NYC Seed says that it encourages first time founders to apply for seed funding, but also looks for teams with "technically savvy" members who "possess a proven record of completing complex technology projects." The fund aims to invest in small, local teams that have a prototype of their software or web app product ready to demonstrate. Startups that aren't located in New York City will be required to move.

The fund currently has $2 million under management.

Web Apps

The Decline and Fall of Tech on Digg

If you're a fan of digg, you've probably been noticing that tech stories are becoming less and less a feature of the social news site. The reason? Digg is attempting to attract a large mainstream user base. Just how low has tech sunk in digg? We have new data that shows that the number of frontpage tech stories is halving every year on digg.

Is it time to accept that Digg is no longer an equivalent to Slashdot, and that it is as much a mainstream news site as say BusinessWeek or People magazine?

SixApart's BlogIt Could Be the Start of Something Big

SixApart launched BlogIt by TypePad this week, a Facebook app that lets you post to SixApart blogs and other blogging software like WordPress, Blogger and Tumblr, to your Facebook Newsfeed and to Twitter all from one place. It's the kind of app that makes Facebook all the closer to being a one stop social media experience.

The service could be more fully developed but it's certainly in the lead compared to other services aiming to do the same thing. A close look at the details leads us to believe that this could be a much bigger move than it might seem to be. This post lists a few reasons why we believe it's so interesting.

Grooveshark Launches Awesome Streaming Music Service

Gainesville, Florida-based Grooveshark, a music sharing startup that we first profiled in August, this week launched their latest product: Grooveshark Lite. Lite is a slick, flash-based streaming music service that takes Grooveshark's huge catalog of uploaded music and makes it available to stream, no registration required. Grooveshark Lite is fast, easy to use, and free.

When we reviewed Grooveshark last August, we called it "one part Last.fm, one part Limewire, and one part iTunes store." With the addition of Grooveshark Lite, the service is now also one part Pandora.

Battle of the AIR Apps: Twhirl vs. Alert Thingy

The battle between the two most popular AIR apps has begun. Earlier this week FriendFeed AIR app Alert Thingy, having only just launched on April 13th, was already getting an update - this one to include Twitter support via a built-in "Tweet" button. Not to be outdone, Twhirl wasted no time in providing an update of their own, seemingly crafting their updated version overnight. Now Twhirl includes FriendFeed support and Alert Thingy does Twitter, but are either of them really giving users what they want?

SEE MORE WEB APPS COVERAGE IN OUR WEB APPS CATEGORY

Web Trends

Is the Mobile Web Dead? Some Mobile Entrepreneurs Say Yes

Former Yahoo! Mobile evangelist turned startup entrepreneur Russell Beattie announced this week that he's calling it quits for his company Mowser, because the market for mobile browsing is taking a fast turn for the worse. "The mobile traffic just isn't there," Beattie says, "It's not there now, and it won't be."

Beattie's announcement comes just two months after mobile blogger and consultant Michael Mace wrote a much discussed post titled Mobile Applications, RIP. "The business of making native apps for mobile devices is dying, crushed by a fragmented market and restrictive business practices," Mace wrote.

Be sure to check the comments of this post, there were some excellent counterpoints made on both sides of the argument.

Real People Don't Have Time for Social Media

Let's be honest here: we're all a bunch of social media addicts. We're junkies. Whether it's a new Twitter app, a new Facebook feature, or a new social anything service, we're all over it. But we may not be the norm. The truth is, being involved in social media takes time, something that most people don't have a lot of. So how can regular folk get involved with social media? And how much time does it really take?

Where's Our Real World Data Portability?

In a recent Slashdot thread, someone sought advice on an electronic cash register set up that would output sales data in an open format. While the asker was looking for information from the point of view of a shop owner, it got us thinking about data portability. There's been a lot of clamor over the past few months about who owns attention data and a major online movement has started with the aim of pushing companies into granting access to that data to the users who create it. But what about offline attention data? Should we demand access to that as well?

13 Seed Funding Options For Entrepreneurs

One of the most difficult parts of starting a startup for any entrepreneur is finding that small bit of seed capital to get things going. As evidenced by small seed funds like Y Combinator, a little can go a long way for startup entrepreneurs, but raising that chunk of change to get started can be tricky. Luckily, there are a number of different roads you can take to get from concept to Series A. This post lists 13 seed funding options for startup entrepreneurs.

SEE MORE WEB TRENDS COVERAGE IN OUR TRENDS CATEGORY

That's a wrap for another week! Enjoy your weekend everyone.

1. Bootstrap from revenues. You will exit for an EBITDA multiple. Forget about crazy high multiples unless you have that magic formula that really can create high growth + low costs on almost zero capital -- but if you really have that you won't need/want to exit. Don't worry about what anybody thinks other than users and customers. No, this does not have to mean enterprise products; consumer ad-supported works fine as well -- just ask the founder of Plenty Of Fish.
2. Self-fund on credit cards and a second mortgage. You are brave, maybe brilliant, and maybe stupid. Just don't expect any VC to give you more than words to recognize your courage. And also remember: it will take more capital than you think. Self-funding is not bootstrapping, it is just using your money and not somebody else's money.
3. Do consulting on the side to self-fund. This is less risky than using credit cards. One partner works for a Big Old Dinosaur on contract for $20k per month and splits it 50/50 with the other partner, who builds the company which is shared 50/50 between the two. It gets a little more complex with more than two people.
4. Rase funds from friends and family. This can augment any of the above options. Richard Branson (a man who knows a thing or two about starting companies) can help with formalizing the relationship to avoid emotional damage.
5. Already a successful entrepreneur? Self-fund from cash via your last exit. VCs will be beating down your door to co-invest. Your choice...
6. Go from concept directly to $3m Series A. Wait, you did say your name was Marc Andreessen, right? No? Oh, sorry.
7. Use angels as a bridge to Series A. This is the perceived traditional route. If the angels know the VCs that is fine, but if not, then the VCs may cram down the angels, and that's tough on you and those early investors that you've built a great relationship with. This works best if VCs tell you early, "We like the space/concept/you, develop it a bit and we'll be interested. MyFavoriteAngel can help you get there."
8. Use angels to augment bootstrapping. You have a to show a really clear path to profitability that is not dependent on VC funding.
9. Use angels as a bridge to a flip. Angels who know the target acquirers can make this a sweet deal for all.
10. Spray and pray models. A fund or incubator that puts tiny sums into lots and lots of ventures in hope of finding one star in the bag (see this post). Sounds a tad random to me.
11. Seek out founder-only evergreen seed funds. These are slightly more formalized versions of angel networks that aren't managing other people's money (i.e. LP=GP). Exits get re-invested into the fund, so there is no fixed time horizon for exit. There should be more of these.
12. Get a convertible loan from a VC to develop your concept to a level where Series A is appropriate. Charles River Ventures led the way with their CRV Quick Start program. More of these would be great.
13. Check out one of the paid links when you search for "seed funding" on Google. Not.

The good news: I planned my usual 11-point list and had to go to 13 (well 12, if you leave out that last one -- which you shouldn't). The bad news: none of these options are easy. But then, you already knew that, right?