4 takeaways from a different type of startup competition

Judges for the Lean Startup Machine competition

Between Startup Weekend, AngelHack and StudentRND you could spend every weekend hacking in this town.  And that’s just this month.  So I’ll admit I was curious if not skeptical when Lean Startup Machine entered the scene, and wondered what more this New York-based org could bring to the party. Walking into the Belltown HQ of… Read More…

Social Innovation: Goldilocks and doing well by doing good

Ali Friedman of YearUp Puget Sounds

So a lot of our readers have been kvetching about the tightwads in the Seattle investment scene, but after spending Monday morning surrounded by mentors and judges, reviewing pitches for 16 businesses trying to make this world a better place, I’m glad I live in this corner of the universe. Here are a few of… Read More…

Lovelletters: Startup Chess and the Zen of Ordering

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[Editor's Note: The latest installment of Lovelletters, GeekWire's startup advice column, features an exchange between Rebecca and Jenni Hogan, the KIRO-TV personality behind the website Mission Hot Mama.] Dear Lovelletters, I just launched my website – MissionHotMama– and it’s going better than I could have dreamed. Opportunities are everywhere to grow, build the team, and monetize…. Read More…

Lovelletters: Failed startup shattered my life and all I got was this crappy t-shirt

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Dear Geeks – This week’s top submission was juicy enough that names were changed to protect the not-so-innocent…otherwise, reprinted verbatim here. - Rebecca Dear Rebecca, I have a leather jacket and a hat with the [Startup X] logo, along with thousands of worthless stock options, from the now defunct startup that closed a few years back after burning through… Read More…

Open Letter to Geeks: An introduction to ‘Lovelletters’

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After my last sports injury, my doctor, having grown weary of well over a decade of everything from concussions to sprained ankles, asked: “Have you ever thought of taking up checkers?”  I am not a sit-on-the-sidelines kind of girl, it turns out.  So after five years of encouraging entrepreneurs and supporting startups, I finally joined… Read More…