Posts Tagged ‘Cary’
Friday, January 20th, 2012
 Apple’s recent entry into the educational textbook market with highly interactive digital textbooks available on the iPhone and iPad and the updated version of its iTunes U, which offers teachers digital tools, is its latest effort to modernize the U.S. education system.
A pet project of the late Steve Jobs, the digital textbook move is only Apple’s latest foray into the education field. Apple Marketing VP Phil Schiller says the company owes much of its early success to education, where its Mac computers were often standard equipment.
We’re not sure Apple can rescue education from its mounting woes, many worsening because of the economic distress of recent years, but technology can certainly help. Jobs isn’t the only tech titan who wanted to revolutionize education. Jim Goodnight, founder and CEO of Cary, NC-based SAS, has also promoted the idea of using technology to improve schooling and even supports a North Carolina high school putting some of his ideas to work.
OnlineEducation.net created this infographic asking, “Can Apple Save Education?”
Tags: Apple Inc., Apple textbooks, Can Apple save education, Cary, iPad, iTunes, Jim Goodnight, Macs, NC, SAS, Steve Jobs
Posted in Apple, Education, infographic, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina | Comments Off
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
 Google is the best company to work in 2012, displacing Cary, NC-based SAS, according to Fortune Magazine.
Fortune said, “Everything was up at Google last year revenue, profits, share price, paid search clicks, hiring,” and “employee love.”
Boston Consulting Group claimed the number 2 spot on Fortune’s list, while SAS Institute slipped to third.
Facebook adds Timeline apps
 Facebook has released more than 60 new apps to help members share more of their lives on its Timeline.
They range from apps that assist users in “telling their story,” whether it’s about cooking, travel, movies, or going for a run.
“Apps bring your Timeline to life,” the social network says.
“Once you’ve added an app, you can begin updating your timeline with your activities as they happen. For example, if you love design, shopping or fashion, you can add the Pinterest or Pose apps to make your favorite items part of your timeline,” it adds in a blog entry.
“If you love to cook, you can add the Foodily app to your timeline and share your latest dishes. If your friends have added the Foodily app, you can discover new recipes with each other, as you’ll see their updates in the ticker and their timeline, and possibly News Feed.”
The apps include Rotten Tomato (movie reviews), Pinterest, a virtual pinboard where people can pin things they collect online, and more. Facebook says developers will create thousands more in coming months. Just what we need, more ways to lose hours to Facebook, huh?
Personally, we’re not so crazy about Facebook’s whole Timeline thing, but some users seem to love it.
GPS industry rigs evidence, Lightsquared says
Gigaom.com reports that LightSquared has accused the commercial GPS industry of “rigging” government tests on potential GPS interference from Lightsquared’s proposed nationwide LTE network.
The National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee, or PNT-ExComm decided last week that Lightsquared could not build such a national network without interfering with GPS navigation devices.
LIghtsquared believes their are serious flaws in PNT-ExComm’s test process and is calling on the agency to conduct a new round of testing.
Lightsquared needs FCC approval to build its network, but the approval depends on the firm’s ability to show the LTE network will not overpower GPS signals.
Tags: Boston Consulting Group, Cary, Facebook Timeline apps, Fortune Magazine, Google best place to work, GPS interference, Lightsquared, national LTE network, NC, SAS
Posted in Facebook, Google, Internet/New Media, IT, Legal, Mobile, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
 Frank Churhill's music catalog includes "Snow White" and other Disney classics. By Allan Maurer
Would you like to have an income from the music used in classic Walt Disney’s animated features such as “Snow White,” “Dumbo,” or “Bambi?” Interested in acquiring an income stream that is also a conversation starter? Cary-NC-based The Royalty Exchange, an online company created by the founders of SongVest, has begun auctioning royalty streams from songs, TV shows and movies.
The first auction, which began July 2 and lasts until July 16, is for the royalties oof Disney song writer Frank Churchill’s catalog. Churchill joined Disney Studeios in 1930 adn his work includes songs from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, ((“Heigh Ho,” “Whistle While You Work,” “Someday My Prince Will Come” and “I’m Wishing”), Dumbo and Bambi.
Churchill scored 65 Disney shorts, including “Who Killed Cock Robin.”
Buyers get a look at previous royalty income and details about the items for sale and compete in an auction. Winners will be paid royalties via organizations controlling them, such as BMI, ASCAP for music and the Screen Writers Guild for TV shows.
Sean Peace, founder and CEO of The Royalty Exchange and SongVest, is a tech-savvy computer expert with grew up in Henderson, NC, just 45 minutes north of Raleigh. He attended UNC Wilmington as well as UNC Chapel Hill, where he majored in economics. Upon graduation, Peace started three technology companies, one of which helped integrate technology into classrooms via wireless networks and connected teachers with common educational tools.
Peace tells TechJournal South the idea for SongVest, which is similar to The Royalty Exchange, but more focused on selling a piece of a song or a catalog as memorabilia than as an income stream, evolved after he had a conversation with Tia Sillers, a former teacher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He met Sillers while he was a student there and she harbored dreams of becoming a songwriter, which she later fulfilled.
“She mentioned that at some point when she retired she would sell her catalog,” says Peace. A songwriter’s catalog packages the royalty interest in all of an artist’s work for sale to investors.
“People buy catalogs based on a financial multiple of how much it made over the last several years,” Peace explains, “paying 10 or 20 times the royalty stream.”
SongVest, though, only hit a small percentage of the market and it proved harder than Peace first expected to get people to understand the concept.
The Royalty Exchange uses essentially the same auction mechanics of SongVest, but the multiples on the music or other creative property being auctions is a modest 10 to 1.
Peace notes that “Royalties are fairly consistent and trend one way or the other. But there is a potential upside. It’s possible that an artist or song will suddenly get big. A song from an album might be used in a movie or on (the TV show) “Glee.” So you could have a little spike, although it’s not something you should count on,” he adds.
Buyers will get to see what they have on an online dashboard, and eventually The Royalty Exchange may add a social component so buyers can show people on Facebook or other services what they purchased.
Down the road, Peace says, he’s looking at the possibility of creating a secondary market for royalties for accredited investors.
Tags: Allan Maurer, Bambi, Cary, Disney animated classics, Dumbo, Frank Churchill music catalog, income stream from royalties, memorabilia, NC, online auctions, Sean Peace, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, SongVest, the Royalty Exchange
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, North Carolina | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011
 By Allan Maurer
CARY, NC – When Michael Bender and his InfusedCommerce co-founders created a technology that will embed a buy option directly into an online ad, it didn’t take long to figure out where to start offering it to customers. “We realized you could embed this technology anywhere, but the people we talked to wanted it on Facebook,” he says.
 Michael Bender Bender, president, Brian Cary, lead developer, and Arthur Tew, business development manager, started InfusedCommerce in March 2010 and it is now one of the first companies in the Cary TechStarts+ accelerator.
“We started getting value from TechStarts Plus immediately,” Bender tells us. “There is a big advantage to being surrounded by tech people and startup people who have been there before. Even the water cooler talk is more interesting and applicable.”
In addition, the company gets advice from TechStarts+ head honcho, Bob Butler, himself a successful serial entrepreneur currently running BestThinking.com and ReallyWho.com in addition to TechStarts. Butler has a passion not only for helping other entrepreneurs but for boosting the Research Triangle area’s startup ecosystem to another level.
 TechStarts Plus conference room The entrepreneurial bug bit early
Bender says his own entrepreneurial instinct goes back to his childhood. “I was selling charm bracelets while everyone else was selling lemonade,” he says. “My mother was the bracelet manufacturer.”
He started a company to develop a wireless sensor network for construction site security when he graduated from college (with a BS in electrical and computer engineering from NC State) and got it in front of several local angels. But, says the 29-year-old Bender, “Most didn’t think I had the gray hair or experience to take it to market.”
He then spent four years at a software company which serves Fortune 1000 companies. He was responsible for a $500K business unit. He left his position in 2009 to help start Infused Industries.
Start a Facebook store in minutes
 InfusedCommerce can quickly (within 10 minutes) create a branded Facebook store with payment and shipping options. That let’s the seller run exclusive product offerings, limited time promotions, on-going Facebook only deals, and promotion events that help grow the company’s fan base.
The Facebook stores integrate with a company’s standard processes. “We take a link from their products, a product feed, and enter than in our system,” Bender explains. “That sources the store with product information.”
Just putting products you can buy directly on a Facebook page does marginally better than a standard web site store, Bender notes. “A Facebook user education process has to occur so people know merchants are employing stores and Facebook is a place to shop.”
While that educational process will occur over the next few years, Bender says in the meantime, merchants can connect their products to Facebook promotions such as running a sweepstakes with a purchase component in the sweeps promo itself. “It reduces the friction on how you get there to make a purchase,” Bender says.
“That’s where a social media agency play comes in,” explains Bender.
InfusedCommerce also offers services to help make a firm’s “Facebook Commerce or F-Commerce” successful. “The business is pretty service heavy right now,” Bender says. “We help them identify what sorts of promotions work best.”
News feed product set for Q3
But the Facebook stores are just the tip of the InfusedCommerce ice berg. The company will also offer a technology that permits transactions from a Facebook news feed itself. It plans to start offering that service to help non-profits – and with the election year near – politicians, raise money.
The idea of targeting the political ecosystem will be “an interesting experiment,” says Bender. Facebook certainly attacts politically inspired comments, because as Bender notes, “Most people have strong views.”
The company plans to launch the news feed product in Q3.
For an article describing Go Smile’s experience using InfusedCommerce for Facebook Commerce, see:Solving Customer Experience Problems with Social Commerce: Infused Facebook eCommerce.
TJS article about TechStarts+ (it was orginally called TechSuites+)
Tags: Arthur Tew, Bob Butler, Brian Cary, Cary, entrepreneurial bug, Facebook Commerce, Facebook political campaign contributions, Go Smile, Infused Commerce, Michael Bender, NC, non-profit fund raising on Facebook, Research Triangle, selling from a Facebook feed, startup accelerator, TechStarts+
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Tuesday, April 5th, 2011
 Mignon Clyburn WASHINGTON, DC – Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn has issued a statement saying that state efforts to limit municipal broadband deployments are new obstacles in meeting the goals of the National Broadband Plan.
In a statement issued April 4, she wrote:
“I have serious concerns that as the Federal Communications Commission continues to address broadband deployment barriers outlined in the National Broadband Plan, new obstacles are being erected that are directly contrary to the Plan’s recommendations and goals.
“I recently learned that several state legislatures are considering bills that are contrary to the deployment objectives of the Broadband Plan. For example, in North Carolina, the state legislature is currently evaluating legislation entitled ‘Level Playing Field/Local Government Competition.’ Last week the North Carolina House passed the bill, and it currently awaits consideration in the Senate.”
“This piece of legislation certainly sounds goal-worthy, an innocuous proposition, but do not let the title fool you. This measure, if enacted, will not only fail to level the playing field; it will discourage municipal governments from addressing deployment in communities where the private sector has failed to meet broadband service needs. In other words, it will be a significant barrier to broadband deployment and may impede local efforts to promote economic development.”
Seven of ten worst broadband deals in NC
Craig Settles, of Successful.com, a consulting firm with a heavy emphasis on municipal broadband and government use of mobile tech, tells us, “What we have here is a handful of corporations going into some of the most broadband-deficient states in the country, and subverting communities’ efforts to claw their way into the digital 21st Century. These entrenched incumbents are trying to pass rules that would make even Google’s support (similar to the Kansas City Gigabit City announcement) illegal. At least we’re now getting some attention from DC.”
That’s not just talk. Bandwidth.com, which does broadband mapping, shows that seven of the ten U.S. cities with the worst broadband connections at price per Mbps are in North Carolina. They include Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Wilmington, and Charlotte. Columbia, SC, is also on the list. South Carolina is also considering a bill to restrict municipal broadband.
Congressional action needed?
Clyburn points out hat the National Broadband Plan recommends that Congress make it clear that “local governments should not be restricted from building their own broadband networks.”
“Unfortunately, ” she wrote, “this National Broadband Plan recommendation continues to be ignored by some broadband industry members that are encouraging these misguided efforts.”
She added, “Regrettably, North Carolina isn’t the only state considering such legislation. My home state of South Carolina has similar legislation pending, and the state of Arkansas is contemplating a complete ban on publicly-owned broadband facilities. I fear that preventing local governments from investing in broadband is counter-productive and will impede the nation from accomplishing the Plan’s goal of providing broadband access to every American and community anchor institution.”
Nationally, 130 communities own wireless broadband networks.
We have reported previously that the fastest and cheapest broadband networks are city run in the south.
A group called the Institute for Local Self-Reliance says that restricting municipal broadband would hurt job creation in NC.
Additional resources:
The municipal broadband battles rages on
Here’s an excellent resource with extensive links on municipal broadband efforts:
Baller Herbst Law Group: Herbst Law
States that have already passed laws limiting municipal broadband:
State Barriers to Community Broadband Services
Wikipedia entry on municipal broadband
Municipal Wireless Snapshot report:
Fast Company: Time Warner’s Antics in Wilson, NC Give another reason to snip the cable
List of municipal broadband network organizations.
An older, but contrary view from the Reason Foundation:
Municipal broadband fails again
Fastest and cheapest US broadband systems are city run in the South
For more on the commercial providers positions:
www.techjournalsouth.com/news/article.html?item_id=7334
Tags: Cary, Charlotte, Columbia, Craig Settles, Durham, FCC Commissioner Migno Clyburn, Greensboro, Municipal broadband, National Broadband Plan, NC, Raleigh, SC, Succssful.com, Wilmington, Winston Salem
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Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
 CARY, NC – Bandwidth.com, which says it is the nation’s fastest growing phone network, and provider of Broadband.com business Internet services, has closed a $22 million private equity financing from Carmichael Partners. Carmichael is a growth equity investment firm that was co-founded in 2010 by former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and veteran private equity investor Brian Bailey.
Martin, a Charlotte native, is a graduate of both UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University. Carmichael has offices in Charlotte and Washington, DC. Bailey was a managing partner at Charlotte-based Carousel Capital, which focused on buyouts.
The funding enables Bandwidth.com to continue the company’s expansion into key strategic areas, such as the recent acquisition of 911 emergency services provider dash Carrier Services, and accelerate the already rapid growth of its small and medium business focused services, such as Phonebooth, Bandwidth.com’s cloud-based phone service, which doubled its customer base in the last quarter alone.
David Morken, CEO of Bandwidth.com, said, “Carmichael is an ideal investment partner for us due to its industry expertise and its ability to help us capitalize on future growth and strategic opportunities.”
The company acquired dash Carrier Services in February and announced a landmark commercial deal with the Verizon wireline companies in January. Bandwidth.com completed a record-setting 2010, as it added thousands of new customers and became the sixth largest provider of phone number based services in the United States. In total, Bandwidth.com revenues will exceed $100 million in 2011.
The company’s business Internet unit, Broadband.com, boasts nationwide coverage in more markets than AT&T, Verizon and Qwest.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Bandwidth.com, Brian Bailey, broadband, Carmichael Partners, Cary, David Morken, ex-FCC chair, Kevin Martin, mobile, NC, Phonebooth
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, Money, North Carolina, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
 Artist's rendering of the American Underground space DURHAM, NC – The American Underground, which occupies the lower levels of American Tobacco’s historic Strickland and Crowe Buildings and is designed to foster collaboration among startups and small businesses, has added six new tenants.
The newcomers include Themis Media, Smashing Boxes, NC IDEA & IDEA Fund Partners, Sustainable Industrial Solutions (SIS) and Zetta Worldwide Tech.
“Locating to the Underground and being amidst Durham’s emerging startup scene will allow us to be even more accessible and collaborative with entrepreneurs,” says David Rizzo, president and CEO of NC IDEA, which provides early financing through grants.
“The ‘natural’ and organic networking opportunities that will present themselves just by being right there at the center of activity will immediately prove invaluable.”
Adds Jason Massy of the energy efficiency-focused Sustainable Industrial Solutions (SIS), “Since moving back to North Carolina, this is the first place that I’ve experienced in the region that has the organic startup culture of a place like Silicon Valley.”
Wide ranging new roster
The Underground’s new roster is wide ranging. Themis Media, for example, describes itself as “like Rolling Stone but for video games.” Just down the hall, IDEA Fund Partners provides seed and early stage equity funding and expertise to niche companies throughout the region.
“The scene in downtown Durham, especially at the Underground, is electric and filled with optimism and creativity,” says Nick Jordan of the Web development firm Smashing Boxes. “The collective energy gives us entrepreneurs confidence that the things we are working on matter and will make a difference. Entrepreneurs face an uphill battle when starting a business, and being around fellow entrepreneurs is great therapy to help you persevere.”
Sharita Lawson of Zetta Worldwide Tech agrees, “We wanted to be in an environment where we could pull from the creative energy of those around us and also receive support, both moral and professional, from individuals who have similar visions.”
Here’s a look at the new tenants in their own words:
IDEA Fund Partners, John Cambier: “Since 2006, IDEA Fund Partners has provided seed and early stage equity funding, along with company building expertise, to IT, materials technologies and medical device companies throughout North Carolina, as well as the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
NC IDEA, David Rizzo: “NC IDEA is committed to supporting North Carolina’s economic development by helping young, innovative companies grow, create jobs and become major contributors to the business community mainly by providing early financing in the form of grants. By the end of 2011, we will have awarded over $2 million to 60+ companies.”
Sustainable Industrial Solutions, Jason Massy: “Sustainable Industrial Solutions (SIS) is making American manufacturing more competitive and reducing greenhouse gases one factory at a time. We leverage energy efficiency, paid-from-savings implementations to embed sustainability best practices in a facility.”
Smashing Boxes, Nick Jordan: “We are a user-centric design and development firm that helps organizations build their brand, their audience, and their customer base through Web and mobile technology. We work with everyone from prefunded startups to Fortune 500s to nonprofits.
Themis Media, Alexader Macris: “Themis founds, incubates, and operates businesses in new media and interactive entertainment. Founded in 2001, Themis created one of the first online social communities for games (WarCry), pioneered the first interactive gaming company to focus on community building, player retention and MMO support services (TAP Interactive), and founded the prestigious video game destination The Escapist. Themis’ media properties reach more than 4.5 million unique visitors every month.”
The new crew joins ‘veteran’ Underground-ers Acorn Innovestments, Adzerk, CED. Jaargon Ltd., Joystick Labs, LaunchBox Digital Preation and Two Toasters.
The American Underground is not the only place providing a collegial atmosphere and offices aimed at giving startups a boost. TechStarts Plus in Cary, which recently changed its name from TechSuites Plus, is also creating a startup friendly ecosystem. For more information see our previous story about TechStarts: www.techjournalsouth.com/2011/02/techsuites-offers-tech-startups-bargain-space-incubator-like-ecosystem/
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Alexander Macris, American Tobacco Campus, Cary, Dave Rizzo, Durham, IDEA Fudn Partenrs, Jason Massy, NC, NC IDEA, Nick Jordan, Sharita Lawson, Sustainable Industrial Solutions, TechStarts Plus, Themis Media, Zetta Worldwide Tech
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Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
 By Allan Maurer
CARY, NC –Twongo, a social savings platform started in the Triangle in January 2010 offers 50 to 70 percent off local deals much like the ones sold by the 800-pound gorillas in the space, Chicago-based Groupon and DC’s Living Social. While it is currently only in a handful of North Carolina and Canadian markets, it is already profitable and plans to expand to 15 more markets in the next 12 months.
The company helped residents of the Triangle area save more than $1 million on retail goods and services last year.
Some of 2010’s deals included discounts for as much as 70 percent off at local restaurants such as Jimmy V’s Steakhouse, 42nd Street Oyster Bar, Daniel’s on 55, Danny’s BarBQ, Peak City Grill and The Meat House .
The company also offered savings opportunities on services from businesses such as Aviator Brewing Company, Aveda Institute, Garden Supply Company, BodyLase Skin Spa, RightTime KiDS, Raleighwood Cinema Grill, White Oak Landscaping & Irrigation, Carolina Auto Spa, Rush Hour Karting and Triangle Segway Tours.
How did Canada get into the mix?
Founder and CEO Brad Halferty tells us the bootstrapped company will seek funding to fuel accelerated growth. Like its large rivals, Twongo wants feet on the ground in each new market it develops, so the 17-employee company will be doing its small part in reducing unemployment.
Currently Twongo operates in Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Wilmington and four British Columbia markets. How did Canada get into that early mix?
“An investor there, Mike Minor, a former IBMer, was interested in the space and loved Twongo, so we licensed rights and they’re doing great,” says Halferty.
The company’s name derives from the Chinese concept of “tuangou”, or group buying.
The local deals group buying space is one of the hottest in the digital arena, with Groupon collecting $950 million in its most recent venture round and DC’s Living Social landing more than $230 million, including $175 million from Amazon.
“I monitor what they do, but I don’t obsess over them,” says Halferty. He notes there are new entries in the space monthly. Some estimates say more than 120 such firms are in business, most limited to only one or a few markets. Google, which tried unsuccessfully to buy Groupon, launched its own version and even the New York Times is getting into the act.
Consolidation, attrition expected
“I think in the next six months you’ll see a lot of consolidation and attrition,” Halferty says.
As for Twongo, he says he has ideas for expanding it into areas the other companies in the space have not yet tried, but would only discuss them off the record. Currently, it targets much the same types of businesses the others do, those with extra capacity and the ability to handle an influx of traffic without breaking the system, such as restaurants, spas and so forth.
One of the ways he says Twongo differentiates itself now is that it does not seek just any customer for its deals. “We don’t want everyone. We want the right customer with the most disposable income who will spend over and above the voucher and return to the business if they like it.”
So far Twongo’s strongest marketing has been word of mouth, although it does some online and radio marketing as well.
Halferty sees mobile as the driver for group buying deals in the future. “I think we’ll see a huge migration to mobile. The ability to get on demand deals will be huge and go hand in hand with electronic wallets. I think it will shake out the one trick ponies, the daily deal firms that are underfunded or not yet established.
Halferty says Twongo has already had numerous clients run repeat deals. “We work with closely with each client,” he says.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Brad Halferty, Cary, group buying, Groupon, Internet, Living Social, mobile, NC, Raleigh, Twongo
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, North Carolina | Comments Off
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
 CARY, NC – MaxPoint, a company focused on real-time neighborhood-level targeting technology for online advertisers, has secured $8 million in funding led by Madrona Venture Group.
The Seattle-based investment firm specializes in funding early-stage technology companies. Trinity Ventures, which funded MaxPoint’s initial institutional round of $3 million in 2010, also participated in this round. This is MaxPoint’s second round of institutional funding.
“Since our initial round of funding last fall, MaxPoint has seen a strong acceleration in the growth of our company, as advertisers have been clamoring for a solution to successfully drive offline purchases by using online ad campaigns,” said Joe Epperson, CEO and co-founder of MaxPoint. “Our new funding allows us to accelerate our growth.”
“Over the past year, MaxPoint has been instrumental in proving to brick-and-mortar companies, the key to an effective online advertising campaign is measuring how well it drives traffic into an actual physical location,” said Len Jordan, venture partner at Madrona, who joins MaxPoint’s board of directors. “We are investors in MaxPoint because we truly believe the value in online advertising is in leveraging the neighborhood-level proximity of a qualified consumer base to a retail location. Such targeted advertising leads to the in-store purchase of the product featured in the ad served.”
To accommodate its recent growth, MaxPoint recently moved its sales office in New York City to a larger location in Manhattan and also expanded its sales team.
MaxPoint, which says it is the only provider of precision neighborhood-level online ad targeting, employs proprietary data-driven technologies to drive in-store purchases for national and regional brands.
By combining multiple data sets to form customized neighborhood profiles, MaxPoint identifies the best potential neighborhood for any brand – those both interested and capable of purchasing the product. To do this, MaxPoint draws point-of-sale data from retail stores nationwide, demographics, psychographics and other publicly available data sources – all of which contain no personally identifiable information.
MaxPoint then uses its Digital Zip technology to find the most qualified neighborhoods for the advertised product, based on the characteristics and interests of the people who live there. MaxPoint’s Digital Zips segment the country into 34,000 distinct neighborhoods, each with approximately 3,400 households, allowing marketers to pinpoint locations within a retailer’s trade area, more precisely serving their targeted online ads.
MaxPoint evaluates each individual online impression in real-time, delivering the campaign creative only if the impression matches the brand’s customized neighborhood profile – without using cookies as part of the solution.
Tags: Cary, financing, Madrona Venture Group, MaxPoint, NC, New York City, Seattle, targeted online advertising, Trinity Ventures
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, Money, North Carolina | Comments Off
Monday, February 21st, 2011
By Allan Maurer
 TechSuite+office CARY, NC – Although a number of organizations offer startups incubator programs and even temporary office space in the Research Triangle area, most did not get serial entrepreneur Bob Butler very excited. “They get a lot of ownership for a little help and don’t focus on the things an entrepreneur really needs,” he says.
Boot camps are way too short at six weeks. “Six weeks is not enough to get you where you need to go,” says Butler. “You need a full year, at least.”
Also, he adds, “When you don’t have a lot of capital, you have to make a little money go a long way.”
What was needed, Butler thought, was something between Office Suites Plus and something such as Launchbox that has the “Ecosystem of an incubator, but for a longer time.”
Startups need professional guidance in areas such as legal matters and accounting that often eat up their limited resources. “I’ve seen them put $20,000 in development and $100,000 in organizing the business and expert services,” he says. “That’s just backward. You need to focus on getting a product and customers.”
Some other programs aimed at giving startups a ramp up boost tend to be “Fairly cynical,” says Butler. “They give you $20,000 for 8 percent of your company. It seems like more of a numbers game than building a long term business.”
So, Butler says, he created TechSuites+ to fill that perceived need for a different type of startup environment in which “We take some of the risk.”
The idea is to let the entrepreneur come in at greatly reduced rates ($400 a month for an office and a certain amount of professional business help) without giving up stock. At that stage, Butler says, entrepreneurs often have no clue as to what their company is worth and can easily feel resentful no matter what they give up.”
“This could get them to the point where they are generating revenue or get them in a position to negotiate an outside investment at better terms.”
Additional professional expertise will be available at greatly reduced rates, he says.
The idea is that TechSuites+ takes the risk and down the road there may be an opportunity to make an early investment or take a board seat, says Butler. A company that is really doing well may be able to stay two years, “But no one more than two. If you haven’t started growing by then, you have issues.”
The whole idea is to provide startups with incubator-like mentoring for a longer term with a hybrid model no one has tried before.
Several companies have already found them, Butler says, despite the fact that it just launched. TechSuites+ has space for about 15 companies. There is no security deposit, startup fee or termination fee. Participants can leave any time with 30 days notice.
Butler, who’s current company is Bestthinking.com, says, “As an entrepreneur myself, I hated all those commitments when I was burning my own money. So if they’re unhappy they can grab their laptop and head out the door.”
Why is he doing this, other than the opportunity to get in on the ground floor with innovative startups? “We’re making a stand to see if we can breathe some life into the startup community here,” he says.
Email TJS Editor Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Bestthinking.com, Bob Butler, Cary, incubator-like ecosystem, NC, startup office space, tech space, TechSuites+
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina, Tech Culture, Tech Space | 2 Comments »
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