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| | The May Report: 12/14/2009: Six events last week, too many stories: BettrAT; Fig1.com, Intelligent Generation, SeatQuest, MidVentures, Malachi Leopold, Coin That Phrase; Margaret Plett leaves the ITA; Eric Olson gone from TransFS; Murdock gone from NanoBusiness Alliance
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| | December 14, 2009
The May Report: 12/14/2009: Six events last week, too many stories: BettrAT; Fig1.com, Intelligent Generation, SeatQuest, MidVentures, Malachi Leopold, Coin That Phrase; Margaret Plett leaves the ITA; Eric Olson gone from TransFS; Murdock gone from NanoBusiness Alliance
Editor and publisher: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com, www.themayreport.com, 773-525-3944.
If you missed an article, go here: http://www.tmronline.com/A55951/tmrarticles.nsf/vwFullNewsletter
______________________________________
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MIT EF Dec. 15 Event: HOLIDAY PARTY at Catalyst Ranch!!
Tuesday December 15, 2009
We're celebrating a great year at the MIT Enterprise Forum with tasty bites, delicious drinks, and plenty of networking. Also featuring some unique entertainment and door prizes.
Bundle up and bring your business cards.
When
Tuesday December 15
6:00-9:00 pm
Where
Catalyst Ranch (Polka Room)
656 W. Randolph, Suite 3W
Chicago, IL 60661
www.catalystranch.com
Cost
Individual Member No Fee
Pre-Registered Guest $30.00, $40.00
after 12/14
REGISTER
https://mitefchicago.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=162&club_id=375711&item_id=107181&sl=49882189
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____________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Scoop section:
-- Filipowski's InterAct completes acquisition
-- TED coming to Naperville
-- Our Star Writer Moves To Chicago Because Groupon Had To Hire A VP Product -- Briefly noted, by Ron May
-- Jay Marhoefer on the progress of his firm, Intelligent Generation
-- Jim Figliulo splits off from TimeXchange.net to form Fig1.com, by Ron May
-- Malachi Leopold and his "Chicago Love" project
-- James Ondrey updates us on the status of SeatQuest
-- Geoffrey Domoracki on MidVentures
-- NAVISTAR
________________________________
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_________________________________
The Scoop section:
_______________________
Filipowski's InterAct completes acquisition
http://triad.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2009/12/07/daily34.html
Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 2:18pm EST
Filipowski's InterAct completes acquisition
The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area
InterAct, Tengion secure almost $50M in VC funds
Forsyth tech firms discuss growth plans
InterAct claims increase in revenues, profits
W-S chamber holds annual Tech Briefing
Mohegan Tribal Police contract with Winston-Salem tech company
InterAct Public Safety Systems has completed its acquisition of BIO-key International's law enforcement division, the company has announced.
The Winston-Salem-based InterAct first announced the $11 million transaction in August, saying the acquisition makes it "the world's largest public safety software company." Bio-key is based in New Jersey.
With the deal, InterAct is adding communications products such as "MobileCop" and "PocketCop" that it will be able to integrate with its existing framework of law enforcement data tools, dubbed "InterActMobile."
InterAct Executive Chairman and CEO Andrew "Flip" Filipowski said the combined firm has more than 2,000 customers on three continents, and has a solid position of leadership in the industry.
"Our goal has always been to provide first responders with the best, most advanced tools so that they can better serve the public. This acquisition was in support of that goal," Filipowski said.
___________________________________
TED coming to Naperville
Subject: TEDxNAPERVILLE | Naperville Technology
Date: 12/8/2009 10:02:42 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: bconnolly@furthermore.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
http://www.tedxnaperville.com/
____________________________________
Our Star Writer Moves To Chicago Because Groupon Had To Hire A VP Product -- Briefly noted, by Ron May
Subject: Our Star Writer Moves To Chicago Because Groupon Had To Hire A VP Product
Date: 12/4/2009 6:34:09 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: jpkattt@att.net
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
Typical crapola from Michael Arrogant (sic) of TechCrunch. As I commented, "DEAR MICHAEL: ohhhhhh, booo-hoooo-friggin'-hoo. I suppose, now, you're going to figure out a way to cross-schedule the entire city of Chicago, the way you did when DEMO 'stole' your other guy, right????"
http://tinyurl.com/ybfwxx7
Our Star Writer Moves To Chicago Because Groupon Had To Hire A VP Product
92 Comments
149 retweet TOP1K Share6by Michael Arrington on December 3, 2009
As far as I'm concerned Chicago is just a place that your flights get delayed overnight because of the horrendous weather eight months out of the year (that picture isn't Chicago, but it's how I imagine it). But one of our star writers here at TechCrunch, Leena Rao, has actually made a voluntary decision to move there.
Why the move? No, Facebook didn't poach her, although that's happened to us before. And she isn't going off to do her own thing, which we've had to bear as well.
No, what happened is, Groupon made her husband, Suneel Gupta, an offer he couldn't refuse. He's moving from his current job as Director of Mozilla Labs to VP Product Development at Groupon.
I tried everything to get Leena to stay here in Silicon Valley. Pointing out the horrendous weather in Chicago was one tactic that didn't work. I also suggested she continue to live here and see Suneel on alternate weekends. Which also didn't work. Outright divorce is apparently out of the question as well.
Luckily though we've talked her into staying on and working remotely. We lose a sense of camaraderie with our remote team members, and I'm not happy we won't have her around at the office. But she's promised to come visit regularly, so that's something.
But I'm still hoping Groupon does a faceplant and goes out of business or something, opening the door for Leena to move back here. But sadly their business is exploding (in a good way), and that's not likely any time soon.
So for now I'll just say congratulations to Suneel and Groupon, and try not to be too passive aggressive towards Leena.
Leena Rao is a writer for TechCrunch. She recently finished graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she studied business journalism and videography. From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn... Learn More
Suneel Gupta
Companies: Mozilla, Groupon
While working in President Clinton's press operation, Suneel developed a strong interest in the convergence of media and technology and pursued this interest through strategic and venture roles in various global markets. In 2004, he was recruited... Learn More
Groupon
Website: groupon.com
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Founded: November 11, 2008
Funding: $35.8M
Groupon (www.groupon.com) features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in cities across the United States. By promising businesses a minimum number of customers, we can offer deals that aren't available elsewhere.
Groupon... Learn More
Mozilla
Website: mozilla.com
Location: Mountain View, California, United States
Founded: February 1, 1998
Funding: $2.3M
Born from Netscape's 1998 open sourcing of the code base behind its Netscape Communicator internet suite, Mozilla Firefox currently holds approximately 22.48% of the world market for internet browsers as of April 2009. Version 1.0 was released on... Learn More
Information provided by CrunchBase
____________________________________
Briefly noted, by Ron May
* I attended six events last week and the one I missed had some of the biggest turnout. That was Chicago Social Media last Tuesday night which got 250 people. Wednesday night I hit MEF, the nanotech party at Brinks Hofer and eFactor at Citizen Bar. Thursday, I got down to the ITA party at 5:40pm where I sat in my wheelchair in 20 below zero temperatures outside the 200 S. Wacker building, but fearing arrest, I stayed on the property of the city on the sidewalk and did not cross onto building property. Then I got to TC12 about 7:15pm and stayed till the end. I also went from 10pm to 1am on Friday night to Tech the Halls at Noble Tree on Clark.
Many people do not seem to know that I have been banned from all ITA events, officially as of December 3rd and I was also banned on October 26th in Skokie from the MMM which is now run by the ITA.
I don't know if Fred and Terry have cruelty in their hearts, but there is something not right about my sitting outside in the cold while Kathy Liu sits inside and haughtily laughs her head off. I know that she hates me, but I have no such vitriol toward her.
You've heard the line, "Those the gods destroy they first make prideful."
I can proudly say that I have no pride. I will grovel for information, and that may mean sitting out in the cold for it to see who is attending and how many. Howard Tullman said that serial entrepreneurs are often less successful because as time goes by, the entrepreneur loses his ability and willingness to humiliate himself. I don't want to ever let my ego get so big that I am unwilling to be humble and to grovel.
I will gladly play the fool to get info. for and about the tech community, and I have been pretty consistent in that pursuit.
People say to me, "Forget about the ITA -- don't dignify them."
Kumar Thason of Cosecant, Inc. was there in the lobby of the 200 S. Wacker building when Fred and I had it out on the morning of December 3rd. He saw everything, he told me. You can contact him yourselves and hear what he thought of Fred. His views are not flattering to Fred. 312-326-6346 and kthason@consecant-tech.com. I won't put words in his mouth but he has a strong opinion. I talked to him at TC12. Kumar's office is on the 31st floor of that building.
Well, the ITA is a part of the tech community, maybe not the bleeding edge, but they can't be just cut out, like a cancer, just as Howerton has said he wants to cut me out as a cancer.
Many people have told me that they liked Bob Geras' letter from last week. I beg to differ.
It is not about good v. evil, left v. right, conspiracy theory v. everything's hunky dory. The real issue is good practices and excellence vs. mediocrity. In Bob's world, no one would ever be held accountable for a mistake or screw up.
Would any of the top ten or even top 1,000 firms in the country hire a guy like Terry Howerton with his track record?
Isn't Terry representing himself as a role model for the Chicago Public Schools? This is just like the Tiger Woods situation and the school he has been involved in. If you want to be a role model, you have to live up to the expectations or do something else and don't use the public image and reputation of an association that has been somewhat respected to further your own ambitions.
Would a single reputable VC, upon doing due diligence, invest one nickel in Terry's firm?
Can you even imagine Matt McCall, Ellen Carnahan, Bret Maxwell, or Lon Chow putting money into Terry Howerton? Even Churchwell would not touch him.
Why is Bob Geras now apologizing for mediocrity?
And what happened to Bob's idea that he is more VC than angel who does due diligence?
The same for Scott Glickson with his comment about how being sued many times proves nothing and it does not even mean you're a bad businessman.
Where is Jack Welch when we need him?
Is Fred in the top 10%?
Is Terry?
Where is their humility?
If they don't live up to standards of excellence and best practices, well, then, you know what the ITA board should do.
It is that simple.
You know, anyone can put on a tux once a year. Remember all the movies about mafia guys from the 1920s. They all wore black tie and they all looked good.
But looks can be deceiving.
* 15 stories
1. BettrAT, http://bettr.at/#SlideFrame_9
http://bettr.at/blog/
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1340581/LONDON/London/Bettr/DEMOS/
Company is in Alpha testing using the Girl Scouts. Funding is $500K from the MacArthur Foundation. One of the two founders, Ash, was at the Tech The Halls party on Friday night which I attended from about 10pm to 1am. I will have more for you on this when I go over my tape.
2. The "mystery" meeting I saw taking place at the offices of the CEC on September 25th at about 9am with about 30 people in the glass encased conference room where David Weinstein sat on the credenza is no longer a mystery. I have found out that it was a meeting to discuss creating a start-up incubator in Chicago along the lines of Y-combinator, Techstars, and other operations which combine seed capital with mentoring, space, etc. They need an experienced person to spearhead it, I was told, and they have no champion as yet. Notably absent from the meeting I witnessed were people like Tim Lavengood, Nik Rokop, Terry Howerton, Fred Hoch, and others. Lavengood heads an incubator but the funding component is missing. Hoch and Howerton said from the get-go that Tech Nexus was all about being a clubhouse and not an incubator and many firms in their space are not start-ups. Rokop is also a place to hang a hat and offer some help, but they want this on a more high powered level. They don't want a landlord-in-chief or a typical ED type from what I understand. Read Geoff Domoracki in this report on this very issue of venture development. He spoke at the Google meeting in the offices of Google on December 3rd.
3. I have talked to a number of people who attended the ITA party. Some of them I saw at TC12 and some of them I saw sitting outside in the 20 below weather on Thursday night in my wheelchair with Anna there to help me. The consensus is that it was a good party and had about 150 people. My own estimate is that TC12 got about 350 but Frank and Eric would know better. There were a number of people who went to both the ITA and to TC12, including LeAnne and Sarah from the ITA staff.
The MEF got 46 people on Wednesday night, Brinks Hofer and the nanotech folks got about 45 the same night; and eFactor had 35, also on Wednesday. On Friday night, Tech the Halls had about 150 by my estimate. People were on three floors and I never left the first floor.
This is a very preliminary list of people who went to TC12 or did not go.
People who were NOT at TC12
Bruce Montgomery -- He went to ITA
David Flint
Steve Susina
Jason Rexilius
Dan Ratner
Mike Carruth
Karan Goel
Matt Smith
Garrett Smith
John Dallas
Nik Rokop
Paul Davidovich
Mike McCune
Phil Krone
Phil Tadros
Jeff Willinger He went to ITA
Pec
Mike Maginity
Brad Spirrison
Katie Spirrison
Dave Carman
Andrew Mason
Matt Maloney
Mark Glennon
Keith Schacht
Chris Rollyson
Chris Hill
Blagica
Andy Angelos
Sima Dahl
David Dalka
Kris Hammond
Larry Birnbaum
Joe Jablonski
Brian Crummy
Collin Canright
Fred Hoch
Terry Howerton
People who went to both TC12 and the ITA
Sarah Habansky
LeAnne T.
Scott Miller
Dick Reck
Alan Reck
Alex Jarett
Avery Cohen
Robert Jacobi
Melanie Adcock
Charles Wu
Regulars who were at TC12
Robert Jacobi
Todd Allen who spent the whole evening talking to this tall blonde:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techcocktail/4179869120/in/set-72157622985905300/
Harvey Daniels, as drunk as he could get in a red sweater. Dancing all night.
Frank Gruber
Eric Olson
Monica Metzler
Richard Cross
Lambert Smith
Jim Eiden
Sean Corbett
Geoff Domoracki
Mike Evans
Harper Reed
Tim Courtney
Jen Consalvo
John McCreary
Jon Morris
Glenn Graham
Steve Riess
Mark Wilhelms
Richard Cross
Jason Tillery
Jacob Hargrave
4. One thing I have found out is that one of the two VPs at the ITA, the VP of Marketing who has been there since the summer of 2008, Margaret Plett, is leaving at the end of the year. I will have to go to work on finding out why and the whole story behind it. Margaret used to work for Tim Krauskopf.
5. Eric Olson left TransFS founded by Sean Harper and has even taken the four month stint off his Facebook page. He is vague about the reasons why he left and wrote this which is what he told me in person.
++++++++++++++++
Subject: Re: Eric, great job druming last night! So, what did happen with TransFS?
Date: 12/11/2009 1:41:35 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: eric@techcocktail.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
Honestly, we just had different ideas on how to run and grow the business so I decided to step aside.
On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 5:18 AM, RONALDMAY@aol.com wrote:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
May again. My info. is that they don't really have a business model at TransFS and the credit card business is very complicated. Also, Eric is concentrating on finishing his MBA at ChicagoBooth.
6. Jay Marhoefer gives us an update on how things are going with Intelligent Generation, an energy company. See below.
7. Jim Figliulo splits off from TimeXchange.net to form Fig1.com, by Ron May (see below)
8. Malachi Leopold of Left Brain Right Brain Productions raised money just a few weeks after he presented to Len Bland's group, but it was unrelated. See below.
9. An update on what is going on with SeatQuest from James Ondrey, VP of Business Development. I called Nomik Eden, the CTO, on Sunday and he asked James to follow up and send a note to us. (See below)
10. From: Name withheld upon request
Subject: IL Enterpeneurial Rating
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:07:33 -0600
To: Ron May Report ron@themayreport.com
Ron,
Please no citing my name e-mail address or contact info.
Just saw this (IL entrepreneurial rank) and thought you might be interested:
http://tinyurl.com/ybldqtd
Happy Holidays!
11. Executive's Club meeting this coming Wednesday, December 16th
http://www.executivesclub.org/PROGRAMS/CurrentSeasonPrograms/tabid/88/Default.aspx
Technology Conference
Status: Active
Total Functions: 3
Date: 12/16/2009 thru 12/16/2009
Late Registration Deadline: 12/15/2009
Program Contact: gausraite@executivesclub.org
If you have any questions please contact us at (312)263-3500.
Please note that this program's date has changed from December 10, 2009 to December 16, 2009.
"Translating Washington's Agenda to Chicago"
Moderator: Bryan Gruley
Chicago Bureau Chief
Wall Street Journal
Panelists:
Aneesh Chopra
Assistant to the President and Chief Technology Officer
White House
Stephen F. Hamman
Vice President, Network Management
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois
Gerard M. Mooney
General Manager, Global Government and Education
IBM Corporation
Gregory Wass
Chief Information Officer
State of Illinois
Location: Hyatt Regency
Regency Ballroom, A
Gold Level, West Tower
151 E. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL
9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Click here for more information
12. Subject: Breaking News: Court to review employer access to worker messages
Date: 12/14/2009 10:08:57 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: newsletters@email.washingtonpost.com
Reply To: newslettersKSQJQP.353277@email.washingtonpost.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com
News Alert
10:14 AM EDT Monday, December 14, 2009
Court to review employer access to worker messages
The Supreme Court says it will decide how much privacy workers have when they send text messages from company accounts.
For more information, visit washingtonpost.com - http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/46MP2V/LX6XL/NFJNJL/PH4RFV/M3CKY/4O/t
13. Dave Armano who moved 7 months ago to Austin, TX to work for The Dachis Group has now moved back to Chicago and has joined Edlelman.
14. Sean Murdock did confirm with me that he is now full-time with the nano start-up and has left the NanoBusiness Alliance.
15. Coin That Phrase, Keith Schacht and more....
Subject: Missed another company
Date: 12/11/2009 7:46:15 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: michael@media-fuse.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com
Ron,
Aside from missing GroupOn you also missed a story on Coin That Phrase (a great Chicago company)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-mon-minding-social-media-120dec07,0,2582505.column
Happy Holiday!
Michael
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chicago-area startups piggybacking on social media for new product concepts
Ann Meyer
Minding Your Business
December 7, 2009
A clever tweet or a brilliant phrase on Facebook could earn you money and spice up your T- shirt wardrobe, thanks to Coin That Phrase, a startup that helps creators document slogans on custom merchandise.
The company is one of many Chicago-area businesses piggybacking on social media for new product concepts.
"I had this idea five years ago, but the missing piece was the social networking component," said Noel Burkman, founder and chief executive of Coin That Phrase in Wilmette. "Once that came into play, it made sense."
While other firms offer custom T-shirts, Coin That Phrase pledges to turn content creators into entrepreneurs, letting them own the phrases they create for $2.99.
Creative affiliates who pay $10 a year get a discount on the ownership fee and share in the revenue, collecting $1 each time a customer buys merchandise with their phrase on it from CoinThatPhrase.com. Users also can add existing public domain phrases to company's database for free, though they won't collect on those.
So far, the company claims ownership of 500 phrases and 8,000 public domains, Burkman said.
For the holidays, the company has expanded beyond T-shirts into $13 Santa hats and $15 holiday mugs. In addition, T-shirts emblazed with Twitter handles are selling as personal holiday gifts.
"When people put their own phrases on a mug or T-shirt, it sends a special message to family and friends, especially during the holidays," said Brian Russell, partner at Coin That Phrase and a product-development consultant. "It's like drawing your own picture as kids."
By contracting with merchandise distributors and screen printers, Coin That Phrase holds no inventory, which reduces costs and financial risk.
"You have to be able to fulfill and deliver. I look for partners that can work for me," said Russell, who also holds the rights to the Z-Hanger for clothing.
Coin That Phrase "is a great example of collaboration," said Lisa Gundry, a professor of management and director of DePaul University's Creativity and Innovation Center.
The advent of social media is changing the landscape for product development, creating endless possibilities for new companies to pull together the strengths of multiple parties, Gundry said.
"The market is changing," she said. "If you do what you've always done, you're not going to be able to meet the needs of the marketplace."
Entrepreneurs are finding that partnering with others can speed new product development.
Veteran toy marketer Marc Rosenberg and inventor Bill Goodman launched the Zhu Zhu Pets iPhone application in less than five weeks by outsourcing development. Instead of competing with Cepia LLC, the maker of the popular robotic hamster, Rosenberg collaborated with the toy company by becoming an official licensee of the brand. In return, Cepia is marketing the $1.99 app on its ZhuZhuPets.com Web site.
Rosenberg had the advantage of 21 years of experience in the toy industry, including at Tiger Electronics and Zizzle. He knew Russell Hornsby, president of Cepia, and Goodman knew product developers at TiltnTwist.
"I've been very lucky to have access to people to get this done quickly," said Rosenberg, founder of SkyBluePink Concepts LLC, a marketing and product-development firm in Deerfield. "It all comes down to relationships."
Previous startup experience also helps when acting on a new opportunity. Serial entrepreneur Keith Schacht launched Crafted Fun Inc., his fourth company, in 2007 after Facebook opened its platform to developers.
"There's a whole new market for social games that didn't exist before," Schacht said.
His first Facebook application, Growing Gifts, had more than 1 million installations the first month, he said. With the launch of its latest game, Enchanted Island, the company has more than 14 million page views per month.
While the games are free to play, Crafted Fun makes money when players buy extras, such as special seeds to grow flowers on Enchanted Island, which start at $1.99, Schacht said.
Schacht and his team of seven often bounce ideas off one another. But ultimately, the marketplace decides the value of an idea.
Entrepreneurs can reduce their risk by testing their product concepts before launching them, said Albert Page, professor of marketing at the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Business Administration.
He recommends three stages of testing:
Concept. Get reaction to the concept by presenting potential customers with a written or visual description of the product.
Product. Ask potential customers to use and critique a working prototype of the product.
Market. Try marketing a small quantity of the product to the target market. Does it sell?
Even products that pass all three tests might ultimately fail if the company lacks sufficient capital, personnel and experienced management. Bringing a product to market takes more than a good idea, Page said. "It requires execution as well."
mindingyourbiz@gmail.com
Small firms, big stories
To read previous stories by Ann Meyer on small business, go to chicagotribune.com/mindingyourbusiness
___________________________________________
Jay Marhoefer on the progress of his firm, Intelligent Generation
Subject: The latest regarding Intelligent Generation
Date: 12/10/2009 4:13:36 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: jay@intelgen.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com
Ron,
Wanted to give you a quick update about Intelligent Generation LLC. We've come a long way since our Monday morning presentation walkthrough at the ITDA in July.
1) Intelligent Generation was one of ten companies selected to present this year at the Midwest Alternative Energy Venture Forum (MAEVF), sponsored by the Polsky Entrepreneurship Center of the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago. The conference was on November 18.
2) A week after that (November 24), Intelligent Generation LLC won first place at the Midwest Cleantech Forum Innovation Competition held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. There were 12 early-stage cleantech companies selected as semi-finalists and three presenting finalists.
I'll keep you posted as to progress.
Jay
___________________________________
Jim Figliulo splits off from TimeXchange.net to form Fig1.com, by Ron May
In June, Jim Figliulo split off from www.TimeXchange.net headed by Joe Piekarz and now has a new spin off firm with exclusive rights to develop mobile applications for the technology in the Apple phone space.
Both Jim and his uncle Dave were at TC12 and at the ITA party.
Jim and his uncle Dave Figliulo, who used to be with SPR will run the new firm called www.fig1inc.com. Jim himself came out of ADP and even though he is only 33 years old, he clearly has the entrepreneurial bug.
They also will be adding a developer and a finance guy, whom Jim told me on the phone Sunday I know but he can't say their names yet.
The big application they hope to start with is for the legal field and it targets small to medium sized law firms.
TimeXchange was not making enough money yet to pay Jim's mortgage on his house for the new venture, but I got the impression that Jim has some money from friends and family as well as some money from major clients they have signed.
Jim and Dave moved into the offices of TechNexus at 200 S. Wacker in August and they are paying the standard rate of $500 a seat (for now).
The split with Joe Piekarz, President of TimeXchange, was amicable enough, Jim told me, but they did disagree about the company's direction. Jim wanted to go the mobile route, and Joe wanted to stick with the desktop. Jim and Joe stay in touch, talk and email often but Jim was not sure where Joe's office is these days.
Jim and Fig1 will be allowed to develop applications that are unrelated to TimeXchange and they are already doing that, Jim told me. He stressed that things are going well.
Jim explained some more detail this morning (Monday). His firm, Fig1, already paid the development costs for an iPhone application tied to TimeXchange, so that application is finished and ready to roll. A single user can get that iPhone app. for $3.99 a month or $39 a year.
The other applications that Fig1 is developing are custom applications done on a flat rate or hourly basis and their rates are competitive, Jim told me. As a consulting firm that develops applications, Jim does not want people to think they do only mobile applications.
Jim and the entire Figliulo clan is quite entrepreneurial. In addition to Jim and Dave, there is Rob Figliulo and James R. Figliulo. They are at SPR Inc. and Figliulo and Silverman, P.C..
Jim can be reached at 773-612-3313 or at jimfigliulo@gmail.com.
_________________________________________
Malachi Leopold and his "Chicago Love" project
Subject: Re: Malachi, plse. tell story you told @TC12 re: how you raised $, got sponsors.
Date: 12/11/2009 11:06:28 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: malachi@lbrbproductions.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
Ron-
Thanks for asking - after you saw me present at Len Bland's and David Carman's group re: my "Chicago Love" project, I followed up with several of the attendees and was in the middle of further presentations and fundraising efforts when everything was abruptly interrupted.
In early March, at a networking group I attend each week, a friend of mine gave me a referral to a woman who volunteers with the Chicago Association of the Lost Boys of Sudan. My friend's thinking was that, given the work I do with several non-profits in Chicago, I might be able to help them out with their fundraising by making a video.
I followed up with the volunteer, and she recommended I speak to the Chicago chapter president, Kuek Aleu Garang (Kuek, coincidentally, had been featured on Oprah on Election Day in 2008 as a new US citizen voting for the first time in a presidential election).
I researched the organization, was inspired by their stories, and emailed Kuek the same day (mid-March). He responded, telling me he would love to get together and discuss how I could work with them, but we'd have to meet up when he got back from his trip. In three weeks he was going back to Sudan for the first time in 22 years to be reunited with his family. He had been separated from them when he was 6 years old, during the Sudanese Civil War. During his trip home, he was also planning to find a location to build a school in his village.
The moment I read his response, I picked up the phone and called him. I told him that this sounded like an amazing story, and was anyone going with him to document his journey, or had he thought about sharing his story before through documentary? He said that he felt it was time for him to share his story, but he didn't know anyone who could do so. I asked if we could meet the next morning.
I was a little scared of the entire situation - for a lot of reasons, not the least of which I had never traveled outside the US (except to Canada), and Sudan wasn't exactly on my list of "Places I Have to Visit Before I Die." I also didn't have a passport or the required shots to travel to that part of the world. But this felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity, a chance to tell a story that would inspire people in a time when there is a lot of fear and uncertainty.
So, after making sure my wife would be OK with my being gone for 6 weeks in a designated "terrorist state," and a place ranked 2nd or 3rd on the "Failed States Index," I decided to go for it. I only needed about $10,000 - $15,000 to hire a director of photography and pay for the travel there and back. The rest of the money to finish the film I'd worry about when I returned.
I began calling and emailing everyone I knew who I thought would have some ability to help.
Eventually, through a contact within the Chicago Convergence, I was introduced to someone at the PR firm Weber Shandwick in NY. He was a former MTV-U employee, and is involved in various projects relating to social good.
Through him, I made a connection with both the USA for UNHCR and MTV-U. USA for UNHCR gave us $10,000 (which I received in the mail the Friday before the Sunday we flew to Africa); and MTV-U gave me a letter of intent to distribute the film (I didn't want to risk going if I wasn't 99% sure the movie would get seen).
During all my calls and emails, a friend of mine in NYC returned one of my calls. I had contacted him to see about putting the project in front of HBO Documentaries. I told him about Kuek, and he immediately said he thought he and his producing partner could get the rest of the money to finish the film. So, without signing a contract but on a "gentlemen's agreement" they decided to come on as the producers.
I was also able to get sponsorship from TapeStockOnline for some tapes and camera gear; CVS for medical supplies; Trader Joe's for food supplies; Kodak for about $2500 worth of 8mm film stock; Target for gear and school supplies for the kids in Kuek's village; and Moosejaw for gear.
I put an ad on craigslist looking for a Director of Photography, got about 6 responses from Chicago and about 60 from L.A., met with a guy in Chicago named Ian Issitt one week before we had to leave and said "can you get your shots, passport, and leave the country for 6 weeks?"
We left Chicago on April 5 with Kuek and 5 cameras, and returned on May 6 with about 100 hours of footage.
I flew to NYC to meet with the producers, showed them the footage, met with MTV-U, and then went to L.A. to edit the film (which was finished in late August, in time for a 1-week premier in NY).
We got the ~$125,000 to produce the film through the USA for UNHCR's $10,000 contribution, a small amount from myself, and rest through the producers in NYC.
The movie is called "22 Years From Home," and will be the second of 3 documentaries I've directed coming out next year (the first is "Celebration of Light" premiering on WTTW Jan 3; the third is a documentary about sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community, specifically in Baltimore). We're currently working on the TV sale for "22 Years From Home," in addition to a public Chicago premier in the spring of 2010, and other screenings coordinated with the USA for UNHCR in D.C., NY and Chicago.
As for Kuek, he works at the W Hotel and is attending UIC for his BA in International Relations. He is also raising money for projects in his village in southern Sudan, including a school which will serve over 700 children who currently have little to no access to education.
I'm sure this is a much much longer response than you were looking for, but that's the story! Thanks again for following up and enjoy the holidays.
If you'd like me to drop a copy of the DVD in the mail to you, let me know your address.
--
Malachi A Leopold
President & Executive Producer
Left Brain/Right Brain Productions, LLC
p 773.935.2434
m 773.332.6837
malachi@LBRBProductions.com
http://www.LBRBProductions.com
The Art of Business. The Business of Art.
On Dec 11, 2009, at 3:46 AM, RONALDMAY@aol.com wrote:
_________________________________________
James Ondrey updates us on the status of SeatQuest
Subject: Re: Just following up on our conversation.
Date: 12/13/2009 1:38:08 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: james@seatquest.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
CC: nomik@seatquest.com
Hi Ron. Good meeting you the other night at the Tech Cocktail event. Nomik asked that I follow up with you to provide a little more color on the recent progress of SeatQuest.
I was hired in April to run business development for SeatQuest. I had previously worked at local boutique investment bank that had worked with SeatQuest in a strategic advisory role and attempted to sell the technology outright to an appropriate buyer. That was when we had an offer from a large online travel agency (2007), but Nomik ultimately decided there was more potential in continuing development on SeatQuest and licensing our technology.
The shift in business model was a decision to license various aspects of SeatQuest's technology to partners in a revenue share type of arrangement. These licensing efforts really began in earnest here in 2009. We would be licensing both our industry-leading interactive seating charts and our aggregate secondary market ticket feed that we built. It would essentially be a way for a consumer to quickly and easily compare different websites' ticket prices/locations from one detailed venue map. Our potential customer base is really any web property that would like to sell or at least link to event tickets. These include your traditional ticket brokers, online music players (concert tickets), classified listing aggregators, online travel agencies, entertainment listing sites, etc. Our contracts vary, but typically our licensing partner will become an affiliate of the companies in our aggregate ticket feed (Stubhub, TicketsNow, RazorGator, TicketNetwork, etc). When someone buys a ticket through their site (using SeatQuest technology) our customer will capture an affiliate fee of around 7-10% of the ticket price from the vendor. We will then share in that affiliate fee w/ our partner for providing them the technology.
From a venue map perspective, there are several things that set us apart in this niche space. First, we are the only company that has seat-level granularity in all our venue maps and our venue coverage is unmatched. The trend and shift in the ticket market is for more transparency to the end consumer. In fact, there's a current bill in Congress that, if passed, would require any ticket reseller to have to disclose exact seat location on every ticket sold. Our seating chart system is on the forefront of this trend and provides a large barrier of entry for any company looking to add this type of granularity.
Secondly, our venue map technology and integration capabilities are very flexible. Our partners are able to choose custom venue map colors, size, add their logo, etc so that solution fits nicely into their website and current branding. We have API or can simply "white label" our basic ticket page.
Lastly, we do a very good job at keeping up with the dynamic nature of the live event industry. Artists always have custom floor layouts for different shows. We want to have the most accurate venue map as possible for someone buying a ticket. Most companies can't keep pace w/ changing venue maps because it becomes cumbersome and costly to do so. We've designed our underlying technology to allow us to create and edit venue maps very quickly and cost effectively. Furthermore, our mapping system is handled on a day-to-day basis by our 5 person team that is based in the Ukraine.
We are excited about the progress we've made in securing customers, although as Nomik mentioned, the sales cyle has been longer than anticipated. We've signed several promising startups in the ticket space that should begin to make some noise for themselves in 2010 and bring us revenue in our rev share deals. Furthermore, we recently signed a $100,000 one-time contract to provide venue maps to a Top 5 US ticket broker web property. We are also in negotions w/ a reputable entertainment website to white label our technology for their event listings. There are several other large companies that have expressed interest and we will continue to talk to, including a few that would be perfect fit for an acquistion of SeatQuest.
As we look to our next phase of development, we have begun to expand our business model and venue map coverage into the European market. This market is a few years behind the progress of the US and may provide a nice opportunity for SeatQuest. I recently returned from a meeting in Europe w/ a large secondary market ticket company who is interested in licensing out venue map technology from SeatQuest. We've also spent a large amount of time developing our own ticketboard where we upload inventory directly from holding ticket brokers (essentially what the other companies like Stubhub are doing). The benefit for us is that we can lump this proprietary feed into the overall aggregate feed. SeatQuest and our partners can make more money on each ticket from it because we won't have to share the markup w/ a company like Stubhub. We will in fact make our own markup on these tickets. The secondary ticket market is a high-margin industry and this business should be an important piece of the puzzle for SeatQuest in 2010. In fact, we already have a deal in place with a huge online Company to distribute this ticket feed.
I mentioned our 5 person Ukraine team already. In our Chicago office we have 3 engineers, myself (VP of Busines Development), and Nomik assumes the CEO/CTO role for SeatQuest.
As we continue to grow and bring in more revenue we will look to expand our engineering team to help service our current customer base, work on all our future projects, and improve the front-end of our technology. We are excited about the next step in the progress of SeatQuest.
I hope this helps!
Best,
James Ondrey
VP of Business Development
SeatQuest
On Sun, Dec 13, 2009 at 12:25 PM, Nomik Eden <nomik@seatquest.com>wrote:
Ron, thanks for the summary.
James, our VP of business development (which you've met), is going to add some details.
Thanks for the call, sorry you caught me too busy ;-)
From: RONALDMAY@aol.com [mailto:RONALDMAY@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, December 13, 2009 12:10 PM
To: nomik@seatquest.com
Subject: Just following up on our conversation.
December 13, 2009
Nomik,
Just to summarize some of the points from our conversation, you:
1. Changed your business model and decided to license the technology rather than sell tickets.
2. Were given an offer from a large OTA which you turned down.
3. Just this last week secured a $100K account for the next two years
4. Have three engineers, five data entry people in the Ukraine, a bus. dev. guy, yourself and a CEO?
5. Hired a local IB firm which ended up doing what for you?
6. The bus. dev. guy is James?
7. Things are moving along and the market is big, but it is going slower than you expected.
8. Also have another firm which does router configuration that you are working with.
I know that is very sketchy, but it is a start.
Ron
--
James Ondrey
VP of Business Development
SeatQuest - Know Where you Sit
Office: 312.819.0295
james@seatquest.com
__________________________________________
Geoffrey Domoracki on MidVentures
Subject: Re: Geoff, can you please give us a summary of your comments at the Google meeting?
Date: 12/14/2009 1:13:27 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: gdomoracki@gmail.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
Here you are.
When Brian and I founded midVentures, our intention was to organize a Chicago seed-stage startup incubator. It may not be obvious at first what the differences are between a Y-combinator in Boston and an early-stage venture capital fund, but the truth is that most of my techy friends in college routinely applied for y-combinator, techstars, and dreamit ventures. The reason they applied for these "incubator 2.0" programs is not necessarily for the money, but for the social dynamic of interacting with young techy entrepreneurs and risk-taking investors on a weekly basis.
Even though midVentures has tended to focus on client work for investors (building startups for investors) we have taken the first step towards organizing the community of young tech startups in Chicago. I am proactively speaking with investment groups, and Galen with MaroonGlobal has been a partner in the business development process towards creating such an incubator.
I am currently assembling the right forward-thinking entrepreneurs and investors towards financing a shared office space and perhaps even an incubator fund, so if anyone is interested in collaborating towards these goals, please contact me.
On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 3:51 AM, <ronaldmay@aol.com>wrote:
--
Geoffrey Domoracki
312-613-2735
http://www.midVentures.com
Head Guy
__________________________________________
NAVISTAR
Press Statement
DECISION ON BID PROTEST BY NAVISTAR DEFENSE AND BAE SYSTEMS REGARDING ARMY
TRUCK AWARD TO OSHKOSH
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 14, 2009) - The following is a statement by
Michael R. Golden, GAO's managing associate general counsel for procurement
law, regarding the bid protest decision resolving the family of medium
tactical vehicles protest by Navistar Defense, LLC and BAE Systems, Tactical
Vehicle Systems LP, B-401865 et al., December 14,
2009
"Our Office sustained, or upheld, the protests today. Our review of the
record led us to conclude that the Army's evaluation was flawed with regard
to the evaluation of Oshkosh's proposal under the capability evaluation
factor, and the evaluation of Navistar's past performance. We therefore
sustained Navistar's and BAE's protests.
We also denied a number of Navistar's and BAE's challenges to the award to
Oshkosh, including challenges to the evaluation of Oshkosh's price.
We recommended that the Army: reevaluate the offerors' proposals under the
capability evaluation factor, in a manner consistent with the terms of the
solicitation; conduct a new evaluation of Navistar's past performance that
adequately documents the agency's judgments; and make a new selection
decision. We also recommended that if, at the conclusion of the
reevaluation, Oshkosh is not found to offer the best value, the agency
should terminate Oshkosh's contract for the convenience of the government.
We further recommend that Navistar and BAE be reimbursed the costs of filing
and pursuing the successful grounds of their protests related to their
challenge of technical and past performance evaluation issues, including
reasonable attorney fees.
By statute, the Army has 60 days to inform our Office of its actions in
response to our recommendations.
Navistar Defense, LLC, of Warrenville, Illinois, and BAE Systems, Tactical
Vehicle Systems LP, of Sealy, Texas, protested the award of a contract to
Oshkosh Corporation, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, under request for proposals
(RFP) No. W56HZV-09-R-0083, issued by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army
Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, for production of the family of
medium tactical vehicles (FMTV). Navistar and BAE challenged the Army's
evaluation of the offerors' technical and price proposals, and contend that
the selection decision was flawed.
The Army received proposals and conducted negotiations with Oshkosh,
Navistar, and BAE. The agency selected Oshkosh's proposal for award on
August 26, 2009, and Navistar and BAE each filed a protest with our Office
on September 4 and 5, respectively, with each supplementing its protest
several times thereafter. In accordance with our Bid Protest Regulations,
we obtained a report from the agency and comments on that report from
Oshkosh, Navistar, and BAE. Our Office also conducted a hearing on November
9 and 10, at which testimony was received from a number of Army witnesses
about the record. Following the hearing, we received further comments from
the parties, addressing the hearing testimony as well as other aspects of
the record.
Our decision should not be read to reflect a view as to the merits of the
firms' respective approaches to produce the FMTV. Judgments about which
offeror will most successfully meet governmental needs are largely reserved
for the procuring agencies, subject only to such statutory and regulatory
requirements as full and open competition and fairness to potential
offerors. Our bid protest process examines whether procuring agencies have
complied with those requirements.
The decision was issued under a protective order because the decision
contains proprietary and source selection sensitive information. We have
directed counsel for the parties to promptly identify information that
cannot be publicly released so that we can expeditiously prepare and
release, as soon as possible, a public version of the decision."
Information about GAO's bid protest process can be found at
http://www.gao.gov.
For further information please contact Mr. Golden at 202-512-4788
__________________________________________
END OF REPORT |
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