Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Because of forthcoming traveling and holiday merriment, we wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving a little early.



Hope you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday.





Also, for those of you braving Black Friday in New York City, don't forget to use UpNext to figure out where all the stores are located to plan your shopping strategies.





Share This Post

Digg This Add To Del.icio.us Add To Furl Add To Reddit Fav This With Technorati Add To Yahoo MyWeb Add To Newsvine Add To Google Bookmarks Add To Bloglines Add To Ask Add To Windows Live Add To Slashdot Stumble This

Monday, November 24, 2008

UpNext Map Permalink: Email, Blogs, Twitter, Tumblr

At UpNext, we try to make it easy for you to explore and discover this great city of New York. Users love how they can intuitively find places to eat, drink, shop, sleep, and more. We recently added a feature so you can share your finds with others.

You can now create a map permalink and share it with your friends. Here is an easy step by step tutorial.

1) Find the Place you want to share
Navigate the map and use the search bar, category medallions or activity buttons to find the business, landmark, intersection, or address you want to share.

2) Map Permalink

Click on "Map Permalink" button on the top right corner of the map

or

the "Send it to" button on the right side bar.





3) Customize the snapshot
- Select the size of your desired snapshot. A red box will appear which are the borders for the image size.
- Move the map to center your selection and to include any landmarks or streets you think are appropriate.
- Click "Create Snapshot" to capture.


(The example above shows the new Shake Shack on the Upper West Side. We have included the street names as well as the Natural History Museum on the right for context.)


4) Share the map permalink

- Copy the URL and send it in an email

- Copy the embed URL and post it to your blog

- Send the image along with a message directly to your Tumblr

- Post a Twitter message with the map url included





These permalinks are great for adding visual locations to messages. Here are some example of the permalinks in use. Twitter Example, Tumblr Example

If you come up with or see any other creative uses for UpNext permalinks, please let us know in the comments.





Share This Post

Digg This Add To Del.icio.us Add To Furl Add To Reddit Fav This With Technorati Add To Yahoo MyWeb Add To Newsvine Add To Google Bookmarks Add To Bloglines Add To Ask Add To Windows Live Add To Slashdot Stumble This

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Pitching VC's: The Big Three Auto Way

By now you have read about the CEO's of the Big 3 automakers flying to Washington in private jets to request taxpayer bailout money. Here's the link in case you missed it.

If Congress does indeed bailout the automakers, then perhaps we should all consider pitching investors the Big 3 Way rather than cutting costs and being lean.

Here is how I would do it.

- Show up to the meeting in an Audi R8 and park it next to the VC's BMW. Make sure he notices it from his office window by honking loudly when you pull up. (Even better, if you get there before him, make sure to park in his space if he has one.)

- Bring at least 6 people to the meeting. Make sure they all have VP or Director titles. That way the VC's knows that they get paid a lot of money, but there are still people above them getting paid even more.

- Bring along the consulting firm you hired to put your pitch deck together. McKinsey or the B's (Bain, BCG, Booz) would be best.

- During the getting to know you part of the discussion, make sure to invite the VC to the company holiday party at Per Se (or French Laundry) so that he can meet the rest of the team.

- When talking about the issues with your product, make the analogy that a product has to be tailored to each user like the custom suit you are wearing.

- When asked about possible exits, get your bankers and lawyers on the phone (both on retainer) and have them talk about the IPO window opening in 2009.

- When the receptionist/assistant/intern brings in some bottled water, make sure to tip him a benjamin.

- If he ever dares to question your spending, imply that he does not care about employee safety. If he looks confused, start rambling about standard procedures.

Let me know if you have other suggestions in the comments.





Share This Post

Digg This Add To Del.icio.us Add To Furl Add To Reddit Fav This With Technorati Add To Yahoo MyWeb Add To Newsvine Add To Google Bookmarks Add To Bloglines Add To Ask Add To Windows Live Add To Slashdot Stumble This

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

NYC Hyperlocal Community

Last night a group of hyperlocal/LBS web companies got together for food and drinks at Pop Burger Midtown. It was a great evening and I hope that there are more events to come.

Here are some of the companies represented:

There are probably some that I missed (apologies in advance) but it was a great turnout. Special thanks to Landy and Murat for organizing.

This was probably one of the best meetup/networking events I have attended. It is great to be in a room with fellow entrepreneurs who are trying to solve similar issues. At one point there was a group discussion about a very niche local related topic which probably would have bored most people at regular tech events. But last night it led to a deep discussion that included everyone. It was nice to be able to take a deep dive into issues without having to explain the greater details.

There are some very smart and motivated people working great local solutions in New York City and beyond. If you are involved in the hyperlocal, location based services domain definitely join us so that the community can continue to grow.





Share This Post

Digg This Add To Del.icio.us Add To Furl Add To Reddit Fav This With Technorati Add To Yahoo MyWeb Add To Newsvine Add To Google Bookmarks Add To Bloglines Add To Ask Add To Windows Live Add To Slashdot Stumble This