Easy Aerial On "All-American Makers" This Wednesday
Last week I featured Easy Aerial as the Startup Of The Week. Today I am super-excited to announce that Easy Aerial will be featured this Wednesday at 8PM EST on Discovery's Science Channel during this weeks episode of "All American Makers".
Last week I featured Easy Aerial as the Startup Of The Week. Today I am super-excited to announce that Easy Aerial will be featured this Wednesday at 8PM EST on Discovery's Science Channel during this weeks episode of "All-American Makers".
Easy Aerial's latest product, Easy Drone XL Pro, was chosen to be featured in the second season and Ivan, founder and CEO of Easy Aerial, claims to have put it through some rough testing on the show! So set your DVR or tune in Wednesday night to join the Founder Institute New York family as we look into the unique design features of Easy Aerial's modular approach while exploring the future of drones as smart and helpful autonomous machines.
Startup Of The Week: Fund That Flip
I am starting a new blog segment called the "Startup Of The Week" or S.O.T.W.™ for short where I plan to highlight a great startup each week. There are several startups working to make the world a better place and I want to tell you a little bit more about them. The Startup Of The Week for the week of January 25th is Fund That Flip.
I am starting a new blog segment called the "Startup Of The Week", or S.O.T.W.™ for short, where I plan to highlight a great startup each week. There are several startups working to make the world a better place and I want to tell you a little bit more about some of them. The Startup Of The Week I have selected for the week of January 25th is Fund That Flip.
Fund That Flip
Founder: Matt Rodak, CEO
Headquarters: New York, New York Operating: United States
One sentence pitch: The easiest way to fund your real estate investments.
In my words: Fund That Flip connects real estate investors, starting at only a $5,000 minimum, who are looking to invest money with house flippers that are looking to borrow money for an upcoming renovation.
In their words: "We are technology, real estate and financial service professionals on a mission to create new opportunities for Investors to take advantage of the positive returns real estate can provide. At the same time, we are helping re-developers access a new source of capital so they can focus on what they do best – finding and rehabilitating homes so they are again livable. Leveraging our team’s diverse expertise and new legislation passed as part of the JOBS Act, we are building the preferred real estate investment marketplace for investors and re-developers."
Accomplishments:
How it Works:
If you want to learn more or let me know your thought on this week's Startup Of The Week you can contact me here.
Ambition Today: Justin Dombrowski Uncovers The Power Of Curiosity, History, Bitcoin, & Education In Life
Break out your pen and paper and get ready to take notes because you will be tested on this episode! Justin Dombrowski, Principal at Historiocity teaches some incredible lessons during Episode #11 of Ambition Today.
Break out your pen and paper and get ready to take notes because you will be tested on this episode! Justin Dombrowski, Principal at Historiocity teaches some incredible lessons during Episode #11 of Ambition Today.
One of my favorite quotes from this episode perfectly embodies Justin's strong curiosity from a young age:
"I was trying to figure what kind of things best explained the world that I was interested in."
Justin has more degrees than you can count from institutions such as Columbia and Oxford. The real question though is why? Listen in to find out what Justin thinks of his personal experience with the formal education he has received and how he compares it to the world of entrepreneurship.
Through all his education Justin has become an expert on world history. We talk about what the past can teach us and ask the question: does history repeat itself? In his post academic life Justin now applies his intellect as an expert in the world of Cryptography, Bitcoin, and Financial Technology. Episode 11 of Ambition Today is packed with the following:
The power of curiosity.
How to manage curiosity.
How the access to information is changing education.
The value of formal education in the modern world.
How to use history to understand today.
Does history repeat itself?
How core human behavior is the golden thread unifying history across centuries.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
What is the future of Bitcoin.
How will Bitcoin impact the world.
The importance of living life.
Ambition Today Question of the Day:
What kind of education is most valuable?
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
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Ambition Today: John Federico, Co-Founder Of Event Hero On The Future Of Podcasting, Marketing, and Superman
What an event episode ten of Ambition Today is as Jon Federico, co-founder of Event Hero and @GadgetBoy himself comes on the show all the way from warm and sunny Austin, Texas.
What an event episode ten of Ambition Today is as Jon Federico, co-founder of Event Hero and @GadgetBoy himself comes on the show all the way from warm and sunny Austin, Texas.
Ever wonder why most podcasts are sponsored by Audible.com? Today we a speaking with John Federico who years ago worked at Audible and invented the podcast affiliate program. Through the years he also worked at Advance Internet, Blog Talk Radio, and more. He is now the co-founder of Event Hero which is the first integration Platform-as-a-Service for event technologies. He also hosts the EventTech Podcast is all about event technologies where John interviews EventTech company CEO’s and product managers, industry thought leaders and event organizers. If you are a new startup founder and want to better understand the world of podcasting, audio, and marketing this episode is for you.
How an economic crash can influence you years later.
Why the medium of audio matters.
Recognizing when life deals you an opportunity and capitalizing on it.
Understand the world of podcasts.
How John created the Audible Podcast Affiliate program at Audible.com.
Making the leap from employee to entrepreneur.
How to re-brand your company.
Who would win in a fight: Batman or Superman?
The future of podcasting.
Using content marketing such as blogging or writing a book to grow your brand.
Winning the battle for people's time and attention.
Ambition Today Question of the Day:
What is the optimal work life balance that let's you enjoy success and make all the time and energy worthwhile?
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
Links from this episode:
Who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…
Listen to this episode now:
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Ambition Today: Rob Principe, Founder & CEO of Scratch On Partnering With Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., The Future Of Music, And The Rise Of The DJ
Episode nine of Ambition Today finds us with the King of the DJ's, Rob Principe, the Founder & CEO of Scratch Music Group. We talk about meeting your hero's as a child and then growing up to become business partners with them. Also, the Future of DJ'ing, Music, and much more.
Rob Principe, CEO of Scratch Music Group
Episode nine of Ambition Today finds us with the King of the DJ's, Rob Principe, the Founder & CEO of Scratch Music Group.
Young Rob Principe with Run-D.M.C.
Growing up on Long Island as a child Rob loved music, especially Run D.M.C. One day the popular music group happened to sit down next to him on a plane as he was traveling to a tennis tournament. Afterword he took a picture with the group. Fast forward years later Rob had founded Scratch Music Group and after some hustle, Rob would show this very picture to Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. in a greenroom at the Letterman Show in New York City while pitching him his vision. Jam Master Jay was in and together they co-founded the Scratch DJ Academy. I found Rob's story to be pretty incredible. During this episode we go over the history of Scratch as well as:
What is it like meeting your childhood hero's.
How Rob and Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. co-founded the Scratch DJ Academy.
The importance of building credibility when building your initial startup's team.
Recognizing that defining inspirational moment in your life that changes the path your on.
How Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. came to collaborate on "Walk This Way".
The moment when your startup becomes and feels real to you as the founder.
Converting your initial traction into a paid business model.
The importance of moving the chains over and over during the early years of your startup.
The future of DJ'ing and Music
How Music Festivals became so popular.
Ambition Today Question of the Day:
Do you think childhood plays a role in defining who people become?
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
Links from this episode:
Who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…
Listen to this episode now:
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Ambition Today: Jeff Wald, Co-founder of Work Market, talks Harvard, NYPD, Venture Capital, Startups, and Mentoring
On episode eight Jeff Wald, Co-founder and President of Work Market and his incredibly charitable no shave Movember mustache join Ambition Today. "The only thing I know with 100% certainty is that it ain't going down like this." - Jeff Wald
Jeff Wald, Work Market
On episode eight Jeff Wald, Co-founder and President of Work Market join's Ambition Today.
"The only thing I know with 100% certainty is that it ain't going down like this." - Jeff Wald
Jeff Wald’s background is nothing short of impressive. He started at Cornell University and then went to J.P. Morgan. He then went back to school at Harvard for an MBA. After Harvard Jeff spent time at Glen Rock Group before going on to Co-found Spin Back. The wild ride of Spinback, his first startup, took Jeff to almost moving back home after coming close to running out of money. The answer was to rebuild the business which later ended up getting acquired. After acquisition Jeff went to Barington Capital Group, and finally to his current company where he is the Co-founder and President of Work Market. Did I mention he was also an auxiliary member of the NYPD as well? This is an episode packed full of insights:
Is getting a Master's of Business Administration worth the return on investment?
Should you start a company or get an MBA?
The value of spending time with Entrepreneurs.
How to break into Venture Capital.
Leaving a job in Venture Capital to start a new company.
How to attract high quality investors in your startups such as Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures, Spark Capital, and Softbank.
The one question you should start every meeting with.
The four different types of conversations.
Differences between Advisors and Mentors.
The importance of giving back to others
The Ambition Today Question of the Day:
Who would win in a fight, Batman vs Superman?
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
Links from this episode:
Work Market, Acquired by ADP
@JeffreyWald on Twitter
Why I Mentor by Jeff Wald in the Huffington Post
NYPD Blue -- What I Learned About Startups Patrolling the Streets of New York City by Jeff Wald in the Huffington Post
NYPD Auxiliary Officer program
Who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…
Listen to this episode now:
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Why I Mentor by Jeff Wald
This is a guest post from Founder Institute New York Mentor Jeff Wald titled "Why I Mentor" as was originally published in Huffington Post. Jeff has asked me to share the post and it contains some incredibly valuable insight on the Mentor / Mentee relationship.
Jeff Wald
This is a guest post from Founder Institute New York mentor Jeff Wald titled "Why I Mentor" as was originally published in Huffington Post. Jeff has asked me to share the post and it contains some incredibly valuable insight on the Mentor / Mentee relationship. My favorite quote from it is:
"I believe we have an obligation to help fellow travelers."
Jeff Wald is Co-Founder and President of Work Market, the leading enterprise-class platform for the management of contract and freelance talent. Jeff has a long track record as a successful entrepreneur across the technology and services landscape. He has successfully built and sold multiple tech companies, including SpinBack to Buddy Media, which was subsequently purchased by Salesforce.com for $800 million.
Why I Mentor
by Jeff Wald
A startup founder recently asked me a simple, yet startling, question during our monthly meetings. We have been working together for nearly two years, and as with all startups she has had her ups and downs. We have had all manner of conversations over the years and yet, in this one instance, her simple question floored me - "When I asked if you would be my mentor, why did you say yes?"
The first thing that surprised me was that she said "mentor" and not "adviser". I have the pleasure of advising many companies. This means that I meet with them every now and again to offer some thoughts on a discrete problem, or I make an introduction or two. However, my relationship here was different. I was more than an adviser. I was a mentor to her. We meet once a month and I know a tremendous amount about her business, where she has been and where she hopes to go. I am proud to be her mentor so I wanted to provide an honest answer.
After collecting myself, I explained that there were three reasons why I said yes, in no particular order of importance:
- She was the first to ask.
- Mentoring helps reinforce the lessons I'm learning at my own company.
- I believe we have an obligation to help fellow travelers.
She was the first to ask. She and I met at The Founders Institute (FI), an organization where I have been teaching for some years. The FI is the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program with chapters across 50 countries. In each chapter "experienced" founders teach a series of classes to aspiring founders.
Many of the students I have taught over the years will email and ask if they can discuss their businesses. I am always happy to help, so I'll meet with them and offer candid feedback on their ideas. These aspiring founders frequently end our time together by asking to return when their plans have progressed. I would always say yes, but few have ever returned. Some never make any progress; some don't like the very direct feedback I am prone to give; some presumably just forget to follow up. So when asked why I agreed to mentor her, part of the answer was simply that she asked. I had time and she asked, so I said yes. If someone had asked before her, then I really would not have had the time.
Mentoring helps reinforce the lessons I am learning at my own company. I have learned a great many things on my entrepreneurial journey at Work Market: mistakes I hopefully won't repeat, important lessons to refer back to and valuable insights from colleagues. Mentoring this founder and hearing about her own struggles and breakthroughs has forced me to reflect on when we were at a similar stage as a company. Offering her advice and describing the opportunities we missed (we all miss many) helps to codify these hard-won lessons and prepares me for my next adventure.
We have an obligation to help fellow travelers. I have walked this tumultuous, crazy, startup path three times. It's one of the hardest journeys you will ever take. It will test limits you never knew you had and then demand you to push beyond them. So, when the journey ends, regardless of the outcome, you have gained invaluable experience. Pass it along. I can promise you this: whatever outcome you had, you didn't get there alone. You had co-founders, colleagues, investors, mentors, advisers, customers, and of course friends and family that all helped in sometimes small, but many times, immeasurable ways. You owe it to them, as well as to yourself, to help others who are embarking upon that similar difficult path. No one can make it alone.
If you have made it to the end of a startup journey, and if you have the time, stretch out your hand and help the next traveler. They will be grateful and you will greatly benefit as well.
And in the meantime, check out what Beatriz and her team at DADA have built.
Founder Institute Reviews From New York City Entrepreneurs
Last night we graduated twelve new companies from the Founder Institute in New York City. I couldn't be more proud of all the founders that graduated last night. Some of the new graduates recently published their thoughts
Last night we graduated twelve new companies from the Founder Institute in New York City. I couldn't be more proud of all the founders that graduated last night. Some of the new graduates recently published their thoughts and opinions on the program now that they have been through it. I wanted to share with you a few quotes from the thoughts they had. I am including links to the full posts below each quote so you can read those as well.
Thank you to all our mentors and congratulations again to the Summer 2015 New York Founder Institute Graduates!
Mise en place - Vicente DeReyes
"Initially, I wondered how an incubator program would help us achieve our mission of bringing the communal spirit back to dinner. "Is the program designed more for tech heavy startups like emerging app companies or B2B service technologies? Would our mission resonate with the program’s curriculum?” These are a few of the questions I asked myself before joining. As I write this post on graduation day, I look back at the past three months in awe of how much progress we have achieved.
Week after week, milestones were continually set and the bar constantly raised. Have a B2B service? Go get LOI’s. Have a B2C service? Create a landing page and get 500 signups. Think your customers want “X”? Well go ask 200 of them and find out for yourself. After many sleepless nights, countless pitches to mentors, and the reality-check of graduating with only 12 of my fellow companies out of an original class of 36, today is graduation day."
- Vicente DeReyes: Link to full article
Viozel - Roddi Simpson
"The training in lean startup methodology has been exceptional. Support has been excellently balanced. We were given the tools and enough space to figure it out ourselves but help was at hand if needed, challenges are given to strengthen weaknesses and it is all done in an environment of support between fellow founders that are literally (and I mean the literally!) invested in each other's success."
- Roddi Simpson: Link to full article
Bigger Dreams - Stefan Klotzbuecher
"Each one of us pitched our ideas about seven to nine times from start to graduation. While I sucked big at the beginning, you see everyone raising the bar and getting better, so you don’t want to be left behind. I invested a good amount of time in getting my pitch right, incorporating feedback and new insights along the way. I haven’t presented this much in a row before and think it is not only a helpful exercise, it’s also important as a founder, as you basically sell something (including yourself) all the time to someone (customers, investors, mentors, friends, employees)."
- Stefan Klotzbuecher: Link to full article
Virtzy - Isak Mirzak
"For three months, influential mentors not only provided us with advice and their own experiences of being entrepreneurs, but also gave us invaluable feedback about our ideas and helped direct and guide us the right way to accomplishing our goals.
We've also developed great friendships with other founders that will continue beyond graduation. I want to commend other founders for their resilience, hard work, unrelenting passion and amazing support! This journey would have not been the same without my fellow team mates."
- Isak Mirzak: Link to full article
Ward eSports - Jose Lincuna
"One of the greatest challenges of your life..." "...You will meet some of the smartest and passionate people in your life."
- Jose Lincuna: Link to full article
Founder Institute New York Graduates Twelve New Companies
With the 2015 Summer Semester of the Founder Institute New York coming to a close this week there is now twelve new companies formed in New York's Silicon Alley.
With the 2015 Summer Semester of the Founder Institute coming to a close this week there is now twelve new companies formed in New York's Silicon Alley.
The Founder Institute is an early-stage startup accelerator and global launch network that helps entrepreneurs create meaningful and enduring technology companies. Through a four month program, existing and prospective founders can launch their dream company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs.
On November 4, 2015 we will gather graduates, mentors, investors, and friends to celebrate the twelve newest Graduates of the New York City Founder Institute. In addition to the Graduation Ceremony, guests will be treated to short business pitches from the graduates.
Here are the companies building a better tomorrow:
Beginex - Start your tech career with real work experience.
Bigger Dreams - Comprehensive career prep for High-School students.
Ballyhoo - Home of parody.
Collar and Kitchen - Real food, balanced just for dogs.
Easy Aerial Inc - Modular smart drones for industrial applications.
Happy Heart Kid - Helping families "Play with Purpose".
Mise en place (mepNYC) - Bringing people back around the table.
The ffoodd company - Creating equal food access one order at a time.
Petvet Technologies Inc - Real time medical billing insurance claims for Veterinarians
Viozel - Find, quote, and track the progress of med tech services.
Virtzy - Connecting beauty & wellness professionals.
Ward eSports - Find communities for every eSports game.
The Best CEO Speech Ever: Charlie Kim, Next Jump
Charlie Kim, founder and CEO of Next Jump, gives one of the best motivational speech's ever at the Founder Institute New York.
At the Founder Institute in New York we have incredible Mentors come every week to mentor the founders of our startup companies. Sometimes we share some of those excellent Mentor presentations. This is one of the best CEO speeches of all time.
This motivational speech was given to the Founder Institute New York by Next Jump CEO Charlie Kim on Branding & Marketing. It includes over $200,000 of free branding knowledge, takes you to the future of the information economy, and also includes lessons from the entrepreneurial ups and downs of growing a billion dollar company. Through the Next Jump Leadership Academy, an invite-only full immersion workshop designed to share and teach programs around our learnings becoming a deliberately developmental organization, Charlie Kim works with some of the best leaders in the world.
This Made In NY Drone Just Doubled Quadcopter Flight Time
Easy Aerial, a New York Founder Institute company, has recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for their newest addition to the Easy Drone family, the Easy Drone XL Pro.
Each year, The Founder Institute helps launch dozens of technology companies across the globe. Once founders graduate from our 4-month program, they quickly begin using techniques like crowdfunding campaigns to drum up interest and obtain funding.
Easy Aerial, a New York Founder Institute company, has recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for their newest addition to the Easy Drone family, the Easy Drone XL Pro. In just a few short days the company has raised $21,238 of it's $30,000 goal. This is their second time on Kickstarter with a new and updated drone that has been improved upon from the previous version with testing and feedback. Last time on Kickstarter, Easy Aerial successfully raised $45,627 and shipped all of it's rewards by its promised dates.
What is incredible about this drone is that it is the longest flying personal quadcopter drone, with 45 minutes of flight time. It also has the ability to lift a pro camera, which many others drones are too small to do until you reach a budget of almost $10,000. The Easy Drone Pro XL only costs $1,495 to super early bird Kickstarter backers.
Easy Drone’s frame is made from carbon fiber and aluminum and is extremely rigid, yet it can be taken apart completely without tools and carried in a small backpack. Because of the modular design it is very convenient for transportation. Easy Drone has the largest frame size relative to travel pack, flight time and lift capacity on the market.
The maker of the drone, Easy Aerial, is an up and coming modular drone design company based out of New York City. They have already built a bit of a name for themselves with the consumer version of Easy Drone that did really well on Kickstarter. They have also been featured on AlleyWatch, InsertCoin, InterDrone, TechDay 2015, and Maker Faire. Check out the companies new kickstarter here.
Ambition Today: Cory Crosland of Croscon on Bootstrapping, Grammys, and the Future of Mobile.
On this episode of Ambition Today, I was joined by serial entrepreneur Cory Crosland. Cory is the founder of Croscon, an engineering company which partners with big thinkers to plan, engineer and support their digital business.
On this episode of Ambition Today, I was joined by Cory Crosland. Cory is the founder of Croscon, an engineering company which partners with big thinkers to plan, engineer and support their digital business.
Today we talk about how to bootstrap a company from one person just doing freelance work to a growing team of almost 20 people. How you can stay motivated years into your company. What it is like being nominated for a Grammy and winning a Webby Award. Also, what is the future of mobile now that Android has 1.4 billion users and much more.
Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android.
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