Ventureweek

Belly is a hot new shopping rewards startup that is making waves and has secured some strong Venture Capital support. Belly works by providing businesses with everything they need to provide their customers with a digital rewards system, including cards for shoppers iPads, software and promotional materials, and marketing information on the backend, including analytics related to customer shopping patterns.Once consumers sign up for Belly, they can also use the app or website to find other merchants that accept Belly.

This is a business friendly service works on a subscription basis, through a variety of tiered offerings that start at around $50 per month and range upward depending on how many tools and how much support a business is looking for. The company announced a $10 million investment  from Andreessen Horowitz, which the company intends to use to help fuel its growth and kick its U.S. expansion into high gear.

Niche social networking sites are starting to grow  such as JockTalk co-launched by  retired and former Major League Baseball Player Shawn Green. The new site combines profile pages, back-and-forth conversations, and original sports content. JockTalk is debuting with 60 athletes on board, including representatives from the NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB and the Olympics, to name a few. The network isn’t just targeting players and fans, however; the team thinks it also has the right mix to appeal to sports publishers, marketers and leagues and teams, too. It includes monetization options that intend to take advantage of those possible connections, too, including an e-commerce platform for selling tickets and merchandise. Revenue will also be derived from advertising and content syndication. With lots of sports sites online, can JockTalk succeed? Remains to be seen.

Written By: Marty Zwilling

From:Startup Proffessional Musings

Every dark cloud has a silver lining. Driven by the recent recession, smart entrepreneurs of all ages are jumping into the fray with new ideas, new recovery strategies, and discarding outmoded business models. I see it most in the newest generation of entrepreneurs (Gen-Y), who were shocked out of entitlement into action by the recession.

Donna Fenn, in her book from a while back, “Upstarts! How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking the World of Business,” seems certain that Gen-Y will lead the charge, bounce back from the recession, and be big winners. She describes a new generation of entrepreneurs that is highly collaborative, quick and alert when it comes to new technologies, and hell-bent on changing the world in general.

Upstarts! examines and analyses this entrepreneurial revolution to reveal critical lessons every Gen-Y entrepreneur and marketer must learn. But the insights I see from her book and elsewhere are equally applicable to startup founders of all ages, and businesses of all ages. Here are five key recession recovery strategies that both of us recommend to all of you:

1. Pursue repeat business. It’s far less expensive to nail down repeat business from your existing customers than it is to land new ones. Now is the time to reap the benefits of those good customer relationships that you’ve been cultivating. Viral marketing campaigns to lure new customers will cost you big money.
2. Focus on your core competency. Examine every cost center in your business. Maybe it’s time to outsource that call center operation, or complex manufacturing setup. Look for operations that are hogging resources without generating significant revenue. With a concentrated point of focus, your company might be well positioned for growth this year.
3. Snap up top talent. Past layoffs at big companies mean that there’s a surplus of great employees on the market now. Examine your pool of higher-paid contractors and freelancers. Now is the time to bring on board those people who would have been inaccessible in a better economy.
4. Respond rapidly to market shifts. The economy is almost certainly having a profound impact on your customers: they may have altered their purchasing habits, or found themselves with entirely different needs. It’s your opportunity to respond to those shifts. These are chances to broaden your product line, change distribution, offer new services.
5. Look for hidden sources of revenue. Sometimes your best source of new revenue is right under your nose, like services revenue in support of your products. One entrepreneur in Fenn’s book had a proprietary technology to efficiently manage vendors which works so well that she is now marketing it to other companies for a transaction fee.

Most companies I know agree that the recession has taught them the art of laser-like focus, and compelled them to make better decisions, to become more frugal, and to initiate systems and procedures that will help position them in the economic recovery. Simply deciding to lay low and “tough it out” was never a winning strategy.

I agree with Donna that this recession has actually been a good “wake-up call” for many in the new generation – it has forced them to face the reality of hard knocks. Similarly, it should be a wake-up call for the rest of us, or we will be overrun by young entrepreneurs with their burning desire to control their own destinies.

But I’m convinced that you don’t need to be an “Upstart!” to capitalize on the recession. Use your experience and your expertise to lead the way, or you will be left in the dust. The first step is to execute your own recession recovery strategy. Or don’t you even have one?

Rover.com, an online marketplace connecting dog owners with local dog sitters, announced a $3.4 million Series A financing.The company enables dog owners to leave their pets in a home environment with other dog lovers, including fellow owners, neighbors and professionals. Rover.com provides dog lovers with a community of like-minded people who love to take care of dogs and more often than not are willing to do it for less money than a traditional kennel charges. The company takes a percentage of each transaction. Moreover, Rover has launched “Barkline’, a 24-hour customer service and an absolute satisfaction guarantee that covers the dog, the owner and the host. On Rover, people can review homeowners’ profiles, so they can get a sense of how the owners would treat their dogs. This is a growing space that has some strong revenue potential.

Adzuna Cars Search, is a new search engine that brings together over 300,000 used car ads from a bunch of different portals and niche cars sites across Britain.

The company plans to  personalise the classifieds search experienc,e while making the results more relevant. Adzuna has Car Personality Quiz to for their service. They say that this tool will match users with the perfect car just by answering a series of fun questions about themselves and connecting to the site via Facebook. Adzuna has already generated £800,000 pounds in investment.

Hailo, is a UK  mobile network that matches passengers and licensed taxi drivers to help keep them busy. It is similar to popular mobile service Uber but Hailo focuses on taxi cabs.

The Hailo Driver Network can be accessed via iPhone or Android apps and allow drivers to accept credit cards and factor in tipping options.

Launched five months ago, the service has acquired 3200 drivers and 200,000 passengers in London, The app makes money by taking a small cut of a Hailo-enabled cab ride. . Hailo just received a $17 million round of Series A financing. The company is quickly going to  expand into the States, starting with New York, then Chicago, Boston, Washington, DC., and Toronto and Montreal in Canada.

From Mashable.com

By: Rusel DeMaria  who is the author of more than 60 books, and currently runs the High Score 3 Kickstarter project. Follow him on Twitter @DeMaria.

Double Fine, the game developer, raised $3.3 million for its adventure game, Double Fine Adventures. InXile, a game development company, made $500,000 in 17 hours for its role-playing game, Wasteland 2. Both did it on Kickstarter, the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects. Naturally, it would be easy to think of Kickstarter as a virtual Gold Rush. That would be a mistake.

1. Do Your Research

Not every project will work on Kickstarter, and even fewer will create a feeding frenzy. So do your research. Observe, for example, what has worked and what hasn’t for other project creators. To find successful examples, look at sections of the site such as “Staff Picks” or “Popular.” To find projects that have not hit their goals, look at some of those under “Ending Soon.” Obviously, projects succeed and fail for different reasons, but researching examples of each will help you get a feel for what to do and what to avoid.

2. Define Your Goal

Decide exactly what you want to accomplish and how much money you need to do that. Remember, if you don’t meet your goal, you get nothing. Better to ask a reasonable amount and then work hard to exceed that goal. Double Fine initially asked for $400,000, but blew that out of the water. If possible, have at least a group of friends who will support you with pledges from the get-go. That will help you build momentum. And remember, you cannot change the amount after you launch.

Also, think about how long your project should run. Kickstarter recommends a maximum of 30 days, but some people have succeeded with longer cycles. Consider your audience and how long it will take to get the word out when making this decision. As with the funding amount, you can’t change your project length once it’s set.

3. Consider Your Rewards and Costs

You’ll quickly learn that people want something in exchange for their pledges. Create rewards, gifts to backers based on the amount they pledge, starting at low values, like $5. That way you can reward even small-time backers. Double Fine is a good example of a project that created great rewards tailored to their audience. Their lowest reward was a digital copy of the game for $15. The highest was a private party with the developers for $10,000.

Another critical factor to consider when creating rewards are related costs. For example, if you’re going to send your backers something by mail, calculate the postage and packaging you’ll need. Don’t get blindsided and discover that your costs will cancel out a part of your funding.

4. Prepare Your Pitch

How you introduce your project can make a huge difference. On your project page you’ll describe your project, goals, and rewards. Be specific and include engaging images of your work. Kickstarter recommends that you also create a video. Make it fun, natural, and compelling by including key elements like people talking about how great or important the project is. Remember, your pitch should pump people up about your project and show both your enthusiasm and your ability to follow through.

5. Market the Hell Out of It

Once you’ve pulled the trigger and published your project, it’s time to promote via social media,friends, family, even strangers. Any updates you post will automatically be sent to your current backers, but urge them to re-post and re-tweet. If you can find a way to make your work newsworthy, pitch popular websites and newspapers.

6. Keep It Alive

Your initial marketing may bring you some early success, but you need to keep feeding the fire. Find ways to update the project. Add new and fun rewards as you go. Keep people informed about your progress, and definitely share any good news or milestones like “We’re halfway there!”

7. Listen to Your Backers

Many of your backers will offer advice. Listen. Some of them have backed many projects and know what works. Others just have an opinion, and even if you don’t agree, consider how many other people — potential investors — may think the same way.

8. Be Patient

There will be times when pledges seem to flow in steadily, and times when it seems that nobody cares. When this happens, you’ll need to stay positive and re-engage those who got you this far. Start by letting your biggest supporters know it’s time to step up and spread the word. If they’ve backed the project, then they also want it to succeed.

9. Be Flexible and Creative

Be prepared to do things you never anticipated doing. You hadn’t considered a special T-shirt as a reward? Maybe you should. A supporter offers to create limited-edition rewards to help your project? Why not? Bottom line: Be open and flexible.

10. Have Fun

This is going to be a crazy ride so enjoy it. And remember, if at first you don’t succeed

YO!Sushi is a fast, casual concept that serves Japanese-inspired dishes, including sushi, sashimi, maki and nigiri, using both the conventional sit-down-and-order model and a moving conveyor belt that gives the option of self-service to customers in a hurry. Yo!Sushi is the market leader in the UK and is launching a full assault on the North American market, beggining with the United States.

So far, the chain has closed its first agreement with a Washington, D.C.-based franchisee for 10 restaurants located throughout Washington and Philadelphia, the first of which are scheduled to open this summer.The company plans to sign two more 10-site franchise deals over the next 18 months. Ultimately, there might be an opportunity to open up to 400 YO!Sushi locations in the U.S.  Canada won’t be far behind in expansion as well.

From thedaily,use.com

by Lindsey Green

You’re thinking about bringing a PR firm in to help your new start-up—but you’re wondering just what goes into the secret inner workings of public relations. What, exactly, is that PR firm going to be doing for you, anyway?

PR is nothing like the dark, scary world that people make it out to be—but it is a new one for most. And knowing the ropes ahead of time can save you from setting impossibly high expectations or getting overpromised and oversold by the firm you hire. I’ve seen more than my fair share of clients bringing in a PR firm with the hopes that it’ll save their company or propel a small, just-launched start-up into an insta-Facebook. And unfortunately, I’ve also seen PR firms make these types of promises. Guess what? They’re never kept.

So I’m here to give you the facts. Let me explain how PR really happens, and how you can make the most of it for your company.

1. Good PR Does Not Substitute for a Good Product

PR will not make or break your company, nor is it going to save your company if you’re floundering. In fact, there’s only one thing that will have any of those effects: your product.

What, then, does PR do? PR exists to build momentum. PR gets your name out there, letting you showcase what you’re doing well and driving awareness of your offering. Because let’s face it, when you’re a brand new start-up, no matter how amazing your product, it’s going to be painfully slow growth if you have to wait for your 15 initial users to tell their friends’ friends how great you are.

But PR is no substitute for having a great product. Nor is it a guarantee of sales, sign-ups, or funding—if anyone promises you otherwise, be wary!

2. You Want the Press That’s Right for You

Non-shocker alert: What does every PR client want? A New York Times piece, in print, right away. But while there are some clients that this is the right kind of press for, it’s actually not ideal for everyone—particularly if you’re a digital brand.

If you’re a new company trying to get users to sign-up for your services or download your app, the best press you can get is digital press. Think about it: It’s rare that someone is going to read the morning paper, see the name of your company, run to the computer, double-check the story to get the URL right, and go to your site. But if you’re featured in an online tech publication, readers will be able to click straight to your product home page—and that’s much more likely to translate to exactly the type of exposure you want. And then, eventually maybe even that New York Times print piece.

3. It’s Better To Be Successful Than Sexy

I know, we all want to be the coolest kids on the block. But here’s my advice: Don’t try to be cool, try to be successful. If you built a tool that you thought was going to be the great new thing used by every social media enthusiast, but it turns out it’s actually better suited to be a super-functional internal tool for large companies? Awesome. Ditch the “we’re the next Facebook” angle, and shift your focus to getting your name in front of large, corporate audiences.

More importantly, don’t use PR to try and be something you’re not. Spend your time and energy getting to know your audience, and be honest about who that audience really is. The more honestly you can share this information with your publicist, the better they’ll be able to get you placement in the right publications that will actually help you build on your early success. Don’t worry, you’ll be ultra cool when you sell your company for lots of money. Invite me to the party.

4. Launch is a Crapshoot

Who likes Vegas? I do! Who likes gambling? I do! Who likes that, no matter what, it’s impossible to guess how many people will actually read about your product on launch day? Nobody. But that’s the way it is.

I love that I get to work with very early-stage start-ups, most of which haven’t launched yet. I get to guide them through the launch process and find the right media outlets for them to make their big announcement. But with so many new companies, and only so many spots to get media coverage, it’s tough out there. A good PR rep should be able to tell you early on how the press is responding to outreach before launch. If interest is slow, use the opportunity to tweak your strategy—but don’t wait too long.

Because really, it is a crapshoot. I’ve seen unexpected clients have smash launches, and I’ve seen star clients be met with little interest. It’s important to be prepared for either outcome—and to not get too excited (or too discouraged) by your first press. After all, launch day is just one day in the life of your company

FITiST is an exciting online fitness property for fitness buffs,  who are interested in creating plans and scheduling classes across various fitness studios. FITist has already launched in New York City and Los Angeles. Health related apps and web sites have exploded in populairity recently.

FITiST, offers members a number of options . Participants can choose from a number of plans, and  class packages targeted to help accomplish different fitness goals.  The company has created an editorial board of experts in personal training and nutrition.  Some of their popular packages include “Bride” (get in shape for your wedding), as well as a, “New Mom” package . You can also sign-up for an all-access pass of unlimited classes, or create a completely customized program with FITiST’s help.