12 Hours in San Fran

12 Hours in San Fran

I came up to San Fran on Tuesday for a quick 12 hour trip. RBC (Royal Bank of Canada), their Ibanking Division which handles all of the M&A and Funding Deals for hot technology companies. They were holding a little mixer in the city. The mixer contained about 60-100 executives and investors from the US.

I have a very nice relationship with the executives that started the Ibanking Division of RBC, so it was very nice of them to invite me to this event. I spent the 2 hrs speaking to many successful CEO’s that that have sold their companies, or brought them public.

I common theme with all the successful ceo’s was that they were nimble, focused, super passionate about their vertical and they were very very on top of SEO ahead of the ball game. In addition, every successful CEO was pretty much still involved in their company, and they were unsure of what was next.

Some trends that we discussed was that Ecommerce is coming back, and definitely on spotlight for a lot of investment firms. In addition it seemed to me their was SO many people in the EDU Lead Gen Space there. This is true.. In the last 3 weeks I have been introduced to a large number of edu lead gen firms that are “CRUSHING IT”

During this little event, I also spent time with a few executives who own larges Marketing Services Agenices. Ex; SEO / SEM

It’s interesting... SEO / SEM Agencies are a tough breed. Lots of overheard, and your servicing clients. It’ appears they are trying to figure out if they should go nuts and build their own in house properties.. This would make a lot of sense, and potentially bring in significant additional revenue. Kind of of what Tsavo.com is doing.

The group @ this event was mixed ages. From 25, 26 to about 60 yrs old. I wonderful blend of new and older energy. Most everyone was wearing a suit, including me.

Everyone agreed, the time to start a company and grow is now. M&A will pick up. Many companies will flourish. A few companies in SO Cal that we all know were thrown out there in a negative connotation. Just remember, simple is better. No need to re-invent something.. Or take component of something and put them together in to one company.

Clear Ex;

Twitter – A SIMPLE idea, SIMPLE! Founders believed in it.. Stuck to their marketing and they fucking CRUSHED IT and will succeed. Cost to build was far less than the bigger co’s out there, however they will have the biggest evalution

Mahalo – Great idea in terms of content play, and user experience, however nothing was re-invented. Al they did was mixed Google style search, with wikipedia, with Content Syndication, with Yahoo Answers and came up with MAHALO.com It can be a hit, or it can be a miss. The point is that they are trying to bring many things together in to one site. While something like Twitter was SOOO unique, unheard of, but a Phenomenal Idea.

Remember, Real Time is Huge, Targeted Marketing is Huge, Analyizing Behavior from different sources is huge. There is BIG potential to those who Nail it right now. Remember, invest in SEO! SEO! SEO!

There are a few more sites that was talked about, however ill leave it at the above.

Off to Vegas now for a Conference for 2 days, and then friends come out to enjoy the weekend. Soon I will write up about trends in the marketplace. What Co’s to look out for that will kill it, and those to stay far away from.

Spam from a Competitor

I woke up this am and found this email. I think people need to do their due diligence before blanketing emails to their "Linkedin" connections. Not only do I own NeoHire.com which is a recruiting company, I don't think that an impersonal email like this woudl warrant a call / email back.

I sure wish people would research the person before sending shit emails;

Hi Josh,

I hope this email finds you well. I don't send out emails to my first degree connections on Linkedin very often. In fact, unless I personally know you, this is probably the first time you've gotten an email from me. Last December I joined a national staffing agency based out of Irvine, CA, called CyberCoders. After several months of ramp up and learning about this powerful system I have decided to branch out to my direct connections. I wanted to see if you’d be open to using a contingency recruiting agency to help you fill any positions.

CyberCoders is a contingency, direct-hire recruiting firm that locates outstanding candidates for top companies nationwide. We have a database filled with over 8 million candidates and growing. This allows us to be much more effective than our competitors in identifying qualified and interested candidates quickly. I would love to have the opportunity work with you to fill any full-time positions that are currently open.

Again, we’re contingency- based, so it costs you nothing until I identify someone that you would like to hire.

Interested in giving me a shot? Simply email or call me and I would be happy to work on any of your toughest positions to fill.

Not hiring now? Please keep my contact information and I hope to be of assitance to you at some point in the near future! If you have an professional friends or colleagues that is hiring and you can refer them to me, I offer a $1,000 referral bonus if I'm able to fill their position.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Thank you,

Brendan

Brendan Andersen - Executive Recruiter - Brendan@CyberCoders.com - 949.885.5123

Movers and Shakers

Hey Everyone..

This is my first blog post in a while. I used to write a lot back in the day.. Ha, the 2005 days..

Anyways, I am trying to figure out if people even give a shit on what I write, so please leave feedback or comments if you want me to write on a subject or if I shouldnt even waste my time.

1.5 Yrs have gone by since i have started two companies.

1. www.neohire.com
2. www.resumebucket.com

NeoHire.com is the exclusive recruiting company based in so cal, which helps hire the best tech & non tech talent for today's hottest .com's that are vc backed. NeoHire is awesome, our people are awesome and we are growing to a larger space right now.

ResumeBucket.com was an idea that came to my mind after being the in the Recruiting space for the last 5 yrs. I was sick of tired of people telling me to look @ their linkedin, and people telling me they will get me their resume later at night or in a few days.. Doesnt fly, espcially when a top company has a pipeline of other candidates. ResumeBucket went live in beta last December and has been growing and doing well :-)

Both companies take a LOT of time. NeoHire has about 11-12 employees, and Resumebucket has about 6.

We are busy, heads down, and just CRUSHING away. I have a feeling that this year is the year to get shit done. The yr to make things happen. The time to plant your seeds and one will sprout.

Besides NeoHire.com, ResumeBucket.com I have a team I am putting together to work on a few other projects, which include; FareHub.com ; a Customer Behavior Targeted Marketing Program Company, and a few more.

In addition NeoHire is starting a consulting division which helps offline companies get in to the online space and helps them subsidize their offline revenue income.

So, LOTS of irons in the fire. Every business unit is growing, every business unit is Profitable or Breakeven.

This year we will focus on scaling all these different verticals. Many VC's and investors think I have too much shit going on, and they are hesitant to invest money in to one of the ideas. Understand, and totally fine, plus I am not actively looking for any financing. However, it would be nice :-) to really slingshot some of these projects faster.

The' vc's and angels are concered that I am not focused on just one business unit. I think that they don't clearly understand that these biz units tie in with eachother. EVERY single one :-)

ResumeBucket.com --- NeoHire.com (Come on, not rocket science)

Plus, They think i have to be HANDS on with everything, this is wrong. I have the contacts, the ideas and the energy. I find the right people to take over the idea / or project then continue working on it from a advisory / higher level view.

Regardless, 2009 will be a great year, lots cooking and I think we will see many flourish and many scale. We will see if some of the larger media companies / .com's can figure out how to stay alive and make money and we will see the smaller smarter technology co's continue to grow.

Anyways, Life is good. Watch out for all those social media people out there.. MAny people self proclaim themselves and socialmedia experts.

Ill tell you who the rockstars are in the space.. They arent all talk, they are real and they DO know their Shit.

KurtyD -- > @kurtyD (he is the man, connector, social dude, and he is a good guy to explore your brains with)

Sean Percivcal --> @seanpercival (This guy has a fucking great story on how he got in to this space.. Cool dude, he KNOWS SEO better than MOST anyone... So, that is his claim.. he rocks.. he will do well



Shit. There are a few more peeps... But, i have to go look @ boats with my peeps now...

Let me know if you like this kinda post and Ill try and write more...

I should put a list of people that are big time self promoter shmucks, but that would be bad.. hahaha

Hot stuff to keep your eyes on;

www.entertonement.com
www.alchemyllc.com
www.hitpath.com

Shit.. Not too much.. Some EDU plays happening.. However ill get back to you all on those..

GoodBye all

Have a great week

Josh Stomel
@joshstomel
www.linkedin.com/in/online
www.resumebucket.com/joshstomel

My Resume & More

Do you guys / gals want me to write more blog posts? Yes or no? Leave a comment and let me know

Also, Check this out

Post your resume online!

Startup Companies & The F*** economy

I just felt like writing this because I just had my team in a 1 hr meeting regarding recruiting, headhunting, building relationships and the future.

Clearly the US is fucked right now. Stocks are all over the place (I personally lost a SHIT load of money), consumers are selling everything and anything they can sell (Boats, Cars, Motorcycles, Houses, Vacation Houses, Phones, Office Supplies, etc..) Again great for those with booming businesses.

But, this is bad for many. One of my companies, NeoHire.com is a service provider type company, we provide internet startups with talent to help their companies endure accelerated growth.

NeoHire.com has done a remarkable job over the last year helping startups scale successfully.

Now, we are at a change.

Here is what's going to happen. Now, I was right on Ampd Mobile, I was right about Helio, and I was right on a few acquisitions price point #'s.

Here is what the deal is. Those companies who have raised 0-2.5m are the ones that will be moving and shaking. For those startups who are NOT profitable and depending on surviving off VC funding have a very very slim rate of surviving. They will be trimming staff, while trying to maintain traffic to site and maintain morale in the company. This issue is, by laying off people. maintaining traffic (SEO / SEM / VIRAL / PRESS) and trying to keep employees happy they are going to burn through their funding sooner that later, causing the less connected (BD) companies to flop. The larger shops that have raise 3m+ will have a very strong chance of surviving this depression.

Startups are cutting back on service providers, cutting talent internally to save funds, and executing "Smarter" and not faster.

If you have Money in the bank, now is the time to be prospecting smaller relevant shops and picking them up and a 2-4x multiplier.

The talent pool in California has become very attractive. At one time many people were making big big $'s and bonuses, now this is not the case. People are realizing not to be as stubborn.

You will see candidates coming from the internet industry and banking background who are ready and willing to take jobs at a discounted salary. This wont apply as much to the engineers, however to the non tech it does.

Here is what I advise to many looking for jobs and for startups...

Now is the time people (Companies) want to partner up, working on BD relationships and see how companies can leverage other companies resources to continue to operate and grow. Do those BD deals, do those traffic Distributions, and make things happen. For candidates, many are now wanting to only join More Established Companies, ones that are Large, Profitable, Money if Bank, Etc.. Maybe startups will find it difficult to lure hot talent, especially if it's being led by an entrepreneur with ZERO wins under their belt.

Be Smart, Be Efficient, do your research. Do your background references an follow your gut.

The strong will survive. Make sure to let the industry know you are here, you are keeping your head afloat.

Thanks





NeoHire.com
ResumeBucket.com
NeoHire
ResumeBucket
Josh Stomel
Joshua Stomel

Twiistup TONIGHT

Tonight I will be @ twiistup @ the viceroy hotel in santa monica..

Please stop by our Cabana if you will be at Event.



Neohire.com will be representing in full force

Please come say hello to me

Josh

A Few things I am looking for..

1. We are looking to acquire a shopping center (Retail Strip) or a mixed unit property (Retail & Office) in the Santa Monica / Westwood / Culver City / Mar Vista / Marina Del Ray / Mar Vista area.

Price Point: $2m - 8m

If you know anyone selling or needing to do an exchange, please contact me @ Josh@stomelmedia.com


In addition, I am looking to hire a full time PHP / CSS Expert.


Thanks


Josh

Attn Content Writers...

I am looking for some content writers to bust out some articles within a few different verticals.

Articles will be 2000-4000 words....

Please contact me if you want to work with us on some hot hot startup opportunities..

Josh Stomel
Josh@neohire.com

Linkedin & Networking Tips

This is an email I sent to all of my employees.. Hope this helps some people. Below is key if you would like to stay in tuned with the industry and if your looking to grow within the space..

Team –

I wanted to share with you a few linkedin tips

It is very important to keep adding contact to your network

There are three tools that have made me extremely dialed in and connected to multiple executive and individuals throughout the last 4 years in the internet space.

Here are a few tips to make you win, grown and learn.

1. Use Plaxo.com – Always requests peoples business cards, and send your out via this tool

a. http://www.plaxo.com/signup?page=2

2. Download the Linkedin Toolbar

a. http://www.linkedin.com/static?key=outlook_toolbar_download&trk=hb_ft_otool

b. Always ADD everyone you ever email that you think is halfway smart / impressive to your linkedin network

3. Sign up for Jigsaw.com

a. Upload your contact

b. Retrieve Contacts

c. It’s a great way to observe, monitor and contact anyone throughout any industry.

Make it a goal to reach out to X amount of people a day. Always, try to network on the phone with people who look impressive / executives.

Here are publications you all should be reading daily;

1. SoCalTech.com

2. TechCrunch.com

3. TheAlarmClock.com

4. Mashable.com

5. KillerStartups.com

6. News.com

Be on top of all of the above and you will succeed.