LaunchUp.org

Kynetx: Q&A

by Matt Smith on 09. Mar, 2010 in Company, Q&A

To help you to get to know the companies presenting at LaunchUp #6 we asked each to respond to a few questions…

The following Q&A segment is with Stephen Fulling, CEO of Kynetx.

Q: What does your company do?
A: Kynetx supplies a development platform for building applications that respond to context in the user environment. For techies, think GreaseMonkey in the cloud with diamonds. For others, I’d love to show you

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: Innovating in the user environment allows for transformational experiences. Take Tivo for example: Tivo changed how you watch TV. In a similar way, Kynetx Apps create a fundamentally different kind of Internet experience for users – an experience that is individualized and in context.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: Kynetx is cool because we’re bringing about an Internet of people instead of an Internet of machines. Our development platform allows developers to quickly create Apps that will blow your mind.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: Innovation. Marketing. Belief.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: Team Kynetx. We have the dream team. We are the Ten.

Q: Which one pursuit? Golf, Basketball, Skiing/Snowboarding, Knitting, Mountaineering/Climbing, Bowling, Watching Grass Grow
A: Fast machines – motorcycles and airplanes. I also like racquetball and backpacking too.

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: In 1995 Phil Windley talked me into moving to Utah when he started iMall. Since we had so much fun, and success, we’re doing it again.

We look forward to LaunchUp #6 and hearing more from Kynetx!

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iActionable: Q&A

by Matt Smith on 08. Mar, 2010 in Company, Q&A

To help you to get to know the companies presenting at LaunchUp #6 we asked each to respond to a few questions…

The following Q&A segment is from Jason Barnes of iActionable.

Q: What does your company do?
A: We help sites and services attract new users and increase interactions by providing a personalized Achievement System. Sites can define and automatically award public badges to their users when specific actions are performed.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: We believe that a good way to encourage good behavior or use of a site/service is to provide a few goals for users and offer a public rewards for those who achieve them.
With Achievements you can make things fun to use, promote exploration, encourage return visits and sometimes create a little friendly competition between users.
By offering a centralized achievement system and badge repository service we hope to push this new trend forward and help sites create better user experiences and increase usage of a product or service in an desired and beneficial way.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: The Badge/Achievement trend is very new and we believe it is going to grow rapidly. A few major companies or sites have successfully implemented Achievement Systems on the web and more and more people are going to want to implement one. We want to make it easy for anyone to create one!
We are the first to offer a service based achievement system powered by a customizable event based rule engine. Very little is required to initially hook in our API to track events. We also make it easy to modify the criteria by which achievement/badges are awarded without additional dev work.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: Start Ups are like a roller coaster. One minute you’re excited and swear your idea will take over the world, the next you’re starting to wonder if you’ve done the right thing. New ideas and projects can be bad temptations!
Find a good co-founder. It will ensure that things keep moving when either of you gets busy or starts to burn out. Keeping each-other in check but also motivated is important.
Release early and get feedback as soon as possible. We waited too long to really get our idea out there and discovered there was a whole different need that wasn’t being met and we quickly changed directions.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A:Phil Haack (Microsoft), Scott Guthrie (Microsoft), Fred Wilson (avc.com), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)

Q: Which one pursuit? Golf, Basketball, Skiing/Snowboarding, Knitting, Mountaineering/Climbing, Bowling, Watching Grass Grow
A: Bowling, definitely bowling.

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: Ryan and I met while attending Neumont University in Sandy. We both landed our first software development jobs here in Utah and have been working together on startup ideas ever since.

We look forward to LaunchUp #6 and hearing more from iActionable!

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LaunchUp #6 – Wednesday Mar 10 6:30 p.m. – @ Thanksgiving Point (Lehi) w IActionable, Kynetx, Simler

by Jeremy on 04. Mar, 2010 in LaunchUps

Here are all the details about the sixth LaunchUp, our community “barn raising” and energizing event for entrepreneurs.

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We have another sweet event planned with 3 awesome companies.

Please help us spread the word!

Remember, we stream the event live at http://www.launchup.org/live and make it as inclusive as possible to anyone, even if you cannot attend in person.

We are also building a list of those that want to support first-time technology entrepreneurs in Utah. You can join our community. It will help us track those that want to help, and your name/link will be published real time on the community page.

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Specifics:

RSVP: If attending in person, PLEASE RSVP. If on Twitter, tweet:

I’m going to #LaunchUp Mar 10 to see IActionable, Kynetx & Simler, are you? http://bit.ly/launchup6

If not on Twitter, email jeremy . hanks @ gmail . com and let me know you’re coming.

Date: Wednesday Mar 10th

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Thanksgiving Point – 3003 Thanksgiving Way, Lehi, UT 84043 (or watch stream online at http://www.launchup.org/live/)

Located just SE of exit 284 in Lehi in Tropical Room above Shops at Thanksgiving Point
View Thanksgiving Point Directions and Map

Event URL: http://www.launchup.org/live/

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Agenda:

Welcome and LaunchUp Report: 5 minutes: Jeremy Hanks. Update everyone on notable events and milestones from previous LaunchUp alum companies.

Amp Session: The Future of LaunchUp: 10 minutes: Jeremy Hanks, Cofounder, President and Chairman, Doba; Founder, LaunchUp.org

New!! In The Weeds: 10 Accounting and Finance Secrets for Startups: 10 minutes: Ken Kaufman, Founder and CEO, CFOwise.

Company Presentations: 45 Minutes

IActionable
http://www.iactionable.com/
IActionable helps you engage with your users leading to increased participation and retention. We do this by providing an easy to implement achievement system that allows you to reward your users for their patronage in a fun and exciting way.

Kynetx
http://www.kynetx.com/
Kynetx offers the first Context Automation Development Platform. This platform, powered by Kynetx Network Services (KNS), provides easy-to-use development tools to create context-sensitive, cross-platform apps that can stretch across any web site or web-enabled device. Kynetx apps help build relationships between companies and customers (users) by offering more relevant experiences in the places that matter most.

Simler
http://simler.com/
Simler is a new kind of social network that connects people with common interests. Whether you an entrepreneur, soccer player, or bird watcher, Simler is the easiest way to talk to others that share your passions. You can even compare how much you have in common, enriching the relationships you already have while creating new ones.

Corner Dives around 8:00 p.m., get food, and then each company heads to a corner, and anyone interesting in learning more or helping dives right in with them. General networking in highly energized setting.

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Please help spread the word. (If you’re using Twitter, use hashtag #LaunchUp)

A special thanks to Thanksgiving Point for providing the location, and for providing the food!!

Finally, LaunchUp #7 will be in April on Wednesday April 14, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at location TBD. We’re going to feature 3 student companies from the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge.

Watch the site for more info. If your company, or one you know, would like to present or help out, email me: jeremy . hanks @ gmail . com

Subscribe to our RSS feed — Join our LaunchUp Linked Group — Follow us on Twitter: @launchup — Become a fan on Facebook: LaunchUp.org — Email Jeremy Hanks if you’d like to help/get move involved: jeremy . hanks @ gmail . com

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LaunchUp #5: Rock, Energy, & Fun

by Jeremy on 14. Feb, 2010 in News

LaunchUp #5 this past Wednesday was AWESOME! The energy and excitement about entrepreneurship was palpable.

We had a full house of 70 people in the room at Novell, and another 30 watching our live stream online at http://www.launchup.org/live

With our push to make sure and include women from the tech/entrepreneur community, we had 18 and since we hit our goal of 15 we set at LaunchUp #4, we gave away the Kodak Zi8 camera to Reah Sandberg. That’s 25% female attendance, not bad!

But don’t take my word for it, here’s some other reactions:

LaunchUp: The Entrepreneurial Rock Concert
Entrepreneur energy 201002
LaunchUp was a lot of fun

You do not want to miss LaunchUp #6! Wednesday, March 10th at 6:30 p.m. in the Tropical Room at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi.

Ken Kaufman from CFOwise will be presenting In the Weeds on Top 10 Accounting Secrets for Startups.

Kynetx, Simler, iActionable will be presenting their companies.

And we’re giving away a free annual family membership to Thanksgiving Point, worth $175!

More to be announced, and details coming soon to here on LaunchUp.org. Register to be part of the LaunchUp community so we can let you know.

See you in a month!

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TrackMyMarketing: Q&A

by Matt Smith on 08. Feb, 2010 in Company, Q&A

To help you to get to know the companies presenting at LaunchUp #5 we asked each to respond to a few questions…

The following Q&A segment is from Chris Walsh of TrackMyMarketing.

Q: What does your company do?
A: We eliminate the hassle of creating, maintaining, and integrating your campaign tracking codes in 3rd party web analytics tools.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: We are drowning in data and short on insight. We can make the world a better place by eliminating poor advertising campaigns.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: We make it easy to manipulate, integrate, and create insight from your own data. In other words, we solve the problem of messy campaign organizational processes and locked spreadsheets. I know this doesn’t sound cool, but it really is.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: Persistence to continue to build your vision, go the extra mile for your customers, ask for help.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: Jeff Bezos (Focus on the customer), Eric Peterson (Godfather of Web Analytics), Avinash Kaushik (Web Analytics Guru), Bill Minor (a former mentor), Mark Cuban

Q: Which one pursuit? Golf, Basketball, Skiing/Snowboarding, Knitting, Mountaineering/Climbing, Bowling, Watching Grass Grow
A: Golf, definitely a weekend hacker.

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: Hmm, still relatively new to the area, so I am still figuring out the scene and making contacts. It certainly has a more entrepreneurial spirit than Central Pennsylvania.

We look forward to LaunchUp #5 and hearing more from TrackMyMarketing!

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TippingBucket: Q&A

by Matt Smith on 05. Feb, 2010 in Company, Q&A

To help you to get to know the companies presenting at LaunchUp #5 we asked each to respond to a few questions…

The following Q&A segment is from SaraJoy Pond of TippingBucket.

Q: What does your company do?
A: We’re a mashup of one-deal-at-a-time retailing, micro-payments, and money-back guarantees. Think “woot.com dollar menu for changing the world.”

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: It matters because after years of being told “you’re too young. you’re too small. anything you could do would just be a drop in the bucket” finally no-one is too small to make a difference. Their $1 can actually tip the bucket and change the world.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: hmmm…we exist at this fantastically fuzzy intersection of markets, sectors and models so we make (and break) our own rules…we get to go home everyday knowing that the world’s incrementally better because we went to work today…and we make our own yogurt at the office.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A:
- Articulate your tensions: Autonomy vs. Engagement, Stability vs. Agility, Reputation vs. Performance, etc. Understanding and staying aware of the various tight-ropes you walk as a start-up will make you more deliberate and balanced as you make critical decisions.
– Put more in. Actively seek ways to engage and contribute. If you’re adding value, value comes back to you. Try to use one of the 4 C’s every day: Compliment, Critique, Connect, Collaborate.
– ASK! Always, always ask. You’ll be amazed at the flexibility of rules and regulations, the impact of connection and coincidence, and the generosity of friends, mentors and strangers.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A:
– The person who did Elvis Presley’s branding.
– The person who managed Thomas Edison’s innovation lab.
– The person who took care of Mother Theresa
– The person who inspired Rosa Parks
– The person who taught Winston Churchill public speaking.

Q: Which one pursuit? Golf, Basketball, Skiing/Snowboarding, Knitting, Mountaineering/Climbing, Bowling, Watching Grass Grow
A: Mountaineering/Climbing (though the inverse version–canyoneering–is actually my favorite

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: It’s a great place to “grow up” as an organization–super supportive network of fellow innovators, engaged mentors, active university, etc. Plus, where else can you find $200/month office space with snowboarding half an hour away?

We look forward to LaunchUp #5 and hearing more from TippingBucket!

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Zipadi: Q&A

by Matt Smith on 03. Feb, 2010 in Company, Q&A

To help you to get to know the companies presenting at LaunchUp #5 we asked each to respond to a few questions…

The following Q&A segment is from Bryan Ferre of Zipadi.

Q: What does your company do?
A: Zipadi is a digital publishing + e-commerce platform-as-a-service

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: We help companies leverage existing assets to save money, make money and make life easier.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: Zipadi lets you publish and monetize print documents to the web, mobile devices and digital readers.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: Fake it till you make it. Operate Lean.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: Justin Kitch CEO (Founder of Homestead), Guy Kawasaki, Elliot Jacobsen, Deepak Chopra, Jerry Sloan

Q: Which one pursuit? Golf, Basketball, Skiing/Snowboarding, Knitting, Mountaineering/Climbing, Bowling, Watching Grass Grow
A: Golf

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: I have worked all over the world and with the exception of Washington DC, Utah is home.

We look forward to LaunchUp #5 and hearing more from Zipadi!

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LaunchUp #5 – Wednesday Feb 10 6:30 p.m. – @ Novell Bldg A (Provo) w TrackMyMarketing, Zipadi, The Tipping Bucket

by Jeremy on 31. Jan, 2010 in LaunchUps

Here are all the details about the fifth LaunchUp, our community “barn raising” and energizing event for entrepreneurs.

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*** Special Giveaway for Female February!! ***

We need women. Seriously. At LaunchUp #4 in January, we had 3 women in attendance out of 63 total. If we get at least 15 (5X growth) women entrepreneurship and technology enthusiasts at our February event, we’ll give away a Kodak Zi8 HD Pocket Video Camera to a lucky lady!! We’re going to do a better job of getting the vibrant Utah female entrepreneur/tech community involved with LaunchUp, and if bribes help, so be it.

Consider this our “Female February” kickoff to have better representation going forward.

And if we can get more women than men: I’ll buzz my head for the March LaunchUp.

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We have another sublime event planned with 3 radical companies.

Please help us spread the word!

Remember, we stream the event live at http://www.launchup.org/live and make it as inclusive as possible to anyone, even if you cannot attend in person.

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Specifics:

RSVP: If attending in person, PLEASE RSVP. If on Twitter, tweet:

I’m going to #LaunchUp Feb 10 to see TrackMyMarketing, Zipadi & The Tipping Bucket, are you? http://bit.ly/launchup5

If not on Twitter, email jeremy . hanks @ gmail . com and let me know you’re coming.

Date: Wednesday Feb 10th

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Novell Building A – 34 East 1700 South, Provo, UT 84606 (or watch stream online at http://www.launchup.org/live/)

Located just NE of exit 263 in Provo in Building A on the Novell Campus
View Campus Map

Event URL: http://www.launchup.org/live/

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Agenda:

Welcome and LaunchUp Report: 5 minutes: Jeremy Hanks. Update everyone on notable events and milestones from previous LaunchUp alum companies.

Amp Session: 10 minutes: Brock Blake, CEO, Funding Universe.

Brock was selected as Utah Technology Council’s 2007 Emerging Executive of the Year. At age 24, Blake was recognized by Utah Business Magazine as one of the Top 40 Under 40 business professionals in Utah, and his peers selected him to vSpring Capital’s prestigious v100 list in 2006, 2008 and 2009. He currently serves on several advisory boards including the Utah nonprofit organization LaunchUp, the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum, Launch Magazine, BYU’s Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization and Weber State University’s Entrepreneurial Society.

New!! In The Weeds: PR for Startups: 10 minutes: Noelle Bates, VP Corp Comm, Orange Soda.

Noelle Bates has 13 years of PR experience, most of which has been spent working at or with hi-tech start-ups in both San Francisco and Utah. Noelle is currently the VP of Corp Comm at OrangeSoda, and prior to OrangeSoda filled the same position and ran all PR efforts for Logoworks, which was acquired in 2007 by HP for an undisclosed sum.

Company Presentations: 45 Minutes

TrackMyMarketing
http://trackmymarketing.com/
TrackMyMarketing eliminates the cumbersome processes of creating, managing, and integrating your campaign data with web analytics systems. Through easy-to-use online tools, TMM offers marketing and analytics users the ability to create and assign unique campaign data attributes to their marketing campaigns. This allows companies to gain greater insight into their marketing campaigns, get more value from their web analytics systems, and save time in the creation and management of campaign data.

Zipadi
http://www.zipadi.com/
Billions of pages of printed matter are produced every year to support business. From beautifully designed product catalogs and brochures to technichal specifications and user guides. Magazines to periodicals. Text books to research papers.

Zipadi is a software-as-a-service that enables businesses to leverage their investments in printed materials by enabling them to instantly create and publish an interactive edition. Zipadi Design Studio enables users to enhance their digital editions by adding interactivity, rich media and e-commerce.

The Tipping Bucket
http://thetippingbucket.org/
The Tipping Bucket empowers bright young social entrepreneurs to plan and execute projects that change the world. We’re a mashup of micro-payments, money-back guarantees and one-deal-at-a-time retailing designed to harness social media for social change. Think woot.com for changing the world.

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Please help spread the word. (If you’re using Twitter, use hashtag #LaunchUp)

A special thanks to Novell for providing the location, and for providing the Drinks/Pizza!!

Finally, LaunchUp #6 will be in March on Wednesday March 10, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in Lehi at Thanksgiving Point.

Watch the site for more info. If your company, or one you know, would like to present or help out, email me: jeremy . hanks @ gmail . com

Subscribe to our RSS feed — Follow us on Twitter: @launchup — Become a fan on Facebook: LaunchUp.org — Email Jeremy Hanks if you’d like to help/get move involved: jeremy @ jeremyhanks . com

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LucidChart: Q&A

by Matt Smith on 09. Jan, 2010 in Company, Q&A

To help you to get to know the companies presenting at LaunchUp we asked each to respond to a few questions…

The following Q&A segment is from Darrell Swain of LucidChart.

Q: What does your company do?
A: LucidChart is a web-based diagramming tool that allows teams to collaborate in real-time.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: The software and web development world is more complex than ever. Projects have increased in size and urgency. Teams are spread across the globe. These teams need an easy way to visually express complex processes, communicate it to their team and ultimately make better decisions together.
At LucidChart, we offer an easy way to visually share complex ideas in a collaborative fashion.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: Our tool is not flash-based, it’s easy to use, and affordable.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: First, vision. I think the first step in any entrepreneurial venture is to visualize, in as explicit detail as possible, what exactly you are working towards. Close your eyes and see it. This leads to an understanding of the permutations that will arise and, consequently, how to overcome them.
Second, goal-setting. Start working towards your vision. Set specific, measurable goals and get to work.
Third, pliability. Nothing will work out exactly as you visualize it. Be both as firm and flexible as you can.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: Steve Jobs, Yvon Chouinard, Dave Neeleman, Jeff Bezos, Josh James

Q: Which one pursuit? Golf, Basketball, Skiing/Snowboarding, Knitting, Mountaineering/Climbing, Bowling, Watching Grass Grow
A: Surfing when I can and golf when I can’t.

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: The most valuable natural resource is people. Utah has great people.

We look forward to LaunchUp #4 and hearing more from LucidChart!

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Snirk: Q&A

by Matt Smith on 07. Jan, 2010 in Company, Q&A

To help you to get to know the companies presenting at LaunchUp we asked each to respond to a few questions…

The following Q&A segment is with the founder of Snirk.

Q: What does your company do?
A: Free websites and hosting with Online scheduling & appointment reminders.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: It matters because 25-40% of appointments in appointment-centered businesses such as salons and gyms, are no shows. Text or email reminders reduce that by up o 75%. This saves both the client and company time and money.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: Out company is cool because we try to keep things simple. Too many applications are overbuilt. I think we have a cool name and design too.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: 1. Keep it simple.
2. Work with the best people possible, who have strengths that are different than yours.
3. Get your product out as quickly as possible so you can get feedback, make adjustments and make sure people really want it. Stealth companies and products waste time and money.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A:
1. President – George Bailey
2. Sales – Blake (Alex Baldwin) from Glengarry Glen Ross
3. Finance & Accounting – Rain Man
4. Security – John McClane
5. Motivational Speaker – William Wallace
6. Distribution – Al Capone

Q: Which one pursuit? Golf, Basketball, Skiing/Snowboarding, Knitting, Mountaineering/Climbing, Bowling, Watching Grass Grow
A: It would be great if I liked golf. I try too, but can’t. It’s something that can frustrate you your whole life. Besides that, I’d take Triathlons. It’s always a challenge and keeps you in great shape, unlike bowling or grass watching (which would be too time consuming).

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: Utah has it all. Great economy, resources, talent pool, networking opportunities. Besides, I don’t want to move to India.

We look forward to LaunchUp #4 and hearing more from Snirk!

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