The most interesting startup, web, technology and generally relevant new stuff I read this week. Some of the stories are older than the past week but have resurfaced because of their quality. Most links were discovered via Ycombinator’ Hacker News. If you want to keep an eye on the startup tech world news during the week, drop by the IA feeds to see a aggregation of some of the best web, startup and technology blogs.

What do investors look for in a startup?

A quality list of criteria from a successful internet entrepreneur and investor.

There’s no silver bullet or magic answer but I actually do have a set of criteria I’ve come up with based on my own startups, after looking back on what worked.
- Read the whole story at Venture Hacks

At Amherst college, 1% of first-year students have landlines, 99% have Facebook accounts

The times they are a changing… It constantly amazes me to see how fast technology adoption is changing and how the younger generation is already growing up without things that I couldn’t have done without.

Peter Schilling — the director of information technology at Amherst College — crunched the numbers on the technological habits of this year’s incoming class, and discovered some fascinating stuff. He’s published it online as the “IT Index”, crafted in the style of a Harper’s Index, and it’s an intriguing snapshot of some of the technologically-driven behavioral changes that will mark the next generation.
- Read the whole story at collision detection

10 Books that will Substitute A Computer Science Degree

There are fields of study that I think a real world education is as strong or stronger than a classroom education… here is a list of books for the developer in you or your team.

1. Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter
Godel, Escher and Bach, written by Douglas Hofstadter, while the title would suggest it is discussion of a mathematician, an artist, and a composer, is a complex examination of how human beings develop perception and meaning. More specifically, the book explores, through a series of dialogues and narrations, how symbols, thought and language are all intertwined and how reality is essentially a composition of overlapping meanings and perceptions…
- Read the whole story at Techoozie

Will the Real Slim Shady Please “Startup”

A few lessons from a game changing musician that a startup entrepreneur can learn from.

In the end whether or not you like Eminem you will not argue against the impact he had on his community. Below are just a few lessons we can learn from “Slim Shady” that will help put your Startup on the Eminem Success Track.
- Read the whole story at Under the Radar Blog

Scott McNealy: To have a successful start-up, be careful who you marry

Just a few short tips, but a list of interesting points… and the who you marry one I think is very important for any internet astronaut.

If you’re itching to take your struggling start-up to the big time, you could do worse than take Sun Microsystems’ Chairman and co-founder Scott McNealy advice to heart. After all, in three months, McNealy and the three others of his cohort turned their start-up profitable and brought us Java, Solaris, and OpenOffice.org.
- Read the whole story at cnet news

Tipjoy Raises $1 Million For Its Simple Micropayment Platform

Great to see Y Combinator type startups doing well… and I think there is room for a service like this to offer an income stream for bloggers outside of crappy banner ads.

Tipjoy, a Y Combinator-funded micropayment startup that launched in February, has closed a Series A funding round led by Betaworks, with The Accelerator Group and Chris Sacca also participating. The company hasn’t disclosed the exact amount of the funding, but says that it is just shy of $1 million.
- Read the whole story at TechCrunch

Google’s Project 10 to the 100th

While I love that Google is reaching out and empowering the people to offer ideas on how to change the world… 10 million for 5 ideas is in my opinion very weak for the billion dollar giant… why not 1,000 ideas with $10,000… To me this feels more like a $10 million PR campaign.

Project Project 10 to the 100th is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible.
- Read the whole story at Project 10 to the 100th

Entrepreneurs and…Hey, There’s A Shiny New Thing!

There is a delicate balance for internet entreprenuers to be in the know about new emerging tools and technologies, but sometimes being in the know can be extremely distracting and derailing.

If you’re one of those rare entrepreneurs that has the discipline to stay reasonably focused on what you should be working on, feel free to skip the rest of this article with the comforting knowledge that you have my admiration and envy.
- Read the whole story at OnStartups

Seth Godin: Profile of a Marketing Guru

Seth Godin has certainly done a very good job of establishing himself as a master marketing voice in the new media world.

But Godin didn’t reach guru status through his books alone. A five-year stint as a columnist for the magazine Fast Company helped raise his profile, and his blog, sethgodin.typepad.com, which consistently ranks in Web-tracker Technorati’s top 20, helped him reach beyond business readers. Across these media, Godin delivers his combination of counterintuitive thinking and a great sense of fun. “He’s a born entertainer,” says author and consultant Tom Peters.
- Read the whole story at Business Week

Start-up Burnout? Motivation: Quotes, Youtube and Sinatra

A short list of some classic and fun quotes, videos and tidbits.

Possibly the best business book of 1880 (prove me wrong), The Art of Money Getting by P.T. Barnum, by the legendary showman and entrepreneur, is full of great material like this…
- Read the whole story at dMix

Five warning signs a tech start-up is in trouble

Being in a constant state of worry isn’t helpful for any entrepreneur trying to straddle the risk of starting their new venture, but paying attention to red flags is a good way to avert possible disasters.

The sound of a tech start-up crashing to Earth is loudest when it’s unexpected. However, there are several warning signs that investors and customers can look for that almost always spell trouble:
- Read the whole story at The Industry Standard

 
 
Enjoy your weekend reading and I’ll see you next week for another smattering of useful or entertaining links.
Launch Well.
-D