The program will offer six existing DC-area businesses an initial investment of up to $50,000 plus a host of intangible benefits: private bi-weekly meetings with managers of the program to direct and track progress of the business’ development, exclusive members-only classes taught by recognized experts on a variety of topics of interest to growing businesses, access to numerous networking contacts and relationships mediated by program leaders, and a continuing relationship with Amplifier Ventures after conclusion of the program.

While the program’s basic structure might seem similar to LaunchBox or CTI’s GAP Fund (two programs whose vision the Amplifier Ventures team fully supports), Aberman pointed out a critical difference. Unlike incubator programs whose focus is on creating new business models, the program targets ventures with existing business models that require additional resources to scale successfully.

Aberman stressed that the program’s goal is that an infusion of capital and expertise will have a meaningful effect on the trajectory of the businesses.

We’re just trying to find the best six businesses to help, where we can make a material difference. The money’s not a lot, and we’re not taking a big ownership stake — it’s far from that — it really is a sweat equity deal on our part. It’s got to be a business where we can make a difference in three months. Those are the kind of companies we’re looking for.

Successful applicants to the program will benefit not just from a quick infusion of funding, but from the deep pool of knowledge and experience found within the Amplifier community.

$50,000 and some good experienced help is more useful in many circumstances than $500,000. It’s a better way for my team to spend our time now…developing relationships that will help people get through this time, and who will be part of our network when the economy gets better.

Some observers might be surprised that a group of investors would eagerly roll out a new initiative in a time of grave economic uncertainty.  Aberman and his partners think now might be the perfect time to make a big difference with a small amount of capital and a personal touch. In fact, Aberman sees the program as an opportunity to combat the present negativity in the business community.

Entrepreneurs are very optomistic people. There is so much negativity; I want there to be a positive force for people to respond to – to help people get their strength back.

So far, the response to news of the program’s launch has been quite positive, indeed. In fact, Aberman himself has been surprised by the variety of companies that have responded. In addition to the expected web startups, Aberman noted that he’s seen applications from clean tech, life sciences, and consumer products, among others. Because this is a new venture, the program is actively soliciting applications from teams of various sizes and experience, and from businesses at various stages of maturity. Amplifier Ventures is eager to match their resources with the specific developmental needs of the businesses with which they work.

If the best opportunity is a tech product with an entrepreneur who could use an experienced manager, we know lots of guys right now who’d be happy to do a new startup if it was interesting – we can do some matching up.

Aberman is particularly excited about working within the local DC startup community. Like many local entrepreneurs, Aberman feels that breadth and promise of the DC startup community is highly underrated.

Nobody’s ever done this in DC before. Nobody’s ever come up and said, ‘I don’t care what your business is, let’s start there and see if we can make something happen in a bad economy.’ Since nobody’s ever asked the question before in Washington, let’s see what comes out of it.

To learn more about Amplifier Ventures Business Accelerator Program, view the program details or join the Amplifier Network startup World community.

• ShareMeme
• GeniusRocket
• Starburbs
• ViaPlace
• InsideJob (Facebook application)
• JunJonz
• MindGrub

The diverse crowd also reflected a growing interest in the local web and technology community, with everything from consulting groups to national news media corporations represented.

ShareMeme

The Contribune team had an especially good time talking to Luc and Ahson from ShareMeme, a LaunchBox Digital ‘08 backed startup focused on simplifying messaging and invitations across multiple platforms and channels.  They two advised us on the challenges of feature and scope creep, and stressed that startups have to focus on one or two core use cases, and not attempt to support ever feature requested.

This is certainly a challenge Contribune has faced, as we’ve been eager to incorporate new features as we’ve become increasingly excited in the larger vision of Contribune.

LaunchBox Digital

Luc and Ahson also talked with us about their experience with LaunchBox Digital, which is now accepting applications for this summer’s seed investment program.  The program allows small teams working on early stage projects enough money to work through the summer in exchange for a small equity stake.  The real value in the program is the business and legal assistance they offer young companies, along with the general support, advice and speaker series that goes along with the program.  At end of the summer, LaunchBox hosts a demo day which is an opportunity for LaunchBox companies to show their products to potential investors.   The program is backed by a really extrodinary group of individuals: Sean Greene, founder and forner CEO of the Away Travel Network, cofounder of Rock Creek Ventures; John McKinley former CTO and founder and President of Digital Services for AOL and advisor to numerous startups; Julius Genachowski, former executive at IAC/InterActiveCorp and current chairman of Thummit; and Matthew Jacobson, a former AOL Vice President .

When asked what he though made for a compelling application, Ahson stressed the importance of deliverying a simple and concise pitch of your concept, in addition to having strong technical credentials on your team.

The two have done a spectacular job with ShareMeme, and I imagine there will be no shortage of good applications this year.  This year seems like an especially opportune time to apply. As Amplifer Ventures partner Jonathan Aberman mentioned late last year, some of technology’s greatest companies were started in challenging economic time.

InsideJob and JunJonz Photography

The team also watched a demo of Lorne Epstein’s InsideJob Facebook application, which is an interesting approach to job search and recruiting.  The really interesting part of the concept is the applications ability to turn everyone into a “passive recruiter.”

JunJonz Photography was on hand taking photos of the event.  The man behind this concept has setup an interesting website which allows his photos to be tagged back to Facebook.

The Contribune team was also able to snap some photos of the event.   Check them out.

There have been a number of interesting comments coming out of the venture capital community in response to the financial crisis.  Programmer and venture capitalist Paul Graham stressed frugality in a recent article.

Fortunately the way to make a startup recession-proof is to do exactly what you should do anyway: run it as cheaply as possible. For years I’ve been telling founders that the surest route to success is to be the cockroaches of the corporate world. The immediate cause of death in a startup is always running out of money. The cheaper your company is to operate, the harder it is to kill. Fortunately it has gotten very cheap to run a startup, and a recession will if anything make it cheaper still.

These sentiments were echoed even more emphatically by others. Sequoia’s R.I.P. Good Times presentation stated simply “Spend every dollar as if it were your last.”

We enjoyed hearing a uniquely east coast perspective from Aberman, however. Given that the front lines have shifted from New York to Washington, D.C., it seemed all the more important to hear a local expert speak on the matter.

Aberman began by noting that some of technology’s greatest companies were started in challenging economic times. This was not a coincidence. Good times and easy capital tend to obfuscate the relative quality of business models. Accordingly, it can be difficult to differentiate the excellent enterprises from the weaker ones, particularly as the field grows. He also indicated that his firm and other local peer firms would continue to meet with startups and were in the process of closing several new deals.

Aberman acknowledged that many aspects of running a startup would become more challenging. Raising capital and finding customers would become more difficult and some companies will exit the market as a result.

Despite this, he encouraged the startups in attendance. “Don’t get discouraged – in fact, double down. If you can succeed in these economic times, you can succeed in any.” Aberman stressed in particular that the field would thin considerably over the next year or so and concluded by remarking that if one is willing to make sacrifices and really dig in, this economic downturn could be a tremendous opportunity.

One of the most interesting insights Aberman offered is that there is a huge new source of capital available. For the first time since the dot-com era began, the advertising budgets of major companies are available to startups. As downward pressure is exerted on the budgets of corporations, they will seek to move ad dollars away from traditional sectors as they seek higher returns. This in particular, Aberman noted, could offer a tremendous opportunity to startups focused on creating innovative advertising opportunities.

This last portion was particularly encouraging for us at Contribune, given our excitement about contextual engagement based ads. Overall, the remarks, along with the startup presentations that followed, were reinvigorating – but the challenges are clear.

Thanks to 1 Piazza’s Paul and Kady for the putting together the event and finding such an interesting guest speaker.

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