Graeme Thickins — Page 10

DoApp Making Big Strides with ‘Mobile Local News’ App

October 16, 2009 By Graeme Thickins

DoApp-MobileLocal If you’re a TV news station, newspaper, or online news site, you probably should get to know Minnesota startup DoApp Inc. For those of you in our local tech community who already know of this firm (it launched early in 2008), you may find this fact amazing: on a search for “DoApp” in the Apple® iTunes® App Store, you’ll see the company now has — count ’em — no less than 84 apps published, available for download. Now, you may have known DoApp only for utility and game apps, with which it had early success soon after the App Store launched in mid-2008. The firm ended 2008 with well over 3 million downloads of those apps — 11 of them are now in the store (and most have been updated multiple times). But what are those other 70-some apps (and counting)?

Well, throughout 2009, DoApp has been busy on another front: its “Mobile Local News” app, which is an ad-supported iPhone app it co-developed with partner Inergize Digital Media of Minneapolis. The latter is also helping DoApp market the app, primarily signing up TV stations initially, which brand the app for their own use in their local market. And each of those branded versions of the app is distributed via the App Store to consumers, who download them for free. DoApp also has the app available for the Android mobile platform, with Blackberry and Palm Pre versions coming soon. (By the way, DoApp’s first customer for the iPhone mobile news app was our own WCCO-TV, Channel 4.)

Now, however, I learned from the DoApp folks at the recent MIMA Summit (where they did a demo), that they and their partner Inergize are spreading their wings even further — now offering to build and publish branded versions for newspapers and other publications, as well as online news sites.

DoApp is now touting its Mobile Local News as making citizen journalism easy. It says 50% of internet users will be generating content by 2010, and that 100 million Americans now get their news from a mobile device.

In a newsletter it just distributed, DoApp says this: “Now it’s easy for readers (and writers) to create user-generated content with Mobile Local News. With our app, you can connect with a television station or newspaper and be part of the news-making process. No press credentials required! DoApp’s Mobile Local News is the first and only local news platform to provide user-generated content. You can easily upload video, photos, and text from your mobile device. Report the news as it’s happening!”

As you might expect, DoApp is touting its Mobile Local News as a tool for “citizen journalism.” Get this: it says 50% of internet users will be generating content by 2010, and that 100 million Americans now get their news from a mobile device. They don’t cite a source for those numbers, but they square with what I’m hearing elsewhere.

In a newsletter DoApp just distributed, it says this:

“Now it’s easy for readers (and writers) to create user-generated content with Mobile Local News. With our app, you can connect with a television station or newspaper and be part of the news-making process. No press credentials required! DoApp’s Mobile Local News is the first and only local news platform to provide user-generated content. You can easily upload video, photos, and text from your mobile device. Report the news as it’s happening!”

To get more perspective on these recent developments, I asked DoApp founder (and early Google employee) Joe Sriver if he’d answer some questions, and he was kind enough to agree. Here is that email interview: … [Read More…]

‘RAIN Makers’ Event to Attract Angel Investors from Far and Wide

September 14, 2009 By Graeme Thickins

Members of the largest multi-state network of angel investor groups in the country will gather in Minneapolis for the 6th Annual RAIN Makers Conference (http://www.rainsourcecapital.com/rainmaker/conferenceinfo.cfm) on September 23-24 at the new Hilton in Bloomington. Sponsored by St. Paul-based Rain Source Capital (http://www.rainsourcecapital.com/), this event has been held in other cities throughout the Upper Midwest in previous years. In addition to members of the RAIN funds network of angels, this is the first year that members of the Angel Capital Association (http://www.angelcapitalassociation.org/) are also being invited. RAIN Source Capital is partnering with the ACA, which is dubbing the event a regional meeting for their organization, to encourage networking and sharing of best practices in investing and syndication.

RAIN Source Capital anticipates more than 100 angel investors representing its 23 funds across eight states will be in attendance, along with investors of other angel investment organizations. The company told me they expect a larger representation from the Twin Cities this year, of course, since the event is being held here. Any active or would-be angels (accredited investors) are welcome to register for the event, and RAIN said entrepreneurs may also register, although they will not be allowed to attend the second-day (Thursday) morning sessions.

Minnov8 is a media partner for the RAIN Makers Conference. Steve Borsch and myself will each be attending portions of the event, and we’ll have a table where we plan to do some audio and video interviews during breaks. (I’m returning from DEMOfall in San Diego late the night of the 23rd, and will attend RAIN Makers the morning of the 24th.)

The first day of the event, actually just the afternoon, will feature sessions devoted to trends in angel investing, due diligence tools and techniques, corporate governance/board service, valuation and deal terms, and patent landscaping, followed by a reception. One the second day, there will be a session in the morning devoted to four companies making presentations, chosen from among RAIN Source’s portfolio companies. The presenting firms have received an investment from at least one RAIN fund (angel network), but are now being syndicated to the rest of the fund network for additional financing. Those companies are:

• Inovus Solar http://www.inovussolar.com (Boise, ID) — This company has pioneered the next generation of outdoor street and area lighting that reduces dependence on the grid, power bills, maintenance bills, and CO2 pollutants. Its SmartPole™ and Visia™ LED retrofit product lines come from the minds of people who helped build companies like Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft. and CH2M Hill.

• Ntractive http://www.ntractive.com (Grand Forks, ND) — Ntractive launched the latest release of its product, Elements CRM 2.0, on July 21st, 2009. The release of Elements CRM 2.0 has garnered significant attention and recognition from Apple and the Mac market, including the honor of being named an Apple “Staff Pick.” Elements CRM is a Customer Relationship Management solution built on a new “hybrid” platform, which is part desktop and part cloud. Elements CRM is currently available on the Mac and iPhone.

• Pranah Storage Technologies http://www.pranah.com (Stillwater and Mendota Heights, MN) — Pranah designs and manufactures scale-out unified storage systems for the SMB market, in the under $50K market segment, the fastest growing part of the data storage industry. Its hardware and software systems are purpose-built for data storage, designed and built domestically, delivering simple, scalable, and flexible network storage. The efficient design behind the Pranah product makes it the most complete network storage system available in a 1U footprint.

• Recon Robotics http://www.reconrobotics.com (Edina, MN) — The company launched the Recon Scout® throwable reconnaissance robot in the local, county, and state police/SWAT market. Building on that successful start, it continues to design, develop, manufacture, distribute, and support miniature robotic systems. The company’s robots are specifically designed to provide real-time information in hazardous or restricted space areas, for military, police, and commercial markets worldwide. It has now sold more than 500 of its Recon Scout family of robots, has recently won a large military order, and has distributors in 28 countries.

After these companies present, in what’s being called a “Syndication Showcase,” attendees will divide into four breakout groups to discuss due diligence and investment recommendations relating to each of those firms. The afternoon of day two will feature panels focusing on the topic of exits, including M&A, the current market, and analysis of some of the RAIN Funds network syndicated investments and their exit potential.

Cosponsors for this year’s RAIN Makers Conference include the Blandin Foundation, Cimarron Capital Partners, Development Capital Networks, MN Deptartment of Employment & Economic Development, Oak Ridge Financial, Deloitte, Sage Group, ESD Group, Quazar Capital, Ethicon/J&J, Gray Plant Mooty, Granite Equity, Sofia Angel Fund, and South Metro Investors.

More About RAIN Source Capital

RAIN Source is a multi-state network of investment funds that are made up of angel investors who are interested in supporting growing companies. The company helps bring together like-minded angel investors to form individual RAIN funds, and then provides these funds with a process for due diligence, legal templates, management support, access to deal flow, and other resources.

RAIN funds share expertise, deals, and experience between and among RAIN Source Capital’s multi-state network to support growing companies throughout the area.

RAIN Source Capital works with angel investors in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and other areas, where it expects to form additional RAIN funds in the next year. There are currently 23 RAIN funds located in:

• Minnesota – based in Alexandria, Grand Rapids, Worthington, Willmar, Montevideo, St. Cloud, Mankato, Northfield and Minneapolis.

• Iowa – based in Cedar Falls, Mason City, and Rock Rapids.

• North Dakota – based in Grand Forks, Fargo, and Bismark.

• South Dakota – based in Sioux Falls, Brookings, and Sisseton.

• Idaho – based in Boise.

• Montana – based in Kalispell.

RAIN funds range in size from seven to 61 members, who have pooled anywhere from $500,000 to $2 million for each fund. Each RAIN fund determines what industry(ies) it will focus on, and the type and level of financing to provide, based on the interests and expertise of its members. Each group or fund uses the proven RAIN fund model, with support from RAIN Source Capital’s headquarters staff, for identifying potential deals, performing due diligence, making investment decisions, and monitoring those investments. The RAIN fund network currently has more than $33 million invested in 55 companies.

For more information about the RAIN Makers Conference, please call Dawn Lundquist at RAIN Source Capital at 651-632-2140, or email her at dlundquist (at) rainsourcecapital (dot) com (dlundquist@rainsourcecapital.com).

Members of the largest multi-state network of angel investor groups in the country will gather in Minneapolis for the 6th Annual RAIN Makers Conference on September 23-24 at the new Hilton in Bloomington. Sponsored by St. Paul-based Rain Source Capital, this event has been held in other cities throughout the Upper Midwest in previous years. In addition to members of the RAIN funds network of angels, this is the first year that members of the Angel Capital Association are also being invited. RAIN Source Capital is partnering with the ACA, which is dubbing the event a regional meeting for their organization, to encourage networking and sharing of best practices in investing and syndication.

RAIN Source Capital anticipates more than 100 angel investors representing its 23 funds across six states will be in attendance, along with investors of other angel investment organizations. The company told me they expect a larger representation from the Twin Cities this year, of course, since the event is being held here. Any active or would-be angels (accredited investors) are welcome to register for the event, and RAIN said entrepreneurs may also register, although they will not be allowed to attend the second-day (Thursday) morning sessions.

The first day of the event will feature sessions devoted to trends in angel investing, due diligence tools and techniques, corporate governance/board service, valuation and deal terms, and patent landscaping, followed by a reception. One the second day, there will be a session in the morning devoted to four companies making presentations, chosen from among RAIN Source’s portfolio companies. The presenting firms have each received an investment from at least one RAIN fund (angel network), but are now being syndicated to the rest of the fund network for additional financing. Those companies are: … [Read More…]

TED Hits Town, Throngs Converge

September 3, 2009 By Graeme Thickins

TED Hits Town, Throngs Converge

And a lot more Minnesotans were wishing they could have gotten this hot ticket, it turned out. Screw the Fair, this was the place to be in St. Paul last night. There was nothing on a stick — in fact, no eats or drinks at all that I ever saw (more on that later). But it was the first time any TED event had ever hit town — and it was freeee! — so it was a no-brainer that demand for seats would far exceed supply.

TEDxTC http://tedxtc.com/, an “independently organized TED event,” as they labeled it, was held last evening at the Science Museum of Minnesota in downtown St. Paul, from 7:00 till something approaching 10:00, I suspect. (I bailed early.) The very nice theater-style auditorium could only hold about 280, and it was indeed maxed out. Those of us who saw the somewhat obscure promotion for this event back in mid-August, and signed up, even got a special followup email on August 26, begging us to please let them know if we could not attend, because the waiting list was already up to 221! That was a sure-fire way, of course, to get everyone registered to be certain to show up, knowing they had something so many others wanted. And they got that ticket for absolutely nothing, just by responding to an email. Such a deal.

TED originally stood for “Tech, Entertainment, and Design” when the conference series was launched in the 1980s. But, several years ago, the organization began positioning its events (including the pricey national conferences) with the tagline, “Ideas Worth Spreading.” How’s that for a broad-reaching mission, huh? And now they’ve essentially gone worldwide by letting local volunteers and sponsors roll their own mini TED events. (Quite the franchise, this TED thing.) Sponsors for our local event were Worrell (official design partner), Boston Scientific, and the Science Museum of Minnesota. The host and MC was Chadburn Blomquist of the Science Museum. (By the way, Chad, smart idea to cosponsor — great way to show off your employer’s wonderful facility.)

The presentations, in order, were:

– Dan Buettner, speaking about his study of longevity related to his Blue Zones venture. http://www.bluezones.com/ This was the high point of the evening for me (followed closely by the next speaker). Fascinating research, and well presented. Great stories about the healthy old-timers he met all around the world in the longevity zones his organization identified.

– Benjamin Zander, a classical musician and conductor, speaking about music and passion. (Presentation via video, as recorded at a TED event in February 2008 – here’s the link. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html) The man exudes a passion and love for music, and all “possibilities,” which is extremely catching!)

– Ed Driscoll, an entrepreneur (he cofounded local firm WAMnet in the ’90s), talking about our energy future and his new company, Rational Energies. http://rationalbioenergy.com/

– Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroscientist, who spoke about her experience suffering a debilitating stroke and her slow recovery. (Presentation via video, as recorded at a TED event in Feb 2008 – here’s the link.http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

– Matthew Stanford, a parapalegic, who spoke on mind-body integration. (Here’s a video about him on YouTube, produced several months ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpmbzAwL5ws)

No word at this point if the three live presentations are available yet as videos to view online, but they’re sure to show up on the TEDxTC Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Minneapolis-St-Paul-MN/TEDxTC/63321962217?ref=ts

(currently at 389 fans)

The TEDxTC people say that, in addition to their Twitter feed http://twitter.com/TEDxTC

(what, only 167 following? tells us something about the TED demographic maybe…), that Facebook page linked above is the best source to get information post-event (videos, photos, etc) — and it’s also where you can learn about future TEDxTC programs.

And, of course, to read the play-by-play, just search twitter using the hashtag “TECxTC” and you’ll see a huge amount of tweets posted by audience members — and those who were wishing they were. I tweeted extensively myself last night www.twitter.com/graemethickins , till I finally had to bail about 8:45, starving. (Note to organizers: next time, either hold the event in the afternoon, before din-din, or at least throw us some crackers, cheese, wine — somethin’! — beforehand, so we can get through the 2+ hours. I later heard a reception was held afterwards, which no one mentioned beforehand, but I was long home with my head in the refrigerator by then.)

Photos by me, from my Flickr set http://www.flickr.com/photos/graemethickins/sets/72157622101518813/ — a somewhat abbreviated set for me, because I was so busy tweeting, and there wasn’t a whole lot to shoot since we were all in a darkened room most of the evening.

TEDxTC-sign It was a mob scene, but a lot more Minnesotans were wishing they could have gotten this hot ticket, it turned out. Screw the Fair, this was the place to be in St. Paul last night. There was nothing on a stick — in fact, no eats or drinks at all that I ever saw (more on that later). But it was the first time any TED event had graced our town — and it was freeee! — so it was a no-brainer that demand for seats would exceed supply.

TEDxTC, organized by local sponsors, was held last evening at the Science Museum of Minnesota in downtown St. Paul, from 7:00 till something approaching 10:00, I suspect. (I bailed early.) The very nice theater-style auditorium could only hold about 280, and it was indeed maxed out. Those of us who saw the somewhat obscure promotion for this event back in mid-August, and signed up, even got a special followup email on August 26, begging us to please let them know if we could not attend, because the waiting list was already up to 221! That was a sure-fire way, of course, to get everyone registered to be certain to show up, knowing they had something so many others wanted. And they got that ticket for absolutely nothing, just by responding to an email. Such a deal. TEDxTC-audienceview

TED originally stood for “Tech, Entertainment, and Design” when the conference series was launched in the 1980s. But, several years ago, the organization began positioning its events (including the pricey national conferences) with the tagline, “Ideas Worth Spreading.” How’s that for a broad-reaching mission, huh? And now they’ve essentially gone worldwide by letting local volunteers and sponsors roll their own mini TED events. (Quite the franchise, this TED thing.) Sponsors for our local event were Worrell (official design partner), Boston Scientific, and the Science Museum of Minnesota. The host and MC was Chadburn Blomquist, who identified himself only as “Curator” of TEDxTC.… [Read More…]

FanChatter Goes to the Valley, Tapped by ‘American Idol’ for Startups: Y Combinator

August 6, 2009 By Graeme Thickins

Here’s a story many in Minnesota have been waiting to hear — including several of you out there in the local developer and ad communities who knew something was up. FanChatter-clients Yes, our friends at Minneapolis startup FanChatter have finally gone public with what they’ve been doing for the past four months. FanChatter is a site that “helps sports franchises and other businesses create a more profitable level of fan involvement through real-time content sharing.” (More on the company’s About page.) In April, it was chosen as one of the lucky few to be accepted into the summer program of Y Combinator (YC). Though the actual numbers aren’t announced, I’ve heard only 30 startups were chosen out of almost 1000 that applied. YC is an organization founded in 2005 that does seed funding for startups. Here’s how it explains what that means:

“Seed funding is the earliest stage of venture funding. It pays your expenses while you’re getting started. Some companies may need no more than seed funding. Others will go through several rounds. There is no right answer; how much funding you need depends on the kind of company you start. At Y Combinator, our goal is to get you through the first phase. This usually means: get you to the point where you’ve built something impressive enough to raise money on a larger scale. Then we introduce you to later stage investors or occasionally even acquirers.” (More on Y Combinator’s About page.)

YC’s application process is well explained on their site, a process FanChatter went through earlier this year, before their selection in mid-April. After sitting on this story for some time, waiting for the TechCrunch post to break first (which is the normal way YC companies get announced), what follows is the result of a phone and email interview I did over the past few days with FanChatter founders Marty Wetherall and Luke Francl, who remain in Silicon Valley through August. (The third founder, Norm Orstad, was not available.) … [Read More…]

Could MSP Be the Social Media Capital of the World?

June 29, 2009 By Graeme Thickins

Or at least the social media breakfast capital of the world? It felt like it Friday, as a mob of people began gathering bright and early, with the smell of bacon and eggs wafting above the expansive lawn at Deluxe Corporation’s headquarters in Shoreview, MN. The scene was the 16th consecutive monthly meeting of an organization called Social Media Breakfast-Twin Cities, or “SMBmsp” for short. Complete with a “Jumbotron” on wheels for the presenters’s slides, the event was unofficially dubbed “Social Media Palooza” by the sponsor, and beach balls were even bouncing from row to row before the morning was over.

The event was originally slated to be held indoors at Deluxe, but free tickets for the 125-person capacity room sold out on the group’s online sign-up site within two hours. So, organizer Rick Mahn and sponsor PartnerUp (a Deluxe company) scrambled to accommodate demand. They quickly decided to open up the event by holding it outside, and then promptly sold out all 250 tickets.

Just what is a “Social Media Breakfast”? As explained on the group’s web site (a social networking site, of course!): “It’s where folks get together to talk about using social media and social networking tools in their business or careers. It’s about networking, it’s about learning, and mostly it’s about people.”

The SMB concept has taken off nationally, now with 25 chapters. But in early 2008 the Twin Cities group was one of the first to get started — the third, actually, after Boston and New York City, according to Bryon Person, the founder of Social Media Breakfast. Person spoke at the local “SMPmsp 15” event at Concordia College in St. Paul on May 16. (Person is based in Austin, TX and is a blogger, podcaster, speaker, and social media evangelist for LiveWorld. He is @BryanPerson on Twitter.) Person also said the Twin Cities SMB group has held the most meetings of all the chapters, and consistently has the biggest attendance. Thus, one could conclude that Friday’s outdoor event was the biggest SMB breakest ever held nationally, since attendance was about twice that of the largest previous SMBmsp event. … [Read More…]

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

May 10, 2009 By Graeme Thickins

mncup-logo1 Attention 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…]

Compellent Sure Knows How to Throw a Customer/Partner Event

May 4, 2009 By Graeme Thickins

I’m impressed. Compellent is hosting one helluva gig this week. If you don’t know this company — well, you should. It’s one of our state’s best technology-industry success stories in recent years. compellent_c-drive09 Compellent is all about data storage, which is very much still a growth industry, despite the recession. Yes, your company should be so lucky to be in a sector like this.

Specifically, Compellent’s product is a simple SAN, or storage area network. The company, which IPOed in October 2007 (NYSE stock symbol: CML), turned in some pretty impressive numbers a few days ago. It announced record revenue in its first quarter of $28.1 million, up 53% from a year earlier, and $1.0 million in net income. The revenue figure was even up 4% from Q4 2008, and it was the company’s fourteenth consecutive quarterly revenue increase. If an emerging Minnesota tech company in this economic environment could be said to be on a tear, Compellent would be it.

The company’s annual business partner and customer event, called C-Drive, is being held this week at the Bloomington Sheraton, and this is clearly the biggest one yet. The business partner portion of the event is May 4-5 (agenda), followed by a networking reception Tuesday evening May 5 for both partners and customers, while the customer portion of the event runs May 6-7 (agenda). Existing or potential business partners and existing or potential customers may still register for the event, which starts today. (Media and analysts may also register at the same page.) It’s obvious that a lot of planning went into this year’s version of the event, which draws attendees nationally and features speakers from partner firms, from Compellent itself, and from some major technology vendors. In addition, industry analysts are among the attendees, and members of the technology press are moderating two panels.

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