How to get your new university-based product highlighted
I was at NUST for a recent MITCEF event, and we had a number of interesting veterans from the media industry there. During the tea break a professor came and started introducing a student and his product to some of those media veterans. The student had built an “ERP System for the media industry” and the hope of the professor was that those veterans could find some use of this in their organizations.
I was standing next to them for a bit, and smiled – the theory at work seemed to be that the best chance of success for that product would be through immediate and direct introductions between the student and the veterans…. one by one and over the course of months.
I want to suggest an alternate way.
If you have a product you are certain can be applied to some industries immediately, why not find ways of broadcasting your message across? Instead of going and meeting with each one of the individuals separately, why not have all of them get interested in your message first – that way, when you do contact them, they are already familiar with your product?
Consider this blog as an example – this is a broadcast medium just like radio or TV, but for a focused audience. We’re one of the top tech blogs locally, and our readers include senior managers and executives from IT, telecom and very recently media.
I’m sure all the major media organizations read Green & White (if they dont, that says something about their news research depts).
So why not request coverage from us on your startup / product to us – use the “Request Coverage” button at the top.
We’ll first work with you to make sure your product is ready to be announced – if any part of your product has ethical or immediate issues, we’ll tell you about them before covering you.
Then even after coverage, we’ll try to help you out by pointing you in the right direction or doing email introductions.
If you need it, we’ll consider you for the CDF Incubation Program for startups where we give you office space and guidance.
Consider going through broadcast channels that can get you going immediately – sitting in the back hoping for introductions by professors may also work but they will take too long and you’re likely to get disinterested after a couple of months because of the speed of it.
10:47 pm
Aah aah aah!
So this is what you was referring to when you told us Green & White Green & White no longer associated with Startup Insiders. Or at least it is part of that.
What are we, the community, feeling over it: GREAT! WE LIKE IT!
10:47 pm
and what’s the catch?
10:54 pm
@ Muneeb: Guess it
According to me: you cant really call it “catch”. On the basic level, its simple; Green & White is a new media publication. And publication needs content. On the higher level, where Osama is taking about Incubation Program, I think he will be disclosing the details in a full post some day. I guess its a win-win situation. May be some sort of angel-investment; CDF may not be investing money, but they are willing to invest their resources.
10:57 pm
Osama, you should change the title of this post to “How to get your new product highlighted”. As you are actually inviting everyone, the university case serves just as an example.
11:32 pm
@Self-Exile: I’m glad you liked this, but no this wasn’t really what I meant by that post – this has been in place already for a year.
@Muneeb: No catch per say, and like I said its usually a win-win but doesnt typically involve equity or investment – if you’re interested send me an email with your product and where you want to take it and what CDF could do for you. We could explain more about the incubation program in person.
Regarding G&W – in a way Self Exile is right in that all the startups will only find serious benefit if there is a single place that can represent them. So the more startups G&W covers, the more important it becomes which allows us to open doors of bigger help back to the startups.
Its also part of our greater set of ideals we’ve set at G&W as Mansoor put it – if we dont help each other, we’re even worse off that animals in a jungle aren’t we?
This is part of the reason we got involved with Startup Insiders because we really really want to help refine the plans or products of startups to make them immediately more interesting.
4:43 am
Should repeat as well that this is what G&W is already providing – that small submit button at the top does a lot more than send it email – it opens a door
9:26 am
where is the submit button? i can’t seem to find it.
9:33 am
ohh sorry .. i believe you mean the request coverage button ..
i believe green and white is providing an awesome platform for all the startups .. and in the end its the startup which gets the most out of it rather than CDF ..
osama you are doing a great work .. keep it up !!