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Back in August, after the release of the company's Android app, I spoke with GetGlue CEO Alex Iskold about how his startup prepared itself for making the move to mobile. The app first launched on the Web, and thus the company's developers were most familiar with languages native to the Web. In order to transition to mobile, Iskold and GetGlue employed the services of Appcelerator's Titanium - a tool that simplifies native mobile app development for developers. Today I had the chance to chat with Appcelerator's Scott Schwarzhoff about how young companies can plan ahead for their development strategy by anticipating the three phases of app maturity.

You could have the greatest idea for a startup in the world. You could even have the best team working together to build a great product. That's all fine and dandy, but for first-time entrepreneurs, if you don't have traction, you're not going anywhere. Traction means having a measurable set of customers or users that serves to prove to a potential investor that your startup is "going places." The tricky part is actually gaining that traction and knowing when you have enough to approach potential investors, so here are a few tips that should help.

The two largest startup ecosystems within the United States are arguably Silicon Valley and New York City, but there's a whole lot of land between the east and west coast. Smack dab in the middle of the country is Chicago, and not long ago we told you about a demo contest hosted by venture consulting firm midVentures that brought a bit of TechCrunch50 flair to the Windy City. This September, the firm is hosting another event in Chicago that looks to be the largest startup conference in the Midwest.

Earlier this week we provided a few tips for marketing your startup on the cheap, and a large part of that involves managing your brand's social media presence. Well that's all fine and dandy until you realize that there are dozens of social networks on the Web and actually managing them can be quite a daunting task for a small business on a budget. Enter Sprout Social, which does for social media what Zendesk does for support tickets, providing a rich Web-based dashboard for monitoring and management.

Let's face it - the traditional business plan as we know it (or as we knew it) is slowly slowly going away. Or is it? Startups and small businesses move at such lightning pace these days that a static document quickly becomes outdated, but the principals and lessons involved with its creation could be valuable in a new form. Many young entrepreneurs still think a business plan is a must-have cornerstone of their business, but as many venture capitalists have said recently, the traditional business plan is not the end-all be-all for startup success.

If there's one thing every entrepreneur realizes before launching a new venture, it's that one of the most important steps toward success is getting your name out there. If you're new to the startup game and don't have a reputation upon which to announce a new company, public relations (PR) is likely at the forefront of your mind as you build your startup. Most startups, however, are looking to penny-pinch in any way they can in order to bootstrap their businesses, so how can you get the word out on a budget? Here are a few tips.

Five years ago, Steve Huffman was another young entrepreneurial mind chomping at the bit to launch his very own startup. After taking a train from Virginia to Boston to see Paul Graham speak at Harvard in 2005, Huffman and his partner Alexis Ohanian eventually joined the very first class of Y Combinator. Later that summer, Reddit was born. Now, in 2010, Huffman is taking a stab at his second startup, Hipmunk, and today I had the chance to chat with him about what he has learned from the last five years and why launching his latest project "terrified" him.

When taking a Web app to the mobile space, it's important for a startup to realize the tools and best practices available to make the transition smooth and easy. Earlier this week, social check-in startup GetGlue launched its mobile app on the Android platform after seeing unexpected growth from its iPhone app. Today I spoke with company CEO Alex Iskold about the ways in which GetGlue both did and did not prepare for the explosive growth it has seen from its mobile efforts.

As an entrepreneur turned venture capitalist, Jeff Bussgang sits in a unique position that allows him to provide advice that is both relevant and helpful to young companies. Such was the case this morning on his aptly named "Seeing Both Sides" blog where Bussgang discussed what he and investors like him look for in startup teams. As we've mentioned before, a VC invests just as much (if not more) in the entrepreneurs themselves as they do in the idea being pitched - and Bussgang has an interesting perspective on why this may be true.

In the heart of downtown Chandler, Arizona - a city at the south-eastern edge of Phoenix's low and flat suburban desert sprawl - sits Gangplank, a collaborative co-working facility of designers, engineers and other Web professionals. Tucked away in a back office, two L-shaped desks cluttered with papers, stickers and computer monitors sit in opposite corners of the small room.

The desks are those of Joshua and Sally Strebel, the husband and wife founders (and only employees) of Page.ly - a premium WordPress hosting service celebrating its first birthday this month. The young company has quickly made a name for itself offering quality products backed by friendly customer service. Today I sat down with the duo to discuss how they got to where they are today, and what they learned along the way.