10+ Tips to get the most out of an Ad Network or Rep

Some of the most liveliest discussions here in the past have occurred around topics related to advertising networks.  Most of us have been an associated with an ad network at some point in time, some of us still are, while others have moved on to an ad rep or direct sales.  When joining an ad [...]

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Creating a new generation of technology entrepreneurs Part 1: Changing the Value Proposition for Urban Youth

Being a pro athlete or an entertainer is great but the odds are extremely high for people to have careers in those fields. But that is who our youth see. And one of the largest problems is that our youth don’t see people they can identify with in technology entrepreneurial roles so they don’t believe it is in the realm of possibility for them. Yes, they love to use Facebook but they never think that they can create the next Facebook. So I ask the question what can we do to change their value proposition. Let’s talk about any ideas people have and start working to making this become reality for our youth.

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Black Media, Instead of Mimicking Blogs Why not just Acquire?

As of late we’ve seen so many traditional Black/Urban Media companies either redesign as blogs, create blog properties as part of their holdings, or transform their content channels into blogs.  In nearly every case that I’ve seen this happen not one company has been able to knock it out of the park.  In many cases [...]

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Wetoku Lets You Interview Anyone from Anywhere

Wetoku is a video service which makes it dead simple to interview someone and share that video interview. They call this bringing the “talking heads” experience to your viewers. Once the recording is complete, you can copy the embed code and paste it into your blog or website. You can also get a link directly [...]

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Visiting Y Combinator’s Startup School with Ev, Zuckerberg, and Hsieh

I decided to make the trek out to Berkeley to check out this year’s Startup School (and to let it serve as a serious peptalk–it’s working).  Startup School has been held since 2006 by the folks behind Y Combinator, a venture capital firm that specializes in funding early stage startups.  Teams can raise up to [...]

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Entrepreneurs in Cedar Rapids IA Create Internet Radio Startup for Black Community

Karl Cassell and Gregory Jackson, principals of Our Community, LLC decided to fill a void in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with the creation of an Internet radio station KOLC.com. The startup borrows its name from a now defunct broadcast entity that went out of business in the 1990s. The first station was a community station run by a local non-profit, Oakhill-Jackson Community. Cassell and Jackson's venture is for profit.

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Dame Dash Gets Magnetic With New Business Venture

Once upon a time, Damon Dash was one of the biggest names in Hip-Hop. Co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records and clothing line Rocawear, and owner or PRO-KEDS, Dash was definitely a mover and shaker. According to NYMag.com, at one time he had a "$400,000 car, a cook, a butler, and 1,300 pairs of sneakers." But nothing lasts forever and the man who used to "donate his once-worn Socks to charity," has hit hard times with the New York Daily News reporting on his financial and personal woes including his recent split with wife Rachel Roy.

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Ashton and Ryan Clark: The Real Dynamic Duo

When most of us were 12, we were playing video games, developing our first crushes, and getting ready for junior high. Twin brothers Ashton and Ryan Clark, were starting the first in a long line of online businesses. Circuitbreakers.com, an online consumer electronics hub, provided the seed money for a host of business and beginning of a bright business future for the enterprising young boys.

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How to Raise Angel Capital via Ron Conway

If you are looking for capital and are an early stage company (which I know many of you are) it doesn’t get much better than Ron Conway.  Conway was an early stage investor in companies like Google, Ask Jeeves, and Paypal and is known for the number of investments he has made in start-ups.  He [...]

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Freemium Your Content with Social Cord (audio)

When I first heard about Social Cord (via @waynesutton) the service which had been explained as being similar to “Cable for Social Networks” was immediately intriguing.  I visited the site and even read up on some articles via Venture Beat and Mashable, both of which didn’t do the service any justice (not so much Venture [...]

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