Trada, a Boulder startup headed by Niel Robertson and funded by Foundry Group launched today, very, very interesting. They are:
Trada is revolutionizing the way Agencies, Advertisers and PPC Experts build and manage PPC marketing campaigns. We’ve developed the first PPC marketplace that allows agencies and in-house advertisers to leverage the skills of hundreds of the best PPC experts in the world, who in turn earn money risk free by generating low-cost clicks and conversions for advertisers.
So Trada crowdsources PPC campaigns and pays based on performance. Very interesting to see how sustainable their payouts are to the people doing the work on the ground. At first I thought this was spec work, but as stated as far from it because they pay the majority of the participants, which leads to a sustainable model that spec is not.
I see PPC campaigns as horribly confusing and needing constant maintenance. A tool I don’t use because I don’t want to spend my days sharpening it. As a company, they have shown that they have a personality to say the least.
They have raised 2.2 in venture funding. Well done on the launch, will be exciting to watch them grow.
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I’ve loved Carbonmade for quite some time, and have had the pleasure of meeting the team in NYC. Today they release their new design, which is downright beautiful.
I love about the landing page:
- simplicity of the message (Your online portfolio)
- positive notes (unicorn and a giant “Yeah!”)
- Colors
- Lead gen (Sign-up! and Try the demo.)
- Call to free, personalization, and community
I like looking at examples, so I click on over to the 2nd thing on the nav (like you read my mind) and am taken to a much more professional and clean design with matching style and enthusiasm.
Clear message, still focus on driving sign ups but also saying our community is awesome (see the “Awesome” badge?).
It says what they do by category labels (photographer can see what other photographers are doing). As well as a basic sampling. Tim Van Damme is listed, and has a fantastic portfolio to look at.
Their progress page is a fresh and fantastic push at transparency. It is a blog of sorts talking about action and reality of their service.
A personal pet peeve of mine is the Kathy Sierra-esk ‘WTF’ button at the bottom, a giant help icon that takes you to a really well thought out FAQ. I wish a feedback loop was a bit tighter, but that is just my perception. In reality, would be highly surprised if Spencer wasn’t the first comment on this post. They are on it as a company with their customers and fans.
It is a shining showcase of how to build a site for users, and how to evolve as a startup. It has character, great design and shines with usability. It doesn’t say ‘we kick ass’ it says ‘our community and you kick ass.’
Their old site was great, this is phenomenal. Well done team, well done.
Download and view a big version by clicking the image.
The basic story- a ton of Interactive participants from SXSW stay an extra day or two after the conference to see a bit of music. They also see the rise of the hipster in Austin. Most grumble, but this is your chance to fit in, the 2010 SXSW Hipsteroff (not associated with the great conference organizers).
What: Dress like a hipster and try to fit in on South Congress the day after SXSW interactive. There will be music and beer.
RSVP here for more details.
Dress to regret and tell your friends. Feel free to hipster up at a thrift shop on South Congress too.
I run a jobs list in Boulder, one that is easily found when searching for a job. People send in resumes and about 35 companies welcome them to town.
The list is just under two years old. I read every single resume that comes through, and as a whole, people are pretty bad at getting a job at a startup. Here are some tips.
- Know your specialty. If you are a marketer, developer or designer, list that at the top. List it in the subject line even. “Rails Developer Looking For Early Stage Startup” would be a great title. I should be able to glance at your coverletter and know what you are looking to do.
- Your resume should be named yourname.pdf (no word).
- Be creative. One of the best cover letters I’ve ever read said “I’m amazing at creating buzzwords, drinking beer and finding adventure. I’m also a kick ass Rails Developer, just coming off a long term contract. Early stage startups are a plus.” This sure as hell beats ‘I’m looking for a challenging and engaging environment to develop my talents.’
- In the history of startups, not a single ‘generalist’ has ever been hired. They are called founders.
- Really, if you can’t focus on something, at least in your introduction, you have a <0% chance of landing a job. Specialize! Customer support! QA! Development! Marketing! Intern! Product Development! Design!
- Be a human. The worst case scenario of getting a job is sending out a resume and getting no responses. Be a human, ask questions that can be answered by friendly folks. Keep the discussion going.
- Be clear. You are looking for a job. Cut the buzzswords, what is the best fit? Steady? Fast paced? Live in Boulder? Just say it. Cut the shit.
- Ditch a resume. You really don’t need one to work at a startup. A simple email of ‘this is what I have done, I’m looking to join a team as a _________ to kick some ass’ is a great way to do it. List specific projects and accomplishments. Show that you can be on point, effective and humble.
- Comment on their blogs! Company blogs are largely lacking in comments!
- Easy way to get into the CEO’s inbox is write a post about the company, saying how you admire / like them. CEO’s look at the blogs, and if in your bio you are clear in what you are looking to do (Developer!) you might just get an expressway to an interview.
- Email is a way to see if you are on it. Reply almost immediately. The more out of the usual workday, the more important. Keep them concise. “Hey Sue just got your email, quite late here but I would love to respond, a) b) c) d). Feel free to call if you have any quesitons.
- Have a personal blog. Write posts about what you specialize in. Get people to comment on it. Stand out. You control your personal brand, and if you don’t do this you are showing you don’t care.
- Really, have a personal blog. Today. Now. Get. On. It.
- Not caring is the #1 reason you won’t be hired at a startup.
- Hack on stuff. I like to think there are great fits for people and startups. When you find that special company, do what you do for them. “I know you have processes to do things like this, but I couldn’t help but see your PPC campaign is missing some pieces. If I was there I would help by doing _______” is a great way to do it. Consider it the interview the others were to lazy to do. When getting a job, standing out helps, a ton. Don’t do this for every app, nor spend too much time on it.
- Attend events. Meet folks there. Follow up from there.
Someone sent a picture of them doing an impressive flip as an addition to their resume, which in Boulder, is the best cover letter I can think of. Checking to see if he got a job today 
You can say I’m a fan of the weekend hackathons. Our friends at Snap Impact (a volunteer run organization to make volunteering easy) are putting together a weekend event to help rebuild the backend of serve.gov.
This is a great way to give back! From an email:
Join SnapCamp from Feb 19-21st in Boulder to help make volunteering ridiculously easy. We will update the power behind serve.gov (All for Good – collaboration of Google and Craigslist Foundation) using Scala/Lift and need skills from software developers to graphic design to marketing to fundraising. Can’t come for the whole weekend? No problem, come for part of it so you won’t miss out.
That is this weekend! Get your free ticket here.
