by Sardar Law Firm

First, what is location-based or location aware social media : location aware social media allows users to opt-into an interface that can pinpoint their location when they post through GPS, mobile email, or text.  In essence, online readers know where you are, when you are there, and what you may be doing there.

As soon as we heard:  where you are and when you there, our ears perked up and we thought, “Would I want someone that I don’t know – who is not even in my online friend circle – to know exactly where I am?”

So what are the potential risks in location-based social media ?

(1) Your Boss Finds Out You Aren’t Grabbing that Cup of Coffee

The first thing we thought of was that users may be unwittingly giving away their information to everyone on these social media   platforms.  Something as innocent as running out to get a cup of coffee, then Tweeting quickly about an Hermes scarf as you stand outside the Hermes store near Rockefeller could send a message to your boss that you are not where you are supposed to be.  In a world of digitally alert bosses, human resources, and co-workers, the last thing you want to do is appear to be somewhere you are not supposed to be.

Twitter & Facebook posts have gotten people fired.  Those aren’t protected classes underemployment law .

(2) Your Personal Safety is at Issue

Having spent some time working in crimes against women & children in the District Attorney’s office in Atlanta, we automatically thought of one glaring issue:  predators & minors.  With the explosion of MySpace in the digital sphere, there was a critical concern of safety issues with minors connecting with predators online.  With something as innocuous as an online post an a location-aware site, these same minors are exclaiming their location to those same predators.

(3) Everyone Knows if You are at Home or Not

There have already been burglaries that may be linked to online status postings:  ”Out of town for the week!”  on Twitter or “Won’t be home till 2am” on a public profile on Facebook.  While it’s true that most people don’t make a habit of running through social media posts to plan their next heist – it’s also not unheard of.  A location based social media platform would make it increasingly easy for these crimes to occur, because there will be an online database of all the empty homes in that location.  To tempting to resist?

We’re not saying that location based social media is a bad thing, but as with all things out there: realize & assess the risks !

Follow us on twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/sardarlawfirm & http://www.twitter.com/socialmedia_law

Social Media Law Blog

From the New York Entrepreneur Week website, a little about the events, panels, discussions and opportunities, and the modus operandi behind the whole operation:

Entrepreneurs are the catalysts for overcoming today’s economic odds, and we’re setting the stage in New York for this groundbreaking event to catapult entrepreneurs to even greater success.

Our goal is to make connections across diverse industries, from young idea-stage innovators to hundred million dollar revenue generators, and join them together in a unifying movement that propels inspired business, facilitates lasting connections, and generates opportunities for more successful entrepreneurial ventures.

New York Entrepreneur Week (NYEW) is the first movement of its kind, providing a framework for unifying the state’s most important entrepreneurial groups with the vastly diverse entrepreneurial community. NYEW is New York State’s premier forum where entrepreneurs can learn, grow, connect and leverage opportunities to do what they do best: drive economic change in exponential ways.

Obviously, our core goals at Sunshine as a community focused on networking small businesses and startups are perfectly matched by Entrepreneur Week, and so we’re very proud to offer an exclusive Sunshine NY discount of 75% off of registration.

To claim your discount, use the code sunshine2010 at checkout. To learn more about NY Entrepreneur Week’s events and happenings, visit the NYEW site here .

Sunshine is thrilled to announce that we’ve recently partnered with Yipit to present special, Shiners-only internal deals via Yipit for Sunshine-sales based more on entrepreneurial needs than fashion finds.

Rather than, say, a fantastic deal at a super-secret password-protected designer sample sale, the Shiners-only deals from Yipit consist of saving 38% on UPS shipping services, or 75% on Paychex payroll solutions. Essentially, these are deals tailor-made to the needs of the small business and startup communities that are harbored, fostured and nurtured within the Sunshine New York office space solution community, and just one more reason Sunshine is an essential facet of the entreprenurial community of New York.

One, with Moviestar entrepreneur, is here, and there’s a podcast with The Hopkinson Report here.  Both of these interviews offer one of our own resident serial entrepreneur advice on how to make your dreams reality.

I see a lot of presentations. Every month at the NY Tech Meetup I see at least 7 or 8 presentations, in the other community events I attend I see more, and as a VC, first at Rose Tech Ventures and now at Flybridge Capital Partners, I see even more.

Last month, while I was attending another meetup, I saw almost every “demo sin” imaginable… so I took notes.

Let me say, I’ve been guilty of most of these sins at one point or another. I present this list less to make fun of people, but more to remind everyone — including myself — what breaks an otherwise great demo. (Feel free to add to this list in the comments!)
Powerpoint.

Seriously, you have an web company. Need a few slides? No you don’t. Demo your effing product. Really, really, really need a few slides? Put them on a website somewhere. You’re an effing web company.
Winging it.

Oh you’re sooo comfortable with your product and that crowd, to you, that crowd was born naked — who needs to imagine them so?! Well, no matter how comfortable and confident you are, you should still practice and plan your demo. It’s not about your confidence, it’s about a good show for your audience. (Disclaimer: I am most guilty of this sin. Correcting this is my resolution of 2010.)
Using your time on stage to try and save a buggy demo.

Bugs happen. If you use your time well and explain what you do, roll with it because people trust you it works. If you spend 4 of your 5 minutes trying to “save” your demo, people don’t trust you actually know what to do in time of crisis.
Out of all of your clients or content, demoing the scantily clad cheerleaders.

That’s just lame. Maybe that was okay with your colleagues in the Mad Men era, but today we just think you’re a anachronistic asshole.

Going over allotted time.

There are two main reasons this is bad: 1) it pisses off the organizer, who is your best friend for putting you on stage; 2) it pisses off your fellow demoers, who are your potential evangelists and business partners.
Turning down the opportunity to use a microphone because you think you have a loud enough voice.

You don’t — and especially not to that person sitting anywhere but directly in front of you.

Keeping video volume up while you’re talking about your product.

Everyone knows video has sound in 2009. Nobody heard you say what your company does.

Start-ups take tons of money. I mean look at the recent start-up Dropbox, before you can get capital from investors, your going to need a place to network and build your company, for a cheap price. Once you have a basic business plan, investors will come to help you build your company. Won’t you need a place to do this, to create your business plan? Once you have your buisiness going, won’t you need a place to run it? That’s where Sunshine Suites steps in.

Read the rest of Jake Smith’s excellent article here.

Also, the evening of Feb 4, join us at Tribeca West at 630 PM for a roundtable talk about social media and small business with VaynerMedia, Yipit and Britemap.com, moderated by me!

Company name: The Hire Syndicate
Founder: Allen Ackerman
Date Founded: 2009
# Employees: 1+ freelance contractors
Resident of Sunshine Suites since: Almost 2 years

First can you tell me a bit about your company?

The Hire Syndicate is the result of a need I felt as a recruiter.  I founded my current recruiting company in 2004 and wanted to be on my own, which meant relying on my network to find candidates for open requisitions.  I found that broadcasting new requisitions to my network was a time-consuming and inefficient process – I didn’t want to feel like I was clogging email boxes, and on the other end, juggling disparate email responses.  So, I thought up a platform where open requisitions could “live” all in one place, and that would provide instant, yet subtle alerts to new activity.  That is The Hire Syndicate, which I started in earnest, last summer (2009).

In a nutshell: The Hire Syndicate is a web-based application for professional recruiters, who create Pods with colleagues to share split placement opportunities.  It has extensions for real time recruiting, like our Widget and mobile apps.  We’re currently in beta – we invite folks to try us out, it’s free – and are working towards a Q3 release.

What is the most useful thing you have learned that has helped you with your business?

I don’t know if this is the most useful thing I’ve learned, but it served as a great reminder: a couple of weeks ago, there was this “Collection of Startup Advice in Three Words” floating around the web, and one that continues to stick out is “support customers maniacally.”  It’s so important, and reinforces my belief that it’s a good thing that I take the time to connect with each new member of The Hire Syndicate, at least in these early stages.

What challenges have you faced and continue to face and how are you addressing them?

Resource scarcity.  But that’s nothing new – I try to be creative in meeting immediate needs and planning for foreseeable needs.  One general rule that I go by in addressing challenges is just to continue learning – for instance, learning from other entrepreneurs about how they manage their businesses, more about venture capital and/or alternative financing streams… the more you know, the better suited you are to handle the challenges.

By the way, one resource we’re looking for is a .NET developer/Lead Architect so if any one knows a great Lead, let me know!

How has Sunshine helped you and your business?

The Sunshine community is an incredible asset.  To have a group of savvy entrepreneurs to bounce ideas off of and solicit advice – at one’s fingertips – is an immense resource. Plus, the cross-pollination opportunities (facilitated by Sunshine Suites’ many networking events, of course) is great.

Where do you hope to be in 6 months and 1 year in terms of growth or position?

Our goal is to have positive cash flow by January 1, 2011.  It’s funny we’re just starting to do business modeling now, but my gut says that this goal achievable.  Oh – and for any potential users, know that we are planning on a “freemium” model – basic service for free and advanced functionality for a nominal fee (like LinkedIn).  We want it to be an indispensable asset for split fee recruiting.

Find them on: twitter linkedin meetup facebook

“I think that you have to have that ‘itch’ that you can never finish scratching. I think you have to notice opportunity and you have to be hungry because people’s biggest fear is change. That everybody’s not set out to be an entrepreneur? I agree with that. If you’re too content with your life, and you don’t have anything to reach for or you’re afraid (for better or worse) of change? Then you’re probably not meant to be an entrepreneur. The people around here, and there’s thousands of them. They all have one thing in common. They’re all hungry. You could see it in their eyes. Between all these entrepreneurs, I think you can tell very quickly on a person that they are constantly looking for opportunities.”

Be sure to read the whole interview here.

Company name: NinjaTax
Founder: Eric Konopka
Date Founded: 12/15/2008
# Employees: 1
Resident of Sunshine Suites since: August 2009

First can you tell me a bit about your company?

NinjaTax is committed to providing professional, accessible, affordable tax consulting, planning and preparation services to individuals and businesses. We offer high-touch client service and expertise comparable to that of CPAs and tax attorneys, at a much lower cost. Because we understand individuals’ and entrepreneurs’ often odd time commitments, we are available at any time to consult and regularly conduct business over e-mail, chat or phone. We are also developing related and relevant tax technology.

What is the most useful thing you have learned that has helped you
with your business?

Sticking to what you know! It’s often tempting to try to do everything yourself, but it’s very hard to juggle many different balls at once.

What challenges have you faced and continue to face and how are you
addressing them?

While I love talking to people about their businesses and their needs, I have had to reach out of my comfort zone in marketing and approaching others to start the conversation.

How has Sunshine helped you and your business?

It’s a great place to start out – before I was working out of my home, and finding that did not work as well as I liked. There are ample opportunities to meet other individuals and entrepreneurs who are looking for my expertise or know others that do.

Where do you hope to be in 6 months and 1 year in terms of growth or position?

In 6 months, I’m hoping to have had a successful tax season and to be hard at work on marketing for the 2011 season, expanding services and developing technology. In a year, I’m hoping to be growing to a second or third employee and gearing up for tax time.