John Laramie

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• NY startup tech community is closer from Europe than Silicon Valley one. Do you think it makes things easier to develop business there?

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    Sure – wherever works best for you. They are both great communities!

• Has public relations been a part of your strategy at all? If yes, what role has it played in your company and how big of a role? Did you simply do it yourself, seek advice, or hire someone else?

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    i do it all myself – no need to pay anyone at this stage in the game. sometimes i will go to my friends in pr for some advice on answering a question but other than that, be yourself.

• Have you noticed or become aware of most difficult hurdles for women in tech? Either the biggest mistakes women make themselves, or the biggest stereotype they must overcome?

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    I hate that this is a subject. Your question is perfectly reasonable but there shouldn’t be a divide, there shouldn’t be a stereotype. We are all entreprenuers, regardless of race or gender, and that means we all work hard and are incredible passionate about what we are doing. That level of passion is what determines who will be successful and not – it is not a matter of race or gender.

• 1.) What is the best location to find some partners? I'm independent right now, I go to different networking events, sprouter events, but i still find it tough to find partners. 2.) When looking for angels and VC's do they expect you to be able to put up some capital? When VC's funds you do they expect the founders to be liable for a failure? ie) personal assets.

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    bring somebody with you who can talk about the idea so you can cover more ground at these events! they don’t expect you to put capital in but they do expect you to be tied to the business for awhile. how can you build anything without investing in it? so you must have had to put something down in order to be where you are at – talk about that with them. vc funds don’t expect you to be liable for failure in terms of personal assets.

• John, at what stage would you recommend engaging a PR firm to help get the word out? I am launching a customer curated accessories site that will go live in two months. Trying to decide if PR would help in the sense of creating buzz with editorials, blogs, etc...

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    depends on your budget. i have never been a fan of pr until a disaster happens. we haven’t done any pr at this point.

• Any advice on how non-coders with industry expertise/know how can/should connect with coders to develop apps? Pros & Cons?

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    i am a non-coder. coders want to work on something that’s a big problem – showing them the market/problem/solution is important but most importantly, showing that you are passionate and committed to attacking the business.

• Venture Cafe is a neat place in Boston where entrepreneurs meet up weekly. I traveled there this past year, but do you know of anything in NYC or Philly like this? I'd like to check them out.

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    Check out ohours.org, go to the new york tech meetup, follow these communities!

• Which exit do you see for ADstruc?

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    We aren’t focused on an exit. We are focused on building a valuable company in the outdoor advertising space.

• What is the more mature country for ADstruc in Europe you could develop your business in?

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    There are a lot of opportunities there – you have any advice? :)

• Hi John, I have a question about funding new ventures. I keep hearing that right now funding is relatively easy to come by provided you have a good idea and a great team, and I'm sure that's true if you know the right people or are already in the right circles. But how do you recommend getting "on the inside" with Angels and/or VC's when you don't have any connections in that world? What's the best way to approach?

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    cold calling or emailing never works. you need to get out into your community where angels and vcs attend events, tech meetups, etc. this will help you build a relationship bc that is the most important part to funding – relationships with your investors.