Kelly Smith is a founding partner in Curious Office, a company that is both a seed stage investment firm and a software development company.  The Seattle-based company currently has equity holdings in:  Inkd, CafePress (which acquired ImageKind in 2009), SEOmoz, Shelfari (acquired by Amazon.com), Fanzter (a company that created the popular www.coolspotters.com), Wishpot and FeedDigest (sold and rebranded to Feed Informer by Informer Technologies).

For the Curious Office website, Kelly recently started interviewing CEOs at startup companies through a Q&A format.  We thought it might be fun to turn the tables on him and ask him our top five questions.  Here are his responses.

1) You call yourself a "web slave since 1994."  What was the defining moment that year that made you realize you'd found your passion?

I joined a company called SPRY in 1993.  SPRY sold the first commercial internet product called Internet in a Box.  What was unique about it was that we were the first company to license the Mosaic source code from the University of Illinois where a young Marc Andreessen was still a student and hadn't yet co-founded Netscape.  Sometime in mid 1994 we were all standing around our computers looking at the newly launched FedEx website.  You could enter a tracking number and it would show you where your package was.  That blew us all away.  I fell in love with the web at that moment.  Yahoo wasn't yet even a search engine.  Just a handmade directory of links.  Not long after SPRY sold to CompuServe I was referred to a company in Seattle called Progressive Networks.  They had this idea to deliver audio over the Internet.  I joined in 1994 and they subsequently called the company RealNetworks.  During my 5 years there, the smart engineers figured out not only how to deliver audio but also video.  I remember that our big tradeshow demo was showing live radio station feeds from a Stockholm radio station streaming over the web to our tradeshow floor!  The RealPlayer and the Rhapsody Music service became a household name.  I learned so much and feel very lucky to have worked with so many smart people.

2) Do any difficulties arise when you're in the business of both investing in companies and helping to develop them through incubation? For example, is keeping your eye on revenue growth (for a return to investors) ever at odds with a more management-oriented decision?

Nobody has ever asked me this question before but it's actually something that challenges me.  We start companies ourselves like Imagekind and our latest venture called Inkd: The largest marketplace to download newsletter templates, flyer templates, brochures, business cards and other types of print creative.  However, we also invest in companies such as SEOmoz where we don't have day to day responsibilities.  But we still feel it is important to be as supportive as we can so we need to back away from our computers and sometimes go to meetings and try to help tackle tough questions that our portfolio companies have for their own businesses.  As you can imagine, when we start our own companies we hold a larger stake but I still feel it is just as important to try to be as helpful as possible for our portfolio companies.  When I think about the challenges that Curious Office has, the answer is always the same - not enough time in the day.  

3) When it comes to seed-stage investments, who is the biggest gambler -- you or your partner, Adrian Hanauer?

This one is easy.  Adrian has an incredible risk tolerance.  He brought the Seattle Sounders to Seattle as a Major League Soccer team this year for example.  He is one of my oldest friends and I respect him so much because he thinks for rationally and calmly in every situation...even when very large amounts of money are at stake.  The Seattle Sounders was a far bigger bet than any technology investment.

4) This can be a difficult economic client for early-stage companies.  Any advice you can give to bootstrappers who might be contemplating a first round of funding?

In my experience, fundraising seems to be just as much about relationships as it does about your idea and your technology. If you are contemplating fundraising then get involved in the events and venues where investors and other successful entrepreneurs go.  Sometimes its easier to get close to other successful entrepreneurs than it is to get close to investors but that's a great way to start.  It is also important to remember that previous success is the best way to raise money.  Even if your first success is small, that's better than no previous track record.  It's sometimes smart to establish a first base hit for yourself.  That makes all investors feel more inclined to take a risk with you.

5) We're a little amazed at the sudden surge of Twitter usage.  What type of Web 2.0 or social media company do you think will be "the next big thing?"  Are there particular niche companies that you are looking to bring into the Curious Office family?

I'm interested in working with people who deeply understand the subtle nuances of driving lots of traffic through all available channels.  There are those who are learning and there are those who know.  I don't know what the next big thing is but the best bet is to bet on smart people.  Guys like Andy Liu of BuddyTV or Ben Huh of ICanHasCheezburger are great Seattle examples.  They understand how to come up with concepts that have a viral hook and they understand how to drive and build traffic to their destinations.  Someone who divulged all those secrets would sell a lot of e-books :)

-posted by Rachel

Following up on a VOXUS blog post from last week, Microsoft has reversed a decision to not allow a bar to to open on Microsoft's Redmond, Washington Campus. Read the TechFlash article here. Under the compromise plan, the Spitfire pub will serve beer and wine in the afternoons and evenings, after 3 p.m., but it will be open during those hours only for scheduled gatherings and catered events. I have a feeling, this beer battle is not over yet.

-posted by Andrew

Time.com  has compiled a list of the top ten things to buy right now - if you have the cash - for great deals. While some of the items are likely out of reach for most of us (houses, country club memberships, and even new cars), some of these are downright good ideas to get now well prices are low. If you're looking for computer memory, upgrading to four gigabytes is only $50, whereas two years ago it would've put you out 200 bucks. Or if you yearn for a new digital camera, many retailers and manufacturers are offering markdowns between 30 and 50 percent.

Personally, I think I will take advantage of the killer deals on lobster, ball gowns and home decor and throw myself a sweet dinner party.

Here is the full list of bargains:

Fancy Threads
Computer Memory
Cameras
Stuff for Your House (from bedding to HDTVs)
Lobster
New Cars
Travel
Country Club Membership
Housing
Stocks



-posted by Stephanie

Craig Lee of Ortiva Wireless discussed the latest mobile video trends with Greg Galitzine of TMCNet at CTIA earlier this month.  Check out the video interview here.

-posted by Lindsay

The Master of Communication in Digital Media program at the University of Washington is sponsoring the first PocketMedia Film Festival, open to all UW faculty, staff, students and alumni. The program is currently accepting video submissions  based around the theme "What do you do at the UW?" as long as the video is recorded on a pocket-sized device, like a mobile phone. Submissions are due by May 13, 2009.



-posted by Shawnna

Got a poor credit history? Then T-Mobile has the right cell plan for you. According to a FierceWireless story number four carrier T-Mobile is being accused of lowering its credit standards to boost subscribership. While subscribers with bad or little credit may be a riskier target market – it's a market nonetheless. In fact, I would guess it's growing pretty rapidly during the downturn.

-posted by Lindsay

Almost all VOXUS clients want to speak at important industry trade shows. Our success (or failure) in delivering results is dependent on our ability to offer fresh perspectives, interesting (and not always self-serving) topics and high-level executives. Communicating these needs to our clients, though, isn't always easy.

So here's what you need to know about crafting better abstracts for speaking engagements at industry trade shows, straight from someone who is in the best position to know. Kenton Williston is a freelance technology editor, writer and analyst based in New York. He's currently reviewing the speaking abstracts submitted for consideration for the Embedded Systems Conference Boston 2009, being held in late September. He gave us an exclusive, inside look at the decision process -- he says:

"Have a clear problem statement. Too often I see “solutions looking for a problem.” You need to tell me why I should care, and that means telling me how you’ll solve my problem.

Tell me what you’re going to say—and be specific. Too often I see abstracts that say “topic x is important” without explaining what the author plans to say about that topic. This is related to the need for a problem statement. You need to clearly identify the problem you are solving, and then clearly state the solutions you will cover.

Tie the abstract to a hot topic. The importance of the topic might be obvious to you, but editors have to keep track of a lot of topics. We can’t always connect your idea to a big-picture trend. If you can do that for us, we’re more likely to pay attention."

For more on Kenton, visit his profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/kentonwilliston.

-posted by Rachel

Who knew beer could raise such a ruckus? Microsoft just did a 180 on a proposed campus pub and that's caused a beer backlash which has seeped into the company's overall image arguably just as much if not more than some of the company's storied and not so storied products.

According to TechFlash, Microsoft put the kibosh on the Spitfire Grill opening a pub at Microsoft's new West Campus Commons area just three days before the bar was supposed to open. Spitfire is owned by Jonathan Sposata, a former Microsoft employee and owner of Seattle area startup Picnik. He tells TechFlash he was stunned by the decision and that he was given no explanation for the stoppage. Microsoft spokesperson Lou Gellos is quoted as saying, "The goal was always to create a cool gathering place for employees, but to do so in a manner that’s consistent with a business environment. We took a second look at that, and we were sensitive to the business environment. We decided we should do something more appropriate, and that meant not having a pub."

The original TechFlash article has garnered some of the most comments I've ever seen on a TechFlash comment board and now a follow-up by TechFlash is documenting the backlash which includes a Facebook group called "Bring Spitfire Back To Microsoft" which already has hundreds of members. Senior Xbox manager, Matt Patriot Gradwohl, formed the group and says on the page, "I am embarrassed to work at Microsoft sometimes."

Who knows what's next with Microsoft's brew ha-ha? One things for certain, this beer battle is far from over.



-posted by Andrew

Apple is about to hit one billion app downloads - one billion! To celebrate, anyone who downloads an app will be automatically entered to win a $10,000 iTunes gift card, an iPod Touch, a Time Capsule and a MacBook Pro. I'm not sure how you could ever begin to spend $10,000 on iTunes, but I'm sure there are plenty of Apple fans out there willing to give it a try. TechCrunch has also announced that they will be offering a TechCrunch t-shirt to whoever can guess (or get closest to) the date and time that Apple will cross the one billion mark.

Apple has a counter up on their homepage - and it's moving at an insanely rapid pace. In the 10 seconds it took me to type that sentence, almost 3,000 apps were downloaded. Wow! You can keep track of the count at http://www.apple.com/itunes/billion-app-countdown/.



-posted by Stephanie

Despite the recent push from the U.S. House of Representatives to delay televisions switch to digital until June 12, Comcast has already begun the transition in parts of Washington, Western Oregon and the San Francisco area. According to Comcast, expanded basic customers are eligible for one free basic set top box and two smaller "DTA" converter devices which will enable customers to view all previously available channels. The downside, these free boxes will no longer receive high definition signals and require an additional $6.95 per month to upgrade to an HD service that was once free... Ah, capitalism at its best.

Here's the most recent schedule for the Puget Sound region and a list of affected channels.

-posted by Shawnna

Despite all of the turmoil with the car industry, two industry titans seem intent on trying to innovate, or at least appearing to.

Last week, we got a sneak peak at Chrysler's Peapod and GM's P.U.M.A. Take a read of Engadget's articles which I've linked above. The two vehicles both operate on electricity and are meant for local travel, but that's where the similarities apparently end.



vs



-posted by Andrew

It’s no secret that we run Macs around here, and one of the popular (and controversial) retail programs is something called MacHeist – basically a collection of multiple software titles sold for one rock bottom price. I’ve avoided participating in this (as a customer) in past years due in no small part to that controversy, which circled around the question of whether the group that puts on MacHeist screws the participating vendors.

I’m an ardent proponent of independent software vendors, and I like to support the creation of good software, which I define as both useful and elegant. As such, I thought it best to steer clear of MacHeist on general principles.

On the other hand, it’s unarguably one hell of a deal. And with this latest go-round, it appears that they’ve largely addressed the equitability in regard to the participating vendors, at least according to a number of those vendors themselves. Moreover, MacHeist donates a percentage of proceeds to charity, which is of course a plus.

So, I jumped in with both feet. Now the interesting thing about how MacHeist works is that there is an initial group of applications, and if they sell enough bundles, then additional apps are “unlocked” for everyone that has purchased. Which obviously generates not only the mob mentality that fuels any auction, but also adds to the word-of-mouth marketing of the whole bundle.

And here’s where things get interesting, and either brilliant or diabolical, depending on your point of view. After making the initial purchase, I receive periodic status updates on how they are progressing toward unlocking additional applications. Then I receive a “special Twitter offer” for two bonus applications that have been thrown into the mix, “all you have to do is click this link.” Said link takes you to a MacHeist page where you have to verify that you have a Twitter account (so now they have my user name and account) and then takes you to MacHeist’s Twitter page, where you must follow them. Of course you can always un-follow at a later date, but my guess is that many customers won’t do that.

Thus far, MacHeist has gathered additional customer data for later marketing purposes, and gotten customers to follow the Twitter version of the company’s promotional newsletter. Not bad. But it gets better (or worse).

After you follow MacHeist on Twitter, but before you receive the additional software, you have to post a promotional tweet to your account:

I bought the @MacHeist 3 Bundle. 12 Top Mac apps worth $900+ for just $39 AND I just got Delicious Library 2 FREE!

Once you’ve gone this far in the process, it’s extremely likely that you’ll follow through regardless of whether you find this distasteful or not. I did. And I have to admit to being torn: is this a brilliant social marketing program, or an abuse of social media?

-posted by Paul

A Computer for Your Wrist

Was just cruising through engadget and came across the Glacier Computer Ridgeline W200 – a PC for your wrist.  I like the small and portable part, but wouldn't your arm get cramped from holding it just so? What's not clear is why someone would select this over one of those cute netbooks (cause it's definitely NOT a fashion statement). Maybe they're targeting the skydiving CEO?




-posted by Lindsay

You never know what you're going to find on YouTube...but one of the latest viral videos is sure to bring a smile to your face. A Dutch TV talent show looking for the next person to play "Maria" in "The Sound of Music" staged a unique promo in the Antwerp, Belgium train station.

It starts out with bemused and confused travelers...but keep watching, it gets better.

This is one of the reasons why I love YouTube. This and the fact that, when I fall asleep watching American Idol, I can usually catch some of the performances before they are knocked off the site for copyright violations.

-posted by Rachel

Attention: you are about to enter the product plug zone...

Recently, I booked a plane flight for a long weekend vacation in Las Vegas. In fact, I've booked numerous flights as of late for what seems like a never-ending Spring/Summer of traveling (mostly for weddings). That's when a friend mentioned that I check out a site called Yapta (Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant) to ensure the price I paid on flights didn't go lower... and if it did I'd receive an airline credit.



Now, I have to admit, I came across Seattle-based Yapta after recently reading an article in TechFlash, but the sites true uniqueness didn't quite hit me then. When my friend recommended the site to me, I thought "what they hey." Here's how it works, you provide your confirmation number for a flight and Yapta does the rest by constantly checking the flight for lower fares. If one pops up, Yapta emails you right away. From there, you can either call the airline yourself (Yapta includes step-by-step directions) or Yapta can collect the credit for you for a $15 fee.

What do you know, about a day after registering my Vegas flight, I got an email alerting me to a $75 fare drop and instantly called the airline and received a $75 credit. When I woke up today, about 12 hours after receiving the first credit, I found another email on my phone from Yapta. You guessed it... I got another credit for the Vegas flight... this time for $25. Total money saved (or you could say earned) with Yapta, 100 bucks. What an amazing service and to my knowledge I haven't gotten an influx of spam which is a bonus.

Oh... and Yapta recently launched a similar service for hotels.

Yahtzee... I got Yapta'd twice!



-posted by Andrew

I'm not going to lie, I love the Snuggie. I don't actually have one, but I love the idea of the Snuggie and every time I see one - now that they have invaded the shelves of my local Target, Walgreens and Bed Bath and Beyond - I am tempted to throw down $15 and give in. And now, if I ever have children, there is yet another fleece blanket with extremely convenient holes to tempt me - I give you, the Peekaru.

Gizmodo has introduced me to this wonderous creation. It better be higher quality fleece than the Snuggie for $80, however, it is already light years ahead of its predecessor, as I see it has a zipper and actual seams [and more than a passing resemblance to the creature from Alien - Ed.].



-posted by Stephanie

Hewlett-Packard told InformationWeek that it is studying whether or not it should replace Microsoft Windows with Google's Android operating system on some of its mini-laptops, often referred to as netbooks.

While I don't think Microsoft is shaking in its boots about this – yet – we found the announcement interesting because a VOXUS client, D2 Technologies is using a netbook to demonstrate its Android-compatible communications user interface at CTIA this week. If HP was to select Android for its netbook line, that would give a huge boost to the open source OS that is now being used in a number of smartphones... and that increased market for Android-compatible products would trickle down to developers like D2. And that's good news in the present day economy, because industry analyst Gartner Group is predicting the market for netbooks to grow by 80 percent this year.



-posted by Rachel

@VoxusPR is currently one of the top 50 elite profiles in Tacoma, Wash., according to TwitterGrader.com, with an overall rank of 100,543 out of nearly 2 million Twitter profiles. TwitterGrader allows Twitter users to enter in their screen names (and the names of others) into its algorithmic generator and find out how each user ranks on the Twitter scale. According to Mike Volpe, vice president of marketing for HubSpot (TwitterGrader's parent company), the grades are generated by taking the following into account:

1. Number of followers
2. Number of followers that your followers have (the power of your network)
3. Quantity and pace of updates
4. Additional proprietary analysis

Find out how you rank!

-posted by Shawnna

According to a recent article in the Tacoma News Tribune, Dell reached a deal in January with attorneys general from 34 states that, without admitting fault, they would pay up to $1.5 million in restitution to customers who experienced a repeated pattern of communication breakdowns. Dell owners who’ve had issues with financing, technical support, warranty repairs or cashing in a rebate must contact the attorney general’s office before April 13 to be reimbursed for money they can prove was lost. Consumers who have filed so far have received an average of $250 per claim, totaling $10,680 in Washington.

-posted by Shawnna