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!

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

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!

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!

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!