Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Archives for May 2009

M8 Gang 38: Bing, Google Wave & Palm Pre

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bingwaveBig week for announcements at the All Things D conference along with that from GoogleIO, and the Gang discusses the various announcements and probes to get at the meaning behind these moves by Microsoft, Google and Palm. We also briefly discuss some interesting local use of social media at the beginning of this week’s show.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, and Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off today).

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The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 40:47 — 23.6MB)

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Discussed During the Show Notes:

  • Tim mentions Serious Eats and the mention of local vendor ChefShack (Twitter @chefshack1 and website), “A Minneapolis-based truck operated by two chefs with 20 years of experience in notable fine dining kitchens.“

All Things D releases:

  1. Steve Ballmer interview and announcement of Bing (not-yet-live site; Virtual Press Kit for Bing)
  2. Roger McNamee and Jon Rubenstein (Palm investors) interview and Palm Pre discussion as well as a new demo


Thought Leaders At-Your-Fingertips

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ecornerStanford University has an incredible resource that you’ll undoubtedly find quite useful: an entrepreneurship ecorner that delivers videos and podcasts from top names in technology.

From their About page:

The Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) Entrepreneurship Corner is a free online archive of entrepreneurship resources for teaching and learning. The mission of the project is to support and encourage faculty around the world who teach entrepreneurship to future scientists and engineers, as well as those in management and other disciplines. The site has been developed by a dynamic team of educators, entrepreneurs, engineers, and designers at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP). The project has been financially supported by Stanford University and a number of generous sponsors. Other collaborators in its creation include the Stanford Center for Professional Development and Stanford Video.

One thing that was fascinating was from this post about why they’re translating their video’s audio and providing subtitles in so many languages, “Recent analysis reveals that over 40% of our viewers are visiting from outside the United States.” Also from this post is the factoid that they’ve created and are shipping an iPhone application to access their content.

Minnov8 Gang Podcast – Episode 37

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martinyman1Our guest this week is Marti Nyman, a senior business development executive with more than 20 years of success in areas within the Energy, Telecommunications, and Consumer Retail sectors, and, most recently, was responsible for the formation and launch of Best Buy’s Venture Capital practice.

Nyman, along with serial entrepreneur John Montague, are off on a new adventure — certain to make a big impact on the startup climate here in Minnesota — called “40 Ventures” and he tells us all about their innovative model of a fund for startups.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.

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The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 41:32 — 24.0MB)

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Discussed During the Show Notes:


Getting to Know W3i

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w3i_logoAs usual, the schmoozing at Minnedemo yielded a pleasant surprise. My discovery of a Minnesota company that is known better beyond it’s borders than within them and the CEO of said company. The CEO; Andy Johnson. The company; St. Cloud based W3i.

Many in the Minnesota interactive “space” (I love using that term. It’s so Gene Roddenberry) know Andy from his days at Fingerhut. He was instrumental in moving them into the e-commerce world where he grew their business to some $300 million* before Fingerhut sold in 1999, allowing him  to take some time to recharge and be with family. He eventually joined CMS Direct where he was lured away by three brothers–Rob, Ryan, and Aaron Weber (the W3 of W3i. Yep the “i” is for interactive.)

What does W3i do? According to Johnson, whether you are a small developer with a great Windows based application or part of a monster company like Yahoo!, W3i can get your product on computers, build traffic, and make you money. How?…  [Read More…]

Innovation to Ride Out the Economic Downturn

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uofmn_workshopThe University of Minnesota’s Department of Electrical and Computing Engineering, is offering a workshop in their Tech Tune-Up series for 2009.

Here are the details:

2009 Tech Tune-Up will expose professionals to breakthroughs and innovations coupled with insights and commentaries from internationally renowned researchers and practitioners. It will hone the competitive edge of participants and help them stay ahead of market and technology changes in today’s competitive environment.

Join our internationally renowned researchers and practi tioners for insights and informati on about University of Minnesota’s successful economic collaborations, energy technology solutions and bio-related advancements.

  • What: Lectures and panels will be given by experts from industry and the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology (full schedule on lower half of this page)
  • When: Friday, June 12
  • Time: 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m
  • Where: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building (full directions here)
  • Cost: $250 per person (includes course materials, lunch and breaks)
  • Register here
  • Additional information: 612-625-2855

You Want Us to Pay Attention? Cut to the Chase.

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preso-stylesIncreasingly we’re all swimming in a river of news, information and communications, and the flow is moving faster all the time. Not only are more of us accessing content online instead of paying attention to a handful of traditional media offerings, more of us are shifting our attention to such services as Twitter and what’s becoming known as the real time web, called that since frequently these services are the first place alerts, news stories and even trendy topics are emerging.

This real time web is becoming more important, but it’s further diluting the attention we can pay to any one piece of news, information or communication. One reason it’s importance is increasing is that more of us can access the real time web with our computers, of course, but especially with our mobile devices which we carry about wherever we go.

Because of this ability to connect with online services regardless of where we are, more of us are always on and always connected and our attention is split between an ever growing array of places online. We’re able to pay attention to this news, information and communication flow in the grocery store, while waiting in our car at a stoplight, while our kids are huddled with the coach during a momentary lull in their soccer game, or when we’re watching a TV show or political debate and “discussing” it with those whom we’re connected with through these sorts of services like Twitter.

Our dispersed attention isn’t just a problem for each of us trying to keep our heads above water in that rapidly flowing river of stuff, it’s also a huge problem if you are an entrepreneur, marketer, salesperson, small business owner, or even a teacher or cub scout leader trying to communicate the essence of your message and get people to pay attention to you and to it whether that message is delivered in person or online.

Thankfully there are some new models emerging that are beginning to point the way toward how we must communicate in a world with a scarcity of attention and is enabling more of us to understand how to cut to the chase and get the essence of our points across….  [Read More…]

MN Video Vault

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mn-videovaultThis morning I was made aware of a beta offering from Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) called, “MN Video Vault.”  They’re hosting a focus group session in downtown St. Paul on June 8th, but since I don’t think focus groups are meaningful in a day when one simply has to connect with a savvy, connected and worthy audience (ahh….like Minnov8 readers?) I figured you all would be happy to give them feedback on what they’ve delivered in this first iteration.

For anyone who knows me, it’s obvious that I’m a huge fan of curated, meaningful and historical content so I was very pleased to see this archive of TPT videos launching and immediately went to view it when I got the email. I care deeply about TPT, Minnesota Public Radio, the Minnesota Historical Society and many other resources in our state, but I feel I’m qualified to provide feedback to them while the Vault is in beta and you, our savvy and connected internet and web technologists, are equally (or more) qualified to let them know what they need to do to make this wildly successful.

I’m confident I’m right smack-dab-in-the-middle of their target market for MN Video Vault but in its current form, I won’t be using it. Here’s why…  …  [Read More…]

MPR, iPhone and a Codemorphic App

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mpr-iphone1Listening to Minnesota Public Radio last week after my first meeting of the day, I caught most of a fascinating program on Midmorning called “Discovering China“, a discussion about Simon Winchester‘s latest book and his experiences which chronicle, “…the story of an Englishman’s adventures in China, and his determination to prove to the rest of the world that the Chinese were the first to create technological marvels.”

As I left my car and embarked upon a 15 minute walk from a parking lot to a building in downtown Minneapolis, I was pleased to have remembered my headphones as I fired up the iPhone MPR application developed by Minnesota-based Codemorphic (get the free app here for your iPhone from the iTunes store) and continued listening.

What I didn’t expect was the two minute story about a breakdown of Winchester’s car in the middle of nowhere in China, his iPhone, and what happened next.

After hearing this story and a bit more, I was so intrigued by the program that I wanted to hear it in its entirety, so the next day I went to iTunes and downloaded the 5/4/09 show and, for good measure, subscribed to the MPR Midmorning podcast. Either can be done here on iTunes if you’re interested in hearing the whole show.

  Click this link to listen to the story…

Podcast: Download (3.7MB)

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The Enthusiasm at Minnedemo

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Minnedemo happened last Thursday, May 7th, and the hundreds of people there, the startups and innovators showcasing their wares, was absolutely invigorating. To give you a flavor of the event along with some snippets of a few select interviews by Minnov8, take a peek at this short video:

Hats off to both Luke Francl and Ben Edwards for the outstanding job done setting up Minnedemo and putting on such a great event for the community! The sponsors of the event deserve a resounding “Thank You!” as well since it wouldn’t have been possible without them: Split Rock Partners; New Counsel PLC; LiveFront; IP House; Magnet360; StartupShoppe.

This video was shot and delivered by the talented folks at the award-winning 612Authentic (see their ad in our sidebar…small thanks for all their efforts!). Setup by Gabe Chiefetz, this video was shot by Jed Smentek and as you can see as you watch this one, if you have a need to deliver video that captures the essence of what you’re trying to say, contact 612Authentic.

Sharpen Up Those Business Plans! The ‘Minnesota Cup’ Deadline Is May 22

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mncup-logo1Attention all Minnesota startups and would-be startups: only a short time remains to enter the statewide business-plan competition known as The Minnesota Cup — applications are due Friday, May 22, 2009.

Now in its fifth year, the competition is bigger and better in 2009, with more prizes and more opportunities to win.  The total amount of winnings this year was upped to more than $130,000.  And the competition was expanded to now include six divisions — Clean & Green, BioSciences, High Tech, Social Entrepreneur, General, and Student. The first-place winner stands to win as much as $40,000.  But I submit the money isn’t everything — the publicity and connections the winners get from this competition are worth far more.

The MN Cup, in more than doubling its prize money, stands in sharp contrast to a national study that recently reported angel investment dollars were down 26% in 2008.  Yes, Minnesota entrepreneurs should take heart — seed funding is actually on the rise in this case!  And many more founders can now participate in this competition with its newly added business categories.

Twin Cities Business magazine did a story on the 2008 MN Cup winners.  …  [Read More…]