...at the end of the fight, when the matador feels it is time, he squares up with the bull in a final duel.  The game is now over.  There is no more taunting, no more missed charges.  On this move, the gigantic thundering bull will charge straight at the matador, and the matador will do nothing but stand his ground until the last second.  And then, with a final lunge, the matador will drive the tip of his sword cleanly between the bull's shoulders and straight into his heart, using the bull's own momentum against him to drive the tip of the blade home... and if it is done right, the blade goes in like butter, and the bull falls to the ground, dead.

This is how I see web marketing.

Other people talk a lot of sh##, but are always hiding behind some excuse or obstacle that prevents them from really getting into the mix:


...other's are clowns, humorous distractions, that have their place and get some attention...


...but it isn't really what the fans came to see.

So what does this have to do with Marketing and Monetization?  I just submitted my application to TechCrunch:)  Cross your fingers.

Cliffhanger.

...forget hanging; I just ran 3 steps and jumped as far as I could  in order to clear the first ledge, and simply get invited. If I can do that, then the next hurtle is getting on stage... and then theoretically winning their coveted 'Disrupt Cup' and $50k prize.

I can't say my App is that good, but for as little time and money that was spent on it, it's still a bull killer:)

...but let me add, if there was ever a person more deserving of that cup than me, I hope I get the opportunity to shake their hand in person in NYC at the end of May.  I just need to get on that stage and use that opportunity to disseminate that app, and I'm good to go.  But if I won, wow, there is an enormous amount of publicity associated with that distinction... which is why I posted this thread in here.

This is another way of making money, theoretically.  You build the app, disseminate it for free, get an angel round to build out some more functionality, then allow the angel to position your company to get flipped. The goal was in 6 months, starting with nothing, to raise the value to more than $500k. Then look for a serious round as soon as I can show the new product and that the current one has solid traction (I'm hoping as soon as the end of the third quarter.)

...But if TC says no (which is more likely than not) then it's back to 'Plan B' and my social whoring skillz:)  I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything.  I wrote them on Friday asking for early consideration, the same way I used to get my crap listed in dmoz by going to resource-zone, hoping they might swallow it quicker if I hang it out in front of them and give it a little jiggle:)

And the projected date for the big news?

The premiere start up launch competition by TechCrunch: Disrupt Battlefield
http://disrupt.techcrunch.com/

Summary of the rules:

• Applications are due midnight PST on Sunday Night, April 3, 2011.
• We will review applications on a rolling basis, so it's to your advantage to submit as soon as you are ready.
• startups must be live for fewer than three months, less than two years old
• In selecting final contestants, we will give heavy preference to companies that launch for the first time to the public and press at TechCrunch Disrupt.
• PowerPoint slides and video demos are optional but highly encouraged. We reserve the right not to review applications without video demos based on application volume.
• If you're choosing between launch platforms and need an early decision, please apply and email us and we'll priority review your application.

...so I went for it, despite not having 5 power-point presentation slides and my video. Instead I submitted 5 mockups of my app (one page for each screen) and one 'summary' screen-shot which shows a screen capture after my app did it's thing, and has a bunch of stickies all over it with arrows diagramming what you are seeing.  That is a gamble.  But if I wait to get all my marketing collateral ready, I'll burn 2 more weeks..... and like they said, acceptance is on a rolling basis... so it's harder to bump someone out at the end, than it is to get in at the the beginning... so I attached a link-bait bomb to my 'early consideration' email to grab their attention, so they would give it careful consideration, despite the lack of visuals...

Like I said, cross your fingers:) But overall it's just a few days invested, so it's worth a sincere effort to get in.  But I have no problem taking this straight to market if they say it isn't for them. It's just that if I get any help lifting this off the ground it will really help ensure it's success. But if not, I'll just need a little more runway, and time, to get her to lift off:)

I just got an email response (to my 'Early Consideration' email) from the TechCrunch Conference Producer that said, "I'll have your application reviewed next week"

...so at least I know that I am standing in the right line at the bank:)

Good luck man, hope it works out for you.

...thanks, me too. 

I don't know what the format will be.  I guess they still pick 50(?), then maybe 10 get recognized at the end(?) and then a one gets the $50k prize at the end(?)

But right now, I just need to be one of those 50. 

I guess I could know as early as this week, but they may just wait until the very end, before they let me know too, if there are more than 10 of us that are in contention.

I guess we'll see...

no news on the TC front, but I started soliciting VC advice here:
http://answers.onstartups.com/questions/21712/having-trouble-dividing-the-pie-w-my-partner-care-to-help-cut-the-slices

I really liked that other VC forum, and got lots of responses so I posted another question there that looks like this...

QuoteI have a killer Facebook app that is being built right now (will be finished by the end of May) and I'm looking for investors to come in after I have proved my numbers and dump gas on my fire, to capitalize on my first mover advantage. And I'm coming before you all today to ask you how something like this is 'done' (what is the financial instrument of choice?)

Here is my issue: the app uses many bleeding edge API's, which makes it very hot from a tech standpoint, since it is at the center of social, mobile, local and payment. These API's not only made the idea possible, but it made the idea extremely cheap to build... and unfortunately, by the same token, there is no way to protect the idea. And within 6 months there will be others in this space, plus the usual copy-catters.

But I believe, however, we have a killer app. And the way I intertwined it with Facebook, it will be very viral, especially initially. And it will make a pile of money for a least a year, maybe longer. The key, though, is disseminating it quickly to take advantage of being the first mover in this space. And I think I have a low cost 'CPA' strategy to make ALL our money back in a cycle, which may last only a week, with an upper limit that ramps up, and tops out, at around $500k per DAY in terms of an investment opportunity.

So what I'm looking for is an investor that is marketing/tech savvy enough to really see the brilliance, but one ethical enough not to flat out steal the idea from us. Right now I have $10k in it and a fair amount of time. Then I have another $5k set aside to launch it to show my numbers. Prior to launching at the end of May (hopefully at TechCrunch) I'll spend ~$500 to$1k on beta marketing... basically testing my new CPA model, as well as the technology.

Which means, once I prove this out in beta, and get hard numbers to back up what looks to be the case, I'm looking for investors to throw down some big money. In return they will get most of the profit, but I'll end up with a free user who touches several more for free. I'm looking to storm the market in less than 6 weeks, which is faster than just about any competitor could reasonably respond, even if they were hyper-agile.

The key to this type of strategy is just bum rushing the market before anyone even knew there was one, and by the time they know what's going on, you already picked all the low hanging fruit and they are forced to exert effort to get what's left ...or buy you out.

One idea is just do it as a quick cycle, recurring cash loan, which yields cash back.... you give me $X, I give you $X+$Y back in a week, then you decide if you want to roll all (or a portion) back over, etc. Another option we are set up for is selling Preferred Stock of our NV C corp. Another option is that Ron Conway Convertible note thing that is all the rage these days.

Honestly, since this thing is so scalable, and I'm looking for complete domination of this market, I was thinking about tying returns directly to PayPal, so that if you wanted to invest, you could transfer money to your PayPal account and then we would just use money out of that account as needed, so instead of sending me a wire, etc. everything is just done automatically, so I could collect money from essentially an unlimited amount of accounts to spend on the CPA efforts, and it would all end back up in the investors micropayments account, in real-time, without me ever actually managing anything.

Unfortunately, that last paragraph won't really make too much sense unless you know what we are really doing, but hopefully you get the point. I honestly haven't looked to hard at the financial instruments.... what I need, in a few months, is access to a lot cash and some folks that can watch the whole thing unfold, so they are confident everything is in order, so when the day comes to really push, there will be no hesitation, and they will throw down big cash.

Personally, I see this as almost no risk on the investors' part, as I don't see any scenario where they can lose money. They only put money in after everything is tested, JUST on CPA... and get it back, with big interest, within a week, to do again if they want, if we go the loan route. And they throttle the amount and shut off at any time. By the same token, the very biggest impact will be at the beginning of the launch, the same way Adsense made a lot of money at first because people weren't desensitized yet. And like I said, within a month after we launch there is a potential to invest several hundred thousand a day, if we wanted to.

So, given we are in a unique situation... in that what was not possible to do 6 months ago, for a bunch of reasons, is now possible thanks to combining several APIs, which did an enormous amount of heavy listing... and that as a Web Strategist/SEO/Social Marketer, with 15 years of self funded entrepreneurial experience, I've put myself in a position to capitalize on everything... how do I actually go about pitching this to investors?

My idea was a cash loan with basically no collateral. If I could pitch that concept to a few players: they can wait until the last second to decide, then sample what happens for real, then pour money into it as soon as they were convinced... in return for up to 100% of the cash back plus 100% of the profit...I thought they might actually bite, if they came in now, and had full transparency all along the way, so they were really comfortable.

And if I got a few signed on like that, then I would think there would be a few more that might be interested in the Preferred Stock, or the convertible note, to invest in a few more of my related and symbiotic ideas that will add even more revenue streams into the mix. The big idea marketing-wise is to: pull SE traffic from the web, FB traffic from the app, and then iPhone and Android store traffic, using SEO to ensure traction for the two most obvious verticals in the space. And I think I might need another $75k there, so we are realistically still in the Angel realm at this point.

Then, once we got traction, users, we go for a proper round of funding and I go for my V2 push, which ties everything together.

What do you think? Asking at the last second wont work, and if I ask now, I'm still not sure what I want, or what is 'common' in the industry. My ideas usually just work, so I fund myself. This one, though, deserves something more than a bootstrapper can offer...

- Mr. Estocada
from http://answers.onstartups.com/questions/22646/what-is-the-correct-financial-instrument-if-i-want-investors-to-dump-gas-on-my-fi

Dogboy, could you use something like kickstarter to get funding or prosper to get a loan?

I'm open to everything, I'm looking at everything, I'm just taking it all in... so I'm there, as soon as I get done here:)

Here are my thoughts as of right now:

1.) I'm going to go after an Angel to get me to market asap and give them Preferred Stock.  I've already pitched 1 serious candidate (he sold his biz to AOL for $500M) and just got a friend up to speed so he can talk to some people he knows.  Funny enough I just got a message from a guy on LinkedIn 2 seconds ago that begins, 'I'm an angel investor and entrepreneur in NYC. I'd like to speak to you about your expertise and consulting skills/services for companies I am working on' ...so who knows, maybe there is a God:)

2.) I'm going after cash investors that are interested in putting money in a PayPal Account and watching it cycle through the system and end up in a MicroPayments Account within 7 days, with an additional X% tacked on.  They only get cash back/no equity.  But the interest should be very good.  

My rational is that if I go after both, I'll get one... then the other side will follow. In other words, if I get an Angel, cash investors will be more confident and vice versa.  And then once there are a few cash investors, I could hypothetically get more, and keep dumping the cash into acquiring the user base at no cost to me.

And then at some point, throttle it off and reap the rewards from that point forward.

QuoteI just got a message from a guy on LinkedIn 2 seconds ago that begins, 'I'm an angel investor and entrepreneur in NYC. I'd like to speak to you about your expertise and consulting skills/services for companies I am working on'

...I just spent and hour telling him about my project and he was genuinely interested in it:)  He is going to look over everything I send him over the weekend, and he wants to get back together at the beginning of next week. The idea I proposed was simply one of friends for now... I would post the job he wanted me in here, and he would review my proposal to give me advice on how to position myself... with the idea that he might even want in:)

Guys... if I get a VC to come in this quick, I'm going to light a fire so bright, poor Rumbas will wake up early thinking the glow was coming from the sun rise:)

Hahaha, if you light it and I see it up here in the grey of grey, I'll come over and roast some marsh mellows.

Good luck dude!