Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Twin Cities Premier Mobile Event

By

The Twin Cities premier mobile event, Mobile March, will be here in just a few weeks. It’s a day long 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. If the attendance is as big as last year’s event—and is already shaping up to be more well-attended than 2010’s with even the preliminary agenda looking stronger—it will sell out very quickly. Registering now is the smart choice and you can do so here.

Founded by Justin Grammens, Phil Wilson and Linda Cummings in 2010, they point out the essence of the event on their website, “…Mobile March offers two tracks of learning; Mobile Development and Mobile Business. By offering content that appeals to mobile developers, business people, and users we also 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.“

If you’re keeping track of the explosion in mobile devices (and networks like Verizon beefing up their networks with 4G) then you’ll instantly understand why this is such a timely and important event for you to attend.

When: Saturday, March 19, 2011, 8am – 4:30pm
(cocktail party begins at 4:30pm)

Where: Best Buy Headquarters Campus

Register Here

MHTA Welcomes New President and CEO

By

The Dorsey Whitney law firm hosted a meet and greet to welcome incoming Minnesota High Tech Association President and CEO Margaret Anderson Kelliher. If attendees were looking for specifics on how her leadership will impact the organization in the future, they were disappointed…and probably expecting too much.  This was clearly more of a get acquainted gathering.

While chatting in the receiving line she told me that, like many stepping into a new role, the first order of business was strategic planning for the organization, something that hadn’t been seriously undertaken in quite some time.

Noting the inclusion of innovation and building for the future in President Obama’s State of the Union address, Ms Kelliher talked briefly about the MHTA’s dedication to creating high tech jobs and the association’s STEM Education Initiatives.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb8tLk_94tk

Summit Showcases Senator’s Innovation Agenda

By

Senator Amy Klobuchar was in Minneapolis for what was billed as an Innovation Summit at the University of Minnesota on Tuesday. According to the Senator’s office, the summit was an opportunity to share information about how the public and private sectors can team up to strengthen the economy by revitalizing American innovation and promoting products abroad.

Senator Klobuchar also used the occasion to outline what was termed as a comprehensive package of legislation she will introduce to strengthen America’s ability to innovate and compete for long-term economic growth and job creation. (As of this writing, no specifics of that package have been provided by the Senator’s office.)

In the short term, Klobuchar said, “We need to deliver a series of targeted tax breaks and regulatory reforms designed to galvanize the private sector and unleash a fresh wave of invention, entrepreneurship, and exports.”

In the long term, she added, “We need to help secure our standing in the global economy, lay the groundwork for future innovation by improving science, technology, engineering, and math education; cut red tape; and increase the ability of our businesses to attract and retain the world’s brightest scientists, engineers, and researchers.”

We look forward to hearing more specifics from the Senator and applaud her efforts to re-energize innovation nationally and can think of no better place than Minnesota from which to start.

Minnedemo Screams Diverse Developer Community

By

The folks at Minne* put on another solid showcase of Minnesota innovation at the latest Minnedemo on Thursday night. Ben Edwards, Luke Francl and the latest addition to the team, Adrienne Peirce, kicked off the event with the promise of  “a Minnedemo in the spring and another couple Minnedemos” this year. There was even talk of moving beyond the friendly confines of the Twin Cities and staging an event in St. Cloud. For my part, I would have loved to hear more about the goals of both Minnedemo and Minne*. While I and many familiar faces in the room know what they are, I hate to see anyone miss an opportunity to really showcase the noble efforts of the organization.

As for the presenters and demos at the event, the evening highlighted applications, services, and hardware that catered to a wide range of interests. From gamers to writers, security to slap shots the evening moved along at a brisk pace leaving plenty of time for socializing and networking out side the presentation space at the St. Thomas’ Schultz Hall.

Some of the standouts included…

Inveni-I’ve followed the development of Aaron Weber’s discovery and recommendation engine for quite some time and it didn’t fail to impress. Entertainment (Movies, TV) is the sweet spot for Inveni right now and offers the ability to share your highly personalized Inveni picks with your network. Now if Aaron could only get Netflix to secure a better class of streaming selections…

Zipnosis-With the promise of a diagnosis in minutes for just $25, Zipnosis was perhaps the most polished demo of the evening. We’ve showcased Zipnosis and are big fans. I also found the theme of the demo, providing low-cost healthcare, interesting. Zipnosis clearly wants to move past the tech and on to the benefits….  [Read More…]

Internet Broadcasting Unit Acquired by Cox Digital Solutions

By

Another of my new year’s predictions a year ago (Minnov8 Gang episode 62, January 2010) came true today, sort of, when news came out that at least a part of Internet Broadcasting (IB) has been acquired.  NY-based Cox Digital Solutions announced it acquired the IB Local Network business and advertising sales group of St. Paul-based Internet Broadcasting, in a deal I learned was effective January 1, 2011.

For those who may not be familiar with IB (it has not had a high profile locally), it describes its overall business as “building and growing digital business for local media and advertisers.” Its web site says it “partners with media outlets (TV, newspapers, cable and radio) as well as advertisers, ad agencies and media buyers to build site usage and increase revenue.”

For Cox, it’s been a busy time, as it just announced two days ago the merger of Adify (a firm it acquired in 2008) and Cox Cross Media to create Cox Digital Solutions, which it said now has more than 150 employees in 10 U.S. cities, after the IB deal, who “will deliver a unique mix of local and vertical content blended with industry-leading targeting and provide a truly differentiated offering through (the company’s) deep publisher relationships.”

In a phone interview I did today with Jeff Kimball, IB’s chief operating officer (photo from StarTribune), he reiterated that Cox just bought “an arm of our business,” and called the deal “a focusing event for us.”  He said that selling ads, with the sales staff now going to Cox, was just one of IB’s technology and revenue solutions. Although that staff previously competed with Cox, it will now help them scale that part of their business. He noted that the sale is not just about Cox gaining people, but that they’re “buying publisher relationships.”  The number of IB’s employees going to Cox is just under 50, with about 36 of those in New York City, three in Chicago, one in San Francisco, and “less than 10” here in Minnesota. It remains to be seen if Cox will relocate any of these employees. Cox Digital Solutions said it has begun the integration of the products, customers, and employees it acquired from IB to ensure a smooth transition that will deliver value to customers and partners.

The total number of employers remaining at IB is now 240, Kimball said, 160 of which are located in Minnesota at the company’s headquarters just off Shepard Road near downtown St. Paul. …  [Read More…]

Apply for the Minnesota Angel Tax Credit for 2011

By

If you are raising capital for your tech startup, get certified for the Minnesota Angel Tax Credit as early as possible this year. The Angel Tax Credit is a huge incentive for investors. It helps them manage the risk associated with new ventures, and it may also indicate that your company is a safer bet than an uncertified company.

The Minnesota Angel Tax Credit is an income tax refund equal to 25% of all eligible investments. There is over $12 million per year available to investors for 2011 through 2014, but less than $2.5 million was allocated to 19 companies in 2010, so there is plenty of room for more companies and investors to participate in the Angel Tax Credit program this year.

…  [Read More…]

Best Buy “On” Officially Debuts

By

Though we’ve been aware of this “Best Buy On” adventure for some time, this week Advertising Age reported that Best Buy company had officially rolled it out saying that it is, “…a multichannel network filled with original editorial content spanning everything from how-to videos and gift guides to new-technology primers and behind-the-scenes looks at popular movies. The network, called Best Buy On, includes a website it bills as an “online magazine” and a huge in-store component with its content and ad messaging “broadcast” on screens across the store, including in the TV, mobile and portable entertainment sections.”

In today’s online media, content must be shareable, give me added value world, “On” is a brilliant strategy to be deeply involved in delivering high value content for a variety of needs and create even more reasons to lean on Best Buy for ones technology.

There is a lot of content at Best Buy On, but we went there today specifically to seek any content related to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) going on right now in Las Vegas. Take a peek at this CES press preview where the Best Buy crew shot video:

CES is THE place for most manufacturers in the world to rollout their new gadgets and tech. Today we’ve been viewing videos, listening to podcasts and reading blog posts about all the hot introductions at CES in anticipation for tomorrow’s recording of the Minnov8 Gang podcast.

Here’s the potential problem with how easy it is to be plugged in to CES’ introductions: Consumers who are interested in knowing what’s coming in the near future are consuming that exact same content! I’ve often wondered: wouldn’t consumers knowing the next generation technology shown at CES this week virtually kill the sales of the current products on the Best Buy shelves today? It stands to reason that if someone sees the next, hottest, must-have gadget in some CES recap online (and we can safely assume that that product will be on store shelves within weeks), wouldn’t consumers just wait to buy that new one?

…  [Read More…]

Happy Holidays from the Minnov8 Gang!

By

We’ll be back with our final Minnov8 Gang podcast of the year on December 31st, our “2011 Predictions” show.  That is, we’ll be back if we’re not hit by some drunk guy driving a sleigh out of the sky tonight.

W3i Having a Merry Christmas After Launching Recharge Studios and ‘Dolphin Play’ Game

By

W3i, one of the most successful Internet startups ever in the state of Minnesota, has launched Recharge Studios, which is both a mobile app launch fund for game developers and an app publishing business — and also the first product of that unit, a social game for the the Apple iOS platform called “Dolphin Play.” The announcement was recently covered by several sites, including Inside Social Games, 148Apps, and Pocket Gamer. (More below on what it all means for Minnesota developers, in the words of W3i’s Rob Weber.)

The St. Cloud, MN-based W3i, founded in the late 1990s by the three Weber brothers — Ryan, Rob, and Aaron (the latter has since left to launch another startup) — now has some 70 employees, boasts 33 consecutive quarters of profitability, and is on an annual revenue run-rate in excess of $30 million. CEO Andy Johnson added big-company experience when he joined the company a few years ago, having run the Internet business of Fingerhut, before that company was acquired in 1999 for $1.7 billion by Federated Department Stores. W3i’s business is all about helping app developers increase their user base — read: get more downloads. Until recently, that primarily meant Windows desktop apps (more than 400 million app installs to date). But, in the summer of 2010, W3i made a significant entry into the mobile app distribution business (iOS initially, natch) with the launch of its Apperang business.  (Minnov8 coverage here.)

In parallel with kicking off Recharge Studios, W3i announced that Dolphin Play, its first mobile social game, is now available in the App Store.  It’s based on “the Internet’s most downloaded screensaver, Living 3D Dolphins.” The company said it launched its all-new, free-to-play simulation game to be “just in time for the holidays.” (And I gotta say, I’m loving Santa in scuba gear today!) The company knows what it’s talking about when it comes to screensavers, because its original name was Freeze.com, which is still a thriving site it runs where consumers can get free screensavers and other downloads for Windows machines. In its latest announcement, W3i said the Living 3D Dolphins screensaver “provides a visually stunning backdrop for Recharge Studios’ debut game.” …  [Read More…]

Winner of “iPad Means Business”

By

As mentioned on our podcast “Minnov8 Gang 104 – We Are All Virtual Now“, listeners who emailed in with the code word (it was ‘zap’) would be entered in a drawing to win a copy of Julio Ojeda Zapata’s new-hot-off-the-presses book “iPad Means Business“.

Our winner? Jim Roots (@jbroots) from St. Paul. Among other adventures, Jim and his wife Stephanie run AvaBava Designs, a business they started due to her passion for creating fun accessories including hair clips, headbands, super-hero masks and flower hats for children, and since Jim had business, marketing and his own creative passions that would nicely round out what a startup like theirs would require.

The business began and quickly evolved after a chance encounter when a children’s store owner spotted their daughter wearing a floral headband Stephanie had made.  The owner wanted to know if she would make more floral headbands for her to sell in her shop, so she did, and they now also sell her wares on the wildly successful “makers and buyers” site Etsy. Take a peek at their very fun, creative and beautiful products here.

After connecting with Jim to let him know he’d won—and asking if he’d send along his address so Julio could ship him the book—Jim sent along this very nice email to Tim, Graeme, Phil and I which I just had to share:

Steve and the Minnov8 crew,

Thank you! I’m excited about the book! As requested I shared a note with Julio with my address. You guys do a fantastic job with the show and thank you for bringing light to the wealth of creative digital talent in the Twin Cities.

BTW – I reconnected with Graeme at a Best Buy/STAR Collaborative event a few months ago to hear thoughts from Larry Lieberman on social media. Graeme – you are a hoot! I’m looking forward to talking with you again soon and welcome the chance to meet with the whole crew. After we met I went through your podcast archives and really enjoyed the tour. You guys are now the highlight of my commute.

Thanks again for the book and I’m also looking forward to hearing your 2011 tech predictions.

Merry Christmas and Joyous New Year!

Jim

Most importantly to me—and since I get so much teasing on my music selections that kick off and wrap up the podcast—I truly appreciated Jim adding a “P.S.” at the end of his note that said, “Steve, Keep picking out those killer blues tracks!” You bet I will, Jim.  😉