January 2012
1 post
March 2011
1 post
4 tags
March Madness Bracket Challenge
MyFanCountry and The coIN Loft will be running a March Madness Bracket Challenge. Check out the details below:
$20 entrance fee
top 2 will win money
all brackets must be in by Tuesday, March 15th at 6pm
paper copy brackets can be dropped off at The coIN Loft - 300A W. 9th Street, Wilmington, DE 19801
digital brackets can be emailed to crew@thecoinloft.com
February 2011
1 post
Soapbox Anyone? :: The Return of The Business of...
Many of you have asked about it….some have begged, which is cool (but not really). Either way, The Business of Now Networking Series is back.
For those of you unfamiliar with the series - The Business of Now is a progressive learning and networking event held every other Thursday at The coIN Loft. These free events are based around topics effecting how we all do business today. In that...
January 2011
1 post
New Year. Better Service.
2010 was a great year. We wouldn’t say it was easy, but we definitely learned a lot of valuable lessons on how to better serve our community.
One lesson in particular is the way people utilized the space. When we opened coIN, we walked into it with the assumption that folks would want to put down roots and make it their headquarters. Over time, we’ve learned that people actually...
December 2010
1 post
“A room full of healthy, motivated, independent professionals is a dream come...”
– via/blog.coworking.com
This is exactly why we started coIN. Collectively we create the type of value business owners are looking for. Separately, we’re the same as every other sales person calling them.
November 2010
1 post
“Some people believe that if you have a good job, you shouldn’t start your...”
– Seth Godin: How can you do it?!
August 2010
2 posts
Study: Start-ups Create Lasting Job Growth →
Though only a fifth of start-ups survive long-term, they replenish the employment market, Kauffman’s Robert Litan reports.
Most of the jobs start-ups create remain as the fledgling companies age, creating a lasting effect on the economy, says a new study.
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundationstudy – titled “After Inception: How Enduring is Job Creation by Start-ups?” – found...
GUMBO! #7
“Viral video: What Old Spice taught us about the role of humor & authenticity.” At the last GUMBO! we talked about how to craft authentic web content. This time around we’re going to push further and talk about how to incorporate video into your brand. You can show up with ideas of your own or we can think up a few while we chat. The goal is for each person to leave with a...
July 2010
9 posts
GUMBO! Session #6 →
GUMBO! is back! We had amazing sessions two weeks ago with Element Design Group walking us through how sketching relates to business planning and Gordon Delgiorno from Film Brothers getting marketing tips from our group for their new film co-op on lower Market Street. This time around, we’re talking about copy writing. We all struggle with it and most of the time we’re hoping for the...
Coin: Ignite Dover Presentaion
1: Today we’re going to talk briefly about 3 things: 1) why proximity is important 2) what components you need to use it and 3) why coworking spaces make it easy
The cool thing about Proximity is that all around us. No matter where you go proximity is always available and that’s exactly why most of us never pay attention to it. It’s to obvious and humans suck at common-sense. We need quick...
Stop Employment Discrimination Before It Starts →
Web Site Launched to Encourage Businesses to Stop Employment Discrimination Before It StartsHireTheQualified.com provides platform for employers to take a stand against disturbing practice
WILMINGTON, DE - A group of individuals committed to helping connect quality employers with qualified employees has launched a website designed to shine a spotlight on businesses that are refusing to engage in...
Google is Sponsoring Coworking Spaces Now!!! →
“Developers drive important innovation on the web and mobile. Google is happy to support TechHub’s aim to provide developers and budding tech entrepreneurs with an affordable, buzzing and creative working environment in London.” said Google’s Reto Meier, Android Developer Advocate.
If Google is stepping in to support a Coworking space, how much more should our city/state, banks, and local capital...
Bijan Sabet: Penniless Philanthropist →
I recently heard the expression “penniless philanthropist”. The idea is you can help people without writing a check. You can donate your time & energy instead. It can be rewarding and you can make an impact. The essential ingredients are working on causes you believe in and with people you love.
I was thinking if the same idea could be applied to venture capital and startup land. Could...
“One of the things I’ve been disappointed about in DE is the lack of...”
– Recent Email….How many other’s out there feel the same way?
June 2010
12 posts
Right Place, Right Size for Entrepreneurs →
There are many advantages to doing business in Delaware:
A strong, pro-business environment; access to a skilled and highly educated workforce;
A consistent and predictable tax structure; and
A strategic location with access to potential markets.
Delaware’s small size is an advantage too. Government agencies work collaboratively to get businesses the resources they need.
These are all...
“I’d never heard of co-working before. Apparently it was an office you can go to...”
– Coworking: Elk Antlers, Awesome with a “J” and Why I’m Going To Die From Diabetes
“Leadership is over glorified…..If you want to start a movement, have the...”
– Derek Sivers: How to start a movement
WatchOur memory and expectations often ruin our ability to accurately calculate probabilities. This excellent TED talk from Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert has a lot of great insights that can easily be applied to our marketing efforts. Enjoy!
5 Reasons Why Coworking Spaces are a Great Place... →
The Strategy and Experience of You
You ever stopped for a second to consider how the brands you buy got your attention? Furthermore, have you ever considered why you continue to buy? I would argue that the answer to both of those questions is strategy and experience. The company that created whatever you bought actually had you in mind when it created it. Everything from the price to the colors of the packaging was designed to...
“It is not the critic who counts,
nor the man who points out how the strong man...”
– Theodore Roosevelt
Fast Company article on a great example of... →
The downturn - A perfect time to innovate →
…….you’ve got to start with Ernest Rutherford: Kiwi lore tells us that when native son Rutherford, known today as the father of nuclear physics, split the atom in 1917, an American journalist asked him how he — someone from a South Pacific backwater — did what so many European and American thinkers could not. He famously replied, “We didn’t have the money,...
Coin 2.0: Provocations with Humility
COIN has been open for a little over 2 months now. We haven’t hit all of our goals, but we’re happy to say the people that have joined are doing some awesome work and show promise of really making a huge impact on our city in the near future.
As a group, we’ve collaborated extensively on three startup projects, the genesis of which can be traced back to random conversations...
May 2010
20 posts
“Economic studies from around the globe consistently link entrepreneurship,...”
– Harvard Business Review Article
How to Start an Entrepreneurial Revolution →
Excerpt:
“Unfortunately, many governments take a misguided approach to building entrepreneurship ecosystems. They pursue some unattainable ideal of an ecosystem and look to economies that are completely unlike theirs for best practices. But increasingly, the most effective practices come from remote corners of the earth, where resources—as well as legal frameworks, transparent governance,...
BetaFish: How Does BetaFish Works? →
Response to the BetaFish program has been overwhelming! Access to seed capital for cocktail napkin phase ideas has been a problem in Delaware for many years; the goal of BetaFish is to fix that. If you didn’t get a chance to read our introductory post of what BetaFish is, you may want to do that…
WatchBeta Fish is a start-up accelerator program in Wilmington DE. The Verge Group has lined up a team of Angels, VC, lawyers, accountants and business coaches to help 5 2-person teams take their tech idea to market in 90 days this summer. Shelter funding is available to help cover living expenses so you can totally focus your attention on bringing your vision to life. Contact @coinloftDE to...
WatchBetaFish pitch party announcement soon. Use this presentation to brush up on your skills.
BetaFish: A Startup Accelerator
By a raise of hands, how many people have ever been paid to develop a good idea? Kudo’s to those of you that have, but if you’ve not been given that special privilege and you have an idea worth money, BetaFish is here.
If you’ve ever wasted 3 months crafting an iron clad business plan, only to be smacked with the reality that no one cares about what you’re trying to sell...
Customers! Customers! Customers! →
New startups should couple customer development with product development from day one, considering the number #1 reason most startups fail is lack of customers.
Reblog: The Hypocrisy of Ideas
No one owns an idea. We can own our perception of an idea, but not the idea itself. By our definition an idea is an epaphanic awareness of the alignment of known facts and life experiences that alters ones perspective on reality. The realization of an idea leads one into creative thinking which can then lead to the commercialization of their own point of view. You may think we’re way off base...
“You have to see the bigger picture here…..when all 21 desks in coIN are...”
– Conversation with a friend about the vision and power of Coworking for the State of Delaware, as well as, members at The coIN Loft
Flexibility and rapid change in the rigid urban... →
We’ve grown accustomed to the Internet as a platform built around behaviors of rapid adaptability and user responsiveness. Within this paradigm, businesses and individuals take action and capture large audiences at a pace that would seem impossible ten years ago. Now there is an increasing desire to enable that same flexibility and speed of responsiveness in the physical public space of our...
Choose Your Community Wisely →
Marshall McLuhan famously said: “We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.” The same, I believe, holds for community. We shape our community by choosing which actors comprise it and what roles they play. And we want to be a valued member of that community, so we adhere to its norms and conventions — our happiness depends on it. For this reason, the community we choose is...
“A lot of (especially first-time) entrepreneurs feel that step 1 is writing a...”
– Ash Maurya on the difference between Lean Startup methodology and Bootstrapped Startup methodology.
“Fuck the pyramid, fuck j-school, fuck writing for a living. Fuck your computer,...”
– A veteran journalist offers advice to a young journalist - Susannah Breslin - Off the Record - True/Slant (via eldee)
What is Stopping Design From Becoming a Business... →
Design isn’t just about aesthetics. It is at the core of every decision that is made within your organization. Yes, it encompasses the look and feel of your business cards, but it is also the way you structure your sales strategy, track transactions, hire employees, and orient furniture in your waiting room.
Take a look at what the experts have to say about the subject of design as a...
GUMBO! →
GUMBO! is a collective brainstorming session to help people work through the million dollar ideas they have rolling around in their heads. This isn’t a seminar about how to brainstorm….this is about actually getting our hands dirty with ideas.
The event will do three things: 1) Validate 2) Agitate 3) Invigorate
La coIN Loft Pièce De Deux →
Here’s the NEW Flash website for NWAA friends “The coIN Loft,” designed by NWAA Design Coordinator Mike Podolak. Enjoy!
April 2010
18 posts
17 tags
