startupi

The belief in fast money has long been demystified:  that in this new global digital economy all you need is an idea and you can sell it and get rich. In reality it takes a business plan, a management team and product development to convince investors to give you their support.

Still, you hear plenty of people talking about opening a startup just to seek investment and sell it. This isn’t wrong, but it isn’t the whole story. In Brazil (which is still developing a culture of angel investment in technology startups) and in Silicon Valley (which is full of success stories), there isn’t any single way to make it happen. Read more…

I interviewed Guilherme Cohn, financial analyst for FIEEI Horizon TI, a startup fund begun in December by Confrapar. It specifically targets startups in the state of Minas Gerais.

The big question (especially given the attention investors were giving startups at Campus Party) remains: so when are other experienced and successful people going to open startup funds in other states? Besides the four angel associations that we already have, that is.

Below, my questions for Guilherme Cohn: Read more…

Entrepreneurship, innovation, technology and venture capital: If you are interested in these things, you are invited to attend the trade show October 15 and 16 at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo. During the show there will be a presentation of the 16 semifinalists for Challenge Brazil 2009, and the group will be cut to 8 finalists. Read more…

Rules and registration for Campus Labs have finally been announced. For those who don’t know, Campus Labs is a new section of Campus Party in which hosts panels of entrepreneurs and investors. The idea is to bring together these two groups and encourage the Brazilian startup market.

The selected entrepreneurs will present their projects and will be critiqued by the public and investors who will then give their opinion of the viability of the project. Those who apply but are not selected will still have their projects displayed in the Project Files, available for review at the Campus Party site.

Each day there will be two critique sessions, one at 11 am and the other at 5 pm. Entrepreneurs can sign up via this form. For investors or market analysts who wish to be part of the panel, send an email to brasil@campus-party.org informing them of your area of business and the type of participation you’d like to offer. The details are available on the Campus Labs site.