Posts tagged Boulder Startup Week
Fabien Dodard and Sara Smith from Victor & Spoils: Boulder Startup Week 2015
May 13th
by George Edward Hardwick BC1 STARTUP HOME
Wednesday May 13, 1015 This afternoon I went up to Spark “a Boulder co-working space designed to connect students to the
startup community.“ At 1:00 p.m Fabien Dodard and Sara Smith from Victor & Spoils were next on deck. Victor Spoils is another ad agency off shoot of Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. Yesterday I wrote about Made. Smith and Doddard gave a talk titled, Content Marketing and What it Can Do for You.
Wednesday May 13, 1015 This afternoon I went up to Spark “a Boulder co-working space designed to connect students to the
startup community.“ At 1:00 p.m Fabien Dodard and Sara Smith from Victor & Spoils were next on deck. Victor Spoils is another ad agency off shoot of Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. Yesterday I wrote about Made. Smith and Doddard gave a talk titled, Content Marketing and What it Can Do for You.
In a world where everybody and their mother has a blog website, facebook page, and twitter account, standing out with a creative, provocative story is difficult. While the idea of going viral might seem impossible to the up and coming blogger, Fabieng Dodard and Sara Smith brought the concept back to its basics. This talk was based around the idea of creative marketing, and how the best way to stand out in the incredibly competitive world of creative story telling in the chaotic internet, is by sticking to the basics.
The talk was centralized around 5 main characteristics of how to tell a great story: Theme…Plot…Characters…Details…Tone.
Using the example of the viral story, “Why I Gave Up a $95,000 Job to Move to an Island and Scoop Ice Cream”, Dodard and Smith gave us the breakdown.
Theme “If you are constantly thinking you need a vacation, maybe you need a new life?”
Plot: Leaving a successful job to work as an ice cream scooper.
Characters: Islanders, Parents, Herself, and a Chicken.
Details: Chicken casually in her bathroom during a morning pee, the view, the beach, the lifestyle.
Tone: Humoristic and Genuine.
Sure, the concept is very basic. Anyone who has been through a middle school English class could roll their eyes and sarcastically repeat this outline. But Dodard and Smith’s point lifted the veil on the confounded chaos of the media. Though going viral may seem like magic, it is based around the same key characteristics that we have always been taught. In some ways, it is better not to try and re-invent the wheel. Smith and Dodard haven’t.
George Hardwick is blogging for Boulder Channel 1 from Boulder Startup Week invite him to parties
To be a part of Boulder Channel 1s Start-Up TV Special you can find our more by Downloading or PDF Here or Call us at 303-447-8531
Pro Mountain Biker Sonya Looney Boulder Startup Week
May 12th
by George Edward Hardwick
#BSW15 Sonya Looney (pro mountain biking racer) spoke at 2:00 today at Boulder startup Week at the E-town diggs; about pushing the comfort zone, and stepping into the growth zone. In taking bike races that scared her, that a woman may have never done before, and in parts of the world only accessible by bike an yak, she has grown into the young entrepreneur she is today. 
With a masters degree in engineering, the path of pro mountain biking market guru is a little bit of an unexpected path. Realizing that engineering wasn’t what made her happy, she said, “I wanted to see the world from my bike.” Hundreds of races later, she has been around the world, and found a path much different from her degree.
When asked how she was able to pay for everything, financially, she responded with marketing. Though it was scary, Looney stepped out of her comfort zones by approaching magazines for money to run a story, and the race starters to cover her travel because she was publicizing them in a magazine. Stepping out into a stressful situation, Looney was able to get what she needed by growing into new situations, rather than stepping back into the comfort of what she already knew.
George Hardwick is blogging for Boulder Channel 1 from Boulder Startup Week invite him to parties
To be a part of Boulder Channel 1s Start-Up TV Special you can find our more by Downloading or PDF Here or Call us at 303-447-8531
Survey Gizmo at Boulder Startup week
May 11th
by George Edward Hardwick BC1 STARTUP HOME
At 3:30 pm in Boulder Colorado, Survey Gizmo founders, Bill Flagg and Scot McDonald, delved into the details of how their company went from making 14 dollars a year, to being worth millions. Their secret: partnership. A classic tale of brains and business, Survey Gizmo wouldn’t be worth millions today if it weren’t for these two different business individuals.
At 3:30 pm in Boulder Colorado, Survey Gizmo founders, Bill Flagg and Scot McDonald, delved into the details of how their company went from making 14 dollars a year, to being worth millions. Their secret: partnership. A classic tale of brains and business, Survey Gizmo wouldn’t be worth millions today if it weren’t for these two different business individuals.
Part of their speech was on how a business partnership wasn’t too different from that of a marriage. Business relationships have to adapt to changes just as much as a marriage. For a business relationship to be successful, both of its co-founding spouses need to be on the same page for changes that need to be made in the company. Otherwise a messy divorce will ensue, and Survey Gizmo does not have a prenup. Their entire business agreement was written by Scott McDaniel after spending a week reading a book on the subject of business relations law (they did only net 14 dollars their first year).
One of the biggest features in their company, was that each partner would in a minimum of 30 per week to retain their partner status. Being a company that started completely on the purchases of customers (called bootstrapping in hip startup lingo), this meant holding two jobs at a time, and probably logging over 60 hours of work per week.
Their most embarrassing moment:
The night before a webinar of over 400 potential customers, Bill and Scott were awake until 4 a.m. getting the slides ready. At such a late hour, mistakes can be made. A word that closely rhymes with duck, but hardly resembles the animal, had managed to become inserted into a slide. This duck didn’t get noticed until the slide show was in full swing, and boy was it noticeable. Luckily the problem was quickly fixed.
” George Hardwick is blogging for Boulder Channel 1 from Boulder Startup Week” invite him to parties
To be a part of Boulder Channel 1s Start-Up TV Special you can find our more by Downloading or PDF Here or Call us at 303-447-8531
