The following Q&A segment is with icount:

Q: What does your company do?
A: Icount provides a way for you to impact politics through social networking. Icount keeps you informed on political issues, current events, legislation, campaign platforms, voting histories and the positions of your elected officials helping to formulate and strengthen your opinions. Icount provides an easy, user-friendly website to engage in meaningful ways with your social networks, with candidates and with your elected officials. Users can see the impact of these engagements as bills are written, impractical laws are challenged, elections are determined, positions are debated and your voice is heard. Icount provides a one-stop-shop for everyone to be involved in the political process.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: Over the past few years I have become increasingly frustrated with politics and the callousness of our politicians. It seems that they are more concerned with their own careers and backdoor deals then they are about what is good for the country or what their constituents want. About a year ago I read a quote by Edmund Burke that jumped out at me, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”. I knew I needed to get involved politically — I just didn’t know how to make an impact. Protest marches, phone calls and letters to my politicians don’t seem to make a difference. After discussing my frustrations with others, I quickly became aware that I was not the only one feeling this way and I decided to create icount to provide a simple, effective method to make our voices heard and impact politics.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: We give purpose to social networking by replacing Farmville, Mafia Wars and FunSpace with creating legislation, repealing laws, impacting elections and exercising your freedom of speech and virtual assembly. We’ve also been accepted as a company in the BoomStartup program which is pretty darn cool!

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: 1. Make sure you marry the right person.
2. Learn from your failures, because you will fail.
3. If you failed to marry the right person, don’t be an entrepreneur.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: 1. Warren Buffet
2. Oprah Winfrey
3. George Washington
4. John Huntsman
5. Michael Jordan

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

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: Because I am an entrepreneur and I live in Utah. I would be an entrepreneur in another state if I lived in another state, but most likely with less support and infrastructure. Utah is setting a high mark for encouraging and supporting entrepreneurial activities.

We look forward to LaunchUp #10 and hearing more from icount!

Help us spread the word! And RSVP on our Facebook Page event page for LaunchUp #10.

The following Q&A segment is with BekoZone:

Q: What does your company do?
A: BekoZone.com is an online platform that generates matches for people to trade what they have for what they want. Example, you have an iPhone and want a camera, Beko connects you to the person that has a camera and wants an iPhone.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: Tight economy means tight cash. Trade/Barter is a market saver. We hope we can help small businesses keep their doors open as well as boosts people’s confidence when they don’t feel valued. Now they can use their skills and get things they want and need.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: Trading is exciting and super addictive. It’s also fun reviving the cool system from Kindergarten days that has somehow been fogged over by money. Trading usually produces an exchange whose value can’t be met by a monetary system.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: 1) Find a way to do what you love. You’ll always be wealthier.
2) Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Learn from them and move on. No Regrets.
3) There will be haters when you make it, and there will be haters when you don’t. So stop caring about what others think, and do what you want to do.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: To me, entrepreneurship is all about self-improvement and experiences more than simply financial success. So I’m not sure if I’d want to be riding the bench to success, or if I’d rather be on a suckier team actually playing the game. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be mentored by superstars, but there is only so much you can learn by just studying the game. Sometimes you just gotta get in there and play.

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

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: Sounds a lot better than being unemployed in Utah.

We look forward to LaunchUp #10 and hearing more from BekoZone!

Help us spread the word! And RSVP on our Facebook Page event page for LaunchUp #10.

The following Q&A segment is with Eduglu:

Q: What does your company do?
A: Eduglu makes quality learning experiences accessible to people around the world through our open-source social learning application called Eduglu. In the coming months, we will be launching a hosted version of Eduglu.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: Most of the world is struggling to meet rising demand for higher education. As the world grows wealthier, hundreds of millions more people need a quality education, exceeding the capacity of existing educational institutions. Eduglu solves this problem by providing an online learning application built on the open-source CMS Drupal which makes accessible quality learning experiences to far more people than traditional educational methods.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: We believe in working on big important problems. And education is one of the biggest and most important. Online learning is already a $40 billion global market and growing 20% annually.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A:1. The size of your questions determines the size of your answers.
2. You really can be an entrepreneur, it just takes time and a lot of effort.
3. Stay humble, you’re a lot more naive than you think.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: Tim O’Reilly for his vision, leadership, and moral backbone
Young Hahn (right name?) for his mad Drupal skills
John Seely Brown because he asks the right questions
Eric Ries because he knows how to work lean
Steve Blank because he’s a wise old bird and would be a lot of fun.

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

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: I graduated from BYU, the classic Utah family trap, plus Utah is a really strong hub of learning research.

We look forward to LaunchUp #10 and hearing more from Eduglu!

Help us spread the word! And RSVP on our Facebook Page event page for LaunchUp #10.

The following Q&A segment is with RawData:

Q: What does your company do?
A: RawData, with its advanced technology, does for traditional media what web analytics did for the internet. RawData, tracks exactly how the consumer moves through ALL media.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: Tens of Millions of dollars are spent in Radio and TV advertising, just in local markets. These spending decisions are based on questionable and often time inaccurate data. Add to that, each local market consumes media differently and those differences are not being measured in the current systems. At RawData we want to empower the relevant decision makers by collecting and reporting more accurate local data in a more cost efficient manner.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: Media – we work with movies and music and the people that make all of it. Mark’s (all 4 of them) are entertaining as hell.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A:1 – Not all money spends the same. Know who and where the money is coming from and what their motives are. Always remember there are a lot more funding sources than the popular groups, and mentors can and will work for FREE (w/out altering your cap-table).
2 – Terms are always open. Nothing is static, from rent to the terms of a potential investor. You can always ask for an item to be removed or even ask for more clarity on the motive behind a term.
3 – You can always find another job and/or other people to work with, the old fashioned, ‘No Asshole’ rule.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: Bus. Dev. – Ines Papert (sheer determination)
Sales – Obi-Wan Kenobi (You will buy…)
CIO – Yvon Chouinard (innovative and groundbreaking solutions)
HR – Shane McKonkey (the guy could spot talent)
CEO – Will Ferrell (people gotta laugh)

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

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: I enjoy good/fun people, dynamic environments, and solving big problems. As it turns out we have an abundance of all three here in Utah. Also, I have found a good group of kindred spirits that are into the same things.

We look forward to LaunchUp #9 and hearing more from RawData!

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The following Q&A segment is with O-CODES:

Q: What does your company do?
A: We make offline information interactive using simple codes and text messaging. Consumers can save and share stuff they see in print by texting a simple code to 62626. We send them info on their phone, save the content for them online in a free personal archive, and can simultaneously share that content to their Facebook wall, Twitter stream, and Evernote notebook. 

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: We make it easy for people to save and share information they encounter off-internet (instead of keeping stacks of magazines, coupons, brochures, etc) lying around. We also make it easier for brands to measure the value and response rates for their offline advertising and marketing investments.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: Coolness is in the eye of the beholder – this is a better question to ask our customers and since most of them are friends and family at the moment I’m sure the data is unreliable

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A:1. Get paying customers as early in the process as possible. If you have an idea, make a PowerPoint and see if you can get a contract before you’ve built or coded anything. All ideas are lame until someone is willing to get out their wallet.
2. Customer service/satisfaction/loyalty is a key to success in any market. But this doesn’t mean just doing whatever they want (Henry Ford’s famous quote about faster horses). You have to know your customer well enough to solve their problems, even when they can’t articulate them.
3. Trust everyone but get everything in writing.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: Eric Ries, Max Levchin, Evan Williams, Steve Blank, Tony Hsieh

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: Love the 4 seasons for outdoor sports, family here, talented people at affordable salaries

We look forward to LaunchUp #9 and hearing more from O-CODES!

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The following Q&A segment is with Pixelture:

Q: What does your company do?
A: We make enterprise software for commercial and educational use. 

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: Our product makes it easier to share content and create powerful collaborative discussions.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: Ideas are incredibly powerful and shape the world we live in–Pixelture makes sharing these ideas more dynamic and effective, and this is helping to shape the world we live in.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A:1- Everyone falls down–the successful entrepreneur is the one who got back up one more time; 2 – Edison was right, genius is more about tenacity and sweat than convenient inspiration; 3 – Love what you do–period.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: Benjamin Franklin, Seth Godin, Guy Ritchie, BIll Mahr, and Tony Stark (these will change from week to week)

Q: Which one pursuit? Golf, Basketball, Skiing/Snowboarding, Knitting, Mountaineering/Climbing, Bowling, Watching Grass Grow
A: Who has time for any of these?

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: The second wave of high technology in Utah is afoot (the first wave being Novell, WordPerfect, and the like). Omniture and a slew of others are signs of the second wave.

We look forward to LaunchUp #9 and hearing more from Pixelture!

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The following Q&A segment is with Brian Whitmer and Devlin Daley of Instructure

Q: What does your company do?
A: Instructure is changing the face of education. We have built a next-generation learning management system, Canvas, to replace the outdated and complicated systems colleges and universities currently use for grades, communication, turning in assignments, etc.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: Canvas is of the web. We integrate with other web services that students and teachers are already using to provide a simple, seamless education experience that not only allows communication but also encourages it. There aren’t many things better than improving teaching and learning and making it accessibly to more people to change the world.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: We have a giant picture of a banana, an over-sized sculpture of a human nose, and a yellow box of Nerds.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: – Validate your product before you write any code.
- Validate your product before you write any code.
- Validate your product before you write any code.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: We’ve been very fortunate and our dream team and our team are the same. However, I would take advantage of a cloning device if you have one to borrow.

Q: Which one pursuit? Golf, Basketball, Skiing/Snowboarding, Knitting, Mountaineering/Climbing, Bowling, Watching Grass Grow
A: Brian: Hiking (as if I had time for it)
Devlin: Basketball (my body thinks I’m suffering to win a game, it has no idea it’s also getting exercise)

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: Utah is the ideal cross-section of being a software innovation hotspot with access to quality institutions of higher learning and passionate about education.

We look forward to LaunchUp #8 and hearing more from Instructure!

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The following Q&A segment is with Steven Woolley of ooTunes

Q: What does your company do?
A: Write and sell media streaming software.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: Radio has been around for over 100 years now. It is still very much a part of millions of people’s daily entertainment and information. For 90% of its life, radio has been mostly restricted by geography. ooTunes breaks those geographic bounds and brings the universe or radio to your pocket.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: What’s not cool about a company run by a nerd phd dropout?

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: 1. Listen to your customers!
2. Talk to your customers!
3. Don’t watch T.V.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Rob Egbert, Marc Bohn, Geoff Tice

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

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: Mountains and proximity to everything else that’s important.

We look forward to LaunchUp #8 and hearing more from ooTunes!

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The following Q&A segment is with Mark Thomas of Buystream.tv

Q: What does your company do?
A: Buystream produces and streams interactive video content for online businesses.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: It’s tough to make a sale right now in any industry. Our end-to-end video commerce solution helps business sell more, convert more, and engage more web visitors.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: Everyone on our team could be a rockstar somewhere else, but we form a special band by staying together at Buystream.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: 1. Be honest with yourself. If your product sucks, admit it. If you can’t sell, admit it. Then you can find out what you should really do next.
2. You don’t have to work for free. Everyone wants a favor and wants you to prove yourself. At some point you have to believe enough in what you do to say “no, you need to pay me a lot of money for this.”
3. Figure out how to make money early. Don’t build a product and assume it’s going to monetize itself. Not many companies pull that off. Google is the exception not the rule. Cash is king. Learn how to get it early and often.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Steve Jobs, Tony Hsieh, Jason Fried

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

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: I’m a fanatic for wakeboarding, basketball, and college football. I get all three in large quantities here!

We look forward to LaunchUp #8 and hearing more from Buystream!

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The following Q&A segment is with Brian Henderson of FanFare.

Q: What does your company do?
A: We plan to revolutionize the live concert industry by giving fans the power to determine who they see in concert, where, and when.

Q: Why does that matter and how do you make the world a better place?
A: Have you ever been frustrated that your favorite artists don’t make the stop in your city? Or if they do, you can’t get the tickets you want? We have too.

Q: Why is your company cool?
A: We will bring collective buying to live music, and forever change the industry. How often do industry changing ideas come around? It’s a David vs. Goliath story. That’s cool.

Q: What 3 lessons/observations would you tell other entrepreneurs?
A: 1. Find mentors
2. Triangulate advice
3. Don’t spend all your time planning. Take action, then deal with the results.

Q: Pick 5 people for your entrepreneur dream team (assuming you and your team were riding the bench)
A: In no particular order: Richard Branson, Thomas Edison, Simon Cowell, Larry H. Miller, Shawn “Jay Z” Carter

Q: Which one pursuit? Golf, Basketball, Skiing/Snowboarding, Knitting, Mountaineering/Climbing, Bowling, Watching Grass Grow
A: Basketball. Definitely. The ultimate team sport that requires individuals to excel at the same time.

Q: Why are you an entrepreneur in Utah?
A: Utah is home to our idea, our friends, and us. Simply THE most entrepreneurial friendly place in the nation. Woot!

We look forward to LaunchUp #7 and hearing more from FanFare!