News & Events — Page 4

Comcast to Rollout 2GB Internet Service in the Twin Cities

May 21, 2015 By Steve Borsch

Comcast will begin offering 2 Gigabit internet service in the Twin Cities later in the year. As competition from CenturyLink’s fiber rollout accelerates—coupled with increasing consumer use of on-demand video services putting pressure on internet service providers to offer ever-faster speeds—means Comcast must continue to offer more to their customer base and it looks like they’re delivering it this fall.

The company will also be testing DOCSIS 3.1 technology, which is certain to push speeds higher.

COMCAST TO OFFER 2 GIGABIT INTERNET SERVICE ACROSS TWIN CITIES

Gigabit Pro Will Be Available To More Than 600,000 Homes by End of 2015
New 250 Mbps Internet Tier Will Also Launch Across Entire Service Area

SAINT PAUL, MN – May 21, 2015 – Comcast today announced it will roll out its new residential multi-gigabit broadband service to more than 600,000 homes across the Twin Cities later this year. Gigabit Pro is a symmetrical, 2 Gigabit-per-second service that will be delivered via a fiber-to-the-home solution and offered to customers throughout Comcast’s footprint in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area.

In addition, Comcast will be launching Extreme 250, a new 250 Mbps Internet speed tier, available to Twin Cities area customers later this year.

Gigabit Pro will be available to homes within close proximity of Comcast’s fiber network and will require installation of professional-grade equipment. The company has fiber at the core of its network and, for the past decade, it has invested billions of dollars to extend that fiber deeper into neighborhoods and closer to homes. To date, Comcast has built out more than 145,000 route miles of fiber across its nationwide service area, including the Twin Cities, to serve residential communities with a fiber to the home solution.

“The Twin Cities is one of the most sophisticated technology markets in the country, and we’re excited about the opportunity to bring an entirely new level of broadband access to the region,” said Jeff Freyer, Vice President, Comcast – Twin Cities Region. “Whether it’s Gigabit Pro, Extreme 250, or one of our existing internet options, Comcast continues to look for opportunities to increase speeds, providing a wide range of options that meet customer needs.”

In addition, Comcast is currently testing DOCSIS 3.1, a scalable, national, next generation multi-gigabit technology solution with plans to begin launching in early 2016. When fully deployed, it will mean almost every customer in Comcast’s national footprint will be able to receive gigabit speeds over the existing network (a combination of both fiber and coax). For more information, please see http://corporate.comcast.com/comcast-voices/imagine-where-2-gigabit-speeds-will-take-you.

Comcast has made significant investments in the Twin Cities over the years, doubling the capacity of its network every 18 months. Additionally, the company has been delivering multi-gig (up to 10 Gbps) Ethernet service to businesses in the Twin Cities since 2013.

About Comcast Cable:
Comcast Cable is the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses under the Comcast Business brand. Comcast has invested in technology to build an advanced network that delivers among the fastest broadband speeds, and brings customers personalized video, communications and home management offerings. Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

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Celebrating The Future Of Women Developers In Minneapolis

May 9, 2015 By Phil Wilson

Photo: Matt Gray for Technovation[MN]

Much has been made of the lack of women working in the technology industry, we talk about it a lot on the podcast, especially when it comes to programmers and developers. Facts and figures abound to support the thesis. Save yourself some reading… walk into any software development shop and it will it you square in the head. Yeah, not a lot of women in front of those screens or in that morning standup.

For whatever reason you want to cite for this lack of X chromosomes (education, environment, etc.), we have a lot of work ahead to get more young women interested in technology as a career…and I’m happy to say we aren’t shying away from the task.

Photo: Matt Gray for Technovation[MN]

Last Sunday I had the great privilege to be on hand for Appapalooza in Minneapolis, the culmination of the regional Technovation Challenge. I am also a board member of TechnovationMN, a group dedicated to inspiring young women to create mobile applications that benefit our community.

The event saw the presentations of 22 middle school and six high school teams. These teams of two to seven girls showcased everything from medical alert apps to networking apps for students studying abroad. They not only coded the apps, they researched the competitive landscape, drafted a business plan and outlined how to bring them to market.

Photo: Matt Gray for Technovation[MN]

I wish you could have felt the energy in the room as these young women presented and watched others present. The room erupted more than once as local women in technology spoke to inspire the audience of teams, mentors, teachers, friends and parents.

The awards ceremony was crazy as four teams including were selected for the next level in the Technovation challenge. It was electric. Check out the list of regional finalists.

SPS Commerce Says Retail Industry Is In Denial

April 30, 2015 By Graeme Thickins

Retailers still don’t appear to be facing the profound changes their industry is undergoing, according to Peter Zaballos, VP of marketing and product at Minneapolis’ SPS Commerce, in a keynote he gave yesterday at the company’s annual “omnichannel” conference, called In:fluence15.

“It’s not just about ‘the Amazon effect’,” he said. “It’s about digital engagement.” He noted that, although ecommerce today totals $300 billion, a 10% slice of the overall $3 trillion of retail spending, that’s far from the whole picture. “The real story is that 50% of total retail purchases are influenced by the web.” He said retailers need to be creating digital experiences that bring consumers into the store. “Digital influence is $1.4 trillion of retailing!” Zaballos declared.

He cited other surprising findings published in the company’s 2015 Retail Insights Report. (Some shown below in one of my photos from the event.) The one stat that really amazed him, however, was that 52% of those surveyed gave “Other” as their reason for not making progress in omnichannel strategies. “Are you kidding me — what is that?” Zaballos asked, questioning where retailers priorities should be. He concludes that “Other” must really be about distractions. One fact he feels contributes to that is a need for better technology practices. For example, “the retail industry is still relying on spreadsheets, a 30-year old technology” — one prone to inaccuracies, of course, with so many people often working on a given file.

Some other surprising facts Zaballos cited from recent research findings:
• Consumers spend 76% more in store when they’re engaged on mobile.
• And 49% of online purchases today begin on Pinterest.

Nearing the end of his keynote, Zaballos spoke about “item-centric architecture,” a key focus for SPS Commerce. (More on that here.) “The item is the new foundation,” he said. “We’re reinventing everything in retail around that,” noting that it’s been three years since SPS Commerce began this initiative.

He challenged the audience of retailers by saying they need to:
• Prioritize and focus on omnichannel strategies.
• Collaborate with partners. “Ask yourself, who can help me with this?”
• And just get started, “when you find that thing that is most broken.”

Zaballos closed his keynote by saying, “We’re at the beginning of a 10-year transformation. This is the year the industry goes beyond ‘Other’.”

Concurrent with the conference, SPS Commerce made two news announcements. In the first, the company unveiled the SPS Commerce Platform, a cloud-based offering that offers a more agile and collaborative foundation for critical omnichannel solutions, including analytics, assortment, fulfillment, and sourcing. More than 400 global partners have teamed with SPS to deliver value-added solutions using the SPS Commerce Platform. In the second announcement, it introduced an offering called Collaboration Analytics, which delivers accessible, responsive, and intuitive analytics powering the collaborative decision-making required to meet consumers’ expectations.

Minnesota SaaS Company Agrees There’s a New Sheriff in Town: Software WITH a Service #SwaS

April 28, 2015 By Graeme Thickins

So, we know you’ve been sitting around wondering… what’s the next big wave in B2B software? Well, so have a bunch of Silicon Valley VCs, according to the author of a recent TechCrunch guest post, “Why ‘Do It For Me’ Is The Next Big Thing.”

The author is Anthony P. Lee, a general partner at Altos Ventures, and he makes an excellent argument about how SaaS is no longer enough — specifically, for companies in the ginormous space we call Small Business.

What’s the latest trend he and his firm are seeing?

“We call it the Do-It-For-Me Revolution, or ‘DIFM’ for short. DIFM is more than software. DIFM combines technology automation with specialized labor to deliver a complete solution to a business problem. It’s as much about people-powered customer service as it is about code-powered efficiency. DIFM is sweeping the consumer world and will do the same for the business world. A generation of consumers that has grown accustomed to relying on high-touch, people-powered services for everything from groceries to dating will take those same habits into the workplace.“

Wasn’t SaaS supposed to relieve the burden of expensive software implementations for large companies, and therefore shouldn’t it be a good thing for small business, too? Well yeah, maybe in theory — but the reality, according to this argument, is that this isn’t enough. Savings in upfront capital expenditures is okay, but who has time to learn all this software, all these interfaces? These business owners lives do not revolve around using software all day long — they’re busy running the business! All aspects of the business.

The TechCrunch post continues:

” …to most end users, SaaS software requires just as much effort to learn and operate as the old PC and client-server analogs. Salesforce’s once innovative customer relationship management system has itself become a complex data-entry monster whose user interface has barely changed in more than a decade. But besides Salesforce, there are now tens of thousands of software companies vying for corporate attention — and wallets. One analyst recently catalogued nearly 2,000 marketing software companies alone. Many CMOs are now running 50-60 distinct software tools just to manage the marketing function. To many business end-users, all that software has become a DIY burden. DIFM makes things simpler.”

Can you imagine a small business marketing person — or a small business owner, who is very often the one who has to do the marketing, too — having the time to choose between 2,000 SaaS software marketing solutions? Or, as the author says, using 50-60 distinct software tools himself — as “many CMOs” do in large companies?

Hello! This just isn’t gonna happen in any small business I know of.

That’s why “Do It for Me” (DIFM) — which is Software WITH a Service — is such a natural trend. It’s definitely starting to happen, and certainly needs to happen broadly in the world of small business.

But I know what you’re thinking… is anyone really doing this yet in a meaningful way for small businesses? Well, how about one good example of this happening right here in Minnesota? I have just such a company to tell you about. It’s called Buzz360, and I LOVE the way this startup has taken to describing itself lately, which fits right into this trend:

“Marketing Automation for the Fortune Five Million”

That’s right, Buzz360 doesn’t give a hoot about the Fortune 500… 1000… 2000. Such companies have access to all the marketing software they could ever want (and the budgets to pay for it). It’s the vast millions of small businesses — the real engine of our economy — where marketing help is so direly needed. And that doesn’t mean just software, but high-touch services to go along with it.

I talked to Lisa Schneegans, Buzz360’s CEO and cofounder, who sold her last small-business software startup to giant SAP. “We’ve always been passionate about small business,” she said. “It became very obvious to us quite some time ago that most small businesses do not have the time or expertise to keep up with marketing trends and best practices — yet these were becoming increasingly important for their very survival.”

Lisa said that’s why she and her team created Buzz360 as a ”Software WITH a Service.” The Buzz360 marketing platform automates things like nurturing emails, postings to Facebook, web site development, and requesting reviews and referrals. “And we supplement our automated tools with small business SEO, SEM, and content creation, while providing interfaces to QuickBooks.”

Lisa continued: “Because we understand that many small businesses cannot afford expensive software and consultants, this notion of ’Do It For Me’ — DIFM — is really the driving force behind our product, our services, and our company. We currently have a ‘Do It For Me’ and ‘Do It With Me’ model, depending on the customer.”

Buzz360 was founded in 2013 and has more than $1 million in capital invested to date. The company is currently raising an additional round of funding to expand its team and its marketing and sales programs. It is marketing its brandable, white-label platform to media firms and franchisors, who are its partners in reaching significant sectors of the gigantic U.S. small business market. The company has revenues from multiple customers, and, says CEO Lisa Schneegans, is finding excellent acceptance of its platform and its model in the marketplace.

[Note: This post first appeared April 24, 2015, in Graeme Thickins On Tech™. Full disclosure, I’m proud to say that I’ve previously provided advisory and communications services to Buzz360.]

Minnesota ‘Mompreneur’ Launches Parent App and Crowdfunding Campaign

April 22, 2015 By Graeme Thickins

Karla Lemmon has done it. She’s left a successful corporate career as a product manager to pursue her dream of becoming a tech entrepreneur and marketing her own app — an app for which she’s convinced there’s a big need.

Little Peanut on the Go is a personal-assistant mobile app for parents to help them stay organized and connected when they or their children are away from home. It lets parents create packing lists and to-do lists, build care schedules to share with caregivers, and connect with their children while they’re away with updates and photos. Little Peanut on the Go just became available this month, first in the Google Play App Store for Android devices. It’s expected to be available very soon in the iOS App Store. (UPDATE: it’s there!)

This month was also Karla’s official start date for taking the reins of her own firm, Karimack Productions LLC, on a fulltime basis — and beginning the process of marketing her new app. She says she’s had several business ideas over the years, “but Little Peanut on the Go is the idea that gave me the passion to actually pursue entrepreneurship.” Read more about Karla’s story in her own words on her blog.

Previously, Karla was employed by Honeywell for a dozen years in a variety of progressively responsible positions. Most recently, she was a program manager, where she managed all aspects of a SaaS communications application, including product design and development, marketing, pricing, usability and quality testing, and deployment. Karla has a mechanical engineering degree and also holds an MBA from the University of Saint Thomas. Read more about her background on her LinkedIn profile.

I first learned about Karla’s new venture last fall when I attended and reported on the 2014 “MobCon” mobile conference in Minneapolis. In my recap of the event, I wrote about how she took first prize in the startup pitch competition — going up against some pretty smart guys! — winning $25,000 in cash and services in the process. As I said at the time, I was pretty blown away with the quality of her pitch and her app.

While Karla was self-funding the development and testing of her app, she realized she’d need to raise some funds to begin the marketing process once the app was available for download. But how? After considering various options, she chose to do a crowdfunding campaign — but not on Kickstarter or IndieGoGo, where it can be hard to get noticed. Rather, Karla decided to use a site designed specifically for women entrepreneurs: Plum Alley. Her campaign to raise just a modest $7500 is underway there, and it’s doing well in the short time it’s been live. Read about Karla’s decision to go with Plum Alley in a recent blog post she wrote.

So, tell your mommy friends — and grandparents, too! Have them download the app. And, let’s see if we can help Karla reach her funding goal. You can support her project right here on Plum Alley. Creative, smart, hard-working Minnesota women entrepreneurs like Karla deserve our support!

Also, be sure to follow Little Peanut On the Go on Twitter, and Like the app here on Facebook.

Teen Girls Making Apps for Fun, Prizes, and Solving World Problems

April 10, 2015 By Graeme Thickins

Mark your calendar for a great community event on the afternoon of Sunday, May 3, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. “Appapalooza” is an annual happening that highlights the work of teams of teen girls — 40 teams this year! — organized by Technovation[MN]. These middle and high-school students are tomorrow’s entrepreneurs!

The teams develop concepts for mobile apps, learn how to code the apps, and then pitch their apps to members of the community. The local teams have been working on their apps since February and are competing to be selected as one of ten teams who are flown to Silicon Valley to pitch to VCs there, and have a chance to win $10,000 to commercialize their app.

Technovation[MN] is a community organization made up of an awesome group of dedicated volunteers, headed by executive director Shawn Stavseth (pictured). Shawn is senior director of product development at Edina-based Bluespire Marketing. (Also on the Technovation[MN] board is our Minnov8 colleague Phil Wilson, general manager of BuzzFeed’s Minneapolis office.)

This great organization came about because of Code Savvy, a nonprofit that inspires kids and teens to learn to code.

These young women have put thousands of hours of work into their apps, looking to solve real community and world problems. Come hear their pitches! The event is free and open to all. Just register here. Donations are of course welcome! That you can do on the Technovation[MN] site, or at the event.

NOTE TO LOCAL COMPANIES: Still needed are donations of prizes for drawings (iPads, anyone?), and also giveaways for the girls — how about some of that great conference swag you give away at your own events? Hit the contact link on the site and tell Shawn what you have! It’s a great community relations opportunity, and to show your support for these hard-working girls. A contribution to the future of Minnesota, indeed. You could end up hiring some of these smart kids when they get out of school!

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Here’s the complete text of the event news release:

Technovation[MN] Appapalooza: “Tapping Into an Aptitude for Apps” Event for Young Women May 3 at Minneapolis Convention Center

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., April 9, 2015 – Minnesotans are invited to celebrate young women in technology by attending the Technovation[MN] Appapalooza event on May 3, 2015 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 Second Ave S. The Appapalooza event features young women participating in the Technovation Challenge, a global technology entrepreneurship program.

Technovation[MN], which launched the Technovation Challenge in Minnesota in 2013, inspires girls in middle and high school to dream up, design, code and pitch mobile phone apps that help their communities. The Technovation Challenge program is designed to attract and encourage the next generation of women technology entrepreneurs. Technovation[MN] is an initiative of Code Savvy, a non-profit catalyst with programs that inspire a diverse new code-savvy generation.

This year Technovation[MN] exceeded its own expectations with more mentors, schools, teams and students than last year. The number of mentors and coaches grew from 15 in 2014 to 120 mentors and coaches in 2015; from 11 teams with 40 students in 2014 to 40 teams with more than 150 students in 2015; and from five schools in 2014 to 25 schools participating and supporting the Technovation Challenge. The girls have spent nearly 10,000 hours working on new apps to improve our world.

Since February 2015, the teams of girls have imagined, designed and built their mobile apps to compete in the international app-building challenge. Teams can choose to build an app for a non-profit or address a teen or women’s issue.

The Challenge culminates with the May 3 Appapalooza event where participants will “pitch” their apps and unveil their work. Ten teams from the United States and other countries will then be selected to fly to Silicon Valley, CA to present their app ideas to real venture capitalists; the winning team will be awarded $10,000 to help commercialize their app.

“We’re working to close the gender gap in computer science by teaching girls across Minnesota how to code and how be successful entrepreneurs,” explained Shawn Stavseth, Executive Director of Technovation[MN]. “Designing mobile apps is real and tangible for these girls because their cell phones are something they use every day. We want girls to understand the powerful role that technology can play in solving world problems.”

The May 3 Appapalooza is free and open to the public. Donations are welcome. Register to attend the event by visiting https://www.eventbrite.com/e/appapalooza-celebrating-young-women-transforming-the-world-one-mobile-app-at-a-time-tickets-16408537377.

All About the New Sofia Fund – and Now Its First Investment

April 7, 2015 By Graeme Thickins

The news about a new angel fund in Minnesota appeared in the StarTribune in late January: “Sofia Fund receives nearly $4 million for angel fund”. Just over two months later, the fund has announced its first investment — in Minneapolis-based Kidizen, a “kid resale marketplace to buy, sell, and swap your kid’s clothing, gear, toys, decor and more.” Here’s how Kathy Grayson at the Business Journal reported that news on April 3: “Women-focused angel fund Sofia backs Kidizen.” The amount of the investment was not revealed. [UPDATE: A Twin Cities Business magazine story that just appeared today said it was $100,000.]

I’ve known three of the Sofia Fund’s members for some years, and have had the pleasure of working closely with one of them, Barb Stinnett, since late 2012. So, I decided to interview Barb to get some more background on the Sofia Fund.

Minnov8: Barb, I know you’ve spent the majority of your career as a technology company executive in Silicon Valley. But how long have you been associated with Sofia Fund, and how did that start?

Sofia Fund principals (left to right): Joy Lindsay, Cathy Connett, Lisa Crump, Barb Stinnett, and Dee Thibodeau. (StarTribune photo.)

Barb Stinnett: I’ve been a part of the Sofia Fund since I returned home from Silicon Valley in 2012. Initially, Dee, Joy, and Cathy kicked things off in 1998 with an organization called Women To Women. Lisa joined in 2006, during Sofia Fund I. I’d been doing angel investing for a number of years in the Bay Area, and wanted to find a new way to support my fellow Minnesota entrepreneurs. I was fortunate to meet this team, and to be able to do what I love — work with early stage companies and bringing Valley investment models to Minnesota.

Minnov8: Can you tell us some of the investments Sofia members made prior to this new fund?

Barb Stinnett: Previous women-led companies that Sofia Fund members have invested in include Gentra Systems, Apprise Technologies, and Iconoculture.

Minnov8: I know you’re especially experienced in the information technology business, having served in several executive positions, and that is certainly a major area of focus for Sofia. Will that include investing in Internet and mobile-based startups?

Barb Stinnett: Absolutely! The fund seeks early stage, growth-oriented, gender-diverse entrepreneurial companies that have women leaders on the management team who own equity in the business. Companies in information technology, business products and services, health and wellness, clean technology, or other technology areas that have demonstrated a value proposition with their business model and are looking for capital are on our radar. You can learn more about specific categories of interest to us on our web site, in the section called “Our Focus” — just scroll over each image.

Minnov8: What about consumer versus B2B markets — does Sofia have a preference for startups that address one or the other?

Barb Stinnett: We consider both consumer and B2B companies, as long as they’re in information technology, business products and services, health and wellness, clean technology, or general technology markets. It’s pretty clear on our new web site, and the application link is right there so entrepreneurs can submit an inquiry. What’s also important for them to understand is our “Investment Criteria,” another section of the site.

Minnov8: Barb, with your broad experience in the technology communities in both Silicon Valley and Minnesota, how do you like to characterize the differences in the two markets — including the investment mentality, taste for risk, and the talent pool here in Minnesota compared to the Valley? And is the climate getting better here for early-stage investing?

Barb Stinnett: In some ways, early stage angel investing is similar between Silicon Valley and Minnesota – driven by people who are passionate about the companies they invest in. Here in Minnesota, there’s more of a broad engagement approach. Many of the angel investors here take active roles in community activities that support and enhance our early stage entrepreneurs. A recent event at Café Inc. in Edina was a good example: there were more than 50 investors and mentors present who were all interested in working with companies, pro bono, including taking evenings and personal time to collaborate and sincerely offer assistance as needed.

Organizations such as the Minnesota High Tech Association, the Minnesota Cup, the Fowler Business Concept Challenge, Cleantech Open, Minnesota Emerging Software Advisors, the MN Venture Finance Conference, and Women’s Trust are all examples of exceptional organizations in Minnesota, with the passion and purpose to enhance our early stage companies. The Sofia team participates in all of these and believes angel investing is important to drive economic development in our community.

From a pure financial standpoint, a differentiator for Sofia in that initial valuations here are not as high as they are in the Valley for similar early stage companies, so there’s an opportunity for investors to benefit on the upside in a successful exit — and the companies themselves do as well. It’s a win for everyone.

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Here’s the text of the January news release announcing the fund:

Sofia Angel Fund II Raises $3.925 Million

January 22, 2015 — Sofia Angel Fund II, LLC announces the successful first closing of its angel investment fund targeting women-led growth companies with $3.925M of capital commitments.

The Sofia Fund focuses on investing equity in early stage, growth companies that are women-led and which operate principally in information technology, clean technology, health and wellness, and business products and services. The Fund expects to concentrate its investing in companies located in the Midwest, and plans to bring resources, experience and expertise to help the businesses in which it invests achieve success.

The Fund is cofounded and managed by 5 experienced and successful women business leaders and investors each of whom have been active angel investors for multiple decades. Cathy Connett is the CEO of the Sofia Fund and the other members of the management team are Lisa Crump, Joy Lindsay, Barb Stinnett, and Dee Thibodeau. Investors in the Sofia Fund include a number of individuals who are committed to increasing funds available to early stage companies, particularly in women-led companies that have historically been underserved by private investors.

Cathy Connett, CEO, said: “Angel investing is an important component in the economic development of communities since angels often take the risks associated with early stage funding of companies that provide innovative new businesses and jobs for a community. The Sofia Angel Fund was created because the management team believes, based on its extensive investment experience in growth companies, that there are many exciting women-led growth companies that might otherwise have difficulty finding funding and will therefore benefit from a focused angel fund. According to a recent study from Babson College, the Venture Capital community is currently only providing 9-13% of their dollars to women-led, early stage companies even though an April 2013 SBA study has demonstrated that Venture Capital companies who invest in women-led companies perform better. The Sofia Fund wants to lead the way in changing the pattern of investment in women-led companies.”

A second closing for the Sofia Fund will be held in the next few months and is projected to bring aggregate capital commitments in excess of $5 million to the Fund.

Mobile March Agenda Announced

March 6, 2015 By Steve Borsch

Our pals over at Mobile March just announced their full agenda, the lineup of presentations looks strong, and once again this is a must-attend event. You can view the full agenda here and the full press release is below:

Mobile March 2015 Agenda Announced
6^th annual mobile event releases agenda with four tracks and three keynotes.

Minneapolis, MN – The Organizers of Mobile March today confirmed their agenda for the 6^th annual conference scheduled for March 26^th, 2015 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park. The full day event includes three keynote presentations from nationally recognized speakers and four tracks of sessions. Tracks this year include Mobile Development, Mobile Design, Mobile Enterprise and Mobile Life. In keeping with the focus of learning all aspects of mobile, attendees are encouraged to attend session across multiple tracks.

Keynote addresses this year include, Billy Jurewicz, founder and CEO of Twin Cities digital agency Space150 offer a peek into the future and recap the state of digital to physical technology, Alex Haley of Present Endeavors will explore the Mindfulness movement in a tech crazy world, and Mark Wilkie, CTO of BuzzFeed wraps up the day with a look on his company’s aggressive app strategy.

Mobile March organizer Phil Wilson noted, “This year we are striving to delve deeper into what is happening across the mobile space. We feel this agenda represents not only where the mobile industry is but where it’s going” He goes on to say, “With the introduction of the Mobile life track and the our keynote on Mindfulness, we’ve also tried to focus on the human side of mobile, not often taken into account at other conferences.”

The full agenda may be seen at http://mobilemarchtc.com/2015-agenda/

Registration is now open for Mobile March, Thursday March 26th, 2015 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center via the Mobile March website atwww.mobilemarch.com or directly through Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mobile-march-2015-tickets-14763844055. Cost of registration prior to March 19th^th is $115. Student discounts are available as well.

About Mobile March
Founded in 2010, Mobile March is an event dedicated to exploring the latest in mobile technology and trends. The name Mobile March not only denotes the month in which it takes place, it also emphasizes the ongoing advancement and growth of mobile technology and the related lifestyle.

By offering content that appeals to mobile developers, business people, and users we hope to facilitate a greater understanding between the constituencies that make mobile happen. Whether you make money with mobile or just use it to stay connected, we invite you to join us for Mobile March.

Mary Lower
Sterling Cross Communications
(612) 636-6544
@PRMoxie

Mobile App Discovery Not Getting Easier; ‘Zombies’ Gaining

February 2, 2015 By Graeme Thickins

Basically, app discovery is a bitch, and the App Store is no longer the answer. That is the gist of a report on “2015 App Store Competition” published a couple days ago by an analytics firm in Berlin called Adjust. (PDF of the full report here.)

Minnesota developers are of course not strangers to this problem. It’s especially painful for startups looking to get traction in today’s “mobile first” startup environment — and moreso if they don’t have Silicon Valley sized funding rounds. I asked a couple of experienced mobile industry players here in Minnesota for their reaction to this news. But first, more on the report.

It opens with a somber tone: “The app ecosystem is evolving, and it is becoming more Darwinistic every day. Only the fittest of the fittest shall survive – which comes as no surprise to the developers who have followed closely as the app economy took a couple of milestones in the past year. The total volume of apps available through Apple’s app store crossed 1,000,000 apps in early April, only to continue its unrestricted growth to reach almost 1.5 million apps in December. At first sight, this seems to be an insignificant problem, because while the number of apps grows, so too does the user base. But this is hardly a compensatory mechanism, as each user can only handle a limited number of apps… With the growing number of apps, winning at the app store discovery game, securing those top 10 or even top 50 placements in their category, is proving an unattainable dream for many developers with smaller marketing budgets.”

Here are the key stats from the report:

• The App Store grew 60% in 2014, from 890,000 available apps on January 1 to more than 1.42M on December 31.

• The “Zombie” rate increased from 74% in January 2014 to more than 83% in December.

What is a Zombie, you ask? It’s an app that’s effectively invisible in the App Store and not ranking in the top lists. An app that’s not displayed in the rankings is only available to users searching for it specifically. The App Store is an exceedingly crowded marketplace where only the biggest brands and budgets are able to achieve visibility among visitors.

Competition for visibility in the app stores is expected to get even worse in 2015. “If this trend continues – and nothing indicates it wouldn’t – we’ll see less than a tenth of apps attracting any kind of organic user attention by the end of the year, and those that do gain attention will be apps that already have significant traction,” said Christian Henschel, CEO and cofounder of Adjust. “The app store, as a source of organic acquisition, has finite capacity. When that’s reached, the app store will be dead.”

Okay, that last phrase is a little bit out there — but you get the point.

Emerging user acquisition techniques are replacing app stores for discovery. Here’s how Adjust’s CEO puts it: ”Developers need to look to other ways of promoting their work. In 2015, we’re looking at multiple techniques emerging that allow more ad formats to be less of a nuisance, instead adding value for users. If we can make ad user experience better, we can promote good content in new ways and places. The techniques that we are exploring – such as in-app use of source data – already show great promise to provide really good experiences for users in acquisition.” [Here’s one example. Hint: it has everything to do with data.]

Adjust’s report makes it clear that, as more app developers vie for consumer attention, 2015 presents a huge challenge for developers, “and an opportunity for app marketing and analytics vendors to provide app publishers with the tools to optimize their user acquisition and in-app performance.”

So, what do some local mobile app industry players have to say? First, I asked Wade Beavers, CEO, DoApp Inc., a mobile app publisher founded in 2008. His answer shows this is hardly news to him. He sees the growth in the App Store from another viewpoint: “The amazing growth in the App Store is a direct reflection that the mobile web does not fulfill the appetite of users and developers. That is the story. For years folks have been trying to make the mobile web the replacement, but it is not happening. The store needs a better way (for app discovery), but the real story is the mobile web is losing.”

Another Minnesota player who’s extremely close to this issue is Rob Weber, SVP and cofounder, NativeX (formerly W3i). His firm has been in the business of app distribution for years (even well before mobile). It has mobile app customers nationwide, including many in the Bay Area, where it has offices. Here’s what Rob had to say: “Nothing this report is saying is very surprising to me. From our vantage point at NativeX, we’ve seen that mid-sized app publishers and longtail hobby app publishers have been getting squeezed for a long time by the very top app publishers. Everyone has been watching Facebook’s massive growth in mobile ad revenues in recent quarters, most of which is coming from app advertisers. There are alternatives such as NativeX, but these alternatives also run on an auction basis, so there are some pricing pressures even in other channels. Facebook is the juggernaut. With Facebook’s auction-based ad platform being the dominant form of app discovery, top app publishers can afford to outbid smaller competitors and essentially squeeze them out of distribution. Many of the mid-sized app publishers have either folded up shop over the recent years, or been ‘acqui-hired’ by bigger app publishers. This trend is likely to continue. It is a sign of the space reaching maturity. The winners are primarily in gaming, where publishers like King and SuperCell have established dominant positions. To show just how far these top app publishers will go to expand distribution, and how big this space is, witness the multiple, very expensive Super Bowl commercials we saw this past weekend.”

As you may know, NativeX offers monetization solutions for app developers, with a heavy focus on game apps (the largest category in the App Store). And it has some pretty good data science chops of its own. The company was cited in this recent report: VentureBeat Recognizes NativeX As a Top 10 Company for Monetization & User Acquisition. It was also named as a leader in another report published by VentureBeat in late November: Mobile User Acquisition: How the most successful developers get better users for less money.

I’d be interested in hearing from mobile startups here in Minnesota — those in non-gaming categories — about what they’re doing to get their new apps discovered, or get more downloads for their existing apps. Is it all just about raising more money to spend on Facebook ads? Comment here or shoot me an email.

Mobile Digital Health Conference Debuts

January 26, 2015 By Steve Borsch

With Minnesota’s success in medical devices, and increasingly in med-tech overall, focusing health innovation with mobile in one event is a smart strategy.

A new conference called MobCon Digital Health will be held April 8, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis.

Click here to register.

MobCon Launches a Digital Health Conference in 2015

MobCon Digital Health to Focus on Technology in the Healthcare Industry

MINNEAPOLIS, MN. JANUARY 26, 2015—MobCon, an innovative mobile strategy conference in Minneapolis, announced today the launch of MobCon Digital Health in 2015. On the heels of the highly successful MobCon 2014, which was attended by hundreds of mobile enthusiasts from around the country, MobCon Digital Health, to be held at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis on April 8, 2015, will zero in on advances in technology that will impact the healthcare industry.

Emceed by Archelle Georgiou, MD, a physician and healthcare industry expert for KSTP-5 Eyewitness News and President of Georgiou Consulting. MobCon Digital Health will be a powerful force for the future of digital healthcare. Keynote presentations and educational tracks on the Future of Digital Health, Regulatory & Legal Compliance, The Power of Data, From Sensors to Mobile, and Digital Health as a Business will be presented by the top minds in the healthcare industry.

MobCon Digital Health has also announced its Advisory Board, which will provide insights into trends in the healthcare industry and offer guidance on program development. The Board includes:

Jack Cosentino, Health Practice Director, MentorMate
Sara Ratner, Senior Vice President of Operations, RedBrick Health
Archelle Georgiou, MD, President, Georgiou Consulting
Shaye Mandle, President and CEO, LifeScience Alley
Ann Holder, Executive Director, Medtronic
Amy Ronneberg, CFO, Be the Match
Jeffrey Blank, Managing Director, Treehouse Health
Levi Downs, MD, Chief Medical Officer, University of Minnesota Health
Kevin Ronneberg, MD, Medical Director, Target Corporation
Tim Bowman, Director, Entrepreneur in Residence, Optum
Timmeko Love, Business Development Manager, Mayo Clinic Ventures
Nancy Kingsland, Senior Manager, Global Health Promotion, General Mills

About MobCon Digital Health: MobCon Digital Health is the foremost healthcare technology conference, bringing together top medical industry experts and healthcare IT innovators for a one-day event to showcase the emerging models of healthcare. Designed as a central point to engage and share innovation, best practices and digital and mobile strategies related to health and healthcare, MobCon Digital Health will empower attendees to discover new ways to improve healthcare outcomes. Learn more here.

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