The Founders’ Promise: Put your money where your angst is

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“There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia.” – Kurt Vonnegut. Depending on who you ask, the Seattle startup ecosystem is weak and/or… Read More…

These 16 student-led upstarts are trying to transform mobile payments, farming and more

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Entrepreneurial students from colleges and universities throughout the region competed Wednesday in the annual University of Washington Business Plan Competition Investment Round. More than 200 judges — many from leading companies and venture capital firms — whittled down the field from 36 to 16. We always get a kick out of seeing what types of companies… Read More…

The Startup File: OneOcean, Wonder Forge, Intersect, GoGoDeo, others raising cash

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Welcome back to The Startup File. For those who missed the first installment, let me explain the framework of this new column. Every day, GeekWire combs the SEC filings to find out what’s new in Seattle’s burgeoning startup scene. Oftentimes, these filings, form Ds as they’re known, lead to compelling stories that we cover frequently… Read More…

The best and worst tax systems in the U.S. for entrepreneurs

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Washington state has one of the best tax systems in the country when it comes to supporting entrepreneurship and small business, according to a report out this week from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. Washington state, which has no income tax system, ranked fifth behind South Dakota, Texas, Nevada, and Wyoming. The bottom states included California,… Read More…

Enrique Godreau lands at GSharp: A new VC firm that looks to go ‘retro’ in its approach

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At the GeekWire Meetup earlier this week, I bumped into Seattle venture capitalist Enrique Godreau. I didn’t get a chance to ask in any great detail what he’s been up to following his departure from Voyager Capital, the Seattle venture firm that he co-founded 15 years ago. But perhaps I should have asked more direct… Read More…

Redfin’s Glenn Kelman on why it’s OK for startup CEOs to be a little bit crazy

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Are entrepreneurs better off being a little crazy — guided by their emotions? Or should they stick to good-old fashioned number-crunching, letting rationality rule the roost? That’s the topic that Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman raises today in a fascinating blog post titled “Never tell me the odds.” The entire post is worth reading for any… Read More…

Kickstarter kids: Watch these Seattle teens pitch their new camera dolly business idea

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Kickstarter is radically changing the way entrepreneurs think about raising money for their ideas. And in recent days we’ve seen some veterans of the Seattle gaming community take advantage of the crowdfunding sensation to great success. But Kickstarter is not just about grizzled startup vets pitching for cash. Meet Tyler Simpson and Brandon Keller. Simpson,… Read More…

The winner of the one-sentence startup pitch session is…

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Can you summarize your startup company in one simple sentence? It may seem easy, but it’s hard to craft something punchy and memorable in a few words. As Mark Twain once famously quipped: “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” With that in mind, GeekWire and the Founder Institute asked entrepreneurs this… Read More…

Book excerpt: Making the Jump into Small Business Ownership

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Editor’s note: Seattle area entrepreneurs David Nilssen and Jeff Levy provide practical advice and tips for those considering starting a new business in their book  “Making the Jump into Small Business Ownership.” “We are trying to educate and inspire individuals to be self-reliant,” says Levy, a founder of Windswept Capital and former executive at Flow International who is… Read More…

Watch this 20-year-old entrepreneur rip these business plans apart

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Call it the entrepreneurial school of hard knocks. More than a half dozen entrepreneurs were given the opportunity today to pitch their ideas on stage in less than three minutes at The Startup Conference in downtown Seattle. Sounds easy, huh? Well, you’ve probably never seen Brian Wong in action. The fast-talking, know-it-all 20-year-old founder of mobile startup… Read More…