I was happy to see on New.com today that SocialText just landed a second round of funding from SAP Ventures.

Wiki software developer Socialtext received the investment from the German company’s venture arm, SAP Ventures, as part of its second round of funding. The round raised a total of $4 million, with participation from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Omidyar Network and University Venture Fund as well.

“This is a fantastic validation of (the) wiki category of enterprise software, something practically unthinkable three years ago,” Ross Mayfield, Socialtext’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Source: News.com, “Socialtext lands SAP investment”

Yesterday was a very busy day. For the better part of it, I was confused. We’ve been quickly and quietly developing the underlying architecture for our system and putting code in place to suit it. One thing we didn’t really anticipate was that the design we were using wasn’t what we wanted.

The Secret Project is actually made up of a few different projects. When we started, we completed the design for the first part. We’re now looking at parts 3-6 and guess what, it’s like assembling IKEA furniture – there’s too many parts that look the same but don’t quite fit. In our case, it’s like the furniture that arrives with one random extra piece plus one important missing piece.

Long story short, I set out today to initiate conversations with the various designers I know of that would be right for the job. As usual, they are all quite professional and I’ve heard back from most of them quickly – some I just IMed. What surprises (well not really) is that they are ALL BOOKED. And when I say booked, I mean “Call me in January” kinda booked.

So, in short, we’re still looking for a web designer to join our team – soon! Are you a super-talented web designer? What’s your project timeline look like now?

In my more formative years, I was very interested in design and visual presentation. In fact, my first business was actually selling nicely designed sheets of paper with people’s name’s on them in the 5th grade. I sold them for $5 a piece to all the kids after they saw mine. Needless to say, it was a profitable venture ;)

Beyond that, I’ve been quite obsessed with making myself a better communicator. The pursuit of this lead me to study more about psychology, sociology, writing and grammar, and once again visual design. I got A’s on my papers in college, but making the covers was the most rewarding part for me.

Yesterday we had a planning meeting for the pitching phase of our venture. We’re gearing up to start pitching several strategic investors, angels, and VCs – in that order. I’ve prepared many slides already and, while they are quite telling, I’m still not happy with them. I’m not happy with them because I know what a good presentation is and I’m not there. How could I not know, I’ve been influenced by some of the best.

I recently was delighted to find the Presentation Zen Blog. I don’t care what you think you know about selling anything, you should be reading this. The blog has been discussing the different styles of many of the best presenters – some of them with blow-by-blow precision.

So here’s the styles that are outlined so far (and my personal attachment to them).

The Kawasaki Method

I first was exposed to Guy Kawasaki’s methods by way of a crash course I took one weekend several years ago. Ironically enough, I was researching the Real Estate business and attended a Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco. Guy was the keynote at that conference. A few days later, I was at the Garage.com Bootcamp and, again, Guy was the main speaker throughout the day. I took the first chance I had to compliment him and tell him I was inadvertently stalking him.

More recently, I picked up Guy’s new book, The Art of the Start. I read the book quickly and was really impressed that Guy detailed quite succinctly what he thinks makes the best presentation. Literally, it breaks things down slide-by-slide.

I topped off this experience in April when I produced our first Sparkcast for the conference. It was more than awesome to be a part of the Art of the Start Conference and to see it live on the big screen.

You can find out more about the Kawasaki Method here.

The Godin Method

I’ve been reading Seth Godin books for what seems like ages now. At the same time, I have been an advocate of his writings and have passed along many copies in my time. Ironically, however, I never did get to see him present.

All of that changed in June of this year. Seth does a summer internship. This internship was interesting because he was planning on launching a new service (his biggest idea ever). Naturally, I couldn’t resist the temptation so I applied for the internship. I was quite excited to become a member of the team.

My first Seth Godin presentation was delivered in the most ironic of places. It was only 30 minutes after picking up the rest of the team from the airport that we were seated in a small Thai restaurant in Queens. Seth pulled several posterboards from a black bag and began to tell us the story of Squidoo. The project is not live yet, and this is the first time I’ve mentioned my involvement, but it will definitely be something to marvel at.

You can find out more about the Godin Method here.

I’m certainly not a master presenter, yet. I’ve got very little problem talking to large groups of strangers, but making sure your illustrations, both verbal and visual, are concise and meaningful is an art worth of mastery.

What’s your presentation style? Do you have slides to share?

When building a product, one of the most difficult decisions to make is just what you charge for. It’s really a critical decision since the choice that’s made will completely dictate how the product is received and by who.

There’s a few models that clearly exist, though I don’t know which to advocate since it all depends on your business model. So here they are:

• dotBomb Method – give it all and make it up in volume (eyeballs, click-thrus, what have you)

• Free Trial Method – give some or all of it away, but just for a limited time

• Lite to Heavy Method – give away the basic stuff, get them hooked, sell the heavy side

• Pay-to-Play Method – give nothing away, you gotta be in it to win it, that sort of thing

These thoughts were inspired by a decision made by the Basecamp team and the subsequent flap.

Of course there’s lots more out there and everything in between. What models are you using? How did you decide?

I found this a couple of weeks ago and meant to blog about it sooner. Seeing as I am tired as all heck from the mini vacation I just took, here’s what I quoted earlier.

The problem with trying to think in terms of “how do we get to $10 billion in revenue in 2050” is that you lose sight of the fact that your resources are very limited today. Staying focused on earning the first $50K of revenue allows you to concentrate your resources on a very well-defined short-term goal.

Startups are lucky if they have more than a few pairs of hands to help them get the product to market. They’re even luckier if they have help bringing in the first paying customer. A startup doesn’t have the luxury of wasting time and energy on activities that don’t directly result in driving the first dollar through the door.

Finding office space, creating an org chart and writing a 5 year marketing plan may seem like a necessity to meeting your long term goals, but none of those things will matter if you aren’t able to bring in the “First 50.” The greater your ability to focus on short-term achievements, the greater your likelihood of surviving long enough to make larger accomplishments.

$50K is a great first milestone, because let’s face it – if you can’t get such a small amount of revenue through the door, who really cares if you’ve got fancy business cards, a nice office and the perfect 401(k) plan?

Source: Go Big Network

We’re quite focused now on finalizing our presentations and fortifying it with the various statistics we’ve known anecdotally. The first 50 is definitely in out sights, is it in yours?

From Stowe:

Just a reminder that Greg Narain and I are kicking off a series of webcasts at 1pm ET today, called Podcastng on Windows (see here for details). The series is sponsored by GoToMeeting. Today, we start with an introduction to podcasting, and Greg will enlighten us all on his Beercasting project, which has been very successful so far.

(PS If you wrote down the codes to join the teleconference, please do not use the ’sub pin code’ — thanks!)

I’ve come to know Pete Caputa quite well over the past year. He works hard at what he’s doing and he has a vision that he’s committed to chasing. I’ve spent quite a bit of time, both in person and online, chatting with Pete about what he’s developing (and what I’m developing).

It is really nice to see something come together, and finally, WhizSpark is getting to that point where the oil is hot enough and the engine is gliding. He’s not made this entirely official yet, but it’s on his blog so I am gonna quote some of it here:

WhizSpark is revolutionizing the way events are marketed and organized.

We are jumpstarting the movement by awarding the following privileges to qualified applicants:

• Free use of WhizSpark’s event website builder and email marketing campaign manager for your own events.

• A rapidly growing network of people and websites to help you market your events.

• Access to special events, free passes and tickets, VIP treatment.

• The opportunity to get involved and get paid when you help plan and promote other events.

Would you like to help lead the way?

All are welcome to apply, but people that meet the following criteria are preferred…

• You plan events
• You promote events
• Web-savvy
• Quick learner
• Team player

Source: WhizSpark.com

There’s a few really interesting things to note here. For one thing, this is a really concise explanation of the offering. Pete’s a wordy guy and this was a pivotal thing to get right (he’s still tweaking). We’ve been group editing our elevator pitch, well, it’s really not simple in any way, shape or form to actually say something meaninul (and positive) in a few concise words – especially when that thing is brimming with great features.

Secondly, Pete’s well aware that his target might not be out there in the blogosphere, so he’s working to configure his pitch to get the message in front of the right people. Surely, we can help him talk to those people, right? I’ve done quite a bit of advising in the last couple of weeks on how to implement blog technologies for various people in various industries. It’s clear that everyone is not inside the cloud, but we’re probably close to reaching a much higher plateau soon.

If you’ve got any insight into how to spread your ideas to the far reaches of the blogosphere, let’s hear them. If you’re an event organizer, promoter or social butterfly, try WhizSpark out for your next event – Pete stands behind his offer and that counts for everything in my book.

Everyone’s probably heard the saying,”One is the loneliest number”. In many ways, I have found that to be true. However, since starting this new company, I can only say that One is definitely the BUSIEST number.

At the last count, we have 5 developers actively involved, 1 designer, 1 HTML Guru, 2 great people helping with financing and business plan development, 3 people involved in general sales/marketing/pitch strategy, 2 advisors on the Board, and myself. There’s nothing lonely about 15 people piping and chiming into Basecamp almost daily.

No it’s certainly not lonely, but I sure am busy. I hate the pyramid metaphor for management structure. Perhaps a better analogy is that of the keystone. My role as the CEO of this new company has my hand in many different pots at the same time. On any given day, you’ll find me on the phone, in an irc channel, chatting via IM all at the same time. Add to this that I am actually being forced to use almost every skillset I have. From designing wireframes and basic icon shapes with the designer, to reviewing HTML code and checking browsers, to writing specifications and designing databases, to writing sales pitches and designing the accompanying slide and last researching the competition and the landscape.

Phew. I’m not lonely. I’m bloody tired. For the last 13 years or so I have been working with 6-3 hours sleep a night. It’s never been a problem. I can tell you now, though, come 1AM or 2AM, I’m more than ready to go to sleep. Sure I still get up at 6-7AM, but still, it’s hard to admit I need sleep now!

Besides my team, I know there’s lots of us out there. We’re not lonely, but sometimes we could use a hug :).

I recently talked about my dad and the role he played in me being the entrepreneur I am today. This morning, I stopped by B&N to rest for a short while and noticed a book called Instinct. It’s a book about entrepreneurship. I saw this quote and had to write it down:

People who exhibit entrepreneurial behavior may or may not be successful, and entrepreneurial behavior isn’t necessarily passed on. The entrepreneurial spirit can be expressed in many ways that have nothing to do with starting a business.

“Nobody’s yet found [a specific genetic link], but anecdotally you sort of see it. Even though children of entrepreneurs tend to regress to the average, they probably are more entrepreneurial than the standard average, at least for a few generations,” says Kinnear. “Of course, if they get too rich, then they become Paris Hilton.”

Where biology may play a role is in creating a genetic foundation for personality. Instinctively, pouncing on opportunity, being unstopable in pursuit of a vision, being able to persuade others of the value of your idea — those are some of the marks of thinking like an entrepreneur.”

Source: Instinct: Tapping Your Entrepreneurial DNA to Achieve Your Business Goals, Thomas L. Harrison

This really goes at the Nature vs. Nurture arguments that never really get answered all that definitively. Personally, I don’t know how to tell where my guts come from, but if it’s hereditary then I’m happy to have that edge (if any).

What about you? Do you have entrepreneurial behavior or personality? Do you come from a long line of entrepreneurs?

I’m teaming up with Stowe over the next few weeks to do a series of Webcasts on Podcasting. We’ll be using GoToMeeting (our sponsor) as the sharing platform and will walk people through the ins and outs of podcasting on the Windows platform.

It should be fun and informative. If you’ve never checked out GoToMeeting, you definitely have to. This will be a great way to see how it works.

Our first one is scheduled for next Thursday, September 22 at 1:00 PM EST.

More info is here.