Startup News:
Funded / Strategy
The Story of Cruise (YC W14): How 4 people built a self driving car in 7 months.
by Paul Hontz
on Jul 8, 2014 • 2 Comments
The Beginning: One is the Loneliest Number Spend any time on HackerNews and you’ll hear one piece of advice repeated ad nauseam : “Find a great co-founder”. For Kyle Vogt, this was a no-brainer. Kyle has had great success following this advice in the past (he’s the former co-founder of Justin.TV and Twitch.tv). There was...
Bootstrapped
I launched HackerBody – A Geek’s Guide to Fitness
by Paul Hontz
on Jun 18, 2014 • 3 Comments
I want to help people become healthy. I built this to help beginners get started with working out. It’s 100% free to use. I launched it yesterday and have over 1,000 users so far. It’s still in the early stages but I’d love to get some feedback from the TSF community. It’s not the end-all...
Bootstrapped / Funded
I Want To Write About Your Startup – Relaunching TSF
by Paul Hontz
on Jan 17, 2014 • 8 Comments
I want to write about your startup. I’ve been putting together new content for the TSF relaunch and I wanted to reach out to longtime readers to see what you’ve been working on as a “thank you” for your support. I’m relaunching TSF within the week with some killer content (Alexis Ohanian – cofounder of...
Strategy
How To Do B2B Email Sales
by Guest Author
on Nov 23, 2011 • 22 Comments
Direct sales via email is a powerful channel to sell your product or service. Before I learned how to sell via email from Noah Kagan I had no idea how powerful the email sales channel was (I know I was a rookie). If you have proven the need and value of your product, direct email...
News
Nasty Bug in iOS 5.0.1 OTA Update screws up Address Book on the iPhone 4S
by Paul Hontz
on Nov 10, 2011 • 81 Comments
I updated my iPhone 4S earlier today (using the OTA method), and I discovered a nasty bug. My iPhone could no longer remember the names of any of my contacts! I opened up the contacts app on my phone and discovered that all of entries were still there but if I got a text or...
Strategy
It’s Easier to Answer to Your Code Than Your Customers
by Paul Hontz
on Oct 28, 2011 • 3 Comments
Over the last few weeks I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in startups that I’ve been covering: menial work. Put another way, procrastination by being focused on things that don’t matter. I’ve identified several ways I’ve seen it manifest in startups. I’ve also discovered why it’s such a common problem for startups. Here are the two...
Strategy
It’s Not About Features
by Guest Author
on Oct 25, 2011 • 13 Comments
Bearer of bad news Recently, I’ve been asked to give a talk to new and/or aspiring entrepreneurs. The truth is, I almost resent talking to them, as I hate being the bearer of bad news. And boy, there are many. I usually start with: “It’s going to be harder than you think, it will take...
News
YC Alum creates TouchBase Calendar and shares App Store Marketing Tips
by Paul Hontz
on Oct 21, 2011 • 3 Comments
TouchBase Calendar launched earlier this week to much fanfare. TouchBase Calendar hit the front page of HackerNews, jumped to the 18th spot in productivity on the App Store, and is receiving great reviews. I had the privilege of catching up with the cofounder of TouchBase, Tony Wright (A YC Alumn) to talk about what he’s...
News
What happens when a whale dies.
by Randall Bennett
on Oct 6, 2011 • 3 Comments
I’ve always found whales to be really endearing. In elementary school, my teacher told me that whales were among our closest animal brethren in the seas. They also live for about 50-75 years, and, according to Wikipedia, can teach, learn, cooperate, scheme, and even grieve. Those majestic creatures swim through the ocean, from place to place....
News
On Steve
by Paul Hontz
on Oct 6, 2011 • 4 Comments
When I heard the news that Steve passed away it felt like unfortunate, expected news. The writing was on the wall when Steve resigned on August 24, 2011. Steve simply would not leave Apple unless he had no other option. Sad, but ultimately expected news. What I wasn’t expecting is how much I’ve been personally...
Strategy
Market Your Problems. Not Just Your Assets. – Detroit Launch City
by Guest Author
on Aug 31, 2011 • 6 Comments
This is a guest post by Jason Lorimer. Jason is an entrepreneur @CulturaHQ, advocating on behalf of those with the ambition to do more than just entertain ideas. It is my first time in Detroit and I am riding shotgun down the main drag that is Woodward Avenue with a long-enough-to-keep-safe lens equipped camera in...
Strategy
7 Tips for Scoring Your First Article
by Guest Author
on Aug 18, 2011 • 8 Comments
My first big shock in my journey into the startup world came after my roommate and I built our first product together. We pasted the link all over Facebook, tweeted it out, and told our friends and family about it. I even spent a week hand-drawing three hundred pictures to make a traditional animation commercial...
Older