No, I’m not talking about killing off zombie companies (although I do think entrepreneurs should do that.) And I’m not talking about real zombies either (although if you see one, please do something about it.) Today, it’s all about virtual zombies in a new location-based MMORPG called Please Stay Calm. Please Stay Calm is an […]
An Alternative Model for Startup Incubation
Recently I wrote a blog post on things to think about when starting a startup accelerator. I pointed out that most accelerator programs take between 5-12% or thereabouts for a fairly standard amount of money and time. Year One Labs is a bit different (more money and more time = more equity taken); our belief […]
So You Want to Run a Startup Accelerator…
Everywhere you turn there’s a new startup accelerator launching. Time will tell if that’s a good thing or not, but as I said in my last post, if you’re not doing it [an accelerator] to make money, you’re doing it wrong. The feedback was mixed, which doesn’t surprise me, since there are many accelerators operating […]
Localmind Raises Funding
Localmind was the second company we funded at Year One Labs. Localmind leverages check-in services like Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places to make powerful, real-time location-based Q&A the best way of discovering a city. When you have a question you want answered about a specific place (often in real-time), Localmind is the right service to […]
How To Run a Business Model Hackathon
A tech hackathon is typically a half-day to two-day event where teams get together and build a product in a very short period of time. They’re always fun and interesting, often organized around specific platforms (like Foursquare), and a great way to meet new people, get into a community and test your chops. At Year […]
Lessons Learned Launching a Lean Startup Accelerator
Year One Labs is a Lean Startup accelerator. I believe it’s one of the first of its kind, with a very heavy focus on customer development and a rigorous Lean Startup process. I co-founded Year One Labs with three partners (Raymond Luk, Alistair Croll and Ian Rae) in April 2010 and launched officially in September […]
Year One Labs Invests in Assemblio
We’ve just made our fifth and final investment through Year One Labs. The startup is called Assemblio, founded by Jonathan Abrams and Elan Dubrofsky. Assemblio is in the event planning space; but we don’t have any additional details to share at this time. We met Jonathan and Elan through the Google Hackathon that we ran […]
Year One Labs Invests in Customer Support Startup by Dov and Mitch Amihod
We made the announcement yesterday on our blog – Year One Labs has completed its fourth investment in a new customer support startup founded by Dov Amihod and Mitchell Amihod. Yes, they’re brothers. And strangely enough this is our second investment in a brother team (previously we invested in Garry and Ken Seto, Please Stay […]
Get Early Access to Localmind Today!
Localmind (one of our investments at Year One Labs) is starting to open its doors! Access is limited, but you can sign-up on the landing page and then get a priority invitation by sharing Localmind with friends. Just click the screenshot below: What is Localmind? Localmind is a service that lets you get quick information […]
The MVP is a Process not a Product
MVP = Minimum Viable Product But should it? My esteemed colleague Raymond Luk is well known for his catchy quotes. If only we could post more of his catchphrases on Twitter. Lots of “OH” material at Year One Labs partner meetings… So yesterday, Raymond said, “The MVP is a process, not a product…” And that’s […]
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