Stephanie Frasco & Hermioneway are definitely NOT ugly at all Two very fun, intelligent, and ambitious ladies. Stephanie is the Community director at eFactor & Hermioneway does a little show called TechFluff They stopped by startupLUCKY for a quick chat before hitting the town in NYC.

Oh yeah and **Valentina** made a quick appearance.

There is a rumor they’ll be at The Gallery Bar, Lower East Side tonight…YO! They will be heavily guarded so, be careful.

Have a fantastic weekend ladies!! cheers~

Chris Skaggs founder of SomaGames is excited to launch their first game “G” on the iphone app. store coming very soon! Chris talks to us about being a startup, raising funding, recruiting a team, and refining the business as you go. Chris is an awesome guy and a dedicated entrepreneur who can share lots of wisdom with startups, we highly recommend you watch this NOW!~ thx

About Soma Games

It’s tempting to make up a grand sounding story of Soma’s founding, but the truth is better – and far more grand in the long run.

Soma was created in direct response to what we like to call “God’s nudge.” One day an article appeared in the news talking about a new trend, Christian video games. Following the link lead to the Christian Game Developers Conference(http://www.cgdc.org/). Registering for the event lead (within about 10 minutes) to an invitation to go to Boston and appear on TV (View Here) – to discuss Christian video games and how this trend mashes up against games like Grand Theft Auto. Literally in the course of a single week, Soma Games came into being and the story continues…read part one here: Soma Story.
What’s with “Soma?”

In Greek, soma means “body” as in, you know, the church. However, you might not know that in Hindu mythology, Soma was a drink that not only was imbibed by the gods, but also seems to have made them gods. While you have to stretch it a bit, there’s something like “living water” even in this myth. But our favorite triple meaning looks like this – “Soma” was the mood altering drug taken by everybody in Brave New World (‘a gram is better than a damn…’) and acted as the opiate of the masses. From there, the double connection to Christianity and video games is fairly easy to catch.
What Soma Games is NOT

While Soma Games is a group of Christians making video games, we’re not what you might call a “Christian Video Game company” and it’s important for us to be very clear about this to avoid inaccurate expectations. We’re making games that will be founded upon, and informed by Christian thought and the Christian understanding of reality – however, we don’t plan on making games that teach Christian theology. There are no scripture references, no Biblical characters and no telling of the Jonah story – other companies have been there and done a fine job. We hope to try something a little different.

If you want to keep up to date on developments inside Soma Games, just pass us an e-mail address at info@somagames.com. We would never dream of selling it – we’re shocked, SHOCKED, that you would even suggest such a thing…

Fred McCoy, founder of Jilt.us is on a mission to create a media outlet focused on positive news, fashion, culture for the African American community. Fred is passionate about focusing on the positive things in life and sharing his vision with as many African Americans as possible. Just to be clear, Jilt.us is open to anyone.

Fred says that startups should: “Always be talking about what you’re doing” and “Always act on your ideas”

Watch now!

If you would like to be interviewed on startupLUCKY: CLICK HERE!

Jeff Pulver speaks about investing in people who have a dream. Jeff says he looks for people who’s “karma he can feel” and are absolutely driven who are doing something absolutely disruptive and or crazy.

Here are a few quotes from Jeff from this interview:
“Unbound passion is unstoppable”
“Believe in yourself”
“The next person you meet may change your life”
“Being lucky is an integral part of being”

If you would like to be interviewed on startupLUCKY: CLICK HERE!

Ezra speaks with Davendra Patel founder of iDesktop.tv about their experience at Seedcamp, Paris.

So what is iDesktop.tv?
iDesktop.tv is an incredibly cool dynamic web 2.0 application, with a terrific modern design, that brings you a better way to search and watch YouTube videos. Not only but you can download YouTube videos!

This is basically adding functionality and experience to what “should be” there. The possibilities of the site reach far beyond that. It gives you the chance to create your own environment for watching video clips, saving them and sharing them with friends.
What makes iDesktop.tv unique?

Designing iDesktop.tv we followed one primary idea – to bring normal desktop application experience to the browser – windows that can be dragged, resized, minimized in a tray, drag’n'drop of videos between players and results, standard menus – all with one goal – to make the richest web application for viewing and managing video content! You will be amazed by the flexibility and fabulous design of the website. It is user friendly and easy to navigate but also has great functionality.

Why we created iDesktop.tv?
The main goal of iDesktop.tv is to provide users a convenient way of browsing through the enormous amount of online videos and to improve the experience – help them manage their favourite ones by saving them in playlists, downloading them onto the PC and many, many other options.

We believe the best way to please our visitors is to give them the freedom to choose and manage as much as possible. Giving them a completely new point of view on a web application – something never seen on the internet!

The various content and popularity of YouTube are indisputable but iDesktop.tv gives you the opportunity to manage that content in many possible ways:
Features / Benefits

The awesome @JillHanner rocks out with her LUCKY out for this weeks weekly review. Jill covers a few of the most recent startups who received funding and highlights from startupLUCKY interviews featuring: PetMD.com , Spot.us , Radian6.com , and TechCrunchUK .

>>>>Happy SXSWi, we hope you all get LUCKY!<<<<<

If you would like to be interviewed on startupLUCKY: CLICK HERE!

Kelby Carr is a great friend and an awesome women in every possible way. Kelby just launched, InvestigativeMommyBlogger with her mission of providing readers with quality journalism from bloggers. Kelby spent many years as a journalist and is extremely active in social engagement (because, I despise the term “social media”) she has lead the way for many “Mommy Bloggers’ and is extremely well respected in this space.

Watch Kelby NOW~

Investigative Mommy Blogger has a mission of reviving investigative journalism, but also evolving it. We will take the foundations, standards and ideals of traditional investigation journalism and merge them with the grandiose reach and impact of mommy blogging. The point? To prove that, despite traditional outlets increasingly abandoning important investigative reports that serve readers, it can still be pursued. Consider this Investigative Journalism 3.0.

We will do it by taking a completely different approach, using all of the best resources and ideals of both journalism and blogging.

David Cohn, founder of Spot.us joined us and gave an awesome interview. Spot.us is a site dedicated to “research & development” and delivery of community journalism in the San Fransisco Bay area. David says that Spot.us is actively going out to local meetings and listening to the citizens of San Fransisco and asking them what stories they want covered. In short, journalists will post a story they would like to cover based on local demand and set a price for their time & energy to write/cover the story. Then, the community can come in and donate any amount of money they would like to give in order to get the story covered.

“Journalism will survive the death of it’s institutions” Lisa Williams

Spot.Us is a nonprofit project of the Center for Media Change and funded by various groups like the Knight Foundation.

We are an open source project, to pioneer “community funded reporting.” Through Spot.Us the public can commission journalists to do investigations on important and perhaps overlooked stories. All donations are tax deductible and if a news organization buys exclusive rights to the content, your donation will be reimbursed. Otherwise, all content is made available to all through a Creative Commons license. It’s a marketplace where independent reporters, community members and news organizations can come together and collaborate

Spot.Us was founded by David Cohn and made possible by a generous grant from the Knight Foundation. Spot.Us has also drawn on support from individual funders like yourself, a fantastic team of advisors, designers (who used the frealy available FamFamFam icons) and developers of Hashrocket. We are proudly hosted by Engine Yard. We are an open source project and you can contribute on Git Hub

>>> If you would like to be interviewed on startupLUCKY: Click me!

Ezra asks Mike Butcher of TechcrunchUK what he is looking for in covering a startup in the UK and Europe. Mike says most startups are not great at explaining the “problem they are trying to solve” and are not “explaining who their competitors are.” Mike says, “you must focus & communicate on solving a real problem.”

Mikes advice fro startups: “Don’t just dribble out what you are doing” or “Learn how to pitch & actually practice your pitch!”

TechCrunch UK & Ireland is a blog covering Web 2.0 and Mobile start-ups. TechCrunch UK is part of the TechCrunch Network, which includes country-specific blogs for France and Japan.

TechCrunch UK & Ireland is edited by Mike Butcher. Mike has written for UK national newspapers including the The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Times and magazines including The New Statesman. He is a former editor of New Media Age magazine, the leading new media weekly in the UK, and The Industry Standard Europe and he has launched or re-launched several media web sites. In 2000 he was nominated as NetMedia’s European Internet Journalist of the Year. In 2004 he was voted ‘One of the 100 Innovators of the UK Internet Decade’ by GfK NOP, the fourth-largest custom research business in the world. In July 2008 Mike was put at No. 47 out of the Top 100 people in London’s creative industry the UK by The Independent newspaper and The Hospital Club. He has appeared on BBC News, Sky News, Channel 4 and Bloomberg, commenting on technology and new media. In August 2008 TechCrunch UK was named the best “Web 2.0 and business blog” in the UK, by the readers of Computer Weekly magazine. Mike’s personal blog is mbites, while he Twitters as @mikebutcher.

Ezra Butler & Salman Malik have an interesting conversation discussing architecture, eco-friendliness, entrepreneurship, while standing on a sidewalk in Paris.

Salman Malik says, “running a profitable business is a way of showing that you are in fact providing value”, “you’ve got to give in order to get”, and “figure out how to make something better for someone”.

Awesome interview!

Kris Mathis, Founder of SponsorPitch just may be onto something really big with his “Sponsor 2.0″ concept. Are you trying to get sponsors for your event? Are you a fundraiser? Would you like to post your pitch and have sponsors come to you? Watch this now and learn more!!

SponsorPitch started out as a pretty simple idea. We were looking to find a sponsor (or two) for a few local concerts. We had a 20 page proposal with lots of fun buzz words like exposure, demographics, ROI, activation, signage, value in kind, sponsor level, and exclusivity. It turns out, the proposal was the easy part, getting the attention of potential sponsors was another story. Figuring a fancy sponsorship video might do the trick, we set our eyes on where to place it. A typical social network didn’t seem like our audience. And YouTube seemed like a good choice, until we realized we’d be somewhere between Britney videos and beer pong tricks. So with a little time on our hands and a lot of hardwork…..whaalaaa and welcome to SponsorPitch!

SponsorPitch will a) bring traditional proposals to life in a whole new way, b) provide brands with an easy way to find relevant opportunities, and c) allow marketers to expand their professional network — all in our endless effort to give you a “Sponsorship 2.0″ experience. In the end, we aim to create a professional community that allows brands and sponsorship properties to connect and collaborate in the most efficient, innovative, and transparent manner possible.

Ezra Butler chats with Raphael Labbe, of Ulike.net and Open Coffee Paris, in Paris

“Ulike.net is like Wikipedia meets Last FM”

Translated from French using Google translator:

We have done studies on our campus. At that time we had the chance to easily access the library of our friends. It was an extraordinarily rich because we could easily find movies, books or new music. We just had to pass the door of a friend.

This simple exchange stopped abruptly the day we left the campus. Scattered across France and abroad, it became very difficult to share what we love.

That’s why we created ulike: to recreate the richness, the ease of exchange and extend it to all those who share this same desire.

Ulike on, you can easily build your virtual library with all the tastes you love, you can discover those of others and suggest you see new things to discover.

Join us and just enjoy the cultural richness of all our members.

The founders of El ulike Rude & leafar

Visit the blog ulike Write us at contact@u-lik.com
French

>
English

swap
Translate