Online resources for high-tech entrepreneurs

For a little while I was trying to raise fund for my company, which turned out to be fruitless. While I did that, I found out some interesting articles and online resources, and I wanted to share them with you. I do have my own del.cio.us bookmarks, but I figured it's better to place them all here with some explanation....

When It Comes to Innovation, Geography Is Destiny
Why location is everything when it comes to innovation......Pssst......the place is in the West Coast and where Fairchild Semiconductor seeded everything....

The 18 Mistakes that Kill Startups
I didn't know who Paul Graham was until I found this essay by him.... My company had #1 and #2 mistakes he listed. Not that his list is like a golden rule, but his reasoning made sense.

How to be Silicon Valley
This was a very interesting read. I liked Silicon Valley for other reasons like being close to ocean, mountains, Lake Tahoe, Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay, Half Moon Bay, San Francisco, Napa/Sonama Valley, etc... I wondered the same about that.... Like NY Times article mentioned, there were many domestic and international cities that tried to be the next Silicon Valley, but look where most high-tech innovations happen! There is no doubt there is something different about Silicon Valley, and I didn't see better reasons why than Paul Graham's...

Paul Graham's website and his essays
Actually, you should go ahead and check out his website.....as well as his essays.

Buildv1 - Connecting entrepreneurs
This is a really cool, under-utilized site for all aspiring entrepreneurs. It's like a classifieds for entrepreneurs. You can post your latest project and ask for help, or you have certain skills for startups, you can post them to hook up with an entrepreneur. I've used it and received many interests...... Whether you can find someone you can trust and work well together is whole another thing.

Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
I really enjoyed this book. While Guy Kawasaki looks like a sell-out and doesn't have mega successful company under his belt, this book is a must for all high-tech entrepreneurs. It's no-non-sense guide to entrepreneurs about how to build a team, raise a fund, etc. I really liked the book, because he said an entrepreneur should start building a product/service and delivering it instead of writing a business plan or pitching to investors. And that product or service had better bring in revenue as quickly as possible. Totally right. For startups, cash is king, and without cash, it will die. Faster revenue, the better. And unless you are Steve Jobs, still live in late 1990's or have a rich, generous uncle, no VC will fund your company based on just a business plan, however spectacular it is. VCs bet on jockeys, not on horse. And, good idea will fail if not executed correctly while bad idea can survive with excellent execution and probably some modification on the way.

Ask the VC
This blog is founded by two venture capitalists, Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson at Mobius Venture Capital. What's cool about the blog site is that they actually do answer your emails!

VentureBeat
This is an excellent site if you want to be plugged into news about (mostly) Silicon Valley startup. It most deals with who's gotten funded and how much..., but sometimes it has juicy stories about startups in general.

Rent-A-Coder and eLance
If you are looking to outsource, rent-a-coder and elance are probably two major "brokering" sites. It's free for a user to post his/her project, and outsource companies (mostly offshore, but some domestic) bid for the project. I've used the rent-a-coder but didn't use a company through there because I've had a company that was personally referred to me.

FundingUniverse, Go Big Network, The Angel Journal
I can't personally vouch for these websites, since I wasn't successful in securing funds using them. But, who knows? Some entrepreneur may have better luck with them.