I wrote a post a few days ago about 2 productivity hacks that I’ve been using that have transformed my work life. I got a great response to that post with a number of people asking me what other tools I’ve found that help make my world more productive. Micah, who works with me at Foundry, put together a list of the tools we’ve been using (or at least experimented with) that I wanted to share. Let me know if you have ones of your own you think I should add to the list.

• TextExpander – store frequently types phrases/notes across all devices
• Wunderlist– To Do list on all your devices – supports team collaboration
• Trello – collaborative task list for Teams, works well with Agile/Lean methodologies
• Asana – To-do list that allows for super granular level of detail for todo lists and team collaboration
• Voxer – Walkie talkie/messaging app for instant communication with your closest contacts you want to be more responsive to than email
• Zapier OR IFTTT – connect the tools you use to each other based on triggers/recipes and actions (Ex. Save pocket starred items to Evernote folder)
• Copyclip or Paste – Keep all of your copied/clipboard items in one place so you don’t lose anything
• Charlie App or Accompany* – Easily get a briefing on who you are meeting
• FullContact – a unified address book across accounts, devices and organizations (now supports teams)
• Notability App – Take notes on your ipad and have them sent and OCR to Evernote
• Yoink – Simplify Drag and Drop by using Yoink to move files around your fullscreen apps
• Call please – web/app call list of people to connect with (helps avoid scheduling set times for meetings that don’t need to be scheduled..)
• LastPass or dashlane – Never forget a password or deal with login troubles again!
• F.lux – save your eyes from the eerie blue glow of screens (especially at night)
• Toggl – A simple online timer with a powerful timesheet calculator, great full review about Toggl here (see RescueTime to block notifications/programs for work blocks)
• Magnet or spectacle – Mac app to move and resize windows with ease (built into windows)
• Headspace – Although it seems counter-intuitive to use a smart device for meditating, this app will help put you in the right frame of mind
• Blinkist – Book summaries, 1,500+ best-selling nonfiction books, transformed into powerful shorts you can read or listen to in 15 minutes
• Goodreads – Lets users track and rate books and network with other readers
• Pocket – Allows you to easily save webpages for later reading (syncs across devices as well, which is a real bonus)

Chrome/Gmail Extension:

• Full contact or rapporative to see public info on people
• MatterMark – Get info on companies (web & mobile app too)
• Grammarly – Writing-enhancement tool with proofreading capabilities to check for a writer’s adherence to more than 250 grammar rules

CRM

• Streak  – Spreadsheet in your inbox, mail merge, email Templates, snooze mail, send later, team collaboration and more.
• MixMax – Awesome for scheduling meetings by sending a live table, avoid the back and forth and double bookings! Also does templates, mail merge and tracks opens, clicks and downloads
• SalesForceIQ – Sales focused CRM

Websites:

• Conspire (recently acquired by FullContact) – see how you are connected to the people you want to reach through your network
• Internet Archive Wayback Machine – See what websites used to look like at a specific point in time
• Power Googling Infograph – Sample search queries to tap into the power of Google Search

Specific Startup tools

• Usepodium.com for pitch feedback
• Docusign OR HelloSign – stop sending PDF’s to sign – streamline the whole process and know when docs are opened, signed, etc.
• Docsend – track, control, send, and present sales materials with real-time document analytics.

Assistant Services

• youcanbook.me or calendly – scheduling made easy, great for sales people, demos or office hours
• Clara ($$)- AI for scheduling (I use Clara for scheduling the majority of my meetings)
• Magic ($) -For simple tasks (schedule oil change, pick up flowers, order food, etc.)
• Pana ($) – Personal travel concierge, book flights by msging Pana where you want to go and when

$ – costs money

* – beta

One of the many things that makes Boulder a great city for start-ups is its incredibly collaborative environment (see posts on my love of Boulder here and here). From the willingness of mentors to help out TechStars companies, to collaborative efforts around recruiting great talent to our city, I’m constantly amazed at how many people are working to make Boulder an amazing place for businesses to thrive.

Today there’s another new initiative launching to help young tech companies in our community – Trada is opening CodeSpace, a free co-working space dedicated to startup developers and software engineers. CodeSpace will be located in Trada’s downtown Boulder offices and will have over 2000 sq ft of space dedicated to the effort.

While there are many places where non-technical entrepreneurs can meet up in Boulder to discuss their startups, there are few places where software developers can camp out for the day, week or month and work together on a project. We wanted to add this environment to the mix of coffee shops, traditional co-working spaces, and rented offices in Boulder. And in CodeSpace you don’t even have to buy coffee to camp out there (in fact the coffee is on Trada!).

But you do need to apply. There are spots for three dev teams (1-4 people each) for semi-permanent space as well as come-as-you-are dev and co-working space (with whiteboards, internet, access to caffeinated beverages, etc).

To start, CodeSpace will be open 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday. The program will run through the summer with the expectation that it will extend/expand in the fall as we learn what works best.

To apply for one of the 3 dedicated co-working spaces please visit trada.com/codespace

I complained a while back about how much the feed stats in TypePad suck.  I then proceeded to do absolutely nothing about it, I guess figuring that site stats were something that would be high on their priority list and they would somehow figure it out.  Well, they haven’t so I have a request to make. The basic problem I have with the TypePad stats is that they don’t provide me good data on who is subscribed to my feed.  About a week into writing this blog I started using FeedBurner – which has much better information about who is reading my posts.  The problem is that  my FeedBurner stats only capture people who subscribed after that first week – and I know that a bunch of people subscribed in the first few days after I put up my first post (a result of some shameless self promotion I did).

A few people suggested after my last post  on the subject that I simply ask people to re-subscribe to the feed using my new FeedBurner URL.  I put that off for a few months, but I think its time.  My request is simple – would you check the source URL for your subscription to this feed.  I would appreciate it if you could make sure it is:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/VC_Adventure

Thanks.

A little off topic, but if you’re in the market for a fun summer driver, I’m selling my fake Porsche 356 (not a kit but a "custom" build).  I bought it on eBay 6 years ago and am trying to sell it the same way.  I’ve had it up a couple of times – winner’s financing fell through the first time and it didn’t clear reserve the second.  I’ve taken out the reserve so if you’re interested or know someone who is . . . bid!

http://tinyurl.com/4vp5xf

This was also posted on Brad Feld’s blog and a similar announcement is up on foundrygroup.com as well.

Over the years at Foundry Group we’ve built an extensive network of companies. While we’ve invested in some of these directly, this actually represents the smallest set of companies that we are involved with. We have also invested indirectly in many others through our investment in Techstars. Yet another, and much larger set of companies, come from our investments in other venture funds.

In 2013, we started thinking hard about the future of Foundry Group. When we started Foundry in 2006 we were very clear that we were not going to build a legacy firm. There would be no generational planning, no transitions to younger partners, and no senior partner hold-outs who would hang onto economics well after they had stopped working. Simply put, when we are done investing, we will drop the mic and shut off the lights.

During these discussions, we reflected on the incredible collection of early stage VC firms we’ve invested in personally over the years. We’ve been investing as individuals in venture firms going back almost 20 years. The four of us have served as mentors, and in a number of cases, formal advisors to funds around the world. In 2010 we started making the majority of our fund investments together through a common entity. While we never thought hard about this activity, over the years we’ve amassed a very strong track record through these fund investments. It’s also been fun – a great way to get close to new managers, build lasting personal relationships, and see deal flow for our Foundry Group investing activity.

In late 2014 the four of us got together to talk formally about the future of Foundry Group. We had each taken a month off in 2014 – well needed breaks after what had been a seven year sprint since starting Foundry Group. We were clear at that point that we wanted to continue to make early stage investments through a new Foundry Group fund, which we subsequently raised in the middle of 2015 and started investing at the end of the year.
At the same time we discussed our later stage investment strategy. In 2013 we raised a fund called Foundry Group Select. The strategy behind Select is to make late stage investments into successful companies where our early-stage funds had previously invested. The strategy has been a good one and with two early exits (Gnip and Fitbit) we’ve already returned significant capital.

As a result of our extensive networks, we constantly see other potential late stage investments. We’ve stayed away from these investments, not because they aren’t interesting, but because with the Select fund strategy we had limited ourselves to investing in existing Foundry portfolio companies. We broke this rule recently to make an investment in AvidXchange, a business run by an entrepreneur who I have known for over 20 years. The conversation around AvidXchange brought to light the magnitude of the opportunity we have to invest in interesting companies outside of our early stage portfolio.

We also had a long conversation about our GP fund investing strategy. It is clear to us that we enjoy investing in other VC funds and working to support the GPs. When we looked carefully at our track record, it became clear to us how lucrative this activity has been.
As we discussed the confluence of our fund investing strategy, our current Select strategy, and our interest in acting on our unique later stage deal flow, we realized that there was an opportunity to wrap these three ideas together into a single entity that would encompass not just what we had previously called our Select strategy but would also institutionalize our fund investment strategy as well as leverage those and other relationships to invest in other later stage opportunities in our broader network.

The critical ingredient for bringing this all together was finding the person to help us execute our GP fund strategy. Fortunately we knew exactly who we wanted to work on this project.
For the past 13 years, Lindel Eakman has been the head of UTIMCO’s private equity group. He’s created an incredible portfolio of investments in venture capital funds, including Union Square Ventures, Spark Capital, True Ventures, IA Ventures, Techstars Ventures, and Foundry Group. In April 2007, Lindel committed to be our largest investor in our first fund in 2007, taking 20% of the fund. This was a bold move, as we only had one commitment at the time.
Lindel – through UTIMCO – has continued to be our largest investor. He has been on our advisory board and for the past eight years has been a key advisor to us. Over the years he also has become a close friend.

We’ve been discussing this strategy with Lindel for most of the last year and have started calling the initiative “Foundry Group Next”. The Next strategy will not only allow us to continue making direct investments in high-potential startups, but will also scale-up our ability to support venture firms and funds whose vision and values align with ours. Through this activity, we hope to spread the Foundry Group values and DNA further into the overall venture and startup ecosystem.

We are pleased to welcome Lindel to Foundry Group Next and are excited to start this new chapter with him. And to make the the lawyers in our lives happy, we need to say that in no way is this blog post an offer to sell securities or an advertisement of us raising a new fund. We have yet to announce anything regarding any new funds that we may raise in the future.

Sandy Hamilton (one of the key execs at Newsgator) did a nice follow-up post to the note I wrote about taking 100% responsibility.  In it he talks about what that actually means  – how we present ourselves and the importance of taking responsibility not just for what you are saying, but also for what other people are hearing.

What a powerful concept.  Thanks Sandy for taking this to the next level. In case the link above isn’t working, here’s the  full URL of his post: http://sandyhamilton.blogs.com/sandy_hamilton/2005/04/did_i_say_that.html

Networking – To interact or engage in informal communication with other for mutual assistance or support (from Dictionary.com) I talked about networking in my recent post on How to become a venture capitalist. In it I said that I’d put up a separate post with more detailed thoughts on the subject. I don’t pretend to be the final source on the matter, but I do regularly engage in the art of networking – on both the network-ing and network-ed side of the equation. As with all my posts, comments are welcomed (and appreciated). Sorry in advance for the length of this one – I tried cutting it down, but couldn’t get it to work that way . . . Step 1: Make your list. Good networking starts with knowing who you want to meet – or at least what type of people you want to get in touch with. This can be specific (for example all of the VC’s in town when you are trying to land a VC job) or more general (your peers at other local businesses; CEOs of businesses in a certain industry; all of the patent attorney’s in some market; etc). Either way do some research and make yourself a list of people you want to meet. WRITE IT DOWN. This isn’t a mental list – this is a real list of people you want to get in touch with. Step 2: Exercise your existing network. You know people. They all know people. There is an entire industry that is trying to take advantage of this on-line. Here’s where you need a second list – write down all of the people that you know (i.e., who would return an e-mail and could vouch for you to someone else) who you think could put you either directly in touch with, or one step closer to the people on your first list. Now contact them in a personal and relevant way and ask for their help. Be specific about what you are asking for (i.e., give them names if possible andplenty of background on why you are asking for help and what you are trying to accomplish). As you get introductions, track where they came from. Your lists should start to merge and you should develop something that looks like a network map showing linkages between the people you know and the people you are trying to meet (the more linkages the better). TRACK INFORMATION. This isn’t a time to rely on your memory. Be anal about writing down who is introducing you to whom, any contextual information you gather and any background you have on the people you are trying to meet with. Step 3: Be specific & structure your meetings. Most people generally manage some form of Steps 1 and 2 in their networking efforts – even if they are not being as careful as I’d like about documenting their work. Step 3 is where people make what I think is the second most common mistake in networking: when they finally get a meeting with someone they are looking to network with they aren’t specific about what they want. I hate meetings like this. They generally include statements like “I’m not really sure what I’m looking to do,” or “I’ve got a very broad background and could fit in a bunch of different places,” or “What kind of investments does Mobius make,” or my personal favorite: “I’d like to do something more entrepreneurial.” Not helpful. At all. Do your homework on who you are meeting with. Be specific about what you are looking to do. Have a story to tell and make sure it’s relevant to the person you are talking with. If you are asking for help/advice on something open ended make sure that is part of the context of setting up the meeting (its ok to network for the purpose of figuring out what you want to do with your life, but be clear about your intent and be specific about the ways in which the person you are talking with can be helpful). The corollary to being specific is structuring your networking interactions well. Good networkers are adept at guiding networking meetings in a way that drives the results they are looking for. Whether you are talking to someone at a cocktail party or sitting in their office – know how you want the interaction to go and guide the discussion. Step 4: Take good notes. This is pretty obvious, but I’m amazed at how often I meet with people who don’t write anything down in our meetings. When I’m networking with someone I take careful notes – first, because it shows that I’m interested in and respect what the other person is saying and second because I want to keep a record of what we talked about and specific ideas for follow-up. When its awkward to take notes directly (for instance at a social event), I try to write down information after a conversation has ended – preferably on the back of the business card I just received, but at least on a notepad (which you should always carry along with a pen to any networking event). Steps 5 & 6: Plan your follow up . . . and actually follow up. These next two steps are where people really fall down – they would make for a lengthy post by themselves. By follow-up I’m not talking about the e-mail you send out the day after meeting with someone thanking them for the meeting, telling them how much you enjoyed talking with them and appreciate their perspective, attaching your CV (or pointing them to your blog <g>), etc. I’m talking about the ongoing communication you have with people. If you’re driving for a specific outcome this can be very structured (i.e., putting reminders in your calendar with specific things you plan to follow up with) – less so if you are engaging in more general networking. Either way, you need to make a plan for how you want to follow up with people and do so. It starts with Step 4 and the natural follow-up to step 4, which is putting this information in some form that is searchable and usable (perhaps a spreadsheet or database if you are networking for a specific outcome, since you’ll be referencing it often, but also potentially notes in your contacts or somewhere else that you store information, but in a way that you can easily separate out people that you are trying to stay in touch with in this way). Remember that networking is a two way street. Good networking is about staying in touch in a relevant way. Sending an e-mail every month asking if any new positions have come open is a bad example of this. Seeing something in the news or an article of interest that you send along to someone with your thoughts is a good example of this. See a person you know in the news – send a note congratulating them on their recent success. Notice that a VC you’ve talked with has just made a new investment – send a note. Find an article that you think would be relevant to that CEO you met with a few months ago – send it along. The idea is to stay top of mind, but in a way that is relevant to the people you are interacting with. Don’t forget to give context in your e-mail (i.e., “Sally – We met two months ago at the xyz event – John Smith introduced us . . . ). I can’t emphasize these steps enough. I can’t believe the number of meetings I have that end with the end of the meeting or a short follow-up note. Even if there were specific follow-up items. People fall down on follow-up and I think expect that they can pop in and out of someone’s network as the need arises. You just accomplished what may be the hardest part of networking (getting a meeting in the first place; grabbing someone’s attention at a party; etc.) – don’t waste your hard work by just entering their contact info in Outlook.

Good networking is definitely an art – and something I’m always trying to get better at myself. I think these suggestions are relevant no matter what stage of the network game you are playing – I hope you find them helpful. Ultimately it’s all about making personal connections and keeping up with those connections in a way that is both relevant to you and to the people in your network.

I was recently interviewed by Larry Nelson from w2w3.com. That piece is now up on the w3w3 site, and is (in my humble opinion) worth a few minutes to check out.  I talk about what it’s like to work at Foundry Group with Brad, Ryan, Jason and Chris as well as about the role of company advisors (inspired by recent posts from this blog on that topic – here and here).  Enjoy!

We were talking today at our regular Monday partner lunch about accessibility and openness. At Foundry we strive to be transparent and available – from our various blogs (the Foundry blog; plus each of our personal blogs -  Jason, Ryan, Brad as well as this one) to direct email addresses on our website. While in many ways venture capital has been somewhat of a mystery to most people, we’re hoping to provide a little transparency into our daily lives, into the mechanisms we use to evaluate companies and into how VCs think about investing in and growing companies.

With that as a backdrop, I wanted to remind readers that I love hearing from you. Comments to blog posts are great, but please feel free to email me directly – seth@foundrygroup.com.  I particularly enjoy hearing questions or suggestions for future blog posts. So keep the comments and emails coming!

Thanks to JB for pointing this out.  Pretty interesting idea.  I particularly like it from a data representation standpoint (see my post on that subject  here).

http://milliondollarhomepage.com/