all night and most of today responding to teams – some were disappointed and wanted to know why, some took it as a challenge to kick more ass, and some were just angry and needed to vent.
So to those that were cut – I said this in my email to you and I’ll say it again.  It’s not a vote against your team.  Many times you’re just subject to what’s most interesting to us right now, and that’s a matter of personal opinion.  You could be doing something KILLER and we might  just be interested in something else.  There’s no defense against this, it’s nothing you did wrong and nothing you could improve upon.
My suggestions to you now are to kick some ass and prove me wrong.  TechStars is a path, not the path.  You can make your own TechStars experience by finding some mentors and subscribing to the Lean Startup methodology.  Make sure you’re doing customer development ad nauseum!   Build, get feedback, iterate, build, get feedback, iterate.  If you do that, pretty soon you’ll wake up with some traction under your belt and you can thumb your nose at me. And not making the final cut for TechStars will be the best thing that ever happened to your company.
I truly wish you all the best of luck.  I hope you apply for the Seattle program, and that we’ll run into eachother again.