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“Eventbrite”:http://www.eventbrite.com is the best way to publish, promote, and sell-out your next event. Kevin has founded 3 Internet companies, Connect Group (acquired by Lodgenet Entertainment), “Xoom”:http://www.xoom.com, and most recently “Eventbrite”:http://www.eventbrite.com. He has invested in advised in a number of start ups including PayPal, “Flixster”:http://www.flixster.com, and “Trulia”:http://www.trulia.com. He is also a limited partner in three venture funds, “The Founder’s Fund”:http://www.thefoundersfund.com, “Outlook Ventures”:http://www.outlookventures.com, and “Sequoia Capital”:http://www.sequoiacap.com, so do drop him an email if you are looking for funding.

Which feature of Eventbrite’s website was the most fun to develop?

Our goal is to help event holders sell out their events. So, when we are able to add new tools that contributed to this goal, it was very rewarding. For example, when we improved the ticket purchase flow on the event registration page, overall ticket purchase conversion rose. Or, as we enabled our event holders to publish their events publicly throughout the Internet by simply checking a box, our event holders were able to attract more attendees from this increased exposure. The success of our business is based on how many tickets our event holders sell, so as we better enable our event holders to do this, we see a significant lift in the business. Furthermore, as our event holders achieve greater success with our service, they tell others about our service which brings a noticeable lift in new Eventbrite customers.

What kind of advice would you give to an entrepreneur who is hoping to have their company acquired by a public entity?

Aspire to build a great company with great products and delighted customers. Don’t aspire to be acquired. If you do the former, you’ll have lots of suitors.

What was the biggest stumbling block that you faced while building up the site?

Currently, customer acquisition remains our biggest challenge. In fact, it is the greatest challenge of most start ups on the Internet. In other words, can we spend less to get new customers using our service versus the profit they will yield over the customer’s lifetime? As the Internet economy heats up again and outside capital flows too freely into our sector, advertising rates are climbing precipitously. A survey of general search marketing spend finds marketers are overspending to “win” keyword buys and driving up their cost per acquisition. Our next big challenge will come in 2007 as we staff up. There is a scarcity of great talent as this same outside capital dries up the available people resources. The environment of 2006 is astoundingly different from the tight times of 2003 when I founded “Xoom”:www.xoom.com – we had our pick of great talent back then. We’ve got to really fight for it now.

Bonus: Have you ever used your site for a special event? What event did you enjoy most that you organized with Eventbrite?

I’m an Old Member (Alumni) of Oxford and I’m involved in the annual Oxford Cambridge Boat Race Dinner here in San Francisco. This event was one of our first Eventbrite customers and it was really rewarding to see a huge adoption of online payment from a group predominantly over 60. Over 80% of payments were done online last year and we anticipate over 90% this year.

Copyright © 2006 by Sonia Aggarwal

“TextMarks”:http://www.textmarks.com makes it very, very easy to do one-to-many or many-to-many communications via text messages. It enables this with text message alert lists and with keywords that users can text to the short code (41411) to receive up-to-date information that is relevant to them. Ariel Poler has been starting Internet companies since 1994. His first company was I/PRO (web measurement) and then he started Topica (email communities) and now TextMarks. In between these projects he has helped other entrepreneurs – as an active board member. Some of the companies that he has been involved with include LinkExchange, Kana Software, Papilia, Bills.com and StumbleUpon.

What gave you the idea for TextMarks?

I am a heavy SMS user but most of the information that was already available via SMS was “mainstream”. So I thought “wouldn’t it be great to enable the ‘long tail’ to publish via SMS?” Independently, I have always been frustrated by the poor experience of surfing the web from a cell phone (at least with every phone that I’ve had), so I thought it would be great to web information easily accessible via SMS.

What is your strategy for growth? How has your experience with other internet start-ups informed this?

We are still at a very early stage. We are “tweaking” the product and making sure that we have something that is compelling to lots of people before we focus on growing it. One of my takeaways from previous start-ups is that it is important to experiment and evolve products until they get some minimal level of natural traction. At that point, the focus should shift to making the product more viral.

What do you see as the most far-reaching impact of this service?

Thanks to always-on Internet access, we are now used to being “online” whenever we are at the office or at home. Yet most people spend significant time away from their computers and are thus offline. Practically everyone has a cell phone and every cell phone supports text messaging. We believe TextMarks can help people be online even when they are not on their computers.

Bonus: What was the first TextMark you created?

My first TextMark was LIARA, which shows the whereabouts of my sailboat. My most recent one (actually it was my wife who did this one) was CENA, which tells me what’s for dinner each night at home – so that I don’t eat the same for lunch.

Copyright © 2006 by Sonia Aggarwal

“MyChurch”:http://www.mychurch.org is a social network for local churches to outreach and build community by networking their congregation. Joseph & Carol Suh are a husband and wife team, both UC Berkeley Computer Science grads, who have a passion for meaningful technology.

What do you hope that people will get out of MyChurch?

Joe: Our hope is that MyChurch will be a useful tool for strengthening existing relationships within the church body as well as providing an authentic glimpse of the community and an interactive way for people to “visit” the church online.

Carol: Sometimes there are inaccurate notions of what a church is (old, smelly, dark buildings with scary statues, etc), but in reality a lot of churches are awesome, supportive, and vibrant communities. Additionally, many church websites are woefully stuck in Web 1.0 and can’t really convey the fun and the meaningful relationships they provide for a lot of people. We hope MyChurch can help highlight what a church community is really about, all the while, giving churches a collaborative voice on the web.

What has been the best thing about getting everything set up for the site? How long has it taken you?

Carol: We started design and development just over a year ago and then launched MyChurch in Public Beta this past September. The best thing about the whole process was releasing it and getting the responses that we did from individuals and churches all over the world saying they’ve been waiting for a tool like this to come along. We were contacted by a number of large organizations even while we were in Private Beta, that really encouraged us and validated the vision of MyChurch.

Joe: Recently a pastor called MyChurch “an answer to our prayers”, and another member said it was a “God-send”. We’re very fortunate to be working on something we’re excited about and gets others excited too! We also love to see people using MyChurch to look for churches and people in their area to connect with.

I see that you’re setting up a google mash-up to make a church search map. How did you approach them for that collaboration and what has been your biggest challenge in setting that up?

Carol: We actually used the Google API for our church map, which was released about a month ago. The biggest challenge in getting that set up was making sure the data calls were optimized. Because our database is getting bigger and bigger everyday, we really couldn’t show all the active churches for the entire US at once. You’ll notice you are first zoomed into your location (based on a reverse IP lookup if you’re not logged-in. You can then jump to other cities or zips to see churches in that area.

Joe: We’re big fans of google map mashups and thus really enjoyed building in the church map. We’ll soon be updating the display of the map to highlight more relevant information about each church on there as well as adding in a google map mashup of church events!

Bonus: What’s your favorite thing about your church?

Joe: My favorite thing about our church (“The River”:http://www.the-river.org) is the authenticity. The leaders make themselves transparent and approachable and the community is diverse and vibrant. The River, which often times draws from the members to help shape the worship and different events, had actually gone against our original ideas of what church is and in lots of ways become a real inspiration for what MyChurch.org is today.

Carol: I’m drawn to the interactive-ness of the services, as well as the awesome worship music. But what I love most is our weekly small group fellowship.

Copyright © 2006 by Sonia Aggarwal

“Linx”:http://www.linxdating.com is an invite-only Bay Area based dating and social networking society that links high caliber professionals to one another through traditional approaches as well as through exclusive “Link and Drink” parties. Based on a large network of friends and referrals to their friends, Linx is able to maintain its exclusivity. Amy Andersen is from Marin County, and currently resides in Palo Alto. When not linking couples, she loves entertaining, running, films, volunteer work, time with family and collaborating with other entrepreneurs. She plans to get a dachshund puppy in 2007.

I see that linxdating is quite selective. What do you look for in an eligible individual?

Linx prides itself in working with the top 25% of the population of eligible men and women. For Linx, we look at individuals who represent what we call “high caliber eligible professionals.” Basically, everyone is referred into the network by an existing member who acts as their sponsor. To qualify for admission, a prospect must meet the academic requirements of having at least undergraduate education being completed. At this point, over 75% of those who apply have some sort of post graduate work, i.e., many members have their MBAs, MD, JD, PhD. Additionally, everyone must be a professional and going places in their career. Furthermore, we don’t want to work with workaholics who would have zero time for a relationship, so finding people who are extremely well rounded and pursing multiple interests outside of their career is paramount. Next, all prospects must have done something “truly exceptional” in their lifetime so far. These accomplishments range from former Olympians, authors, founders, nonprofit leaders, or raising a child on their own while juggling graduate school and full time work. The final component behind admission is making sure each applicant is physically fit and attractive. If we are trying to locate mates for life, it is important that every member lead a healthy lifestyle where fitness and one’s image is a pillar in their daily life.

What has been the most fun for you in developing this site?

To backtrack a little, full time I am founder and CEO of Linx Dating LLC which is the private offline dating and social networking society I speak about above. For the past year, I have managed to put together a very seasoned advisory board for my online project, which basically carries over successful core principles from my offline venture, yet to the online world. Thus far, I would say the most fun at developing the site had been articulating all my ideas into a working wiki which helps me visualize my ideas better and allows my board to understand my concepts. Additionally, we have built a great propriety database which will be compelling to investors (so I hope).

How do you see the site growing over the next few years? Are you planning to expand to other regions or keep the project here in the Bay area?

As an entrepreneur, I face an interesting dilemma that I am sure many reading this can agree with. It is an issue of time management and bandwidth. For Linx, it is a lot to juggle running my successful offline business (that has been in business 3 years this month), while finding time in the day to focus on the “larger” picture being that of scaling the business and launching a second venture. My short term goals right now are to locate a great co-founder who is as (if not more) passionate about the world of matchmaking as I am. This talented co-founder can help me spearhead the online project and have a solid working knowledge of the technical side of the internet, as well as, some business experience. For instance, if I could be introduced to a person who has a CS background but with an MBA from a top school, like Stanford, would be amazing. Someone who is not fearful of the sometimes uncertainty that a start-up environment brings would be great. Once I locate this sharp and dedicated co-founder, we will work on the financing aspect of taking the venture to the next level and start pitching for funding. So far Linx has been totally self funded, which I am rather proud about. If anyone reading this would like to be considered for a co-founder position, please email me. Thank you.

When ready, the site will grow virally (no plans to advertise, just like the offline model) and will be validated in this market (the Bay Area). An entrepreneur can only be so lucky to have a concept roll into other markets and gain traction. If it does, I already feel blessed. If not, I feel like I am already helping an underserved market, the opportunity to meet like-minded men and women one match at a time.

Bonus: Do you have a horror story about someone totally crazy who came in to interview?

I guess I feel pretty lucky, since Linx is referral based and based on my trusted network of friends that the deal flow of new business have been reputable and amazing professionals. That being said, there is not one specific nutty person who has interviewed with me, but more a myriad of interesting situations to share. From men that half way through the interview say, “What about us together baby?”, or people that “panic” over the formality of the legal membership agreement that all members have to sign, or a guy when I first started my business who refused to take his date to dinner. He said, “No, I think I will take her for a walk instead.” I kicked him out of the network as fast as possible. Linx is about re-instilling the concept of modern day chivalry, courtship, and the fun rituals of dating. Someone who has an issue abiding by this simple request to do dinner dates, I guess constitutes as a crazy person who I met with.

Copyright © 2006 by Sonia Aggarwal

*Email*: Lara| laraabrams | com
*Company*: “Lara Abrams Communications, LLC”:http://www.laraabrams.com
*Interests*: the outdoors, skiing, ice hockey and street hockey, my hubby, life, and cooking.
*Looking for*: Interesting projects to work on, interesting minds to connect with, and nice people to work with and know!

“DailyStrength”:http://www.dailystrength.org is a social network focused on health and life challenges. Doug Hirsch is an Internet geek who has a passion for bringing people together.

What inspired you to start DailyStrength? Did something happen in your own life or the life of a loved one that led you to the concept?

DailyStrength was, in a way, born from the pain of my cousin’s death from liver cancer 15 years ago. It happened before the Internet existed, and I, as a teenager, had neither the resources nor the communication tools to be able to understand both his illness and his emotional state, and I feel that I failed as his friend and relative.

Some years later, I found that I had a passion for online communities, and I began to design and build social tools, first for Yahoo, then for Facebook. Finally, when I decided to strike out on my own, I had the chance to interweave my passion with the experiences of my own life. Everyone has issues – let’s face it – and our quest is to help people overcome their challenges with the support and help of others. It seems so obvious, and yet hadn’t been done in a simple, easy way that everyone could grasp.

I see that there are no ads on your site, which is quite refreshing. But how is it funded? Do you get a lot of inquiries from companies hoping to reach your communities? How do you respond?

I wish we could run forever without ads, but, unfortunately, that won’t be the case. A subscription model would prevent us from serving as many people as possible, so we’re left with paying the bills with ads.

We have the luxury of being able to run for quite a long time without turning on ads, and when we do so, ads will be clearly identified. We’re also planning to return a good portion of our ad revenue to non-profit organizations…more to come on that soon.

What have you learned by putting this supportive site together? What was the biggest obstacle that you faced? Where do you look for support?

he products that ultimately succeed on the Web are ones that satisfy core human wants and needs, and health is certainly one of those. But we’ve learned more about what seems to really affect people and make a difference. For example, the very act of writing is extremely theraputic, and I often see journal entries where someone starts out quite angry and finishes in a much better place. We also find that a response, any response at all, to someone’s journals or questions is like magic. People really respond to anyone at all showing interest in their story and their pain.

The biggest obstacle I faced in building this site was finding partners who I felt would “get it”. I’m the kind of guy who needs to bounce ideas off of others, and work through things to get to the perfect solution. I’ve tried to start many companies, either on my own or with others, and it’s next to impossible to succeed unless you can find folks who complement your energy, your thought process and your skill set. I lucked out this time.

Bonus: Do you have a favorite story from one of your users that inspires you to continue your work?

It’s a lame answer, but we receive 100’s of stories everyday from our users, who write of challenges that I can’t even begin to imagine. We have folks struggling with everything from cancer to substance abuse to divorce and depression. What inspires me is when I get hugs from folks on the site, just letting me know that we’re making a difference.

Today, a member sent me a note that said: “Thank you so much for being here for me. I was beginning to think that true help wasn’t out there until I found this place. You literally brought me tears of joy. It means so much to know that there is somebody there to care for you.”

That’s a pretty good way to start your day.

Copyright © 2006 by Sonia Aggarwal

“Mobo”:http://www.gomobo.com is a mobile food ordering service that allows customer to order and pay with a one-digit text message and skip the line at busy coffee and lunch spots. Noah N. Glass is a 25-year-old mobile entrepreneur who set to work building Mobo after waiting in line 10 minutes for a cup of coffee and 37 minutes for a burrito in the same day, shortly after moving to New York City.

What’s your strategy for growing Mobo over the next few years? Hoping to include more NYC restaurants or looking to expand your geographic coverage?

We’re laser-focused in New York City for the next 12 months, aiming to launch in over 2,500 restaurants by the end of 2007 with a mix of independent restaurants and chains. In 2008, we’ll launch Mobo in major cities around the US and pilot test some non-urban areas.

How have you approached restaurants to get them on board?

We’ve kept our team very small over the past year and I’ve done all of the selling myself. At this point, we have a huge list of restaurants ready to launch and are building up our capacity to satisfy that demand.

What recommendations would you give to other entrepreneurs hoping for the kind of success you’re experiencing?

Never, ever, ever give up. Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs. Sometimes it feels like you’re on top of the world. Sometimes it feels like the world is on top of you. Persistence is the key. As my mom used to tell me before sports games growing up: “Have fun. Do well. Don’t get hurt.”

Bonus: What’s your #1 fave order?

Turkey sub on wheat from Subway 23rd St. with lettuce, tomato, and lots of spicy mustard.

Copyright © 2006 by Sonia Aggarwal

*Email*: m_tsai | berkeley | edu
*Company*: “SyncTonic LLC”:http://www.synctonic.com, Wei Laboratories
*Interests*: entrepreneurship, marketing, biotechnology
*Looking for*: professional opinions and eye-opening opportunities

*Email*: carmen | ignitepr | com
*Company*: “Ignite P.R.:”http://www.ignitepr.com
*Interests*: 2007 schedule opps for high tech entrepreneurs
*Looking for*: sponsorship opps for our local, high tech clients

“Rapleaf”:http://www.rapleaf.com is a portable global reputation system.

What’s your background – why did you decide to start Rapleaf?

We started Rapleaf to make the world more profitable to be ethical. We want to reward people for good behavior and encourage people to help others.

My background is I have started a few Internet companies in the past. I’ve never held a real job (yet).

What’s your vision for society and how do Rapleaf’s ethics play into that vision?

We believe there will soon be a world where people get benefits from being a good person. Some of our vision already exists — for instance, today you get benefits (cheaper and faster loans) for paying your bills on-time. We want to extend that ethos to all parts of society.

Bonus: Who do you consider a role model in terms of honesty?

A few people:
Craig Newmark — I have always been impressed with Craig and how he runs his business. He puts principals and service first.

Manish Shah and Vivek Sodera — two of my co-founders at Rapleaf. They truly believe it is more profitable to be ethical.

The average person — the average person is surprisingly honest, helpful, and forthright. I am a big believer that the vast majority of people are kind and want to help others.

And, of course, Noah Kagan is great!

Copyright © 2006 by Sonia Aggarwal