Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Minnov8 Gang 382 – Gov is Sure About MNSure Robocallers

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mnsure_mainWe kickoff the show about MNSure‘s rough start this past week and how Governor Mark Dayton said it was due to robocallers tying up phone lines. Though we have little evidence to the contrary, we’re not so sure that was the issue.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson
Music: Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia by The Bottoms Up Dixieland Jazz Band under a CC by 3.0 License

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 39:08 — 23.4MB)

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Minnov8 Gang 367 – MN’s Tech Hub No Longer ‘Emerging’

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tech-hub_mainOne thing that riled us up this week was Twin Cities Business Magazine’s article Twin Cities: An Emerging Tech Hub? which ended with a question mark? None of us think that Minnesota is emerging but rather that we have absolutely already emerged!

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 39:30 — 23.6MB)

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DoApp Inc. Is Acquired by MN-based Newscycle Solutions

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DoApp-logo-175wDoApp has gone and done it — and, yes, it’s cool.

The highly successful Minnesota mobile startup has been acquired by Newscycle Solutions, a 500-employee Bloomington MN-based firm that “develops and delivers software technology to empower the global news media industry.” DoApp has developed more than 1,500 mobile apps for the news publishing and broadcast industries.  All DoApp employees will join Newscycle. The acquisition closed on June 10, 2016; the price was not announced.

DoApp was founded in early 2008 by former Google employee Joe Sriver and a small team. It has been entirely self-funded and profitable for six years. Newscycle Solutions is made up four merged companies and is owned by Vista Equity Partners, based in San Francisco, which was the most active firm in the M&A business last year. (Within the past two weeks alone, it acquired Marketo and Ping Identity, deals valued collectively at $2.4 billion.)

Newscycle describes its mission as “enabling news media to thrive in a rapidly transforming market in order to protect the integrity of information and create more informed individuals and stronger communities.” Newscycle has more than 750 media company customers in more than 30 countries around the world.

DoApp founders

DoApp’s founders: Wade Beavers, CEO (left); Dave Borrillo, board member and former COO (right), now VP mobile at CoreLogic; and Joe Sriver, Founder (foreground).

DoApp CEO Wade Beavers will become president of the company’s mobile unit. Joe Sriver will become chief mobile architect. Another founder and board member, former COO and CTO Dave Borrillo, previously joined CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX) when that company acquired DoApp’s real-estate mobile platform in late 2014. He is now VP of mobile innovation for CoreLogic, working from Rochester MN where he has a team of developers. (See my post about that asset acquisition here.)

I asked Wade Beavers for a comment on the Newscycle acquisition:

“I love that another Minnesota company found our technology to be a great fit for them. This is just the beginning of what we’re going to do with tech and Minnesota talent.”

By my quick count, I’ve published at least 10 blog posts involving DoApp over the years, beginning in 2008. Most were published both on my personal blog and Minnov8. Some of these posts were extensive stories about the company’s development and progress over that time.  Here are just a few from recent years:

• AdWords Is Too Complex, Says Original Google Team Member – Here’s His Better Solution: ‘Adagogo’ (Oct 2013)

• While You Weren’t Looking, DoApp Inc. Has Been Quietly Building a Powerhouse Mobile Business (Aug 2013)

•  Minnesota Mobile Developers Clocking Millions of Downloads (May 2010)

All posts published on Minnov8 relating to DoApp are located here.

My HUGE congrats to the DoApp team!

[Disclosure: DoApp is one of the companies in my client equity portfolio. I helped launch the firm in 2008, serving as its VP Marketing.]

The complete text of the news release follows. The link for that release may be accessed here at Newscycle’s web site.

_______

NEWSCYCLE Solutions expands mobile business with DoApp acquisition

Purchase of mobile technology company enables NEWSCYCLE Solutions to accelerate its focus on mobile news and advertising solutions for media companies

Bloomington, MN – June 13, 2016 – NEWSCYCLE Solutions (“NEWSCYCLE“), a leading provider of software and services for the global media industry, today announced it has acquired DoApp, Inc., a mobile application development and mobile ad network company.

With over 500 customers using the DoApp platform, the company has developed more than 1,500 mobile apps for the news publishing and broadcast industries. The DoApp product portfolio includes DoApp Mobile Publishing and Advertising, a platform for media companies to deliver content on mobile devices through native apps and the mobile web. DoApp also developed the self-serve mobile advertising solution, Adagogo, providing local advertisers a fast and simple tool to reach customers across mobile news, sports and weather apps. DoApp’s latest offering, Readful, is a mobile news content sharing and curation platform.

NEWSCYCLE will integrate the DoApp mobile technology into a newly formed mobile product pillar, enabling the company to expand its mobile offerings for digital publishing, advertising and audience management.

“The DoApp acquisition allows NEWSCYCLE to extend our efforts in helping media companies embrace mobile-first workflows and build new mobile revenue streams,” said Preston McKenzie, CEO of NEWSCYCLE Solutions. “By adding the DoApp mobile development expertise, technology platform and ad network to the NEWSCYCLE portfolio, we further expand our ability to introduce new value-added mobile solutions to our combined client base.”

“Mobile is an important focus for media companies competing in a digital world,” said Wade Beavers, President of Mobile at NEWSCYCLE Solutions and former CEO of DoApp. “We look forward to combining our efforts to offer an even wider range of innovative mobile solutions to the global media industry.”

DoApp was founded in 2008, and today the company has a diverse set of media customers in local television, radio and newspaper publishing markets. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the DoApp development and business operations team will join efforts with the NEWSCYCLE team in Bloomington, Minnesota. DoApp’s customers will continue to receive the same levels of high-quality service for all mobile products while also gaining the benefits of NEWSCYCLE’s global resources and experience.

“DoApp has led the way for media companies to be the best in their markets with an awesome mobile experience that hasn’t been matched,” said Wade Beavers. “Becoming part of the NEWSCYCLE family will allow us to create a more complete experience that will take publishers forward and connect them to their audiences across all devices.”

The transaction closed on June 10, 2016. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

For more information, review the FAQs.

About DoApp

DoApp Inc. designs mobile applications (apps) and websites for the broadcast, radio, and newspaper industries and has built a mobile ad network that enables local businesses to quickly and easily advertise on mobile and tablet devices. The company, based out of Minnesota with teams in both Rochester and Minneapolis, focuses on making apps “cool” and easy-to-use, and has been featured in numerous publications, including Forbes, MSNBC, Bloomberg Business Week, ESPN Magazine, iPhone Life, and many more. DoApp’s complete product portfolio encompasses mobile entertainment, productivity, and lifestyle apps. The company is one of the largest app development providers and has numerous patents that are representative of the DoApp’s continued innovation in the world of mobile.

[Note: This post first appeared on my personal blog, GraemeThickinsOnTech.]

TruScribe Kickstarts ‘Global Visual Language’

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TruScribe-crowdsourcingThought you’d heard it all on Kickstarter? Well, how many times have you run into a project there that’s about launching a language? You read that right. Get your credit cards out, Minnesota startup lovers! Here’s your chance to say you were there back in ’16 when history was made.

But here’s the deal: you gotta tell a lot of your friends, because the folks at TruScribe have set a pretty hefty goal for this one: it’s $100k.  Of course, that’s befitting the ginormous implications here — I mean, how often do you get to impact the entire freaking global community, with that single audacious goal to allow everyone on the planet to communicate visually? This is big stuff, people!! What’s a lousy little 100 Grover Clevelands?

TruScribe, as you’ll recall, is a whiteboard video animation company that was cofounded in Minnesota. (We TruGlyph-logowrote about them here back in 2014.) A large part of its staff is in Madison WI, but Minneapolis became its headquarters a while back, with great new digs at International Market Square. It was named the 253rd fastest-growing company on the Inc. 5000 list in 2015, which was understandably touted far and wide. (As a point of reference, crazy-fast-growing LeadPages of Minneapolis was #220.) In February 2016, TruScribe announced the first part of its new initiative to transform into a full-fledged software business, with a new iOS app called TruGlyph. (You can download the app here.)

What’s coming next you can see in their new (and very first) Kickstarter project. Here’s an excerpt from that page on what it’s all about:

“We’re asking creatives – artists, word nerds, and everyday folk – to join our community and contribute to our efforts through our TruGlyph app. And we need your help to create the TruGlyph Marketplace that will reward those that contribute in the most meaningful ways.”

On communicating visually:

“While the internet and social platforms help us reach people anywhere on earth, we are worlds away from the technology helping us be understood across languages and cultures. People are visual observers and learners, but we’re often limited to text and audio when we want to communicate in meaningful ways. We believe that a Visual Language is the first step in allowing people to communicate visually.”

On the big goal of a global visual language:

“Visually representing even a single language is an incredible undertaking and even more so as we’re reaching across the world. Which is why we can’t do it alone, nor should we do it alone and why crowdsourcing is the only way we will accomplish it. Language isn’t defined by the dictionaries that print it, but by the people that use it.”

About the Glyph, the building block of this language:

“A Glyph is a simple image that animates as if drawn and is associated with words and context. The TruGlyph-FourPhoneScreenscommunity is already using our TruGlyph app to draw glyphs, tag them with words, and play games that pit glyph versus glyph asking the player to decide which has more meaning. When a glyph increases and meaning and rises up to become part of the Global Visual Language, it’s because of their efforts — which is why we need to reward them..(our) marketplace will be a system that allows creatives who contribute to the global visual language, in the most meaningful ways, to be rewarded and compensated for their efforts.”

And here’s more about TruScribe software:

“It’s an innovative platform designed to let you communicate via video using the TruGlyph global visual language. Send a video message to a friend; create a video to market your business; your ideas can be understood by anyone, anywhere. Backing the Kickstarter gives you a FREE subscription to the TruScribe software and the new frontier in worldwide communication and understanding.”

So, there you have it, crowdfunders — get your credit card out, back the project, and grab your reward!

——-

[Disclosure: TruScribe has been a client of mine.]

 

Minnov8 Gang 330 – Growing More Nerds

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we-grow-nerds-mainTechnical skills are, without a doubt, some of the most important ones to be gained today and in to the foreseeable future. Accelerating technology developments mean that coding and developer skill-sets will continue to be in high demand for a long time to come.

Mark Hurlburt

Mark Hurlburt

This week’s show covers several key stories in tech but we were especially pleased to have as our guest Mark Hurlburt, President & Cofounder, Prime Digital Academy. We invited Mark to talk about why this spinoff of The Nerdery happened, what they’re trying to accomplish, the programs and curriculum they’re offering, how they compare to a company The New York Times wrote this about, and what Prime Digital Academy means for Minnesota and beyond.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Graeme Thickins (Phil Wilson is off).
Music: Blues for Bohemia by Sinome Quinteto under a Creative Commons License.

The Podcast

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Story Links
earth-asteroid-hit

Artist rendering of an asteroid about to hit Tim Elliott’s house in Lakeville, MN

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Sofia Fund II Closes at Oversubscribed $5.5M

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SofiaFund-logo-250wMinnesota likes women entrepreneurs, and here’s more proof. The Sofia Fund, led by a team of five women angel investors, has announced the closing of its Fund II at a higher than expected $5.5 million. The team will invest the fund in “early stage, growth oriented, gender diverse entrepreneurial companies that have women leaders on the management team and who own equity in the business.” (We wrote about the fund in April soon after it announced its first investment from the new fund.)

The Sofia team members, pictured below, are experienced executives and entrepreneurs who have been angel investing for many years. (To read their bios, click on “Our Team” at the Sofia Fund web site.)

Left to right: Cathy Connett, Lisa Crump, Joy Lindsay, Barbara Stinnett, Dee Thibodeau.

Left to right: Cathy Connett, Lisa Crump, Joy Lindsay, Barbara Stinnett, Dee Thibodeau.

Here’s the press release:

Sofia Angel II Fund Surpasses Investor Goals, Raising $5.5 M

Today marks a significant achievement in bringing new monies into early-stage companies. The Sofia Fund, which invests in women-led growth companies and is led by a group of experienced investors, has tapped into an investor community passionate about Sofia’s mission. Investors have responded positively and voted with their dollars to be a part of the fund. Sofia Fund II is now closed to investors, oversubscribed, with a total of $5.5M.

“Angel investing is usually a long-term commitment with an opportunity to positively impact an early-stage company’s growth. We are pleased to see the Sofia Fund launched in support of Minnesota and the region’s innovative women entrepreneurs and the growth and jobs they bring to our economy.  Having an experienced fund management team that is serving a segment we are passionate about and stimulating innovation, led us to invest in the Sofia Fund”, said Ed and Val Spencer, long time early stage investors in their community.

The fund’s management team includes Cathy Connett, Lisa Crump, Joy Lindsay, Barb Stinnett, and Dee Thibodeau. All have been angel investors for decades, and are completely committed in unique and individual ways in the early-stage company market space: as board members, mentors, connectors, leaders, and investors throughout the U.S.

Brigid Bonner, VP of Customer Experience and Marketing at CaringBridge commented, “Great ideas come from everywhere and the world has not fully benefited from innovation stemming from women-based businesses.  The Sofia Fund is a leader in changing that.  I believe this is a unique investment opportunity and an excellent way to experience angel investing.” 

Sofia has already made its first investment in April 2015 in a women-led firm based in Minneapolis, Kidizen, which has experienced explosive growth during the past year. The Sofia Fund has invested financially and also holds a seat on Kidizen’s board, working with its management team to advise on growth and scale.

”It was a quick yes for me to invest with the Sofia Fund, as I have worked with this dynamic team in the past”, said Mary Blegen, an executive at US Bank. “Thanks to the Sofia leadership team I have learned about angel investing and have the opportunity to link my passion for helping women succeed with diversifying my portfolio.”

For further information or for companies interested in being considered for investment, www.sofiafund.com.

Is Minnesota successful in entrepreneurship?

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minnesota-sealGood story at MinnPost by Scott Litman, co-founder and Managing Partner of Magnet 360 (@scottmagnet) and co-founder of Minnesota Cup, and John Stavig, Director of the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship, Carlson School of Management (@gooddrjds).

Minnesota has consistently been at or near the bottom among all states in the formation of new business entities per capita and the headline from the latest Kauffman Foundation report reinforces this. Business formation rates per capita are one measure of entrepreneurial activity, and since 2007 our state has not placed above 40th. Many have voiced concern over this data, but business formation rates per capita can be a misleading measure, as it does not distinguish between high growth ventures, lifestyle businesses and sole proprietorships.

Read the rest here…

via @MNHeadhunter

What Comes First in Fargo – the #MidwestMobileSummit or the Spring Floods?

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MidwestMobileSummit-logoThey’re both coming soon! And they may actually be arriving about the same time. But, no worries, the first-year Midwest Mobile Summit will be held April 28-29 in downtown Fargo ND, which I’m told is a pretty safe area of town from the rising waters that come every spring to this city partially bordered on the Red River.

But if you really want to find out when the floods might arrive — well, it turns outH2O-1
there’s an iOS app for that.  Its name?  Why, H2O Fargo, of course!  And it became available a couple of weeks ago in the App Store, just in time for the inevitable rising waters.

I learned about the app when I met with the guys from Myriad Devices, a mobile app development shop that’s the lead sponsor and organizer of the Midwest Mobile Summit. They developed the flood app as a public service for their community, and Jake Joraanstad, CEO, told me the app was approved by Apple in only one day! I guess they understood the urgency of the situation. (Screenshots of the app shown.)

H2O-2The MIdwest Mobile Summit has big support of the local community, and will draw a large representation of the area’s significant technology industry, including angels and VCs, Microsoft and ex-Microsoft managers, NDSU officials, and a strong mobile development community.  Read more about the the schedule, speakers, and sponsors at the event site — and how to obtain tickets. You can purchase Day One, Day Two, H2O-3or both days. Overnight accommocations for Sunday, April 28, are availabke at the nearby Radisson downtown (info at event site). Several speakers and attendees are coming from the Twin Cities. See you there if you can make it!

CoCo Ties Up with Google

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CoCo-logoBig news today from our friends at CoCoMSP.  The very successful, high-profile coworking venue announced today it will partner with Google to “boost entrepreneurship in Minnesota.”  Specifically, CoCo has agreed to work with the “Google for Entrepreneurs” program to host a variety of events, conferences, and social mixers over the next two years at its Minneapolis location (the former Grain Exchange trading floor), all with a focus on technology and startups.

The news is breaking on the same day Google and CoCo are cohosting a day-long event on entrepreneurship and innovation in Minneapolis, including speakers, workshops, and a closing happy hour reception. (At 11:00 am, there’s even a Google+ Hangout on Air with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.)GoogForEntrepDay-Mpls

According to CoCo’s news announcement today, its ongoing two-year partnership will feature several types of events to be held at the CoCo Grain Exchange location:

  • Launch and pitch events, such as Startup Weekend Twin Cities
  • Affinity and user groups, including Google Developers Group Twin Cities, Android Users Group of Minnesota, and House of Genius
  • One-day and multi-day conferences
  • Social and networking events for startup founders and mentors, including a mentor event for Minneapolis’ STEP-UP program.
  • Classes and educational sessions, including online-only sessions that will be available to entrepreneurs across the state.

All events in the series will (of course) make use of Google technology, including Google+ Hangouts, so that entrepreneurs from throughout Minnesota can participate in events remotely.

The first event of the partnership will follow the all-day event today: the local Google Developer Group’s monthly meetup, which will be this evening at CoCo. The news release states “a full 2013 event schedule will be finalized and made public in the coming weeks.”

Today’s “Google for Entrepreneurs Day” is being kicked off by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and features talks and sessions led by visiting Google employees.

“This partnership with Google will allow us to continue to expand our mission of creating a robust community of individuals pursuing the work of their dreams,” said CoCo founding partner Kyle Coolbroth in a prepared statement.

Google describes its “Google for Entrepreneurs initiative” as actively supporting entrepreneurs in the U.S. and across the globe. “We believe entrepreneurship drives innovation, economic growth, and vibrant communities. We see that happening in Minnesota and particularly at CoCo,” said John Lyman, Entrepreneurship Manager at Google, in the release.  Google For Entrepreneurs says it empowers “the next generation of innovators to be successful.” (No word on you older entrepreneurs, haha.)

For those who haven’t yet been to CoCo, you should drop by and get a tour — it’s fantastic!  (Disclosure: I’m a member, so I’m very biased.)  CoCo describes itself as “a place where entrepreneurs, freelance professionals, small businesses, and corporate workgroups can gather to share ideas, team up on projects, and get work done.” For its members, CoCo is an alternative to working from home or meeting at the local coffee shop. CoCo also has a location in Lowertown St. Paul.

I’m looking forward to today’s event and hope to be doing several video interviews (especially of Google execs), as well as tweeting and more blogging during the day.

Cyberstates 2011 Report Released: Tech Jobs Decline 2%

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TechAmerica Foundation today released its 14th annual Cyberstates report detailing national and state trends in high-tech employment, wages, and other key economic factors. Cyberstates 2011: The Definitive State-by-State Analysis of the U.S. High-Tech Industry covers all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

The U.S. high-tech industry lost 115,800 net jobs in 2010, for a total of 5.75 million workers. This two percent decline in tech industry employment was less than half of the 249,500 jobs lost in 2009, which followed several years of sustained growth. Over the longer term of 2007 to 2010 – the span of the economic downturn – the tech industry fared better then the private sector as a whole, with a four percent decline in employment versus a seven percent decline in the private sector.

Recap of Minnesota's tech jobs in 2010 - Click image for a larger view

That said, Minnesota’s high-tech industry lost 2,900 net jobs in 2010. Minnesota remained the 17th largest cyberstate, employing 120,800 tech workers with a total payroll of $9.6 billion in 2008.

These jobs are well compensated at an average wage of $79,200 – 74 percent more than the state’s average private sector wage. Tech industry job losses in Minnesota were led by the computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing sector (-1,100jobs) and electronics components manufacturing sector (-800 jobs).

“The tech industry is vital to Minnesota’s economy, led by electromedical equipment manufacturing,” said Margaret Anderson Kelliher, president & CEO of the Minnesota High Tech Association, a TechAmerica partner organization. “It is a tough job market and these numbers are part of a larger trend across the country. Minnesota will recover with policies that encourage education in science and technology and economic development tools such as the data center sales tax exemption recently approved by the state legislature.”

…  [Read More…]