NEWE News: Awards, Events, and More Startup News

By Chip Griffin on May 15, 2009 2:47 PM | No Comments
Welcome to the first issue of the NEWE email newsletter. I still don't have a good name for it, so feel free to shoot me any suggestions.
 
Hopefully this will be a good regular roundup of news and information of use to fellow web entrepreneurs in New England. If you have any news you'd like to see us feature, please share it with me.
 
Last night was the Software Association of New Hampshire Annual Dinner.  The event featured guest speakers Rick Leclerc the VP of Technology Partnerships for Bradford Networks and John Sutton the Director of Sales and Partner Development for Dartware.

In addition, the New Hampshire High Tech Council named Chuck Moran and his co-founders Jerry Nine, Tom McDonald and Mark Housell of Skillsoft it's entrepreneurs of the year.  The big push in tech seems to be finding ways to bailout the floundering news industry by helping to better integrate web tools into modern journalism. 
 
Finally, please share this newsletter with others in the local web community who you think might be interested. Membership in NEWE is free and a great way to connect with fellow web entrepreneurs in our communities. Your friends and colleagues can also sign up to receive this email newsletter without joining NEWE.
 
Now on to events and news...
 
Upcoming Events
  • Wednesday, May 20 - OpenCoffee in Cambridge, MA
  • Tuesday, May 26 - TechStars starts in Boston, MA
For more information, other events, or to share your own event information please visit the NEWE Event Calendar.

NH Entrepreneur of the Year - 80% Execution, 20% Strategy
Jesse Devitte - New Hampshire Startup Blog

Some closure on those earlier posts about the NHHTC Entrepreneur of the Year question and and  the selection of Skillsoft ... As Chuck Moran and his co-founders Jerry Nine, Tom McDonald and Mark Housell accepted their NH Entrepreneurs of The Year award the other night he was able to share several key factors in their success. He shared that the one thing that drives them above all else is the customer and he reinforced the point by saying that all those who stood with him on that dais spent most of every day directly interacting with customers versus "internal matters."

Two Maine Newspapers Test the Future of Newspapers' Web Plans
Galen Moore - Mass High Tech

Competing business models to save the newspaper industry are breaking ground not in Boston or New York, but in Down East Maine, as two local publishers try web-based strategies that couldn't be more at odds. Village Soup Inc., a chain of four local papers with headquarters in Rockland, last year blurred the line between advertising and editorial by letting local merchants pay to post their blogs on its Village Soup family of websites.  Last month, the Ellsworth American took a turn in the opposite direction, replacing its online presence with a site called Fenceviewer, which features summarized versions of the paper's articles. The full Ellsworth American is available weekly as a PDF download to those willing to pay a $32 annual subscription.

Online Upstarts Deliver News Without the Paper
Johnny Diaz - The Boston Globe

In Greater Boston, some news sites have surfaced but with smaller ambitions than Chi-Town's. They focus on individual communities and are often managed by one person with contributions from residents. These outlets include the Melrose Mirror website, insidemedford.com, and yourarlington.com. There are also a host of websites sponsored by local media companies, such as those owned by GateHouse Media and Boston.com's growing roster of hyperlocal "Your Town" sites.

Massachusetts Innovation vs. Silicon Valley Tech Culture
Dann Anthony Maurno - Mass High Tech
 
With its famous brain trust, Massachusetts feels it should be the next Silicon Valley for startup tech companies. Brains, though, are only part of the equation, and perhaps not even the most important part. "After 40 years worth of tech startups in the Bay Area, there is a real ecosystem around taking companies from startup through Fortune 50 status," says Jeff Selman of Nixon Peabody LLP. The Global 100 law firm has 17 offices worldwide, including one in Boston and another in Silicon Valley, where Selman is a partner. Silicon Valley is more alike in atmosphere to Hollywood than Boston; it is a hyper-focused "industry town" of power players. "If you walk down the street or go to your kid's soccer game, you'll run into people who are in or about the tech economy," says Selman. "There is a mix of people living, breathing, and thinking the same way, for better or worse."

Web Conversion Firm SeeWhy Grows Funding, Facilities
Staff Writer - Mass High Tech
 
SeeWhy Inc., a website conversion development company, has grown in every direction, pulling in $4.5 million in funding, opening a new center devoted to software as a service (SaaS) delivery and research, and adding a new CEO. SeeWhy's recently launched free abandonment tracking service, called Abandonment Tracker Free, follows web analytics to find abandoned websites, online forms, applications and registrations and convert to customers.

North of Boston Biz Plan Picks Finalists
Brendan Lynch - Mass High Tech
 
The North of Boston Business Plan Competition has chosen three health care-related startups as its finalists for 2009. The three finalists will pitch their business plans for 15 minutes, and will then be subjected to 10 minutes of questioning from the competition's judges. The winner will be chosen following the presentations at an event on May 13. Finalists are chosen from startups less than two years old, and committed to being located on the North Shore or in the Merrimack Valley, with plans to grow to at least five full-time employees within two years.

Viximo Lands $5M, Names North Bridge's Grayson as CEO
Staff Writer - Mass High Tech

Internet startup Virtual Goods Market Inc., which does business as Viximo, has pulled in an earlier $5 million financing round and named North Bridge Venture Partners principal Dayna Grayson as its acting CEO. The $5 million funding for the Cambridge-based company, which came from North Bridge Venture Partners and Sigma Partners, closed in the first quarter, Grayson said. Grayson took over the acting CEO position from former CEO Rob Frasca. 

Online Shopping Recommendation Engine StyleFeeder Pulls in $500k
Galen Moore - Mass High Tech

StyleFeeder Inc. has raised an inside round of $500,000 in convertible debt, its executives and investors confirm.  The Cambridge-based company provides an online shopping recommendation website aimed at women ages 18 to 35. Investors Highland Capital Partners and Boston-based Schooner Capital LLC returned to participate in the round, which adds to the company's total equity funding of about $3.5 million, said Highland principal Gaurav Tewari.

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