Elliott Hauser | WRAL TechWire - Part 2
Elliott Hauser

Elliott Hauser


Posts by Elliott Hauser


Yo: Look Beyond Your Tech for the Value You Create

Posted by | Jun 26, 2014

Regardless of what you think about the rise, fall, and (perhaps) resurrection of messaging app Yo, its story illustrates something very clearly—technology companies make experiences, not products. There’s important insight in this tale that applies to businesses of any size and stage. In fact, some of my favorite local startups, Adzerk, ReverbNation and Shoeboxed, all demonstrate this clearly. The experiences they deliver are central to their company’s message and mission. YO! YO? Yo, if you haven’t read about it, is an app that does only one thing—sends a message containing the text ‘Yo’ to your contacts in the app....

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Want to Build Relationships with Investors? Become a Source of Deal Flow

Posted by | Apr 3, 2014

Elliott Hauser is CEO of Trinket, an education technology startup in Durham helping instructors and teachers get their course materials online. As a CEO, the three things you must do well are: set the overall strategy and vision of the company, hire the best team and make sure there’s enough money in the bank (according to Union Square Ventures investor Fred Wilson). This post is about building the relationships you’ll need to raise money when you need it. To Build a Relationship, Give First It’s easy to get caught up thinking you’re trying to get something from an investor....

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Why Startups with Families are Better Equipped to Accomplish Missions that Matter

Posted by | Feb 21, 2014

When you think ‘startups’ you probably think young, white, male confers playing ping-pong and shooting Nerf guns during coding binges in someone’s apartment. This image is increasingly not representative of startups as a whole, and that’s a good thing. The value of startup familiesAt trinket, four out of our six team members are parents. Five out of six of us have spouses. The median age is solidly in the mid-30s. We have plenty of fun, but there are no Nerf guns in the office. This composition not only makes us better able to realize our vision of everyone in...

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How We Got From Coursefork to trinket

Posted by | Jan 21, 2014

Elliott Hauser is the founder of trinket, formerly known as Coursefork, a group of university and online educators building open teaching tools. trinket/Coursefork were winners of Triangle Startup Weekend – EDU in March 2013 and were accepted into The Startup Factory in August 2013 Today we announced that our forthcoming beta will include a new brand: trinket. This is a story of how our team has helped draw this renewed vision, new brand, and new product out of us by asking us important questions and challenging our decisions. It’s a story of needing to shake out of our comfort...

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Four Startup Lessons in Four Months

Posted by | Sep 17, 2013

Elliott Hauser is the founder of Coursefork, a group of university and online educators building open teaching tools. Coursefork were winners of Triangle Startup Weekend – EDU in March 2013 and were accepted into The Startup Factory in August 2013 At the most recent Triangle Startup Weekend, we were graciously invited to give an update on how we’d fared since winning the event in March. I, of course, gave a mini version of our pitch (because as a CEO you’re ALWAYS pitching), but at the end I shared four lessons we’ve learned. It’s been about four months since we...

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Startup Founders, Don’t Sweat the Medium Stuff

Posted by | Jul 28, 2013

Elliott Hauser is the founder of Coursefork, a group of university and online educators building open teaching tools. There’s a book I’ve never read called Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, about not letting the little things hold back progress. You’ll hear a similar sentiment expressed often in startup context. The message is to find key drivers and focus on them — everything else is just details. This is related to what’s generally called the Pareto principle: In many cases, if not most, 20% of your X produces 80% of your Y. Many imply that the Pareto principle implies “Don’t...

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Startup Founders, Don't Sweat the Medium Stuff

Posted by | Jul 28, 2013

Elliott Hauser is the founder of Coursefork, a group of university and online educators building open teaching tools. There’s a book I’ve never read called Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, about not letting the little things hold back progress. You’ll hear a similar sentiment expressed often in startup context. The message is to find key drivers and focus on them — everything else is just details. This is related to what’s generally called the Pareto principle: In many cases, if not most, 20% of your X produces 80% of your Y. Many imply that the Pareto principle implies “Don’t...

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