Taking your Site from One to One Million Users by Kevin Rose

• Since Google started hyping up its home energy management tool, PowerMeter, people have started to get really excited about having the ability to personally control their energy consumption.  Even further, companies are developing ways in which consumers can manage their energy when they’re not even in their house.  Here are 6 iPhone energy management  apps in development or currently available that you should definitely check out.

1. Tendril Vantage Mobile:  Based out of Boulder, CO, the company’s already brought in $30 million in funding.  Although the app won’t be available until 2010, the company is promising to offer real-time consumption stats and the ability to remotely control your appliances and thermostat.
2. Energy UFO: Developed by Palo Alto based company, Visible Energy, the Energy UFO is already free on the app store.  Visible Energy produces energy management gadgets and power strips upon which the Energy UFO interfaces with.  Unfortunately, the app isn’t of much use yet considering their hardware won’t start shipping until Christmas this year.
3. Ecobee’s Smart Thermostat:  Ecobee, out of Toronto, already developed a thermostat that communicates through WiFi.  The company is planning to launch an iPhone app allowing consumers to remotely turn their thermostats up and down.
4. My House UI: Developed by digital home startup, Control4, the My House UI app allows users to control heat, lighting, and air conditioning.  The iPhone app, however, is useless unless you own Control4’s in-home devices.  The company’s already raised $17.3 million.
5. Meter Readings, MeterRead, and Wattulator : All three are $0.99 apps allowing consumers to manually enter electricity, water, and gas data.  Although they don’t directly communicate with your system at home, they’re good for finding out how much energy specific appliances in your home are using.

• Ever since Netflix’s awesome vacation policy was revealed to the public (there is no policy, it’s take the time you think you need), the public has been very interested in how the company operates on the inside. Now, a new 128-page presentation called “Reference Guide on our Freedom & Responsibility Culture” was recently sent around the company, and then revealed by blog, HackingNetflix. It’s all pretty interesting stuff for a large, publicly-traded company. Take a look and let me know what you think…

• People who use Gmail are subject to a flaw yet to be fixed by Google. The flaw is a cross-site request forgery (CSRF), a problem first privately reported to Google in July 2007, according to security firm Internet Security Auditors (ISA). Details of the CSRF technique were publicly disclosed by security researchers in March 2009 due to frustration with Google’s response regarding fixing the issue.
• What does this mean for you? Gmail users can lose private data to hackers or find that their passwords have been changed, giving an intruder control of any other Google services the users customarily sign in to by using the same password, according to a proof of concept by ISA. What to do about it? Sit back and wait. Until Google fixes the problem on their end, there is nothing you can do to protect against the potential Gmail intruders.  (WSN).

Looking For A Job Or Need To Hire? Join The Thousands On TinyComb’s Job Board

• When searching for yourself or someone else on Google, results can be varied and aren’t always what you want people to see. To give you greater control over what people find when they search for your name, Google now shows Google profile results at the bottom of U.S. name-query search pages. These results offer abbreviated information from user-created Google profiles and a link to the full profiles. They’ve also added links so it’s easy to search for the same name on MySpace, Facebook, Classmates and LinkedIn. Don’t have a Google Profile? Search “Me” in Google and it will steer you in the right direction to clearing your name. Cheers.

Looking For A Job Or Need To Hire? Join The Thousands On TinyComb’s Job Board

• This was circulating around Digg yesterday, but I feel it’s an important quick read for any entrepreneur. It was written by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos on his company blog. Thanks Tony.

EVALUATING MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

• Table selection is the most important decision you can make.
• It’s okay to switch tables if you discover it’s too hard to win at your table.
• If there are too many competitors (some irrational or inexperienced), even if you’re the best it’s a lot harder to win.

MARKETING AND BRANDING

• Act weak when strong, act strong when weak. Know when to bluff.
• Your “brand” is important.
• Help shape the stories that people are telling about you.

FINANCIALS

• Always be prepared for the worst possible scenario.
• The guy who wins the most hands is not the guy who makes the most money in the long run.
• The guy who never loses a hand is not the guy who makes the most money in the long run.
• Go for positive expected value, not what’s least risky.
• Make sure your bankroll is large enough for the game you’re playing and the risks you’re taking.
• Play only with what you can afford to lose.
• Remember it’s a long term game. You will win or lose individual sessions, but it’s what happens in the long term that matters.

STRATEGY

• Don’t play games that you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them.
• Figure out the game when the stakes aren’t high.
• Don’t cheat. Cheaters never win in the long run.
• Stick to your principles.
• You need to adjust your style of play throughout the night as the dynamics of the game change. Be flexible.
• Be patient and think long term.
• The players with the most stamina and focus usually win.
• Differentiate yourself. Do the opposite of what the rest of the table is doing.
• Hope is not a good plan.
• Don’t let yourself go “on tilt”. It’s much more cost effective to take a break, walk around, or leave the game for the night.

CONTINUAL LEARNING

• Educate yourself. Read books and learn from others who have done it before.
• Learn by doing. Theory is nice, but nothing replaces actual experience.
• Learn by surrounding yourself with talented players.
• Just because you win a hand doesn’t mean you’re good and you don’t have more learning to do. You might have just gotten lucky.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for advice.

CULTURE

• You’ve gotta love the game. To become really good, you need to live it and sleep it.
• Don’t be cocky. Don’t be flashy. There’s always someone better than you.
• Be nice and make friends. It’s a small community.
• Share what you’ve learned with others.
• Look for opportunities beyond just the game you sat down to play. You never know who you’re going to meet, including new friends for life or new business contacts.
• Have fun. The game is a lot more enjoyable when you’re trying to do more than just make money.

• Google has released an SEO Starter Guide, providing tips on how to optimize websites to rank well in Google’s search results.
• Download it here: PDF
• Look for Kevin Rose’s new guide, “How to Game Digg,” to drop soon.

SEO Black Hat

• SEOKeywordRanking.com delivers users executive summaries and reports that take into account your keyword rankings across Google, Yahoo and MSN
• Reports will be e-mailed at a set rate, and you can receive them both on a weekly or monthly basis.
• Free plans gets you 5 keywords, with different paid plans offering more keywords and domain support.

NetWebApp

• Interesting presentation from WordCamp 2008 about how to achieve viral success on the web. Posted by Jason Nazar, CEO of DocStoc

Viral Coefficient – Get more Business Plans

On a side note. I will be heading over to DocStoc this afternoon for their Open House Halloween Gathering. Come by if you want to chat.

Brought to you by Jason Nazar, CEO and Co-Founder of DocStoc

• Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
• LLC Operating Agreement
• Sample Convertible Note
• Board of Advisor Agreement
• Financial Projections Template
• Financial Model Projections for an Internet Company
• Application for Employer Identification Number (EIN)
• Start Up Pitch Presentation
• 10 Questions to Consider When Start a New Business
• Business Plan Presentation Template

• Google has launched a service for those of you sick of typing out the same reply every time someone emails you with a common question
• Now you can compose your reply once and save the message text with the “Canned responses” button. Later, you can open that same message and send it again and again.
• Turn on Canned Responses in Labs, and you can set a filter to grab one of your saved responses, and send an automated response back to someone based on keywords placed within the sender’s email. Very intuitive.

Profy, The Register, Google Blogoscoped, Google Watch, WebProNews, Epicenter, Google Operating System, Startup Wire, PlagiarismToday, Gizmodo, AppScout, TechCrunch, webmonkey and Lifehacker

• ScreenToaster records a video of what is happening on your computer. Such a great tool for web site demos, QA testing, FAQ sections and more.

TC

• Paul Graham of Y Combinator wrote an essay last night outlining why he thinks that beginning a startup in a bad economy is a good thing to do (Of cource he is a little biased)
• He says, what matter most is ‘who you are, not when you do it’
• It is a new time and instead of showing investors how your idea will be viral, it will turn into the question of ‘how will your company beat the recession?’
• PG thinks right now it is important to run your startup as cheaply as possible, which in a down economy is very possible. Rent, people, programmers, etc. are creeping down in price

What I Say: Before embaring on any new internet venture or going to raise another round of capital in down economy, you need to self-actualize and figure out what it is that your company is going to achieve. It always comes down in the end to the question of Revenue, Technology Or Users. Is your company going to be making Revenue; how much and will it be enough to survive on your own? Is your company working on a Technology that doesn’t exist or is groundbreaking? If you don’t have much or any of the first two, then is your company going to generate a substantial amount of Users comparable to market that could get you acquired or generate large revenue? If it is tough to confidently say to yourself that you will be thriving in one or all three of these areas then it might not be the best time to go after that startup.

TC, Don Dodge on The Next, Mark Evans, Silicon Alley Insider, broadstuff, About Mobility, Furrier.org, uncov, Feld Thoughts, Startup Chatter and Gabor’s Blog

• Kongregate, the user generated casual games site, has launched a Labs section that provides step by step tutorials for making a flash game.
• CEO Jim Greer says this move is to give gamers another option on the site, giving them an opp to learn how to make a game as opposed to just playing.
• It’s not just a boring whitepages however. You actually are building a game in the process and can play it each step of the way to see how you are doing. Very cool.
• They currently have 3 tutorials up with 6 more to come.

Would you consider learning how to make a game?

TC

• Adaptive Blue, Thoof, Weebly, Yoono, Zlio, Diigo, Heekya, Insala, Jiglu, Mzinga, Oooooc.com, ooVoo, SocialThing, Sclipo, CrazyEgg.

Did yours make the list? I know they missed a few — leave your vote in the comments.

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