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26 Startup Investments for 2026
Here is the continuation of the series that I've run for many years showcasing the top startups that I am seeing and working with. You can see past posts from 2025, 2018 , 2014, and 2013, along with my personal portfolio. If you'd like an intro to any of these, let
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FOCUS ON YOU: Why Competition Is For Losers
I'm Frank, founder of Ballers (http://realballers.com), an ai-powered basketball community that uses computer vision to give you edited highlights and stats of your basketball games using only your phone. If this is interesting to you, lets chat here. On day 2 of living in San F
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Why I’m Not 6’6” (Blame My Dad)
It all started with basketball. As a kid, basketball wasn’t just a game—it was an obsession. I dribbled everywhere I went. The ball was like an extension of me, whether I was at the park, walking to school, or in our living room (which, I quickly learned, was
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Yvonne's Final Act of Civic Duty
The last thing my mother did before she died was to vote. We knew Yvonne was going to die in early 2021. I remember sitting in the doctor’s office as she told us that, while there were treatments left to try, the cancer had spread—reaching her lungs and
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25 Investments for 2025: A Follow-Up to the 2020 Series (Part 3)
Companies The final public post in this series (Part 1, Part 2) lists 9 of the 30 companies I believe in for 2025. The rest of the companies are available to members subscribed to this blog upon request. 1. Sugarwork – sugarwork.com Lots of knowledge gets lost when great empl
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25 Investments for 2025: A Follow-Up to the 2020 Series (Part 2)
TLDR: My syndicate is here. In part 1 we talked about my investment criteria generally. Now we delve into the people who I would invest in (wether to start a company or of my time and energy to support) because they have an elite skill or perspective in some area.
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25 Investments for 2025: A Follow-Up to the 2020 Series (Part 1)
(TLDR: Join my syndicate) Back in 2020, I published a list of 20 startups I would invest in, something I have done in 2018 , 2014, and 2013. I’ve had the pleasure of watching many of them grow and evolve. In addition I did some personal investments (now pushing via
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Coding Is Thinking
Programming, to me, has always been more about thinking than writing code. It’s not the hours spent writing lines of code that define the work—it’s the deep dive into problem-solving, the relentless questioning of assumptions, and the stripping away of unnecessary complexity unti
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Buying Your Way To The Top
The shortcut of using money to skip the hard stuff has been a strategy used for centuries. It manifests often in venture capitalists and private equity folks spending insane amounts of money to buy up smaller companies in order to roll them up into a bigger entity, finding accoun
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Pole Pole: The Steady March To The Peak
I took two steps forward and could not fathom making the next one. Staring straight down at the leg gaiters of the person in front of me, I bent over to alleviate the throbbing back pain, clutching my trekking poles for dear life. "No sleeping!" one of the porters yelled
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Why Culture Is Eating The World
"The reason that Apple is able to create products like the iPad is because we've always tried to be at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts," - Steve Jobs In August of 2011, Marc Andreesen made a post (https://a16z.com/2011/08/20/why-software-is-eating-the-world/)
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If I Ran It: 20 Startups for 2020
Ran through a bunch of companies that I think are interesting and building great businesses. 20 2020 Startups I Like: (ping me if you’d like an intro to any of these) 1/ @MSCHFXYZ: creators of the jesus shoe (https://pagesix.com/2019/11/08/drake-splashes-out-on-nike-jesus-sho
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Chasing Dollars: Three Failed Attempts To Get Outside Capital
This first appeared on the INFLECTION Blog On three occasions I chased outside funding when I should have just buckled down and focused on getting consistent predictable revenue. Here are 3 of those occasions: THE FAST LOAN After getting a bunch of investor rejections (as
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If Your Dreams Don't Serve You, Let Them Go
This first appeared on the INFLECTION Blog with full images. If your dreams don’t serve you, let them go. One dream I had was to be a Y-Combinator (a.k.a YC) founder. I can already read the hacker news comments: it’s just an accelerator, why does their
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If I Ran It: Profit Driven Fund (Part 2)
If I Ran It is a thought experiment series on my blog where I think about how I would run a company/fund if I was in control. Its hypothetical (for now). Previous entries in this series can be found Here and Here In the prior post I talked about
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If I Ran It: Profit-Driven Fund (Part 1)
If I Ran It is a thought experiment series on my blog where I think about how I would run a company/fund if I was in control. Its hypothetical (for now). Previous entries in this series can be found Here(2013) and Here(2014) (Part 2 of this post
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Interview: Nasdaq Spotlight With Mario Armstrong
Frank Denbow
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The New Black History: Opportunity and Inspiration in Computer Science
(this post originally appears on the CSForAll medium https://medium.com/@CSforALL/the-new-black-history-opportunity-and-inspiration-in-computer-science-c82e696b0ab3) The new black history that I’d like to see in the world is one where young people of color are inspired by techn
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Why Networking Is Not Overrated
(if you like this, give a like on medium) How an introvert networked their way to a few million in revenue Theme Song: Rise and Shine — J. Cole I caught a conversation last week started by Naval Ravikant of Angelist (hi Naval, lets talk sometime :) that caught my attention
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When Great Trees Fall: Eulogy and Tribute to Dr Enid Denbow
Tribute by Frank Denbow III There is no greater influence on my life and perspective than my Grandma Enid. As has been said already, she was accomplished in her work in medicine and her contributions to the field in Guyana. Her success was a source of inspiration for myself
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Alternative Funding Sources for Startups
(If you like this, give us a heart on Medium https://medium.com/@frankdenbow/alternative-funding-sources-for-startups-9bc962820398#.xpky98994) Less than 1% of startups raise venture capital funding. Here are some opportunities for the rest. Feel free to comment with other resou
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If I Ran It: Angel Investing (Part 2)
Updating my list of companies that I find interesting and would invest in with my imaginary angel fund. This is a continuation from the first post. UPDATES How is the portfolio doing? Namo Media - Bought by Twitter for 50M Tailwind - One of 7 companies using Pinterest's
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If I Ran It: Angel Investing
I’ve been reading a lot recently about angel investing (highly recommend Brian Cohen’s new book: What Every Angel Investor Wants You To Know) and I thought I would play armchair angel and talk about companies that I think are interesting that I would probably invest in if I
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BASE High School Mentors
This year, the Bronx Academy for Software Engineering (BASE - http://bronxsoftware.org) opened up its 4 year high school. It is a sister school to the Academy For Software Engineering (http://afsenyc.org). BASE is looking for 30 male mentors to connect with the students. It
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Without Their Permission Review + Giveaway
Without Their Permission is a new book by Alexis Ohanian that explores what its like to start a company or movement, and the power of the internet to fuel these ventures. The central theme is of doing things without permission, finding a way when there seems to be no natural
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/var/null: Don't Fly During Ramadan
/var/null: Don't Fly During Ramadan chimeracoder: A couple of weeks ago, I was scheduled to take a trip from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles on JetBlue. Every year, my family goes on a one-week pilgrimage, where we put our work on hold and spend time visiting temples, pr
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The Academy for Software Engineering
The Academy for Software Engineering (http://afsenyc.org/) is looking for mentors for our next class of students. AFSE is partnering with iMentor, a nationally recognized mentoring program focused on preparing high school students for college success. Located in Union Squa
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Academy for Software Engineering - Mentorship & Clubs
Mentorship The Academy for Software Engineering is just about done with its first semester of the inaugural year. Through iMentor, a mentorship program was setup pairing each student with an older mentor who meets with them once a month and emails with them regularly. A pic
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Developers for Good: Future Software Superheroes - It's time for your CodeMontage!
Developers for Good: Future Software Superheroes - It's time for your CodeMontage! developersforgood: The hours approaching, just give it your best, Youve got to reach your prime. Thats when you need to put yourself to the test, And show us a passage of time. Were
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HolidaySongs.co - Send Holiday Music To Friends
HolidaySongs.co - Send Holiday Music To Friends This is a site I worked on this past week for sending a nice music message to friends via email or facebook posts. Would love to get some feedback/complaints/music requests as I work towards the main Songsicle app.
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From the story “Inspirations from Africa” by frank. Read it on Backspaces.
From the story “Inspirations from Africa” by frank. Read it on Backspaces.
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AFSE Update - Mentoring and Rec Room
Lots of progress has been made with the Academy for Software Engineering (http://afsenyc.org) since the lastpost. Generous donations have been made of time, items and resources that have made the rec room fully stocked for the students. A full update on this will be coming
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Rec Room for Academy For Software Engineering
The Academy for Software Engineering is a new high school in NYC that has a focus on computer science education. You can read more about it at the main site hereor on Fred Wilson’s blog post here. It is opening up very soon and I am helping to put
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5 Companies I'm Excited About
A couple companies that I’m into: * Turf : An app from an incredible designer from NYC, Michael Tseng, Turf is a iOS game that combines foursquare with monopoly. You checkin to get points, buy and sell properties, and maintain them. I’d love to
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Startup Threads: Swag Bag #1 - Hipmunk, LevelUp, 10Gen
Startup Threads: Swag Bag #1 - Hipmunk, LevelUp, 10Gen startupthreads: Our first swag bag came packed with goodies from Hipmunk, LevelUp, and 10gen. Missed out? Sign up here by March 15th to get the March box, featuring Twilio Here is what subscribers received in th
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My Steve Jobs Story
After my junior year of college I was able to finagle my way into an internship at Apple. I moved out to Sunnyvale, worked in Cupertino coding for an internal team and only passed by Steve Jobs a few times. He was always walking quickly, but would give eye contact
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How To Throw The Perfect Hackathon
How To Throw The Perfect Hackathon Check out this post by Ben Doernberg on how to throw Hackathons.
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Node Knockout Entry: DanceKombat
Node Knockout Entry: DanceKombat Check out my submission for Node Knockout: Dance Kombat, an online dance battle site. Video chat + dance battle somebody, vote on who wins. If you like it, vote by clicking the link in the top left corner. Tweets are appreciated.
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If I Ran It: Zaarly
Dylan (best rapper of all time) could have use Zaarly to get sugar cookies for Diddy Zaarly is a platform that lets you buy and sell goods and services to people nearby. It is buyer powered, meaning the buyers post what they want (each of these posts is called a
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On Honesty in Startupland
My experience in NYC Tech over the past year has been highlighted by great conversations with people of all backgrounds. I’ve been lucky to get support and feedback from various people in the community. Entrepreneurship can be alonely journey, but with a supportive ecosystem
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If I Ran It: Turntable.fm
If you haven’t heard of Turntable.fm, its the new music web app that is all the rage in the tech scene. It is a great site that lets you listen to music in rooms with your friends/coworkers. There are some great social elements to it, and it
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How To Hack Conferences and Meetups
Discuss this on Hacker Newshere. I’ll admit it, I am a conference junkie. Traveling is my thing, and meeting new inspiring people who are on the same journey I am on helps to keep me in good spirits. It took me a while to get the stamina to truly
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You Did What!?
A few weeks ago I made a split second decision to quit my full-time job and go fully independent. I gave the company a few weeks notice and this was my first week on my own. With most decisions I try to weigh my options, putting myself in a position
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Music Hackday SF and SF Music Tech
I had a great time in San Francisco at the Music Hackday and SF Music Tech events. I worked on a new version of SongVoodoo (http://new.songvoodoo.com) and a mothers day version of Songsicle (sign up at Songsicle.com and I’ll hook you up soon). The reactions
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Startup Summer by NY Tech Meetup
When I look back on my own history in technology, I find that my experiences in high school were critical to me falling in love with technology and programming. NY Tech Meetup (NYTM) is looking to help more students in NYC have a similar experience, by joining them up with
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Startup Weekend Book: My Story
This was written for the Startup Weekend book, which you can find more information about on their Facebook page:http://on.fb.me/h6hoaY I sat rigidly on a white plastic chair, fidgeting with my phone as I tried to look occupied. Looking around I saw a sea of strangers,
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Billboard's Twitter 140: Music-Industry Characters You Need To Follow
Billboard's Twitter 140: Music-Industry Characters You Need To Follow I somehow finagled my way onto this list, with some of my music industry heroes such as Chris Lighty and Scooter Braun. Hope to earn my spot in their ranks one day.
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Frank Denbow Wins Our Music Hackweek Contest with SongVoodoo
Frank Denbow Wins Our Music Hackweek Contest with SongVoodoo
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musiXmatch Blog: Frank Denbow is The new musiXmatch hero : meet SongVooDoo
musiXmatch Blog: Frank Denbow is The new musiXmatch hero : meet SongVooDoo musixmatch: ** ** Lets say youre out somewhere and you hear a great song playing on the sound system but just as youre getting into it, the tune ends. And now youre singing the chorus to yo
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New York Tech Meetup Nomination
Hi NYTM! My name is Frank Denbow and I have been nominated to the NYTM board. For the past year I have been involved in the NY tech community and have learned a great deal from meeting many of you. Particularly, I have enjoyed the discussions with people I have
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SingSend Wins Twilio 'Play' Developer Contest
A few weeks ago I entered into the Twilio Developer Contest and found out this past week that the project won! Working with Twilio has been a pleasure and they have been very supportive of my efforts. I encourage other developers to try out their API; you can get up
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TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco
Finally got a few seconds to breathe after an eventful week in San Francisco for TechCrunch Disrupt. I went out there to participate in the hackathon and volunteer primarily, while also listening to the intense lineup of Silicon Valley heavyweights and networking with other
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NYC Startup Weekend
I participated in the NYC Startup Weekend event this past weekend and had an incredible experience. I had an idea for a voice application that I could build on top of Twilio. My team and I ended up building SingSend which lets you create a karaoke recording on your phone
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If I Ran It: Assisted Serendipity
Originally posted on FrankDenbow.com and 9to5am.com Assisted Serendipity solves the problem of finding a venue where the ratio of guys/girls is in your favor. By looking at recent check-in data, you can tell when the ratio “tips” and Assisted Serendipity will email or text
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Why I Am In Tech
Watching the conversation about race/gender and technology byTristan Walkerand Charlie O’Donnellcaused me to think about the origins of my involvement in technology. In particular if the statistics in this articleare indicative of problems in the technology industry.Lookin
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How I Became a Member of the NY Tech Community
How I Became a Member of the NY Tech Community Some timeless advice on how to get connected in the NY scene. "My goal with everyone I meet with is to be more helpful to them than they are to me" - This is how life should work.
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Thanking Mentors
I had a great conversation yesterday with one of my mentors through my college years. There are few feelings better than thanking someone who truly made an impact on your life. If you have the chance, thank someone who has helped you become who you are today. I promise you
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10 Inspiring TED Talks for Startups
10 Inspiring TED Talks for Startups
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Realize that a startup puts you on an emotional .
Realize that a startup puts you on an emotional rollercoaster unlike anything you have ever experienced. You will flip rapidly from a day in which you are euphorically convinced you are going to own the world, to a day in which doom seems only weeks away and you feel complete
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The Wealthy Slave
The Wealthy Slave
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You will always find those who think
You will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the
