Category — Cool Companies

Every time I find an business or website that I have given serious thought to pursuing years before, I put them in folder entitled “Stolen Ideas.”

I suppose I could still pursue the businesses but there are only so many hours in the day. Plus many entrepreneurs have told me not to be the “Me Too” of an industry.

Shouldn’t I be jealous?

As an entrepreneur, no. The only person I have to blame for not pursuing any of the ideas is myself.

I am publishing them to teach myself a lesson and as a constant reminder to act faster when I have an itch.

I think I’ll look to the horizon to position myself in front of the next wave!

My advice for everyone that has a great idea is to act fast!

I am big on travel, in fact it is one of my favorite things to do. I thought it would be a great idea to allow people around the world to meet other people online that live in the area where he or she will be visiting in order to find a place to stay. Many of these websites exist now in the forms of Place2Stay.net, GlobalFreeloaders, CouchSurfing, and TheHospitalityClub although I’m sure there is more.

Postful converts your email into a real letter and mails it for you. My project was called RealMail.

My idea for this one was a peer-2-peer network for trading media (books, cds, dvd), while I have not seen any that allow you to trade anything, I have seen websites that allow you to trade specifics like Paperback Swap for books and LaLa for music.

FindMeOn is a website that tries to manage all of your online identities.
This one was more of a concept that I had back before cell phones were mp3 players and vice versa. My idea was to have a phone that acts as a music player but instead of storing the music on the phone, it would stream it from your home PC. Phling has a product that does just that.

I know gig boards (similar to a bulletin board for the web) are nothing ground breaking but I swear I had the idea way before anyone like 37signals and Lifehacker had theirs. Its a pretty simple concept and the only reason why I didn’t pursue this one is because I figured it would do well on a site that already had a decent amount of traffic daily. That was exactly what I was lacking. After all, you wouldn’t put a bulletin board in a place where no body would see it, would you?

Although this one might not be in the bag yet once I build more traffic on some of my sites, for now it is out of my mind.

-E

YouTube - Saturday Night Live: Sofa King Skit

Technorati Tags: business ideas, stolen, entrepreneur, start your own business

If you think your simple solution to a simple problem cannot be made into a successful business, then think again…

For instance, the expense of taxi fare prices in cities such as New York influenced entrepreneurs to come up with a creative solution. Their business called Hitchsters.com, connects people traveling to or from the airport to share a taxi ride. You even get to select whether you prefer a male or a female.

Have you ever wanted to buy a designer hand bag for a special event but couldn’t justify the cost of the bag for only one use? Your solution may be with a company BagBorrowOrSteal.com who rents out designer bags for either a monthly rate or a one time rental.

Coming up with a available domain names for new websites is becoming more difficult since domain investors buy many of the easy-to-remember domain names, then try to sell them for thousands of dollars more. CleverSiteNames.com worked out a solution for website and business owners to come up with more clever domain names. For a flat, refundable fee, you can list a description of your site or business on the site for others to offer up suggestions of available domain names. If you don’t receive a name that you like, they refund your money.

Ever have a rainy day or rainy month ruin your outdoor business. Worry no more with this company that provides weather insurance to businesses that rely on good weather.
Or you could take this concept a step further like WedSafe.com did, to insure that your wedding day goes as planned, rain or shine.

What if you didn’t get much sleep last night and you have an important meeting today. Need a quick power nap to recharge your batteries and clear your mind? MetroNaps.com has your solution since they offer power naps to professionals in the city.
If you move around a lot but never have a place to store those cardboard boxes,
BoomerangBoxes.com may be just want you need. The company primarily reuses cardboard boxes and disposes of unusable ones properly. It may sound like a silly idea but Boomerang Boxes sales are expected to exceed $750,000.

This young man made a million dollars simply by selling pixels for advertisements on a web site located at MillionDollarHomepage.com. His newest venture, charge $2 per pixel, then give away half of the profits randomly as a lotto.

This company sells large bows for large gifts such as cars.
This novel writer turned her hobby of writing into a successful business. She creates personalized novels where you can chose yourself to be the star of the book.
These real businesses are proof that your simple idea, too, could be worth millions.

-E

YouTube Video - Voted best beer commercial of the year 

Technorati Tags: Simple Business Ideas, Make Money Online, Business Ideas, Cool Business

Over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed a trend of odd but legitimate businesses arise.

For instance, if I would have told my parents that for a living I wanted to sell pixels on a web page or create a million dollar brand with a catchy phrase and no products, I probably would have been institutionalized. Let these crazy stories prove to you that no idea is too unusual to profit from.

Bobble headed toys of famous characters and people

A unique way to notify your friends and family of a pregnancy

Those smiley faced antenna balls

Selling used mannequins

Use your vacation to test out your unusual dream job

Sell cuff links on EBay

Creating unusual party hats for corporate events

A Record Company for musicians who play in subways

CPR dummies for practice on…Dogs?

Who ever thought an ecosystem in a bottle could be so profitable

Do not let anyone tell you that your business idea is stupid.

-E

How to spot a millionaire 

Technorati Tags: Business Ideas, Stupid Business, Unusual Business, Unique Business, Online Business, Make Money Online

While scanning my list of daily news sites, I stumbled upon an article from Money Magazine that features dream jobs for twenty-somethings.

From the article:

“Research by Money Magazine and Salary.com: You’ve been in the job long enough to know what you want: more pay, more upside and more control over where you’re going.”

As I’ve said before, being an entrepreneur is more than just starting your own business, it is working in an entrepreneurial environment also.

Do you know that you want to be your own boss, but your not sure what you want to do? Or are you just not quite ready to start a business yet? Why not work in an awesome industry to gain experience and actual business lessons that may prove useful in your future endeavors.

For instance, while working your day job, take note of how business deals are done, learn how to market and make sales, and understand how meetings are organized. Then, think about how you would run your business differently or what parts of the business you will adopt for your own.

If you learn to do this then you will learn to take every experience (no matter how chilling the thoughts of Corporate America are) as an opportunity to learn and grow. Which, in turn, will make you that much closer to your goals of being self-made.

Besides, unless you come from a wealthy family, you will probably have to work a bit anyway. You might as well learn from it a bit.

There are many jobs out there for young people that can help mold you into the entrepreneur you want to be. You just have to do some soul searching and internet surfing. What type of job NOW may help you LATER?

With these dream jobs you may just gain the skills, experience, and contacts you need to start your own business.

Read the rest of this article and see the slides

If your looking for a Best Job check out the Best Companies To Work in 2007 for even more career opportunities.

-E

Technorati Tags: Entrepreneurial, Starting a business, Career Ideas, Career Choices, Business Experience, Best Companies, Best Jobs, Business Ideas

Although I have only attended the 1st semi-annual Startup School, I can honestly admit that the advice I received there is priceless. Below you will find summaries of the Startup Schools that have taken place so far. Guest speakers at these events include Steve Wozniak, Paul Graham, Chris Sacca, Chris Anderson, Tim O’Reilly, Om Malik, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Mandel, and the list goes on. The advice you will receive will include Intellectual Property, C Corporation vs. S Corporation, best way to start a business, and how to strike business deals.

October 2005 Notes

2006 Notes part 1

March 2007 Notes and Via Scribd

-E

The Amazing Blindfolded Pianist That Plays A Medley Of Mario Brothers Music. Truly Amazing Video!

Technorati Tags: startup school, y-combinator, Steve Wozniak, Paul Graham, Chris Sacca, Chris Anderson, Tim O’Reilly, Om Malik, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Mandel, businessweek, harvard, silicon valley, young entrepreneurs, start a business

Heres an idea. Especially if you live in one of these cool cities.
Take a business office that is near a popular night time hangout and transform it to house live music concerts on the weekends.

That is what Affinity Lab did. Their building is a collaborative startup business office by day, live music venue by night.

Do they profit from this? That I do not know.

Could they profit from this? Absolutely.

-E

Technorati Tags: business idea, revenue stream, popular cities,

Forbes has an interesting article and slide show of cities that have thriving college campuses and recommends those cities for starting new businesses.

View the slide show of Top IQ Campuses

If you are looking for a good place to start a business, check out Cool Town Studios, where you will find many useful articles on places to start businesses.

Also, check out these Top Tech Towns.

-E

More than two years ago I attended a convention for aspiring startup founders called Startup School hosted by Paul Graham and the entrepreneurs at the Y-Combinator. One of the guest speakers (also an employee at Google) that I had the privilege to meet, has a nice writeup about how to propose a business deal with Google. Since he is the le ‘azon of such deals, I would pay attention.

Highlights from the article:

Email Rules - Phones are very yesterday.

Thesis Statements - Lead with what you want.

Threats don’t work - A surprising number of people write to me saying “If you do not act in 5 days I am taking this to Microsoft . . . ” or “This note will be forwarded to Terry Semel . . . ” I am very inclined to let those proposals go.

Differentiate - Tell me right away why you guys are different and what comparative advantage you have on the market.

Google is Bottom-up - That last point reminds me that Google buying/partnering decisions are made bottom-up. Meaning, product managers and engineers are your ultimate clients.

Read the full post

-E

From the article:

“20-year-old Phillip Tapia is the Founder and President of a new & unique company he calls, Tray Display Advertising Inc. This young man has transformed an ordinary 8 ½�? x 11�? regular piece of white paper and turned it into a full time business.

Phillip Tapia launched Tray Display Advertising Inc. into a business in 2004 from the basement of his home. Tapia designed and developed a new advertising concept that turned trash into cash. Tapia has agreed to sell advertising space on the tray liners (placemats) , that Wendy’s use to serve all dine-in customers…”

In May of 2006 Tapia expanded his business and started advertising on a Colorado Springs Little Caesars pizza boxes.

Source: Business Opportunities

Technorati Tags: Business Opportunities, 20 something, twenty something, business idea, biz idea, Little Caesars

Being an Entrepreneur is not just about starting a business, it can be about working for entrepreneurial businesses too.
As generations X and Y begin taking the steering wheel in the business world, expect more offices to look like the offices of these cool companies.

In a related note, if you want to attract young creatives to your business, Cool Town Studios often has good suggestions on where to start a business. -E

Technorati Tags: Cool Companies, Entrepreneurial Companies, Young, Creative Class, Cool Businesses