ReadWriteWeb

In a world where eligible candidates for Web-related positions range from 14 to 81 years of age, and thousands worldwide may compete for an open position or contract, how can an employer expect to screen them all? In the old days, people used degrees; but in an environment where today's skills become tomorrow's bird cage liners, major players in Web development are suggesting the old system may already be outmoded.

A system proposed earlier this year by the Mozilla Foundation will be the basis of a global competition. As much as $2 million in grants from Mozilla and the MacArthur Foundation will be awarded to interested parties, in amounts ranging up to $200,000 apiece, who can propose a technical infrastructure and/or physical appearance for what Mozilla describes as a standard system of verified icons for representing individuals' Web developmental skills.

March means March Madness, of course - the time of year when eyes turn to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, one of the most watched sports events of the year.

The startup accelerator TechStars is getting in on the action with its own "bracket-style" tournament to find the next big startup. It's picking 64 startups to face off in Startup Madness.

There is a lot of competition out there in startup land, and often times similar companies launch around the same time and are pitted against one another in head-to-head competition. This was the case in 2007 when personal finance startup Mint launched less than a year after competitor Wesabe. Over time, it would be Mint that would win over the hearts and minds of the Web, leading to a hefty acquisition by Intuit, and the shuttering of Wesabe. So what was it that helped Mint emerge victorious?

As promised, open source social network and Facebook alternative Diaspora released its source code yesterday. And while it's a developer release meant to be hacked on and is by no means a finished, there are already of plenty of predictions that Diaspora will fail - or at the least, that the project represents no threat to Facebook.

Diaspora is hardly unique as a startup that faces major challenges by entering into a market or an industry where big companies are well-established.

One of the most common ways for universities to inspire innovation from its students these days is to host a business plan competition. According to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation - a private foundation for the advancement of entrepreneurship and education - over 50 universities dole out $10 million from these contests each year. Based on this data, the Kauffman Foundation has taken it upon itself to introduce iStart - a web-based platform for hosting and managing business plan competitions - just in time for "back to school" season.

When describing some of the common mistakes he'd seen in recent pitches for the incubator Capital Factory, Smart Bear Software founder Jason Cohen listed "invalid unfair advantages" as something that many startups needlessly tout. These include having a certain feature, having a team full of PhDs, being passionate and hard-working, and having strong SEO skills.

In its 14th annual report to the United States Congress on wireless competition, the Federal Communications Commission said that far from diversifying, the sector is actually concentrating in fewer hands.

Covering a period including 2008 and into 2009, the report, issued today, found that this concentration had increased 32 percent since 2003 and 6.5 percent in 2008, indicating a significant decrease in competition. Less competition usually means fewer choices and higher prices for both individual and enterprise consumers.

In the late 90's, a spokesperson for the Coca Cola corporation said, "Our primary competition isn't Pepsi. Our real competition is water, tea, nimbupani and Pepsi... in that order."

While it's a gruesome thought to see water considered competition to the top cola manufacturer, I didn't include the quote to make a commentary on public health or privatization. I did it to remind startups that competition includes all products that solve the same problem, in this case - thirst. When a startup claims they have no competitors, it makes me wonder if there's a need for their product in the first place. You have competitors. Below are a few ways you can find them, research them and then beat them.

It has been well over a month since the devastating earthquake struck near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, and while thousands of relief workers have flocked to the island, some of the efforts are still in the planning stage. Though innovative tech startups aren't the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a developing nation like Haiti, the founders of Seattle-based Startup Weekend believe their model for entrepreneurship and innovation is the kind of spark the country needs to get back on it's feet and prosper in the future.

A year ago we launched the ReadWriteWeb Guide on Community Management with the knowledge that "Community Manager" would become an increasingly popular job title. Since then, the requirements of keeping your customers engaged have become more demanding. According to one report, contests are becoming increasingly popular. ReadWriteWeb caught up with Strutta CEO Ben Pickering, to find out what businesses can do to generate more participation from their contests.