Simone Brunozzi

Have you heard me speak?
Now it’s your chance to “vote” me!
Thanks for your appreciation :)

(disclaimer: I’m a Mentor at the Founder Institute)

Do you have a dream?
Do you want to start your company, but need some help?
Are you ready to work hard, nurture your idea, ship it, and be successful?

One way to do it is just by starting your own company.
There are also easier, more effective ways to increase the chances that your company will be successful.
For example, doing it with the Founder Institute.

This is how it works:
1) You join the program
2) You pay an initial fee
3) For a few months (a semester) you’ll share the experience of thinking about your company, your product, your idea, with other wannabe entrepreneurs.
4) After only a few weeks, you’ll have to incorporate that company.
5) During the semester, you’ll enjoy the help of world class mentors (I’m not talking about myself here), legal help, etc.
6) In exchange, the Founder Institute, and the mentors, will acquire a small equity in your company.

What are the main benefits of going with the Founder Institute?

The Founder Institute strives to increase the quality of starting a technology company, while reducing the cost from over $20,000 in the first year to as little as $2,000, also thanks to a great list of partners.

These are the cities where the Founder Institute will be operating in 2011:

United States
Silicon Valley, San Diego, New York, San Francisco, Denver, Boston, Seattle, Houston, Washington DC, Los Angeles

Europe
Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Paris

Asia
Singapore

South America
Santiago, Bogota

So, what are you waiting for? :)

Few days ago I attended a very interesting event here in Singapore, organized by Asia Professional Speakers Singapore.
Among others, there was my friend Fredrik Härén, talking about how to make a million Singapore dollars a year, plus find two months to write a book.
Very interesting talk, which was all about being a great speaker, even before the “money” part.

This is Fredrik’s advice:
1) Repeat yourself: do few speeches, and do them often, so you get great at them.
2) Don’t offer training, it’s better to be a speaker full time.
3) Don’t do a lot of (different) speeches, specialize.
4) Don’t sell yourself, have someone else sell you, or have word-of-mouth be your main way to obtain speaking engagements.
5) Do not (always) charge: sometimes, do free talks, but beware: work for free, but don’t look cheap.
6) Do not “work”, try to have fun as much as you can.
7) Don’t speak. Talk about what you love.

A nice quote from him: “A brand is for a speaker what a band is for a singer.”. Build your brand, from graphics to fonts to everything else.
Great advice. Now I’m mumbling, trying to think how to apply this to the corporate world I’m part of.

Let me share with you this video of Fredrik:

I’m happy to share with you this presentation: Introduction to Cloud Computing and Amazon Web Services, plus a demo.
The demo is inserted in the slides. You need to download the presentation if you want to be able to read the notes.
Also, if you like it, please share it on Facebook and Twitter, as well as “favorite” it with your SlideShare account.
Thanks!

(via MatteoFlora)

It’s a love story. It’s a life lesson. It’s not unique, it’s not special, but it’s so beautiful and it deserves your attention. Watch it.

You can also visit their website: oftenawesome.org.

This is life. A beautiful life.

Great idea.
It often happens that you have ideas while drinking coffee, so… Write it down on a napkin, before it goes away.

If you need a bigger canvas, try out the Idea Book, by Fredrik Härén.

(thanks to Lisa for giving me the napkin)

If you don’t ask, the answer will be NO.

- Dale Carnegie

There is much I’d like to say, but I won’t. I’ll keep this confidential, intimate, secret.
However, I just want to tell you that I had one of the best surprises ever, yesterday.
It was not just enjoying the “high tea” on top of the Swiss Hotel, in Singapore.
It was that something on the table.
Sooooo special :)