Just finished Startup Camp 5, a 2-day entrepreneurial immersion sponsored by Sun Microsystems. Lots of good information on social networking, marketing and the rise of cloud computing.

Fellow alumns David Kordsmeier and Calvin Chan also attended. I took some raw notes so please be kind and please respond to this post if you have any questions or want to bounce ideas. -eric

************************ Notes from StartupCamp.org May 4-5, San Francisco, CA By Eric Mongo Robbins, SEA '95

Quick Review: free to attend, heavy tech focus, good marketing/PR info, great food, tasty margaritas...thanks Sun!

Audio Podcast on Social Networks and Cloud Computing: Click to Open Web Page

Warning: notes contain a mashup of presenter information, things I heard around the two-day conference and my own ideas and musings. I try to delineate between the voices where I can but make no promises. Also, since I'm no techie but have an ear for what's important at times, I put "?" next to buzz words I heard.

Schedule and speakers: Click to Open Web Page

KEYNOTE Jonathon Schwartz, CEO Sun Micro Free software-using startups will topple the titans disproportionately as they grow

we all come from different social networks and (me) are looking for actionable commonalities while keeping our distinct identities

me- seems social networks would serve their customers better by creating different masks for the same database of users, masks that go beyond groups, maybe even different URLs, so users maintain their unique identities while having access to the vast array of tools only a large aggregator can command (but this will wait until the current social networks learn how to make a profit and stop acting like loss leaders)

Cloud Computing - Sun approached 800 lb. gorillas first but the lawyers and corp. security built too big a fence and sales cycle lagged but all were highly interested and wanted to get back to their startup roots so Sun decided to go Back to the Future and work with startups.

PANEL TOPICS

Mission Control: Rules For A Successful Media Launch

Harnessing Social Networks For Success (audio podcast available)

Building Your Company In The Cloud: Real Facts (audio podcast available)

Branding, Your customers are always surveying you, they determine the brand and all you can do is help craft that perception

?social utility vs. social networking platform (does the audience know the difference?)

?micro-blog

Social Networks selling the human connection

can't have a category unless you know your message

what are your competitors messages..stand apart,..trend in space, how can use to brand or tell your story, press commonalities, hot buttons, leading to creative, compelling, finite messages....if you cant find a category you can lead, create your own...turn information into intelligence...pre-launch field seeding with stakeholders by (me) blogging with thought leadership,

BOOK -The New Rules of Marketing

?Ming? MM

?highrise

?basecamp?

BOOK- Guy kawaski start up book...you always need an unfair advantage..seek someone who has one...

Blogging - start listening to your online communities, how do they speak, soak it in, learn their language

authentic conversation...asking the local guy where he buys his coffee (that perspective)

Social Networks - more and more tightly focused, unique networks

?getsatsfaction.com

the invitation to a network needs to also be special, reason for going unique, peak interst

?opensocial

tweakscan?tweetscan? (making disparate social networks work together)

today's social network money models - advertising+ (creative ad models, apps, subscriptions, photo printing)...Is anyone in the Black?

suicide girls (90% retention rate) check em out...

Hows to create dialog in social networks, not monologs? dont come at them just cuz they're captive...listen first...how are people talking about you or competitors?

**plug in viral unit of your site into Facebook...what are people hot on and then turn into app that you license out?**

mashable.com? (guy gets it, gets the viral/cultureal/interesting things people into)

?zobny?zombie? (building outlook plug-ins)

newsfeed trend?

?fried feed?

?mysocial247, firefox plug in of friends

?diggsby

googlereader (let it go and you have to declare email bankruptcy every day) the deja vu effect (me) - something is important when you see it 2x+, thats how your brain avoids information overload, weight of importance grows from piqued to research to consuming.

Joyant.com (1 year free hosting, open solaris infrastructure)

UNCONFERENCE ?startup city (blogs)

Splogs (sites that aggregate multiple RSS into a single feed for max SEO) Click to Open Web Page Click to Open Web Page

Facebook Fund for App Developers Click to Open Web Page

AlexIQ - doing non-sanctioned craigslist mashups on non-revenue generating categories (set up a developer blogmob to attract development community eyeballs and give companies like craigslist an incentive to invite and share revenue with developers?)

edgeio.com, “We are making it possible for valuable content to be made available for sale on any web site. The web site does not need an ecommerce system, or a billing system – edgeio takes care of both." -Keith Teare, edgeio’s founder and CEO (sold 12/08)

thehotmap.com, smarter search engine

google phones by end of year with GPS capability, not sure when Iphone capable

Dapper, leverages creative commons to give developers ability to fit apps in any social network, not just facebook

if you plan to VC, start imeiately with a delaware Corp cuz they're going to make you go there anyway bizfilings.com

?pounce

there are cultural and technical barriers to the adoption of wikis

want to improve facebook relationships, find things to do in the real world

BEST STARTUP CONTEST AKA SPEED-GEEKING Click to Open Web Page Some great startups, really liked the 1,2 winners (the chictopia.com femme fatales and the baby memories guy) but my nickel was on Proofofservice.com which offers proof of service e-document services (lawyers, government, real estate, etc.) legitmized by a recent federal judgement.