Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Method Patents: Good or Bad?

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On July 31, 1790, the first U.S. patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins for an improvement "in the making of Pot ash and Pearl ash by a new Apparatus and Process" and signed by then President George Washington.

Let’s say you’ve founded a startup and think you have a completely original idea no one has thought of before with new approaches to the way an old process works. You might then think all you have to do is patent that process and you can achieve the protection patenting is all about: excluding others from copying you.

Oh, if it were only so simple. The world of patents has become incredibly complex and is a minefield just waiting for a startup to get traction selling their offering before the unaware entrepreneur takes a step, hears a click, and thinks “Oh-oh” just before the “patent landmine” blows up. This is especially true in the area of method (i.e., process) patents but there’s hope.

Ernest Grumbles III

Ernest Grumbles III, an intellectual property attorney with Merchant & Gould and co-founder of MOJO MN, has one of the best posts I’ve read yet at StarTribune on the current state of method patents (and it’s obvious why you need somebody like him to ensure your idea is capable of being patented or even worthy of protection). As Ernest points out, method patents are neither good nor bad and are granted based on the merits of the claim and its level of abstraction. If you have a method idea you’re already moving forward on (or are about to) then you owe it to yourself, and your current and future investors, to make certain you are protected and that you wrap that idea in a way that minimizes abstraction and ensures you’re granted that patent!

That said, calls for patent reform are growing louder by the week and many of us who see some patents as ways to extort money from entrepreneurs and innovators or stifle innovation, hope the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office moves faster on reform.

Until there are significantly more precedents set in the area of method patents, people like Ernest will have no shortage of work and startups no end of concern over whether a method idea is too abstract to be patented or likely infringing on some obscure patent already granted.

Congresswoman Calls for Skype Use?

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UPDATE 7/18/10: If this doesn’t prove the point of this article…nothing does. Security expert Bruce Schneier posts, “Skype’s Cryptography Reverse-Engineered” and if this proves to be true, it would be trivial for rogue nations or eavesdroppers to listen-in on Congressional Skype conversations!

A fake Skype call highly unlikely to ever occur

In a time when cybersecurity has become the new battleground among nations and calls for enhanced national defense online are accelerating, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is trumpeting the use of a technology for communications that has an unknown security model and seems at odds with the usual Republican focus on national security.

An article by Jeremy Herb in the StarTribune this morning caught my eye, “Bachmann pushes Congress to embrace Skype.” It outlines the reasons why Rep. Michele Bachmann is calling for the use of the free Skype program on Congressional networks—so she and others can talk directly with their constituents or hold “virtual town halls”—but its use is banned in the House of Representatives.

The article quotes a University of Minnesota computer science professor, Joseph Konstan, who says this about the fundamental reason a peer-to-peer program like Skype is problematic and why it would be banned: “The reason people worry about using tools like these is they are inherently insecure. The design of Skype is something that hasn’t been carefully scrutinized, and so it may very well be there are bugs in there.”

Sure there could be bugs, but the biggest reason installing Skype on Capitol computer networks is a huge problem is because of that unknown security model of Skype. It is not possible to know much about the security of Skype since their code is proprietary and is not open to peer review or close examination of potential security holes.

As a fan of Skype and someone who has used it daily for several years, I evangelize its use constantly. That said, I wouldn’t want my government to embrace it without some very close scrunity and safeguards and I’m puzzled why Rep. Bachmann would now be banging-the-drum for Congress to adopt Skype. Here’s why doing so isn’t wise. …  [Read More…]

MixMobi Moves Closer to Being Named One of The PepsiCo 10

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Local mobile marketing start up MixMobi emerges from hundreds of entries to  join 40 other emerging technology firms in advancing to the the semi-final round of brand giant PepsiCo’s PepsiCo10. MixMobi’s CEO, Lisa Foote noted, “Pepsi’s brands (Quaker, Gatorade, Frito Lay and Pepsi) are global, multi-channel brands that can benefit from MixMobi’s approach to mobile marketing.”

Billed as “an open call and partnership between PepsiCo and up to 10 of the most promising start-ups in media, communications and technology” PepsiCo is quick to point out this is not a contest. “it is an open Request For Proposals (RFP).” and “the 10 entrepreneurs chosen will be mentored by a team of venture capitalists, media experts and PepsiCo brand marketers during pilot programs of their submitted technologies and innovations.” While there is no ‘prize’ on the line, Foote noted the benefits of being part of the PepsiCo10, “To be associated in a technology demonstration with a brand like Quaker or Gatorade is very valuable to a startup. The trade off between revenue and exposure works in this case. ”

The next step for MixMobi as well as all of the semi-finalists is to submit a three minute video answering some basic questions and a running through a demo of the product or service. The finalists will be announced by weeks end with the final 20 heading to the two-day PepsiCo10 Summit to present to PepsiCo brand marketers, agency partners, venture capitalists and angel investors in attendance. The chosen ten will partner with a PepsiCo brand for a pilot execution of their solutions.

According to Foote the ideal outcome would be “To have MixMobi-powered technology support PepsiCo brands like Frito Lay or Pepsi beverages in multiple geographies in several different languages, across a variety of mobile platforms and carriers, as well as through diverse digital channels (ex: Facebook, Twitter, text messaging and Augmented Reality) would be an ideal demonstration of MixMobi’s robust, internationalization-ready platform.”

MentorMate: Turning Vision in to Software

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One of the most challenging things to do as a startup, entrepreneur, or any leader looking to manifest a vision or outcome in software, is finding a trusted partner with whom to turn that vision in to reality. MentorMate, a mobile, application & web software development company in Minneapolis, does this sort of work all the time and might be a firm you’ve never heard of before!

CEO Björn Stansvik and I grabbed lunch last week to discuss his company, their approach, some of the things they do and where they’re headed. To say they’re accomplished is an understatement (the firm is on the State of MN approved vendor list; they’re delivering numerous mobile apps and focusing on cell phone application development; and even creating translation apps) Stansvik himself has quite a list of accomplishments himself.

Björn Stansvik, CEO

Deciding to come to this country as a tourist many years ago, he was focused on getting a work visa and staying in this land of opportunity. He ended up finding a company for whom he wrote an 80+ page market analysis of opportunities for their product in another country and politely inserted himself in to their company by asking for a computer and desk. They declined, but he appeared anyway and worked for free for two weeks. They sponsored and hired him.

The way he tells the story you can see how this is a man who becomes totally focused and consumed with a goal, achieves it, and goes on to the next one. Quite impressive but the proof is always in the deliverable for a company in this space, right? Let’s take a look at two that are public and visible….  [Read More…]

Powerful Document Collaboration with Redliner

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If you collaborate with others on contracts, agreements, leases, press releases, copy for your website, or any other activity where multiple people have to touch an electronic document, you know all too well the incredible frustration that results from trying to track changes to any of it! Redliner is a new offering, still in beta, that not only eliminates that frustration but does so with enough unique aspects that you’ll likely stop using Google Docs, emailed Word .docs or other means to collaborate with clients or colleagues.

Jerry Grabowski, Redliner’s CEO, carved out time last week to sit down with me and talk about Redliner, their target markets and a bit about the features of the product they’re delivering as software-as-a-service (SaaS). To say that they’ve got a unique opportunity is an understatement.

All the things you’d expect in an online collaboration space are here and then some you wouldn’t expect: Document editing like we’ve all come to know; an audit trail of who has edited the document and when; and even simultaneous editing by multiple users. What I haven’t seen as well executed as Redliner has done it is: The ability to accept or reject changes and (probably my favorite feature) is the ability to make private comments about a proposed change to someone else. I can’t tell you how often I could’ve used this when I was managing dozens of contracts simultaneously while running strategic alliances at Lawson Software and how it would have been enormously useful to be able to coach one of my alliance managers on some salient point within the agreement before our company would propose a change. …  [Read More…]

How Many Social Media Day Cards Did You Get?

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Yesterday (June 30th) marked the first ever Social Media Day. By no means was this a national “bank” holiday, nor a holiday proclaimed by the recognized official holiday creator…Hallmark. No, this was a day proclaimed by perhaps the purveyor of social media news, Mashable.

What pray tell is the purpose of Social Media Day? The folks at Mashable are glad you asked. It’s “A day that honors the technological and societal advancements that have allowed us to have a dialogue, to connect and to engage not only the creators of media, but perhaps more importantly, one another.”

Um…yeah. Allow me to translate; It’s a day to get your butt up from behind the monitor, your nose out of your smartphone, relax you thumbs and meet the people you tweet, poke and follow face to face.  A day to put the social in social media. Oh, and there’s booze and munchies. Of course, Mashable’s Pete Cashmore embellishes it a bit more in his welcome video. (Really…the video was meant to be played at gatherings around the world. Kinda creepy…) Perhaps he has a desire for this to be much more of a “revolution”. No matter, the intent is to get you out and about.

The local Minneapolis meet up was superbly organized by our friend and social media maestro, Mykl Roventine. Mykl is responsible for, or part of, everything social media from Social Media Breakfast, to Unsummit, to Tech Karaoke and beyond. When Mashable sent out the word to have a Minneapolis Meetup, Mykl stepped up and secured Chino Latino in Uptown, gathered up some sponsors (SMBMSP and Sterling Cross Media) and rallied the troops. Mykl tells the story in the video below.  (Forgive the sound quality..I guess the EVO 4G won’t replace my Flip cam, at least not without some sort of outboard mic.)

At 6:30pm some 50 of the 70+ who signed up began to congregate, the drink flowed and the tasty appetizers were savored. Much of the Twin Cities’ Social Media actives were in attendance and some new faces were spotted and welcomed. It was a great time. Of course, those of us who dig the social “media” are never really far from it as everyone checked-in, tweeted and posted photos throughout the evening. Yep, there was a tweet wall. However, well…there was just very little discussion of this “revolution” of which Mashable was speaking. It was just plain social.

Perhaps it’s because we, here in the Land o’ 10,000 lakes, already get the whole social part. While the concept of Social Media Day is all well and good, there are any number of meet-ups, tweet-ups, happy hours and  breakfasts of which you can attend during any given month in and around the Twin Cities. It makes me feel kind of sad for those in other cities who must look to, or be prompted by, Mashable to get together in “real life”. While no specific date for another gathering has been past down from the social media mount, you’re encouraged to once again step away from the warm glow of the screen and meet and greet your friends and followers in person at a location of your choosing. Oh…and don’t forget to check in on Foursquare.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqjwUlIFk0E

Andy Morgan Leaving Internet Broadcasting to Join Godengo as CTO

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A longtime local technology infrastructure guru and head of development at one of Minnesota’s largest Internet firms has joined an emerging Bay Area startup — but will continue to live in the Twin Cities. Godengo Inc. today announced that Andy Morgan is joining the firm as Chief Technology Officer (PR Newswire).  Andy has been with St. Paul-based Internet Broadcasting (IB) for the past five years, most recently as Vice President of Platform Technologies, where he was responsible for delivering 500 million page views and 70 million on-demand and live video streams per month, to 15 million monthly unique visitors.  He also led a development group at IB that has numbered more than 40.  You also may remember Andy as the key tech guy who managed two Olympics sites for IB client NBC.

Morgan joins a former colleague at Emeryville, CA-based Godengo: Peter Stilson, CEO.  Stilson served for several years as COO and Chief Revenue Officer at Internet Broadcasting during it strongest period of growth.  He moved from the Twin Cities to the Bay Area in September 2008 to take the reins at Godengo. Andy tells me he starts his new position July 16.

Godengo provides print and web publishers a strong online presence and networked advertising inventory, enabling them to more effectively compete online.  Godengo’s Rivista™ content management system (CMS) is designed from the ground up for multiplying traffic volume, enhancing search engine optimization, and increasing profits at magazine publisher’s web sites. The Godengo™ Online Ad Network harnesses an affluent, upscale consumer audience that reads the premier city & regional and lifestyle publications, providing advertisers national reach with deep expertise in local markets. One of Godengo’s investors also has a Minnesota connection. Chairman George Lawson was VP of Corporate Development for Dayton Hudson Corporation earlier in his career, and also held senior operating and corporate positions with Levi Strauss & Co. and General Mills.

W3i Lights Up the ‘Net with Its Latest App News

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Okay, so there’s this company named Apple that I hear makes phones.  And people tell me there’s been, uh, a bit of news lately about some new phone of theirs?  Well, that media firestorm didn’t stop Minnesota’s W3i LLC from deciding to jump in with some news of its own, which is actually related to the exploding ecosystem around Apple mobile devices.  That would be apps.

St. Cloud-based W3i is in the app distribution business — in a big, profitable way (33 successive quarters thereof).  But till now that business has been all about desktop apps, and Windows only. Well, mark down yesterday as the day they entered the world of mobile, with this bombshell: W3i Launches New Incented Mobile App Distribution Service for iOS App Developers.  A separate version of the release, for consumers, gets more to the benefit: Consumers Can Now Earn Rewards for Installing Apps.  Those rewards, my friends, would be cash — for consumers who register at a W3i site called Apperang.com.

Naturally, app fanboys and girls everywhere loved the news — after reading about it on some of the sites they frequent the most.  TechCrunch (MobileCrunch) ran this story: Apperang Pays You Cash to Download iPhone Apps… Ka-Ching! And VentureBeat (MobileBeat) ran concurrently — amazing how that happens — with their take: Get paid to install apps with W3i Mobile Solutions and Apperang.  Numerous other sites and blogs picked up on it immediately, and Twitter was going crazy on it (just search on hashtags #apperang and #w3i).  [Oh, sure, there was a story in the StarTrib last week, too, but that didn’t light up much of anything… <rimshot>]

I asked the CEO of a local app development company for his reaction to this W3i news, from a business perspective:  “The model and integration W3i has developed for desktop distribution has been a huge success in the past, so I wouldn’t bet against them on making their mobile version a success,” said Wade Beavers, CEO of DoApp Inc. “For developers wanting to get a core base of users fast, it makes sense to use this service. The key will be how long those users keep your app, because that’s where the return on investment is.”

I also asked one of Minnesota’s most experienced iPhone app developers for his reaction: “Will app publishers readily jump to use this type of service? Small developers, maybe,” said Bill Heyman of CodeMorphic. “But small developers may not have budget to support this type of promotion… Will it be enough to hit the tipping point for more organic sales because of a higher App Store ranking? Well, ultimately, it would depend on how much a company wants to spend to buy a ranking.”

But, actually, W3i signed on some pretty successful big developers for its private beta before the announcement yesterday (the service is now in public beta).  That list of launch advertisers — just those that let W3i use their names for PR purposes — includes these firms, with the name of their app in parentheses: Big Stack Studios (Sigma), Inert Soap (FingerZilla), Booyah (MyTown), Gist (Gist), Thinking Ape (Kingdoms at War), Flixster (Movies), Slacker Inc (Slacker Radio), xCube Labs (My Health Records – Health n Family), and infinidycorp (Zombies vs. Aliens).

I’m sure we’ll be hearing about a lot more, as W3i tells me they are crazy-busy now following up with other app companies who are inquiring.

(Disclosure: the author has had a consulting relationship with W3i for providing PR services.)

Minnesota Cup Semifinal Kickoff

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Last night’s turnout at the James J. Hill Library for the Minnesota Cup Semifinalist kickoff was impressive and quite large for an event of its kind. In attendance were 125-140 entrepreneurs, investors, sponsors, MN Cup judges and those of us covering the event (Minnov8 and tech.mn) as well as the people who were the entire reason for the kickoff itself: the semifinalists.

If you don’t already know about the Minnesota Cup, it is an annual, statewide competition that seeks out aspiring entrepreneurs and their breakthrough ideas and is open to all entrepreneurs, whether your breakthrough idea is high tech or no tech, whether you are just putting your ideas into a business plan or if you’ve already been actively building your venture for some time.

James J. Hill

After some initial networking and refreshments, the evening festivities were kicked off by Anne Rasmussen, JJHill Library CFO/COO. She dropped some factoids on us about the Hill Library being one of the top business libraries in the nation, is fully self-supporting, and she ended her remarks by referring to how fitting it was that the entrepreneurs in attendance were sitting beneath a portrait of James Jerome Hill himself.

As you are undoubtedly aware living here in Minnesota, Hill was an incredibly successful entrepreneur who began his railroad empire in the 19th century and whose heirs established the library we were sitting in last night. (One factoid she didn’t mention–and one I’ve always found intriguing–was the supposed inspiration Hill’s life and empire building gave Ayn Rand for her character Nathaniel Taggart in her novel Atlas Shrugged).

Next up was Scott Litman, co-founder of the MN Cup (along with his business partner, Dan Mallin). Scott walked through the particulars of participating in the competition, what it took to deliver on it successfully as a competitor, a bit about the prize money, and gave the semifinalists the information they required to complete their business plans and make sure they submitted them by the deadline of July 23rd at 11:59pm (on a humorous note, Scott mentioned that historically something like 1/3rd of the plans are submitted within the final six hours!).
…  [Read More…]

iKenex Platform from DoApp

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The team at Rochester, MN-based DoApp just announced their new iKenex real estate platform built in collaboration with California MLS software firm Concentric Mobile. iKenex brings all the real estate data a realtor or buyer would ever need to their preferred mobile smartphone device, whether it is an iPhone, iPad, Android or Blackberry. Taking advantage of the mobile device’s built-in Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology, the iKenex app pinpoints where you are and delivers a home’s complete listing details in seconds.

This sort of innovation is sorely needed in the real estate marketplace today primarily due to the collapse that has occurred in the housing market. With its capability to make the process of selling and buying a home considerably more efficient for both buyers and real estate agents, iKenex promises to remove much of the typical lag time for realtors to communicate to buyers about properties or for buyers to wait around for a real estate agent to call or email when you’re on the hunt for that perfect home.

What might not be obvious from looking at the features of iKenex is this: DoApp and Concentric Mobile have done a remarkable job of creating a platform adept at aligning incentives in the residential real estate marketplace and making the process of communicating with buyers fast and easy.

Of course, the key to any platform is to provide an on-ramp to a market or technology which savvy businesspeople and developers can leverage. My impression of the iKenex platform is that it strongly aligns with the incentives of local, regional, state or even national companies that want to participate in the mobile/GPS real estate app space, but clearly can’t “play” with providers like Zillow and maybe couldn’t obtain decent ROI by building their own app. In addition, a realtor’s incentives seem obviously aligned with iKenex and how they could easily leverage what’s happening with their local listings and the areas in which they sell houses.

I asked DoApp CEO, Wade Beavers, if my assumption that their strategy about aligning incentives with iKenex was on the right track. …  [Read More…]