Startup

One of the common questions I get is how to maximize and activate BizSpark’s MSDN Benefits for Windows Azure. These free Azure credits allow you to save tonnes of upfront capital costs and focus on building your product on top of our services. Multiple accounts also allow you to do testing on multiple machines. Here’s is a quick guide on how you can maximize your benefits! What is Windows Azure? Windows Azure is an open and flexible cloud platform that enables you to quickly build, deploy and manage applications across a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters. You can build applications using any language, tool or framework. And you can integrate your public cloud applications with your existing IT environment. [caption id=“attachment_15328” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Windows Azure Offerings[/caption] Windows Azure Offerings for BizSpark Members [caption id=“attachment_15339” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Azure Benefits for BizSpark Members[/caption] Windows Azure provides great benefits for BizSpark members. BizSpark members automatically receive the Windows Azure benefit through their Visual Studio Ultimate with MSDN subscriptions. These benefits include $150USD monthly credits of Windows Azure, lower rates and no additional charge for using MSDN software on Windows Azure. In addition, BizSpark members retain production use rights under this Windows Azure benefits offer. [caption id=“attachment_15340” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Azure Rates for BizSpark[/caption] Activate and Maximise Your Benefits for Windows Azure. 1. Add more members to your BizSpark account. Just click on ‘Manage’ on the left bar after logging into BizSpark.com. *Remember that you can add up to 8 developers under your account so that they can have access to the benefits of BizSpark. [caption id=“attachment_15335” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Add more members to your BizSpark account.[/caption] 2. Next, go to this [link](Go to this link to view all Azure benefits and click on ‘activate’. http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/member-offers/bizspark-benefits/) to view all Azure benefits and click on ‘activate’. [http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/member-offers/bizspark-benefits/](Go to this link to view all Azure benefits and click on ‘activate’. http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/member-offers/bizspark-benefits/) [caption id=“attachment_15343” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Azure activation[/caption] 3. Log on with your Microsoft Account (the ID that you provided when applying for BizSpark). [caption id=“attachment_15344” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Windows Azure Login[/caption] 4. Check the box for terms and services and select ‘Purchase’. 5. You’ll be brought to your Azure account management page, where you can access your subscriptions. BizSpark Members get Visual Studio Ultimate with MSDN. [caption id=“attachment_15346” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] You can check the amount of credits in your account simply by clicking the subscription.[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_15349” align=“alignnone” width=“610”] Each BizSpark member given US$200 credits at the start, and subsequently, $150.[/caption] Each BizSpark startup gets to add up to 8 accounts to their BizSpark membership and each gets US$150 worth of credits per month. That’s $1,200 credits per month. Feel free to utilize all the accounts and try the great services we have on Azure! Have fun! ...

I get lots of questions about the BizSpark program and how we help entrepreneurs. So I thought this slideshow and little brochure would help you, the startup founder, understand what the community is like in Singapore. Essentially, we provide software, support, visibility, and community to promising startups and visionary entrepreneurs — at no charge. We currently serve 50,000+ members in 100 countries across 6 continents. Navigating the Singapore Startup Eco-system with Microsoft BizSpark from Joyce Huang ...

Perhaps you’ve recently developed an app you are incredibly proud of; the best you reckon. You sit back, heave a huge sigh of relief, and sip at your coffee feeling fully contented with your creation. “Any second now…the downloads are going to come in like WOAH” you think to yourself, thrilled and filled with anticipation. But reality is a cruel story. Several days pass before a few downloads start coming in. Then, as suddenly as they began, they quickly dwindled and died away. Unfortunately, it is quite often the case that an app needs to be marketed strategically in order to be successful. With over 100,000 apps in the marketplace, it is hard to stand out without a good marketing plan even if you have developed something truly revolutionary. So to help you get started, here are some tricks I think every developer should know: ...

Today I am excited to help announce Microsoft Ventures, an initiative by the Startups team to unify all Microsoft startup activities under one umbrella. You can read more about it from the official statement by Rahul Sood, the GM of the Microsoft Ventures in the official MS Blog. Microsoft Ventures is a coordinated global effort that offers the tools, resources, expertise and routes to market by providing mentorship, technology guidance, seed funding, joint selling opportunities and other benefits. Microsoft isn’t new to working with startups. Since 2008, more than 75,000 startups from over 100 countries have received access to tools and resources through the BizSpark program. ...

The Zombies Strike Again!!! Take part in We Live to Code 2013, that has returned stronger and better with our partner, Samsung! What’s best is that anyone can sign up, whether you are a student, developer or a startup! So, develop a great app and be part of the app revolution! All developers can register individually or as a team, preferably in teams of three or less. If you’re a lone ranger, fret not. On the first day of the hackathon, you can mingle with other participants and identify peeps you want together for the next month. Interested to be part of this awesome experience, yet you feel that lack the skills. Join us for pre-hackathon training on the evenings of 20th and 27th March. These trainings sessions are helmed by in-house Microsoft technical experts and target to equip participants with the relevant training to develop their apps. But, there’s a slight twist. We live to code returns with double pitching session, the first pitch will be held on the last day of the Hackathon (7th April 2013) and the second pitch will be on 5th May 2013. The former will constitute 30% of the team’s score and the latter will constitute 70%. In the one month period, you can then test and refine your apps from good to great. To be part of the this awesome experience, applicants can sign up via http://welivetocode.eventbrite.com/. Successful applicants will then be contacted via email for their personal particulars and their app ideas.

App Reviews are essential to every developer to see how their app is faring in the Store. It tells developers what issues users face when using the app, suggestions on what to implement next, and even compliments on what they’re doing right. If you have created an app for Windows 8, you would have noticed that the current Windows 8 Developer Dashboard doesn’t report ratings in a very efficient manner, grouping it by country and requiring developers to scroll through an entire list to see the ratings for each country. They’ve noted that they are considering consolidating all the reviews so that you can see every country at once, but in the meantime here’s how to see all your app’s ratings. There’s a site called Windows 8 Review that has a service which scans through the Windows 8 Store and reports on app popularity and ratings. The ratings are pulled from every country and not just one, letting you see what users think about your app in a neat list. The site even includes an RSS Feed for your app reviews, so you can check on them easily if you’re using a feed reader such as Feedburner. ...

Sick and tired of testing your web apps on multiple versions of Internet Explorer? Modern.IE is here to save the day! Modern.IE is a new resource for web developers that offers tools to help optimize their sites for modern browsers like IE10. A new code detection wizard to detect common coding issues Developers start by entering a webpage URL that they want to test: In a few seconds, modern.IE reports the webpage results in the below three categories, and includes recommendations on how to update the site: ...

 The Spiffy team is proud to partner Founder Institute to offer 3 scholarships to Windows Developers in their upcoming April Semester 2013! Developers can earn yourself a scholarship through BizSpark Launch Academy. BizSpark Launch Academy is a competition for startups and individual developers based in Singapore who are building applications for the Windows Store, Windows Phone 8 or on Windows Azure. You will stand the chance to receive expert training and feedback to launch startup companies with Founder Institute beginning in April 2013. And… that’s not all! You can also participate in Windows Startup Challenge with the app ideas that you pitch through BizSpark Launch Academy. This could lead you to launch your Windows Store app at DEMO Mobile, a global launchpad for the most innovative mobile startups held in April 2013 in San Francisco, California. So, if you have the ability to prototype a Windows Store app, quickly iterate to design, and bring your app to life, send in an image of the prototype to win8sg@microsoft.com with a quick overview of the app and personal particulars by 8th Feb 2013. More details of how to enter can be found at http://academy.weshipcode.com. You can also tweet about your app building process or prototypes with #app4theWIN. About Founder Institute The Founder Institute is an early-stage startup accelerator and global launch network that helps entrepreneurs create meaningful and enduring technology companies. Through a part-time four month program, existing and prospective founders can launch their dream company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs - while not being required to quit their day job. Our unique Graduate Liquidity Pool also enables graduates and mentors to share in the equity upside of each class, creating local, teamwork-based ecosystems where great new businesses can flourish. In just over three years of operation, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 650 companies across 37 cities and five continents - making us the world’s largest startup accelerator. Our goal is to “Globalize Silicon Valley” by launching 1,000 meaningful and enduring technology companies per year in over 50 cities worldwide. The Founder Institute was founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Adeo Ressi, and is operated out of a small office in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Microsoft BizSpark is proud to be a sponsor for Lean UX Week. The event will run from January 25 – 27, in our very own Auditorium in Microsoft Singapore! Lean UX Week includes three separate one-day workshops catering to students, leaders, and anyone building a product. That’s three days of intensive work focused on the most important topics: customers, product, metrics, and vision. Here’s what you’ll learn. Lean UX Week is a workshop that helps you to learn how to help your organisation create good habits around documenting assumptions about customers by creating personas, defining the minimum viable product, using a metrics dashboard to measure your product’s success and aligning your team members around a common purpose and set of values. ...

Last call for this exciting event! We’ve been always a great supporter of Startup Weekend here in Singapore and we’re inviting everyone for the first Startup Weekend Woman’s Edition. It’s not yet too late to sign up. If you want to have an exciting time this weekend learning from entrepreneurs or getting your startup itch scratched, make sure you don’t pass on this event. Register at http://singaporewomen.startupweekend.org/