ReadWriteWeb

We're starting a new, weekly series here at ReadWriteEnterprise called the "Enterprise Startup Spotlight." If you'd like to submit a company for consideration, please review our submission requirements and send us an e-mail. These requirements are subject to change - and probably will once we get started.

We've been writing this past week about the overwhelming interest in startups using Amazon Web Services and Rackspace.

Reasons are numerous, but there is a consensus that the plain vanilla offering such as what Amazon EC2 offers makes for lower costs, more productivity and better access to talent pools.

Last week we wrote about the services that Y Combinator startups use. For hosting, Amazon Web Services and Rackspace were the most popular services.

Windows Azure was noticeably absent. But why? A topic turned up on Quora, citing our post and wondering why the lack of adoption.

The topic has sparked a bit of discussion. The consensus: Azure is better suited for larger enterprise operations.

Last week we profiled five enterprise startups to watch in 2011. Each startup is one that we think has great potential and hasn't received much, or any, coverage from ReadWriteWeb in the past. The five were: DokDok, Jama, Erply, SnapLogic and Podio. Which of these five do you think will be most successful in the new year?

2010 was a good year for Web startups. Deal flow, particularly at early stages, was active, and even though valuations were high, investor dollars were seemingly at the ready. Of the companies that made headlines and that led some of the major tech trends of the year, many were startups: Zynga (social gaming), Groupon (group buying), Foursquare (location-based networks), Tumblr (micro-blogging), and GetGlue (semantic Web), to name a few.

In pulling together our list of the Top 10 Startups of 2010 for ReadWriteWeb's "Best of" series, we've decided to look beyond some of those big names and "established" startups (the term gets applied so broadly). Rather than lumping together new companies no matter their age or size, no matter whether they have an acquisition offer by Google or have a Hollywood biopic about their founder, we've decided to restrict our list to those startups who were founded or who launched in 2010.

At each Enterprise 2.0 conference, participants select one of four new or upcoming applications as the Launchpad winner of the event. Baydin, a quirky e-mail-centric startup, won at the Enterprise 2.0 event in Boston last summer (see our coverage) and enterprise collaboration suite CubeTree won at the event before that. Read on for our take on each of this event's four nominees, and to vote in our own poll on the applications.

One major problem in Nigeria is the lack of employment; many people go to school with the belief that it's all they need to succeed in life only to get out of school and stay at home for years looking for the right job. This can be improved, and the best way is for Nigerian universities to encourage startups.

One major problem Nigerian students have is the lack of a entrepreneurial mindset. Universities can help change that by encouraging them to start businesses while still in school. Once they have that mindset, universities can do the following to continue to support Nigeria's online startups.

The goal here at ReadWriteStart over the last year or so has been to provide a place where first-time entrepreneurs and early-stage startups can find curated advice, tips and information to help them launch successful ventures. This is the nature of the entrepreneurial community; to help others that want to follow in your footsteps.

Some might say that the path to success for each prospering startup has been different, but author Bill Murphy Jr. believes there is a science to it all. In his book, The Intelligent Entrepreneur: How Three Harvard Business School Graduates Learned the 10 Rules of Successful Entrepreneurship, Murphy provides an entrepreneurial roadmap that could increase the odds of success for any startup.

Mark Suster is one of those unique venture capitalists in that he has experience as an entrepreneur prior to joining the VC world (or the "dark side" as he calls it). Twice, in fact. That's why he calls his blog "Both Sides of the Table," because he has literally sat at both sides of the negotiating table. It's this experience as both an entrepreneur and a VC that provides him a fresh perspective on startups and the investment market, so what does Suster think are the most important factors to securing investment? Apparently, it comes down to four M's.

Human-powered search site Mahalo, created by notable entrepreneur, investor and blogger Jason Calacanis, may soon be involved in a class-action lawsuit, the result of a change to its Terms and Conditions that may have affected the pay of its contractors and employees.

Meanwhile, as Mahalo's legal troubles begin, CEO Calacanis is preparing to launch a new project, itself called "Launch," which aims to be a direct challenger to TechCrunch.