Here’s why your next meeting should be spent walking, not sitting

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(Thanks to Twitter user @TroyJMorris for the Aaron Sorkin “Walk and Talk” tip — hence the video above) For those working every day, and especially in the startup world, it’s not easy to fit exercise into hectic schedules. So here’s something to try next time you set up a one-on-one meeting: ditch the chairs and… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Greg Gottesman, Matt McIlwain lead the charge at Madrona

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At a time when many are proclaiming the death of the traditional venture capital firm, Madrona Venture Group seems to be hitting its stride. The Seattle firm, originally founded 17 years ago as a loose network of prominent angel investors, raised a $300 million fund in June. That marked the largest in Madrona’s history, and… Read More…

Someone Like You: An ode to my BlackBerry

Adele. Photo via Wikipedia

Never mind, I’ll find someone like you. I wish nothing but the best for you too. Don’t forget me, I beg, I remember, you said, “Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead. Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead.” —Adele, “Someone Like You” I broke it off with the… Read More…

Newly-formed W Fund to pump $20M into university spinouts

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Washington’s startup community is getting yet another shot in the arm, thanks to the efforts of a newly-formed venture capital firm whose goal is to mine universities and research institutions for the state’s very best business ideas. The University of Washington’s W Fund is launching today with about $20 million from private industry, leading venture… Read More…

Online dog fight: Rover.com rival DogVacay launches Airbnb for pets

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This could be one very interesting dog fight. A new startup company out of Los Angeles by the name of DogVacay is getting some attention today after it launched an online marketplace for pet owners to find nearby lodging for their dogs.  Basically, it’s an Airbnb for pet care. Sound familiar? It should since Madrona Venture Group’s Greg… Read More…

Gottesman does it again, wins Startup Weekend with home security product Iron Blanket

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Seattle venture capitalist Greg Gottesman better watch out, or he might just turn himself into a full-fledged entrepreneur. For the second time in seven months, the managing director at Madrona Venture Group has led a team to victory at Startup Weekend. Back in June, you may recall, Gottesman led the team behind the online pet… Read More…

Rover.com devours cash to play doggie day care matchmaker

Greg Gottesman

Rover.com, the Seattle upstart that matches those seeking doggie care with nearby pet sitters, has raised $1.8 million, according to a SEC filing. The site, which launched last month, has an unusual history. It was started by venture capitalist Greg Gottesman who pitched the idea at a Startup Weekend event in Seattle last year. Gottesman… Read More…

Newly-formed W Fund includes heavy hitters from Seattle venture capital

Madrona's Tom Alberg is a member of the investment committee at the W Fund

University of Washington vice provost of commercialization Linden Rhoads wants the state’s largest research institutions to spin-out more innovative technologies, creating new startups that fuel the economy and create jobs. And now she’s getting much closer to that goal with the creation of the W Fund, which we wrote about yesterday after the state’s Department… Read More…

Madrona throws Rover.com a bone, puts ex-Microsoft GM Easterly on leash as CEO

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Aaron Easterly loves dogs, and a four-pound Pomeranian by the name of Caramel controls a good chunk of his life. But the former general manager of advertising strategy and monetization at Microsoft also loves big business opportunities. The two passions are coming together at Rover.com, a new online site that’s launching today in Seattle that… Read More…

Greg Gottesman, Brad Feld and others join board of Startup Weekend

Greg Gottesman at Startup Weekend

Startup Weekend, the Seattle-based non profit which coordinates 54-hour startup marathons at locations across the globe, has formed a new board with leading venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and execs from the Kauffman Foundation. New members include Carl Schramm, CEO of The Kauffman Foundation;  Steve Blank, an entrepreneur and professor at Stanford and Berkeley;  Greg Gottesman, managing director… Read More…

Like Turntable.fm for video, FlickMob gathers friends to watch YouTube clips

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At a Startup Weekend event in Seattle four months ago, a group of geeks built a service called Shubz.tv that allowed groups of friends to watch video clips together. The idea — inspired by the son of venture capitalist Greg Gottesman — never firmly took root after the weekend-long event. Now, Seattle’s Giant Thinkwell is… Read More…

IPOs roared to life in first half of 2011, but worries arise that the good times may be gone

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IPO windows tend to come and go. For the past eight months, that window has been wide open, allowing companies such as LinkedIn, Pandora and Zillow to start trading in the public markets. A whopping $26 billion flowed into IPOs during the first half of 2011, nearly triple the totals for the same period last… Read More…

Does working at Microsoft really turn your brain numb?

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Call it the Silicon Valley invasion. Facebook, Google, HP, Zynga and Salesforce.com — driven by an insatiable need for talented software engineers — have all established fast-growing engineering centers in the Seattle area in recent years to mine the riches of the Northwest tech community. But what’s the real reason they are all coming here?… Read More…

IPOs, startups and market volatility: How do you make sense of what’s going on?

Could Silicon Valley use some Pepto?

The wild ups and downs of the stock market this week would be enough to send most sane investors to the medicine cabinet for a strong dose of Pepto-Bismol. But, as the gyrations shake confidence in the markets, I can’t help but think of Impinj. After all, how would you like to be a company… Read More…

Why startups fail: Lack of focus

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At the Lean Startup Seattle meetup last week, Madrona Venture Group’s Greg Gottesman explained the importance of entrepreneurial focus. After all, at least as the Seattle venture capitalist sees it, the best startup ideas are those “where you figure out what you can be the the best in the world at.” That’s a tall order… Read More…

Portland Seed Fund tests public-private VC model: Could a similar idea take root in Seattle?

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On the GeekWire podcast last week, we chatted with Rick Turoczy of Portland’s Silicon Florist blog about the differences between the Seattle and Portland startup communities. One of the big ones, which we didn’t get a chance to discuss, is the Portland Seed Fund. A unique public-private partnership, the fund is designed to funnel seed-stage… Read More…

An Airbnb for your pet? A Place for Rover wins best in show at Startup Weekend

The team behind A Place for Rover at Startup Weekend

Airbnb is transforming how travelers find places to stay. Now, Seattle venture capitalist Greg Gottesman wants to bring that same concept to pet care with A Place for Rover. Gottesman and his team of nine developers and designers took home the top prize at Seattle Startup Weekend, the 54-hour coding marathon in which teams compete… Read More…

Five Things I Learned at Startup Weekend: #3 Learn to Code

Greg Gottesman at Startup Weekend

Guest Commentary: Startup Weekend was the most exhilarating and exhausting 54 hours since the birth of my (and my wife’s) last child.  You can think of it kind of like catnip for people who love the intensity and energy of startups at the earliest possible stage. Some fun statistics from the coding marathon last weekend:… Read More…