If you’re a women founder or co-founder of a startup, you have a chance to win an amazing prize package, if you can create the perfect pitch to potental funders.
It’s Women 2.0’s 3rd Annual Pitch 2009: Startup Competition, and five emerging businesses will be chosen to pitch live on May 7.
Prizes include:

One-on-one meeting with Michael Moritz
3 months of office space and mentoring
Marketing strategy
PR strategy
Legal support

Now there is an entry fee of $25. And you may think you’re leaping through hoops to apply. (I think it’s fun stuff, but others  may differ). Youll need a business plan, a paper napkin idea …read more

Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship unanimously passed legislation that would reauthorize two  small business research programs. But, it took months to get it approved – and there are some compromises.
In the bill, Federal agencies with an annual extramural research and development budget of over $100 million are required to allocate 2.5 percent of their extramural R&D dollars to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
But the compromises include participation of companies majority owned and controlled by multiple venture capital companies.
So what do you think? Is this bill good for small businesses? I have my doubts.

Paul Graham over at the Y Combinator recently posted some of the ideas he’d like to fund.
I often meet people who are looking to have their startup funded. But here’s the problem: venture capitalists and other angel investors do not fund startups.
Remember,  angel investors do more than open their pocketbooks. Many are entrepreneurs themselves, providing contacts, entrepreneurial insight and other helpful information to the people they invest in.

And notice I said people. Most angels don’t invest in an idea. After all, ideas are a dime a dozen. They invest in the person who has the idea.

Sounds great, but how do …read more

USA Today just had an article about how some startups are preparing for the economic slowdown.
They gave some good ideas.
But I think they only hit the tip of the iceberg on what people could be doing.
What about marketing? Sure, it’s great it pad your bottom line with VC funds and using collaborative, larger businesses. But sometimes you must do things yourself – and not rely on the fortune of others.
Here’s one thought: how’s that website working?  Are you capturing leads and communicating with them on a regular basis? Or is your site just pretty – and pretty static.
Look, in order …read more

A new story in the Mercury News is saying that the recession is thwarting the growth of new startups in the Silicon Valley.
Since venture capitalist need to focus on putting money back in their portfolios, they have less to invest.  The result: less IPOs and other startups.
According to the article, there have been just four venture-backed IPOs nationwide in 2008, much less than expected.
So what does this mean to you?  Will you be affected by a lack of VC?
(Photo courtesy of Shannon Cherry of Be Heard Solutions.com)

If your looking for venture capitalists (VC),  go west  – or even just to the midwest.
According to the Washington Post,  West Coast and Midwest regions are becoming even popular for VC.
In addition, VCs are investing more. In the US, VC investing grew from $1.2 billion in 2002 to $1.6 billion in 2007, an increase of 33 percent.