ManyHats Organization

Tuesday, September 28, 5-7 p.m. – Startup Drinks

Des Moines – Tally's (2712 Beaver Avenue)

What Is Startup Drinks?

A simple concept: Startup culture in cities around the world gathers around a bar to have a pint and discuss what they are working on, what they need help with and what they can do for each other.

Who Should Attend?

Existing or aspiring entrepreneurs of all types and ages.

Learn more at dsmstartupdrinks.com.

Tuesday, September 29, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Technology Association of Iowa presents Pitch & Grow

Des Moines – Des Moines Social Club (1408 Locust Street)

Entrepreneurs present their pitch to a supportive group of peer CEOs, CIOs, business development experts, industry professionals and street smart people. Each session provides a unique opportunity to receive constructive feedback on areas, such as fundraising, value proposition, business plan, management team, sales/marketing/support, and building strategy.

Learn more at technologyiowa.org.

Friday, October 1, 7:30 a.m. – Central Iowa Bloggers, aka #CIB

Des Moines – Panera on University (6740 University Avenue)

Kick off the morning with the Central Iowa Bloggers (#CIB) meetup at Panera on University in West Des Moines. CIB is an informal gathering of people interested in blogging typically held on the first Friday of the month. There is no set agenda for this meetup but bloggers begin to arrive around 7:30 a.m. and many stay through the morning.

§ The essential components of a startup (expostfacto.posterous.com)

§ A Few Thoughts on Investing and the Ego Bubble (davenetics.com)

§ Agile ideology in startups (blog.simeonov.com)

§ The Startup Holy Trinity (blog.simeonov.com)

§ Ron Conway Drops A Nuclear Bomb On The Super Angels [Email] (techcrunch.com)

§ The Right Way to Lay People Off (bhorowitz.com)

§ That Was A Yes Or No Question (feld.com)

§ Where Good Ideas Come From (avc.com)

§ Introducing Do More Faster (feld.com)

§ You can't build a new Silicon Valley just anywhere (foreignpolicy.com)

§ Getting over the fear of MVP (iamwil.posterous.com)

§ Founding a startup with zero revenue is better than working for Goldman Sachs (adgrok.com)

§ 8 People Who Should Never, Ever Start A Business (untemplater.com)

§ Lesser Known Traits of Successful Founders (softwarebyrob.com)

§ How To Beat Luck: A First Time Entrepreneur’s Guide (datainsightsideas.com)

§ What Angel Investors Want (How To Raise Money From Private Investors) (dirtymba.com)

§ How To Go From Idea To Launching With Paying Customers In 8 Steps (jasonlbaptiste.com)

§ My Experience as a Single Founder (news.ycombinator.com)

I thought you would want the latest information on the 2010 Iowa Entrepreneurs Conference and Venture Forum on LinkedIn Events. I thought you might be interested in going! http://events.linkedin.com/2010-Iowa-Entrepreneurs-Conference/pub/415927 2010 Iowa Entrepreneurs Conference and Venture Forum Tue, Oct 05 to Wed, Oct 06 Polk County Convention Center, Des Moines, IA, Keynotes by James Altucher, managing dir. of Formula Capital, asset mgt. firm. Bill Bolster, former Chairman & CEO, CNBC and Joe Crookham, Musco Lighting. Iowa Bus. Plan competition winners announced.

[Thanks to Silicon Prairie News - Des Moines for passing this on…]

TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts reflects on entrepreneurship

Posted: 15 Sep 2010 12:04 AM PDT

Earlier this year, Midlands Venture Forum (MVF), an Omaha-based non-profit dedicated to creating regional support for entrepreneurs, had the pleasure of hosting one of Omaha's most well-known businessmen J. Joe Ricketts, founder of TD Ameritrade. Ricketts directed his talk to entrepreneurs as he explored what constitutes an entrepreneur and how to successfully run a business on your own dollar.

Here's an outline of Ricketts' talk:

§ An entrepreneur takes risks with his or her own money. If you don't have your money on the line, then you're not an entrepreneur.

§ An entrepreneur is going to make different decisions because their money is on the line. You have to make these decisions without perfect knowledge because you will never have enough information to make the very best decision.

§ Above all else, an entrepreneur must work hard and learn to sacrifice.

§ Understand that you're never going to have enough money. An entrepreneur must formulate several financial plans because some of them are not going to work.

§ It's important to make mistakes. The more mistakes you make, the more you will learn and the better businessman you will be. Making mistakes is inevitable, so it's best to plan on making them. 

§ Structure your business so it has a story in the end, not just a purpose.

§ Have control over your business. It's going to take twice as much time, energy and money for it to function.

Thanks to Silicon Prairie News for providing these articles that are especially interesting about startups, entrepreneurship and miscellany. These are some of my favorites:

§ Top Blogs On Startups (topblogs.onstartups.com)

§ Killer articles on startups (blog.asmartbear.com)

§ 10 Mistakes That Start-Up Entrepreneurs Make (wsj.com)

§ The Future of Startup Funding (paulgraham.com)

§ Y Combinator and Their Convertible Note (dshen.com)

§ How I Used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to Validate my Startup Idea (harperlindsey.wordpress.com)

§ Chris Dixon: Things I'd do if I ran a big VC firm (cdixon.posterous.com)

§ Startup CEOs - The Panhandlers Of The Internet (geekypeek.com)

§ Fred Wilson’s 10 Golden Principles of Successful Web Apps (thinkvitamin.com)

§ How To Value Your Startup Using Comparables (blog.nahurst.com)

§ Party Rounds: How To Get a Crazy Valuation For Your Seed Startup (blog.eladgil.com)

§ Lessons Learned about Pitching Investors from a First-Time Entrepreneur (udemy.com)

§ Ultralight startups: little capital, just computer (sfgate.com)

§ Is "Just Get Started" a Flawed Idea? (calnewport.com)

§ WSJ on YC: Incubator Coaxes Start-Ups Out of Their Shells (wsj.com)

§ Entrepreneurs Dislike Signaling; VCs Dislike Free Riders (feld.com)

§ Evidence of the Pivot, by Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures (joelg.info)

§ Staying Healthy and Sane At a Startup (al3x.net)