We all get them. Those emails that make you cringe, just a little.  Some brand new entrepreneur emails you for help. You're busy and you're not sure you're the right person to help. They seem like they lack even some of the most basic knowledge to get started.  But they're asking you for help...probably hoping for a meeting or maybe an intro to a trusted contact.

In Boston, we have a habit of just wanting to click the delete button on such messages, or simply declining citing a desire to "focus on my startup" right now or just not being "the right person." We can do better than that. If you really can't take the meeting, let's leave each of these new entrepreneurs pointed in the right direction. The Boston Startup Guide is here to help you do that. 

In Part II, we're covering what to do when a new entrepreneur is looking for mentors and you can't help them yourself.  There are great things you can point them to and we're going to share them with you so you can copy and paste them in your next message, so you can say still help them even if you can't take that meeting. 

We all get them. Those emails that make you cringe, just a little.  Some brand new entrepreneur emails you for help. You're busy and you're not sure you're the right person to help. They seem like they lack even some of the most basic knowledge to get started.  But they're asking you for help...probably hoping for a meeting or maybe an intro to a trusted contact.

In Boston, we have a habit of just wanting to click the delete button on such messages, or simply declining citing a desire to "focus on my startup" right now or just not being "the right person." We can do better than that. If you really can't take the meeting, let's leave each of these new entrepreneurs pointed in the right direction. The Boston Startup Guide is here to help you do that. 

In Part I, we're covering what to do when a new entrepreneur is looking for funding and is likely not really ready for funding.  There are great things you can point them to and we're going to share them with you so you can copy and paste them in your next message, so you can say still help them even if you can't take that meeting. 

Saturday's RamenCamp was an amazing day of passionate speakers and entrepreneurs. Whether it was Seth Lieberman laying the smack down talking about "SteakCamp" and "square pegs & round holes" or David Hauser inspiring everyone with the story of Grasshopper and the importance of culture, every speaker shared important lessons and sage advice for really building a business.

It was truly inspiring to see so many people excited about not just starting a company, but letting go of the, "I need investment to do this" mantra. With all of this coming together yesterday and a Bolt Bus trip to NYC giving me time to reflect, I want to share my thoughts on building a company in this climate as I set out to start my next company.

In trying to decide what to write about today, I found myself torn between a number of topics. None of them jumped out for a full post, so instead, I decided to do shorter thoughts on all three topics.  

In the aftermath of the spat between Kirsner and Whadwhatever, it did leave me thinking about what the real challenges in our ecosystem still are and most importantly, what we can do to make it better.

So if you're interested in the topics of Everybody Codes, Startup Ass Kickings and Startup Knowledge sharing, read on...

It's been 16 incredible months here at Greenhorn Connect and as 2011 has kicked off with a bang, I'd like to take a moment and reflect on where we're headed with the future of Greenhorn Connect.  Now that the big question is less about "what is Greenhorn Connect" and more about "what's next for Greenhorn Connect" I'd like to share some of my vision for how we'll be evolving along with the Boston ecosystem in coming months.  

So you think you have an idea worth pursuing? Well do you REALLY have the resources, know-how, and the adequate homework completed in order to justify pursuing it? Or will you find out 6 months, 1 year down the road that you should have done more homework?

Here is a five-step approach to help you figure out the potential before you are too far into your venture.

This is an inside look into our growth as a company.  Along the way, we’ve learned some incredibly useful lessons (many that we thought we knew before), and discovering more as we go.