tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13192746083710731222023-11-16T03:46:29.740-08:00BUZZ in the HUBStart-ups, Startup Jobs and Emerging Technology in theHUB: Boston and Cambridge area.TGraphzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08059248856720590676noreply@blogger.comBlogger317125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-86145409138471951492014-04-30T14:25:00.001-07:002014-05-01T04:18:27.065-07:00Boston Tech Talent Shifts April 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImx1tld35hGxSU2VXdii40Yu8pB9q76HNLpr2xoEe5Fko-wMIochPZ-09pxSGWhTLde1x7WikycGuwVVkgoh5MOMwfVsyqYMy-Cd2LfpbdnRzGLZeMw2pCDyNb-s7x7lJ-MHAzOJvng/s1600/people-on-the-move.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="People shifting" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImx1tld35hGxSU2VXdii40Yu8pB9q76HNLpr2xoEe5Fko-wMIochPZ-09pxSGWhTLde1x7WikycGuwVVkgoh5MOMwfVsyqYMy-Cd2LfpbdnRzGLZeMw2pCDyNb-s7x7lJ-MHAzOJvng/s1600/people-on-the-move.jpg" height="268" title="people changing jobs" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Several new roles at both startup and established companies were filled by experienced Technology Executives in the month of April.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThD9LRpjyD7m-lIWagBQtj7_Hm4YPHdqP8Hnf8JNPqOHtstdijNlwjsw1xo2CNOE5nyBO61do-4GsXAcPy-IvykEb4ms9aedn9DnIQCtPUa7zKs44hV9Y6_GHSRk-ovkLA1PKGPl_T7jt/s1600/Pete+martin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img alt="pete Martin" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThD9LRpjyD7m-lIWagBQtj7_Hm4YPHdqP8Hnf8JNPqOHtstdijNlwjsw1xo2CNOE5nyBO61do-4GsXAcPy-IvykEb4ms9aedn9DnIQCtPUa7zKs44hV9Y6_GHSRk-ovkLA1PKGPl_T7jt/s1600/Pete+martin.jpg" title="Pete martin" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=3206573&locale=en_US&trk=tyah&trkInfo=tarId%3A1398891803619%2Ctas%3Apete%20ma%2Cidx%3A1-1-1">Pete Martin</a> moved from the VP Engineering role at Skillz to take the newly created VP Engineering role at <a href="http://pixability.com/">Pixability</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=54803616&locale=en_US&trk=tyah2&trkInfo=tarId%3A1398891889789%2Ctas%3Ajeff%20palm%2Cidx%3A1-1-1">Jeff Palmucci</a>, previously of MIT and the Revisionator became <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">Director, Machine Intelligence at <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/">TripAdvisor</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dennis-doughty/0/24/17a" target="_blank">Dennis Doughty</a> left Jumptap to become VP Technology at Blade the new Boston based startup incubator founded by Paul English.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=3556867&authType=name&authToken=tFg7&trk=prof-connections-name">Gwyn Fisher</a> previously of Klocwork became </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">VP Engineering, Content and Personalization at <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/">TripAdvisor</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Craig Morrissey moved from the Director Engineering role at Sonian to take the newly created VP Engineering role at <a href="http://owncloud.com/">Owncloud</a>.</span><br />
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MakerHire Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12124134027061911416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-61302821648686788362014-04-07T17:44:00.003-07:002014-05-01T04:21:50.497-07:00You Don't Need a Technical Co-Founder to Receive Funding<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEpoXNhXMza8s3N2OXidu-Y6oIC863ux2l6hpyIF6-G9M0vLDcBU5hel1Ahx5Cy_IthAbHtLqG-k1dbZMPLgeFyv9JislVV6oZ6xbSbk2RL0Qj84Aa0OdN3rbYyUR_D2YL4mMc7TTag/s1600/founders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEpoXNhXMza8s3N2OXidu-Y6oIC863ux2l6hpyIF6-G9M0vLDcBU5hel1Ahx5Cy_IthAbHtLqG-k1dbZMPLgeFyv9JislVV6oZ6xbSbk2RL0Qj84Aa0OdN3rbYyUR_D2YL4mMc7TTag/s1600/founders.jpg" height="154" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">At least that is what we have seen recently. Is there a trend starting where companies are getting Series A investments from top tier VC's without a technical co-founder to run the product engineering?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Not sure if it is a trend, but we have run into a couple of companies recently that were able to achieve their first round of funding without the benefit of someone running the engineering team.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEpoXNhXMza8s3N2OXidu-Y6oIC863ux2l6hpyIF6-G9M0vLDcBU5hel1Ahx5Cy_IthAbHtLqG-k1dbZMPLgeFyv9JislVV6oZ6xbSbk2RL0Qj84Aa0OdN3rbYyUR_D2YL4mMc7TTag/s1600/founders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">In some ways it makes sense. The risk in web startups is not usually a technical one. It is mostly assumed that these applications can be built and the technology challenge is minimal. The risk is that the companies will ever receive traction, acquire users and generate significant revenue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Both of these startups had significant revenue traction and a scalable business model. The products were developed with outside agencies and web development firms using seed money. Only after they had closed their Series A, have they begun the search for their VP of Engineering.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">What do you think? Will we see this more often in the future or is this an anomaly?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Once the fundings have been publicly announced we will update this post with the names of the companies.</span></div>
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<br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">NextView Ventures was formed in mid 2010 by 3 entrepreneur turned VC's, David Beisel, Rob Go and Lee Hower. Prior to being a VC each had previously been marketing executives at web start ups.
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Beisel from Venrock had co-founded an email marketing company Sombassa Media which was acquired by Primedia. Go came from Spark Captital and previously worked at Ebay 2003-2005. Hower left Point Judith Capital and previously had stints at Paypal and LinkedIn, where he was on the founding team.
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NextView came at a perfect time for Boston. There was a gaping hole in the eco-system for seed stage investors. Without any large post bubble Web companies like Google or PayPal, Boston didn't have an experienced web founder "mafia" with cash to invest and expertise to contribute. The established and highly successful Boston VC's lacked the motivation and expertise to move into the web market where companies had neither IP protection nor technology advantages.
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The timing was also right because web companies don't require the massive amounts of investment at seed stage to test customer and market interest. When you add in the added benefit of better investor and entrepreneur allignment, you have a winning combination.
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The final close of the initial $21M fund was February 2012. To date the firm has made 24 investments,of which two have already been acquired. As you can see from the <span class="tzWidgetPop">67B186B0-A58A-23D4-0846-CE415A1B28F8</span>graph, their portfolio includes some of the most promising web startups in the Boston area.
It is clear that Venture firms agree with the portfolio choices as two companies have already received a Series B investment and seven have completed a series A.
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The NextView office is located in the the very cool Leather District on the edge of the "Innovation District. If you are
a web entrepreneur in Boston, this firm should be on your pitch list. Plus you get to check out the collection of craft
brew they have on display.
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Take note that the graph covers only the east coast investments with the exception of the acquired RentJuice from CA.
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Please don't hesitate to share this post and sign up at talentGraphz.
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TGraphzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08059248856720590676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-17407325408771571002011-07-11T07:53:00.000-07:002011-07-12T10:17:29.446-07:00Impressive and Aggressive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgshetvZKItY9WxfGuddjbSau4e-rr55oyhyphenhyphentTLFnuMLQFoZUebBvhxRb85PZoGNlUfceNMoeByX6PWOywYd5ivsXL7uDf8Mcg-gN3NsQhr-q3a3Z9gs9tx5lJK2p8mLXaXGdKacwWAaN/s1600/drag-slay.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgshetvZKItY9WxfGuddjbSau4e-rr55oyhyphenhyphentTLFnuMLQFoZUebBvhxRb85PZoGNlUfceNMoeByX6PWOywYd5ivsXL7uDf8Mcg-gN3NsQhr-q3a3Z9gs9tx5lJK2p8mLXaXGdKacwWAaN/s200/drag-slay.JPG" width="177" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Someone was asking lately, what were the qualities of the people getting the best jobs these days. They knew it had to be something more illustrative than <a href="http://thesethings.posterous.com/rapping-grandmas-and-ninja-rockstar-fatigue">rockstar, ninja</a>, guru .</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What came to mind was Impressive and Agressive. If someone has done something that makes an impression, they stand out because they did or can do something of distinction.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It could be any number of things. They were a member of the Olympic water polo team, or earned a PHD in philosophy before studying computer science. Maybe they sold their first web app when they were in high school or worked their way through college as a fortune teller. They could have won a regional chess tournament or organized a charity event that raised $50,000 for a good cause.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It doesn't have to be something huge but it will probably be outstanding. It might be over coming the odds, demonstrating significant<a href="http://jobhacks.talentgraphz.com/2008/05/career-traction.html"> traction</a> in their career or building a cool little app as a side project.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are any number of ways a person can be impressive and you will know it when you see it.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You will recognize impressive because you will think "not everyone could do that" and remember them. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you spend some time with them, you realize that this person is also aggressive in their approach to life. Not macho meat head jock aggressive, but more throttled and goal focused aggressive, that is all about execution and GSD.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They are intellectually curious, thoughtful, thirsty for knowledge or a challenge. They have demonstrated they can put in the hard work to acheive distinction.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next time you are tempted to use SUPERSTAR, rockstar or any of the other terms currently overused in job descriptions, stop yourself, and think about a more substantive and descriptive term that will attract the people you seek.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-22314844621658698212011-03-28T17:25:00.000-07:002014-04-07T18:21:35.857-07:00Boston Angel Series: CommonAngels<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">CommonAngels is one the oldest angel investment groups on the east coast. Established in 1998, it's members include successful current and past entrepreneurs as well as executives of tech companies</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-large;">Looking at the exits and current investment portfolio, we can count successful acquisitions and prospective IPO candidates among the list</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-large;">In the fall of 2010, CommonAngels announced a key new component to their firm’s financing strategy: the ability to invest in a greater number of startups at earlier stages, and in smaller amounts.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE8mr5V6rnyPCw6je7toWutbvp-w_A6AVwTFc5mCNrcHSK1857GQZG_YqQaM1SeRQZibem7fHjcxAMQROc1GLXAQvkcXLHi2nxUbAyNqCnWYWEjI4OvRZWxBYpnUnnx1kAuxqFiF6riObz/s1600/Chris-Sheehan-72x94.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE8mr5V6rnyPCw6je7toWutbvp-w_A6AVwTFc5mCNrcHSK1857GQZG_YqQaM1SeRQZibem7fHjcxAMQROc1GLXAQvkcXLHi2nxUbAyNqCnWYWEjI4OvRZWxBYpnUnnx1kAuxqFiF6riObz/s1600/Chris-Sheehan-72x94.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">We asked <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/c_sheehan">Chris Sheehan</a>, one of the managing directors about the new early stage investments as well as what changes he has seen in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>angel investment.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;">Q. Buzz in theHub: What can you tell us about new early stage investments, your thesis or number of investments planned.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;">A. CS: We have been very active, leading large seed rounds in Practically Green and, with Kepha Partners, Clovr Media. (Clovr just closed a $8.3M Series A round led by Bain Capital Ventures.) In addition, we have invested in a half dozen seed opportunities including Blaze Software, Offerpop (NYC), Insight Squared, Yieldbot (NYC), Ayeah Games, and another still in stealth mode. It’s roughly about an investment per month.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
Our investments fall into two general categories, although the lines between the two are admittedly blurred:<br /><b>
Large seed/small Series A rounds.</b> We catalyze these financing rounds for entrepreneurs, bringing our expertise and connections to the table.<br /><b>
Small seed investments.</b> Chris Sheehan and James Geshwiler, through their micro cap funds, make small seed investments to help entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground.<br />
<br />
The seed investments are well suited to Internet and mobile opportunities where the cost of initial product development and distribution are significantly lower than in previous years.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;">Q: Buzz in theHub: Over the past 5 years, what changes have you observed in the Boston Angel community and what are the effects of those changes.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;">A. CS:</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The availability of seed capital is higher; some of this is due to increase activity by the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>angel community, both as individuals and as groups; some of its is due to micro cap VCs and traditional VCs getting more active.<br />
<br />
Greater willingness to invest in Internet enabled businesses that carry consumer or SMB risk<br />
<br />
A greater sense of energy and visibility permeates the angel community. Programs and events such as Tech Stars, Dog Patch Labs, angel group syndication, and Angel Boot camp help contribute to this. The upcoming national ACA conference will also be make an important contribution<br />
<br />
Some diversification focus with new angel groups starting around clean tech and medical/life science investing.<br />
<br />
Although anecdotal, it seems that level of investing by NYC and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>based angels in each others cities has increased</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-large;">It is evident that CommonAngels is responding to the new market conditions and aggressively addressing the need for urgency, a larger basket of deals and evolving their investor member profile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Their recent investments and new seed capabilities make it clear that entrepreneurs should include a stop at CommonAngels on their financing tour.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<SCRIPT src='http://www.talentgraphz.com/javascriptEx/purpleskin/talentGraphz.js' type='text/javascript'></SCRIPT>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-9452007313779126442011-03-15T06:14:00.000-07:002011-03-15T07:07:59.147-07:00Boston Startups Q1 2011, When will they launch?Each quarter, we publish the latest Boston startups which will soon be publicly launching. Although these companies have yet to officially open, we want to promote them and help them find their initial customer base. Apart from helping these companies market themselves, we also want them to get initial comments and feedback from the user community.<br />
<br />
Before we introduce the newest batch of Boston startups, let’s take a look at the previous quarter list and see the progress of each company.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.smoopa.com/">http://www.smoopa.com/</a> - Smoopa has launched early this year with the vision to change the way people shop. A company based in Massachusetts and California, Smoopa allows consumers to identify and share a good deal with friends, buy products online at a lesser price, or get an in-store price match with the use of a smartphone.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.applicationville.com/">http://www.applicationville.com/</a> - Still under the wraps, Applicationville promises to offer a simple way to search, implement and use applications that meet the consumers’ needs. The company is still searching for mobile pioneers to join Applicationville and for investors who want to be part of the company.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.penmia.com/">http://www.penmia.com/</a> -Penmia has launched and is offering an accessible application that lets people record any moment in their lives including wonderful restaurant experiences, memorable first steps, grand vacations, and even exhilarating shopping sprees. The application can record anything and store data using 256-encryption.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://noderabbit.com/">http://noderabbit.com/</a> -NodeRabbit has launched with a mission to ‘make the software development team more successful through continuous deployment’ according to their website.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.foodfeedia.com/">http://www.foodfeedia.com/</a> - Foodfeedia is still under stealth mode.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://pre.nusage.com/">http://pre.nusage.com/</a> -Nusage has not launched yet. However, according to their website, they are like LinkedIn on Steroids. They are changing the way students, colleges and employers connect and interact with each other. The company, as stated in their website, is getting close to Beta.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://gospotly.com/">http://gospotly.com/</a> -They have not launched yet.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://socmetrics.com/">http://socmetrics.com/</a> -SocMetics has launched with the aim to help companies engage key influencer in their niche to build world of mouth and increase sales.<br />
<br />
So, those are the latest developments from last quarter’s list of startups. For this quarter, we have a new batch of web companies. Sign-up for the betas and show your support! We are all in this together.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://aftersteps.com/">http://aftersteps.com/<br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://ban.jo/">http://ban.jo/<br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://cloudkid.com/">http://cloudkid.com/<br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://cquotient.com/">http://cquotient.com/<br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://getabl.com/">http://getabl.com/<br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://hiremeasure.com/">http://hiremeasure.com/<br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://www.apptegic.com/">http://www.apptegic.com/<br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://www.decktout.com/">http://www.decktout.com/<br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://www.getbuz.com/">http://www.getbuz.com/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-15394480171938830202011-01-24T10:16:00.000-08:002011-02-08T19:36:37.011-08:00CloudTree<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9X4MSmjKGXy3AHirFnkB8BTZGOJdyaEcmtlmsya5q_iuOOUo0Ql9ismKpINJoSNWGLTPutuB-uzzRTrEfYMd-vQCQonrgbHHU2T9dae7SdI0bKjR58mZ1WVOlc-l7LPX9kx4M77uWvby/s1600/logocloudtree.png" /><br />
<br />
</a><br />
Company: <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=31E065E1-4B5D-3C5F-5F56-9F2A09C2463B">CloudTree</a><span class="tzWidgetPop" tztarget="self">31E065E1-4B5D-3C5F-5F56-9F2A09C2463B</span> <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Funding Status: Seed?<br />
<br />
<br />
Founders Backgrounds: Ellacoya, Arbor Networks, Akiban, Whaleback<br />
<br />
<br />
Investors: We have our ideas, but none announced<br />
<br />
<br />
Industry: Virtualization, Cloud Computing<br />
<br />
<br />
Offering Description: CloudTree enables the social, mobile, real-time Cloud. </div></div><script src="http://www.talentgraphz.com/javascriptEx/purpleskin/talentGraphz.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-80270602618148285812011-01-20T09:47:00.000-08:002011-03-15T13:04:42.134-07:00Boston Angel Series: Bantam Group<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The Angel investor community here in the Boston area is growing and the newest players like <a href="http://how2startup.com/">Roy Rodenstein</a> , <a href="http://davidcancel.com/">David Cancel </a> and <a href="http://onstartups.com/">Dharmesh Shah</a> are getting well deserved press and visibility.<br />
<br />
But there are some established and accomplished Angel investors here with perhaps a lower profile but an even more impressive track record.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bantamgroup.com/"><img border="0" height="59" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2hgG2HRR1kvkITwvsMw4OnL1YutsdPujyZQBrFUn5sRZimgLs-Yi1Ke1KwQmARHCb7s6XxoqNbKDgtfhx3eGst88ugpdofIbJOmvKde7aNEKe-NftOryW6fuPvnQhKd_4D-lKzCHZCtcD/s320/logo_bantam_group.gif" width="316" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
Joe Caruso of Bantam Group has been investing in local startups for the past 20 years. One look at the Bantam Group investments below and you will see that Joe knows how to pick winners.<br />
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<div class="tzWidgetInline" tztarget="self">C4781110-02C8-161A-2452-88D2873CAF14</div><br />
His investments have included Constant Contact( IPO), many acquisitions, a couple companies bought by Microsoft, Carbonite (IPO candidate 2011) and two of the hottest Cambridge startups, Hubspot and<br />
SCVNGR.<br />
<br />
But what is most interesting to me is the newest crop of companies like Localytics, Dexrex and Marginize that were seeded by Bantam. This is one Boston angel that is not afraid to invest in web and mobile startups.<br />
<br />
Not only is Joe an investor, he is entrepreneur friendly and provides CEO mentorship and coaching, with glowing testimonials from some of the areas best founders to attest to the value of his involvement.<br />
<br />
That value comes in all forms. The Bantam web site states, the mentorship may include;<em> "The occasional "wake up call", whack on the side of the head, or forceful listening session."</em><br />
<br />
As an example of how he operates, on our first encounter with Joe at an MTLC unconference, he was generously suggesting people we should meet (and he pretty much knows everyone), within the first 5 minutes of hearing what we were working on.<br />
<br />
At the community level Joe created Boston Region Entrepreneur Week <a href="http://www.brewboston.org/">BREW</a> to celebrate and shine a<br />
spotlight on the entrepreneurial spirit in Boston.<br />
<br />
In summary, Bantam Group may be our best example of an active and successful consumer web investor. If you are an entrepreneur in Boston and will seek seed funding at some point, you will be well served to receive it from Bantam Group.<br />
<br />
If you are interested in the portfolios of other Boston Angel groups, check out <a href="http://blog.bos.talentgraphz.com/2010/09/boston-angel-you-should-know.html">Lead Dog Ventures</a>. We just updated it with the new widget so you can link into and explore any company.<br />
<br />
PS: We just released the company graph widget as an embed button on our CompanyDetails page. Just click the button and cut and paste the script to have a live/dynamic graph of any company or investor in the talentGraphz database.<br />
<script src="http://www.talentgraphz.com/javascriptEx/purpleskin/talentGraphz.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-29857632422313380312010-12-17T12:53:00.000-08:002011-01-04T00:32:36.222-08:00InsightSquaredtalentGraphz<img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="grzrlogo" width="25" height="21" /> Record: <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=62BB6E88-037F-D72D-B896-12F8AFFB9F1F" target="_blank">InsightSquared<img class="alignright" src="http://www.insightsquared.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Order-10586-Raw-Converted-e1290952435474.png" alt="" width="289" height="83" /></a><br/><br/>Funding Status: Seed?<br/><br/>Founders Backgrounds: Hubspot, Bessemer VP<br/><br/>Investors: ?<br/><br/>Industry: B2B, SMB business analytics, Sales pipeline tool<br/><br/>Offering Description: Customizable, intuitive and actionable business/sales intelligence data.<br/><br/><a title="Bookmark this post using any social bookmarking manager of your choice!" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?&url=http://blog.bos.genotrope.com/2008/09/29/local-web-companies-to-watch/;title=Boston Web Companies to Watch"><br/><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-bm.gif" alt="" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-55268449794405456862010-12-14T11:41:00.000-08:002011-03-21T08:20:35.643-07:005 Boston Consumer Web Companies to WatchWhat city comes to your mind when you hear consumer web startups? Did you say Boston? Ok... probably not.<br />
<br />
Yes, it is true that we are much more well rounded in the variety of companies that we foster, but keep an eye on the ever increasing number of consumer ideas popping up here.<br />
<br />
The following is a list of a spectrum of consumer sites starting with a extremely successful $400 Million revenues site and ending with promising new entrants.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png"></a><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-1750 alignnone" title="logocsn" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/logocsn.jpg?w=150" alt="logocsn" width="150" height="27" /><br />
<a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png"></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1622" title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="" width="25" height="21" /></a> <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=BECCEE08-9D91-5935-B669-5BB751BAF6FB" target="_blank">CSN Stores</a> With revenues topping $200 million, CSN Stores is a top 3 online retailer of home and office goods and until recently, one of the unheralded successes in Boston web businesses. Now that they are a force in the industry they have decided to seek the recognition they deserve.<br />
<br />
<img class="size-full wp-image-1751 alignnone" title="logopunchbowl" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/logopunchbowl.jpg" alt="logopunchbowl" width="234" height="67" /><br />
<br />
<a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png"><img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="" width="25" height="21" /></a> <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=1CDBDA2A-6CB8-1C37-B74D-41143204532D" target="_blank">Punchbowl</a> Battling huge entrenched competition, Punchbowl has steadily grown into a one stop solution for party planning. By offering a service that goes well beyond sending invitations, Punchbowl has differentiated themselves by helping users through all stages of planning and hosting a party.<br />
<br />
<img class="size-full wp-image-1731 alignnone" title="logogrommet" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/logogrommet.jpg" alt="logogrommet" width="182" height="77" /><br />
<br />
<a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png"><img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="" width="25" height="21" /></a> <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=12699FB2-1C34-62F0-3691-2C7E7DFB0885" target="_blank">Daily Grommet</a> is a gem of a web site. Featuring one unique product a day and making great use of video, they have created an engaging and informative shopping experience. Take a look and you will surely find something you can't live without.<br />
<br />
<img class="size-full wp-image-1734 alignnone" title="logoturningart" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/logoturningart.png" alt="logoturningart" width="136" height="39" /><br />
<br />
<a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png"><img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="" width="25" height="21" /></a> <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=F4CDF28C-8C1D-881E-552F-40F2CC1E3508" target="_blank">TurningArt</a> , described as a Netflix for art was launched this summer. A monthly fee allows users to put up a new piece of art every few months and of course purchase a print or even the original when you decide you want to own it. The art selection is high quality and varied enough to fit most any taste. It also seems like a good venue for artists to gain exposure and hopefully make some additional sales.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png"></a><img class="size-full wp-image-1733 alignnone" title="logosvpply" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/logosvpply.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="34" /><br />
<br />
<a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1622" title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="" width="25" height="21" /></a> <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=4A868554-F836-BE82-DED1-1562EF65CC99" target="_blank">Svpply</a> is a social shopping site following in the footsteps of StyleFeeder before it. Decidedly more design hipster oriented, you probably won't find any recliners or Deluxe Marge from the Simpsons costumes. What you will find is a pleasing minimalist aesthetic and products recommended by users with an eye for design.<br />
<br />
As you can see, there are some interesting things going on in the consumer space here. These examples are just a few of the web companies starting up in the Boston area. If you have any favorites you feel deserve recognition, please add them in the comments.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-46964427881755714062010-12-02T10:56:00.000-08:002011-05-01T05:32:10.345-07:00Scalebase<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlhe_wPOEm-EDJbz5EayO-KpL11OewmyisOf7AYEmnrHHfP3A7qW_f3RsKEqzRnustvqpkaCDH1bUK6HSuASRZLx7lCc0uov7p97A9L6yHZTDVSY2xXsT0gfywi8PXwq_-iHpiG3A5zeIV/s1600/scalebaselogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlhe_wPOEm-EDJbz5EayO-KpL11OewmyisOf7AYEmnrHHfP3A7qW_f3RsKEqzRnustvqpkaCDH1bUK6HSuASRZLx7lCc0uov7p97A9L6yHZTDVSY2xXsT0gfywi8PXwq_-iHpiG3A5zeIV/s1600/scalebaselogo.png" /></a></div>talentGraphz<img alt="grzrlogo" height="21" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/grzrlogo.png" title="grzrlogo" width="25" /> Record: <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=84846063-C101-0516-BA4D-2FA94F5CFE3A" target="_blank">Scalebase</a> (hiring)<br />
<br />
Funding Status: Series A<br />
<br />
Founders Backgrounds: Aluna, IDF, Orbotech<br />
<br />
Investors: Cedar Fund<br />
<br />
Industry: Database, Cloud Software<br />
<br />
Offering Description: ScaleBase is a new cloud‑based service that provides high availability and scalability for your SQL databases. It is an extremely sophisticated load balancer that provides your databases with as much cloud elasticity as you need by enabling significantly more concurrent user connections and SQL commands for any type of SQL database applications!<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-65777323052980818562010-11-10T11:57:00.000-08:002011-01-04T00:32:36.178-08:00SavewavetalentGraphz<img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="grzrlogo" width="25" height="21" /> Record: <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=BDC06383-15F7-1AB7-B6AC-8D16645443AD" target="_blank">Savewave</a> <img class="alignright" title="logo savewave" src="http://savewave.com/logo.jpg" alt="logo savewave" width="250" height="70" /><br/><br/>Funding Status: Series A<br/><br/>Founders Backgrounds: Upromise, Jingle Networks<br/><br/>Investors: Flybridge, First Round Capital, Founder Collective<br/><br/>Industry: B2B, digital promotion, distribution, and rewards fulfillment company<br/><br/>Offering Description: SaveWave is building a platform to enable consumer packaged goods brands and retailers to promote their products and services to all consumers through fully digital promotion, distribution, and rewards fulfillment. In addition to providing Upromise Grocery, a program through which over 12 million members can earn college savings rewards by purchasing participating products in over 27,500 supermarkets and drug stores nationwide, SaveWave is expanding its distribution reach through customized offer syndication with retailers, affinity rewards programs, and media channels.<br/><br/><a title="Bookmark this post using any social bookmarking manager of your choice!" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?&url=http://blog.bos.genotrope.com/2008/09/29/local-web-companies-to-watch/;title=Boston Web Companies to Watch"><br/><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-bm.gif" alt="" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-60058137799237396022010-10-29T12:19:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:36.139-08:00Boston Web Startups Q4 2010, Launching Soon?Every quarter we publish a list of the newest web startups in the area that are working towards launching publicly.<br/><br/>Masschallenge surfaced a great many new companies over the summer and I think had an impact on the amount of new companies making themselves known publicly early on.<br/><br/>So, this list is shorter than usual. As always, sign up for the betas and help these new companies with valuable user feedback so they can hone their value proposition and build something people want.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.smoopa.com/" target="_blank">http://www.smoopa.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://www.applicationville.com/" target="_blank">http://www.applicationville.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://www.penmia.com/" target="_blank">http://www.penmia.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://noderabbit.com/about/"></a><a href="http://noderabbit.com/" target="_blank">http://noderabbit.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://www.foodfeedia.com/" target="_blank">http://www.foodfeedia.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://pre.nusage.com/" target="_blank">http://pre.nusage.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://gospotly.com/" target="_blank">http://gospotly.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://socmetrics.com/" target="_blank">http://socmetrics.com/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-87399490322812461662010-10-18T20:17:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:36.126-08:00Fashionstake<a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/logofashionstake.jpg"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1670" title="logofashionstake" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/logofashionstake.jpg?w=150" alt="logo fashionstake" width="150" height="46" /></a><br/><br/>talentGraphz<img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="grzrlogo" width="25" height="21" /> Record: <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=67CB6B8D-852A-153A-B123-55A2A31A74CD" target="_blank">Fashionstake</a><br/><br/>Funding Status: Seed Round<br/><br/>Founders Backgrounds: Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey and Company<br/><br/>Investors: Battery Ventures<br/><br/>Industry: Consumer Web, Fashion, eCommerce<br/><br/>Offering Description:<br/><br/>Be part of a new fashion democracy.<br/><br/>Unlock an exciting new way to experience fashion with FashionStake, a revolutionary online marketplace for contemporary and luxury ready-to-wear fashion.<br/><br/><strong><a title="Bookmark this post using any social bookmarking manager of your choice!" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?&url=http://blog.bos.genotrope.com/2008/09/29/local-web-companies-to-watch/;title=Boston Web Companies to Watch"><br/><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-bm.gif" alt="" /></a></strong>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-53890229672944354582010-10-16T12:01:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:36.108-08:00The Keys to Brand Transformation: Learn From Local Success Stories<img class="alignnone" title="mitx" src="http://www.mitx.org/images/banner_nav_secondary.gif" alt="mitx banner" width="777" height="122" /><br/><br/>MITX is hosting an event next week at the Arnold Offices. It’s called: <em>The Keys to Brand Transformation: Learn From Local Success Stories</em>, and it’s from 8am – 10am on Wednesday, October 20. See here (<a href="http://www.mitx.org/events/2382.cfm" target="_blank">http://www.mitx.org/events/2382.cfm</a>) for full details.<br/><br/>Featured Speakers:<br/><ul type="square"><br/> <li><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/minelliinc" target="blank_">Mark Minelli</a> - President, <a href="http://www.minelli.com/about/mark-minelli.cfm" target="blank_">Minelli, Inc.</a> (winner of a 2010 Rebrand Award for the YMCA of Greater Boston)</li><br/> <li><a href="http://twitter.com/samhammar" target="blank_">Sam Hammar</a> - Communications Strategist, City of Boston's Innovation District</li><br/> <li><a href="http://www.gemvara.com/Management-Team/pages/v/about/management/" target="blank_">Dan Marques</a> - Director of Online Marketing and Analytics, Gemvara</li><br/></ul><br/>It looks like an event that will provide a lot of valuable information to both new and established companies.<br/><br/><strong>MITX was kind enough to let us give away 4 tickets (2 remaining) . If you would like to attend, please email tickets"at"talentgraphz.com with "Brand Transformation" in the subject line.</strong><br/><br/>The first 4 emails will receive the tickets. You must register before Deadline:October 19, 2010 at 12:00 PM.<br/><br/>This is a $70 value if you are not a member of MITX.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-43158770007280666872010-09-23T17:29:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:36.068-08:00Great Upcoming Events for Boston Entrepreneurs<p style="text-align:justify;">Between October 4th to October 21st, Boston will enjoy an even higher concentration of Entrepreneurial focused events. Thanks to two Weeklong Event Experiences being put together by local organizations.</p><br/><a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/logofuturem.gif"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1645" title="logofuturem" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/logofuturem.gif?w=107" alt="" width="107" height="150" /></a><br/><br/>Future M is the first ever multi location experience dedicated to what is new in marketing. October 4-8, 2010, dozens of events and activities will showcase the leading ideas, thinkers and companies on the future of Marketing. Panels, summits, roundtables, user groups, virtual events, demos, parties organized throughout greater Boston - all focused on what’s new and what’s next in Marketing.<br/><br/><a href="http://futurem.org/Calendar.aspx">http://futurem.org/Calendar.aspx</a><br/><br/><img class="alignnone" src="http://brewboston.org/wp-content/themes/brewboston/images/logo.png" alt="" width="160" height="100" />Boston Region Entrepreneurship Week or Brew Boston, is shining a spotlight on the entrepreneurial spirit in and around Boston. Brew is happening October 13th - 21st.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.brewboston.org/">http://www.brewboston.org/</a><br/><h2>Although all events look to be valuable, three in particular stand out as must attend. One is already sold out so if you are interested, don't hesitate to register.</h2><br/><h4><a href="http://faststartup-customer-development.eventbrite.com/" target="_self">Customer Development: The Second Decade -- with Steve Blank's co-author Bob Dorf</a></h4><br/>Tuesday, October 05, 2010 from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM (ET)<br/><br/>Speakers: Bob Dorf, Author, "Customer Development: The Second Decade;" Simeon Simeonov, CEO, FastIgnite<br/><br/>This event is for:<br/>* Entrepreneurs and CEOs who want to build capital-efficient businesses<br/>* Geeks who want to be founders<br/>* Marketers who want to find the right customers cheaply<br/>* Angel investors and VCs who want to generate great returns<br/><br/><strong>"Scalable Intimacy: The Next Step in Social Marketing", coming up on October 7th at FutureM! (SOLD OUT)</strong><br/><br/>Speaker: Mike Troiano - founding CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Interactive and current President, Holland-Mark Digital.<br/><br/>If you've gotten your brand up on Facebook and Twitter, and are starting to wonder why you bothered, this session is for you.<br/><h4><a href="http://startupmarketingbootcamp.eventbrite.com/" target="_self">Startup Marketing Bootcamp: Workshop + Lessons Learned</a> Friday, October 08, 2010 from 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM (ET)</h4><br/>Flybridge Capital Partners and Highland Capital Partners have teamed to help consumer facing and online B2B start-up companies navigate the new world of marketing. This intense start-up marketing boot camp will bring together leaders from across the marketing world to provide attendees with insights, roadmaps and real-world case studies for incorporating new marketing technologies and approaches into their business<br/><br/>It's shaping up to be a great October, so see you out there.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-48151702485077395602010-09-09T23:06:00.000-07:002011-03-15T13:06:34.289-07:00Boston Angel Series: Lead Dog Ventures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Yes, we have already heard about the dearth of Consumer Web Angel Investors here in Boston. So you might be interested to find out about a local Angel that has a pretty impressive track record in both quantity and quality of deals.<br />
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The fund, Lead Dog Ventures is run by <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/leaddogvc" target="_blank">John Landry</a> and has been active locally since 1994. He has been a fixture around Boston since the inception of the enterprise software industry as CTO of companies like <a href="http://blog.bos.talentgraphz.com/2008/06/boston-tech-legacy-cullinet-first.html">Cullinet</a> , McCormack and Dodge and Lotus.<br />
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Here is a photo I pinched from his blog (hope he doesn't mind) to show you that the guy has gravitas.<br />
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<img alt="jobs and Landry photo" class="aligncenter" height="310" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/jobsandlandry1985.jpg?w=300" width="400" /><br />
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As you can see the portfolio is not completely Consumer Web, but the recent fundings of oneforty, Daily Grommet, Ayeah Games and Blueleaf demonstrate the trend towards web oriented businesses.<br />
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Take a look at John's <a href="http://vimeo.com/12616754" target="_blank">talk at the Angel Boot Camp</a> to get a good feel for how he invests.<br />
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So it is not all gloom for Web companies seeking angel funding here in Boston. Some of the traditional enterprise oriented angels will be able to make the transition as John did, and we need more coming from operational experience in web companies to make up the slack for those that don't, but there are good angels out there when you're looking.<br />
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</script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-25405014906922616232010-09-09T10:45:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:36.034-08:00CardStar<div><br/><br/>talentGraphz<img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="grzrlogo" width="25" height="21" /> Record: <a href="http://www.talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=D8797505-C891-3288-CFD7-8C4A941B32AC" target="_blank">CardStar</a> <a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/logocardstar.gif"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1610" title="logocardstar" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/logocardstar.gif?w=150" alt="Card star logo" width="150" height="44" /></a><br/><br/>Funding Status: Series A<br/><br/>Founders Backgrounds: Lumifi, Trust Digital<br/><br/>Investors: Verizon, Launch Capital<br/><br/>Industry: Mobile Application<br/><br/>Offering Description: Developing mobile applications that perpetuate the use of loyalty cards and mobile coupons. The CardStar application consolidates membership and rewards cards on smartphones — letting consumers access scannable cards from within a single app and enabling merchants to tailor mobile deals and information to their customers.<br/><br/><a title="Bookmark this post using any social bookmarking manager of your choice!" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?&url=http://blog.bos.genotrope.com/2008/09/29/local-web-companies-to-watch/;title=Boston Web Companies to Watch"><br/><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-bm.gif" alt="" /></a><br/><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-46937797962078033602010-08-31T14:18:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:36.021-08:00Moontoast<div><br/><div><br/><br/><a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/logomoontoast1.png"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1603" title="logomoontoast" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/logomoontoast1.png?w=150" alt="moontoast logo" width="150" height="42" /></a>talentGraphz<img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="grzrlogo" width="25" height="21" /> Record: <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=5F748B60-ADB8-3D05-91E6-915A4C0A629C" target="_blank">Moontoast</a><br/><br/>Funding Status: Series A?<br/><br/>Exec Team's Background: my.emma.com, Myperfectgig, Schematic, North American Membership Group<br/><br/>Investors: TBD<br/><br/>Industry: Consumer Web, eCommerce<br/><br/>Offering Description: Branded Community Part social. Part commerce. All Yours. - Embedded Store Sell Your Products on Your Website and Everyone Else's. - Private Sales Club Make Your E-Commerce as Prestigious as Your Brand<br/><br/><a title="Bookmark this post using any social bookmarking manager of your choice!" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?&url=http://blog.bos.genotrope.com/2008/09/29/local-web-companies-to-watch/;title=Boston Web Companies to Watch"><br/><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-bm.gif" alt="" /></a><br/><br/></div><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-80235041692937478192010-08-23T21:35:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:36.003-08:00Bloson<div><br/><br/>talentGraphz<img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="grzrlogo" width="25" height="21" /> Record: <a href="http://www.talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=101AA623-948E-8BB4-A6C2-5F07F10C7BAF" target="_blank">Bloson</a><a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/logobloson.png"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1592" title="logobloson" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/logobloson.png?w=150" alt="logo bloson" width="150" height="35" /></a><br/><br/>Funding Status: Seed<br/><br/>Founders Backgrounds: Sedo.com, Raytheon<br/><br/>Investors: ?<br/><br/>Industry: Consumer Web, Social Cause<br/><br/>Offering Description: Bloson gives you the social content you want, and the social action the world needs.<br/><br/><a title="Bookmark this post using any social bookmarking manager of your choice!" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?&url=http://blog.bos.genotrope.com/2008/09/29/local-web-companies-to-watch/;title=Boston Web Companies to Watch"><br/><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-bm.gif" alt="" /></a><br/><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-20611806163664035622010-08-17T13:33:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:35.984-08:00Mowbi<div><br/><br/>talentGraphz<img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="grzrlogo" width="25" height="21" /> Record: <a href="http://www.talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=B3173187-584D-9B06-DC52-EFD00460CAF2" target="_blank">Mowbi</a> <a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/logomowbi.gif"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1584" title="logomowbi" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/logomowbi.gif?w=150" alt="mowbi logo" width="150" height="46" /></a><br/><br/>Funding Status: Bootstrapped, Seed<br/><br/>Founders Backgrounds: T-ShirtKing.com, Shipyard Brewing Company<br/><br/>Investors: Seeking investment<br/><br/>Industry: Mobile Application<br/><br/>Offering Description:<br/><br/>Mowbi is a mobile commerce platform for everybody.<br/><br/>Mowbi includes a mobile store, mobile billing and invoicing system, a mobile credit card terminal and text marketing tools. Because of Mowbi's modular design, it is being integrated with enterprise applications while at the same time it is the perfect tool for your next garage sale. Just put your garage sale items in to a mobile store and publish the link in your classified ad. People can see, and buy, your items before they arrive plus you can accept credit cards, PayPal and Google Checkout at your garage sale.<br/><br/>Adding the ability for remote sales teams to buy and sell from their phones has a lot of potential to increase income and cut expenses for many businesses. Mowbi is modular so it can be integrated in to enterprise systems affordably.<br/><br/><a title="Bookmark this post using any social bookmarking manager of your choice!" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?&url=http://blog.bos.genotrope.com/2008/09/29/local-web-companies-to-watch/;title=Boston Web Companies to Watch"><br/><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-bm.gif" alt="" /></a><br/><br/></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-52278035233702615292010-08-16T10:44:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:35.904-08:00Paul Graham is a Brilliant Recruiter<span style="font-weight:normal;">I am sure the epithet <em>recruiter</em> is not something PG will lay claim to, but the facts speak for themselves. Their recruiting program may have developed organically but the new application that lets would be aspirants apply to all of the YC companies at once, makes it clear that recruiting hackers is one of the factors that drives the YC startup creation engine.</span><br/><h3><strong>For an example of a world class technical recruiting program, look no further than Y Combinator.</strong></h3><br/>Sequoia Capital calls Y Combinator "The startup scouting system". It could just as easily be called "the hacker scouting system".<br/><br/>Yes, I have written about this topic before. In <a href="http://blog.bos.talentgraphz.com/2007/04/17/paul-graham-is-recruiting-the-children/" target="_self">Paul Graham is Seilling the Children</a> I described (a bit tongue in cheek) how PG cannot go wrong in making money from the YCombinator investments.<br/><br/>The premise was simple. Pay about $ 6,000 for an engineer that will be worth between $ 500k to $ 1 M+ at acquisition. The product doesn't matter that much. Maybe they make something that generates revenue, but even if they don't, a talent acquisition can still make a good return. (Parakey, <a title="Facebook buys photo service Divvyshot" href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20001693-36.html?part=rss&amp;subj=news&amp;tag=2547-1_3-0-20" target="_self">Divvyshot</a>, <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/17/google-remail-iphone/" target="_self">reMail</a>)<br/><br/>Take a look at this <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/30/paul-grahams-checklist-would-you-make-the-cut-video/" target="_self">recent interview</a> where he states "the founder is a lot more important than the idea" about 42 seconds in ( a bit out of context, sure, but the point is, YC has more of a recruiting bias than a business idea bias).<br/><br/><strong>A highly successful recruitment program consists of the following components;</strong><br/><br/><strong>Sell your Dream:</strong> Why work for the Man when you can start a company, make something people want and possibly get rich.<br/><br/><strong>Build and Nurture a Talent Pool</strong>: The YC alumni network alone is probably approaching 1,000 hackers. Add that to the participants on HackerNews, the potentially thousands of companies that apply every year, and it is clear that YCombinator has amassed the largest affinity network of hackers, startup founders and would be start up teams in the world. They also host their version of a <a href="http://www.coworkingcongress.com/2010/06/17/y-combinator-hosts-a-job-fair-for-startups-tomorrow/" target="_self">Job Fair</a> where the portfolio companies present to groups of vetted candidates.<br/><br/>The latest creation of <a href="http://ycommonapp.com/">http://ycommonapp.com/</a> further increases the reach of the Y Combinator recruiting effort and helps them build an even larger talent pool with the promise of introducing you to 30 startups for 10 minutes of effort .<br/><br/><strong>Source candidates from the Professional Graph: </strong>YC companies have been known to acquire each other, presumably these are <em>hackquisition</em>s, (acquiring company for the hackers) "hey I think I coined a phrase". They regularly hire from other YC companies. They also promote YC through the growing professional network of portfolio companies, their employees, mentors/advisors and investors.<br/><br/><strong>Utilize Social Media:</strong> <a href="http://paulgraham.com/articles.html" target="_self">http://paulgraham.com/articles.html</a> and <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/">http://news.ycombinator.com/</a> PG's series of essays is widely read and each new entry is propigated around the web. NewsYC is a highly engaged community of startup enthusiasts, hackers and has probably the best discussions of all things technical on the web.<br/><br/><strong>Generate Media Buzz:</strong> YC companies probably get a dis proportionate quantity of ink on TechCrunch.<br/><br/>Other media: <a href="http://mixergy.com/y-combinator-paul-graham/" target="_self">Mixergy</a> | <a href="http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090601/the-start-up-guru-y-combinators-paul-graham.html" target="_self"><em>Inc</em></a> | <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/04/28/ignore-y-combinator-at-your-own-risk.aspx" target="_self">Motley Fool</a> | <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1890387-1,00.html" target="_self"><em>Time</em></a> | <a href="http://images.businessweek.com/ss/10/02/0225_angel_investors/12.htm" target="_self"><em>BW</em></a> | <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/business/businessspecial2/21startup.html?ex=1298178000&en=2eb47888e4a8fba8&ei=5088" target="_self"><em>NYT</em></a> | <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/34734" target="_self"><em>Newsweek</em></a> | <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2007-07-17-ycombinator_N.htm" target="_self"><em>USA Today</em></a><br/><br/><strong>Stay on Message</strong>: <strong><em>Hackers good:Suits Bad</em></strong>. Read any of these articles and you will see the recurring theme.... <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/future.html" target="_self">http://www.paulgraham.com/future.html</a> or <a href="http://paulgraham.com/yahoo.html" target="_self">http://paulgraham.com/yahoo.html</a> or <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/boss.html" target="_self">http://www.paulgraham.com/boss.html</a><br/><br/><strong>Conclusion:</strong><br/><br/>With a pool worth over a $ Billion dollars (acquiring value) of engineering talent to draw upon, it is clear that the YC recruiting effort is paying off. This fact, I'm sure is not lost on Sequoia Capital and well worth a $ 10 million investment, to tap into.<br/><br/><strong>What does this have to do with Your Company?</strong><br/><br/>First of all, realize that recruiting is a form of direct marketing. Then notice that the marketing YC is doing is permission based.<br/><br/>Your company should; know the audience that will be <strong>receptive</strong> to the message and focus on that group. Craft a story that will be <strong>attractive</strong> and draw candidates into the talent pool. Then <strong>promote</strong> the opportunities on multiple fronts using traditional media, social media and professional networking.<br/><br/>One can only hope to be as effective as Y Combinator at recruiting. What you can do is take these concepts and adapt them to your program to attract and build your talent pool.<br/><br/>What do you think your company can take from the YC recruiting playbook to improve your results?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-18461926449087754302010-08-11T21:59:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:35.829-08:00When Will These Web Sites Launch Q3 2010Every quarter we compile a list of new web properties that are in private beta or "coming soon" stage. We hope to give them a bit of exposure and help with early customer sign up.<a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/watershoes.jpg"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-815" title="watershoes" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/watershoes.jpg?w=118" alt="" width="118" height="150" /></a><br/><br/>The other goal is to encourage them to come out to the public and start to get feedback from the user community. We are rooting for you, so launch that leaky boat or take your first steps on the water.<br/><br/>We think <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reid_Hoffman">Reid Hoffman</a> (founder of LinkedIn) was giving good advice when he said this.<br/><br/><em>‘If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.’</em><br/><br/>First let's recap the list from <a href="http://blog.bos.talentgraphz.com/2010/04/28/when-will-they-launch-q2-2010/" target="_self">last quarter</a> to see what progress has been made.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.fashionstake.com/" target="_self">http://www.fashionstake.com/</a> Still private beta.<br/><br/><a href="http://localot.com/">http://localot.com/</a> Still splash page.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.universalmetaphor.com/">http://www.universalmetaphor.com</a> Still splash page that says "Stop by again later this year."<br/><br/><a href="http://www.jumpseewow.com/">http://www.jumpseewow.com/</a> <strong> </strong>currently under construction<br/><br/><a href="http://www.blogcastr.com/">http://www.blogcastr.com/</a> looked like it was live, but when we tried to sign up, it says "oops, requires an invite token"<br/><br/><a href="http://tutorialtab.com/">http://tutorialtab.com/</a> not public yet. Says "apply for Alpha"<br/><br/><a href="http://mogoterra.com/">http://mogoterra.com/</a> has launched and recently transitioned to a paid service. If you are building a web app you need to know how well it supports cross browser functionality. Give Mogotest a try.<br/><a href="http://siteanalytics.compete.com/mogotest.com/?metric=uv"><img src="http://grapher.compete.com/mogotest.com_uv_310.png" alt="" /></a><br/><br/><a href="http://siteanalytics.compete.com/mogotest.com/?metric=uv"></a><br/><a href="https://alpha.wattzy.com/">https://alpha.wattzy.com/</a> has launched and is free to sign up. Give Wattzy a try if you want to save on energy bills.<br/><a href="http://siteanalytics.compete.com/wattzy.com/?metric=uv"><img src="http://grapher.compete.com/wattzy.com_uv_310.png" alt="" /></a><br/><br/><a href="http://siteanalytics.compete.com/wattzy.com/?metric=uv"></a><br/><a href="http://www.waysavvy.com/">http://www.waysavvy.com/</a> Looked like it was live, but clicking on Sign Me Up, asks you a few anonymous questions and then gives you this message. "Enter your email to get notified when we launch"<br/><br/><a href="http://www.fanzanimal.com/">http://www.fanzanimal.com/</a> not launched. We set up a mailing list for people who want to be a “Friend of FanZanimal, Inc.”<br/><br/>Score: Only two out of the ten have launched. Wattzy and Mogotest. Congratulations to both and go visit and spend some time or money with both.<br/><br/><strong>When Will These Web Sites Launch Q3 2010</strong><br/><br/>Now let's take a look at the list for next quarter. Pay them a visit and sign up for their beta tests if you're interested. These new creations need your support and input to find their way and make something you want to use.<br/><br/><a href="http://reper.com/get_access.php">http://reper.com/get_access.php</a><br/><br/><a href="http://swarmplistic.com/">http://swarmplistic.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://www.aislebuyer.com/">http://www.aislebuyer.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://www.wingu.com/">http://www.wingu.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://www.giftily.com/">http://www.giftily.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://www.skinnytrip.com/">http://www.skinnytrip.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://g2gconnect.com/">http://g2gconnect.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://sparksense.com/splash" target="_self">http://sparksense.com/splash/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://www.bucketboo.com/">http://www.bucketboo.com/</a><br/><br/><a href="http://savinz.com/">http://savinz.com/</a><br/><br/><strong><br/></strong>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-15020790221750654732010-08-11T00:20:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:35.812-08:00TurningArttalentGraphz<img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="grzrlogo" width="25" height="21" /> Record: <a href="http://talentgraphz.com/CompanyDetails.html?guid=F4CDF28C-8C1D-881E-552F-40F2CC1E3508" target="_blank">TurningArt</a> <a href="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/logoturningart.png"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-1502" title="logoturningart" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/logoturningart.png" alt="turningart logo" width="136" height="39" /></a><br/><br/>Funding Status: Seed<br/><br/>Founders Backgrounds: Bankfox<br/><br/>Investors: ?<br/><br/>Industry: Consumer Web<br/><br/>Offering Description: It's like Netflix for Art Prints. Browse the work of our hand-selected artists and build a queue of artwork that you'd like to explore.<br/><br/><a title="Bookmark this post using any social bookmarking manager of your choice!" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?&url=http://blog.bos.genotrope.com/2008/09/29/local-web-companies-to-watch/;title=Boston Web Companies to Watch"><br/><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-bm.gif" alt="" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319274608371073122.post-91908577993796048112010-07-06T14:50:00.000-07:002011-01-04T00:32:35.796-08:00AbinetalentGraphz <img title="grzrlogo" src="http://buzzboston.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/grzrlogo.png" alt="grzrlogo" width="25" height="21" /> Record: <a href="http://www.genotrope.com/genotrope/company.do?guid=7EB076AD-8286-1D54-B517-13E74C026802" target="_blank">Abine</a> <img class="alignright" title="Abine logo" src="http://abine.com/images/logo2.png" alt="Abine logo" width="180" height="58" /><br/><br/>Funding Status: Seed<br/><br/>Founders Backgrounds: Datapower, LRN, Security Metrics<br/><br/>Investors: Self Funded?<br/><br/>Industry: Consumer Web Security<br/><br/>Offering Description: provides Internet privacy solutions for consumers. Abine's products and services allow regular people to regain control over their personal information while continuing to browse, interact and shop online.<br/><br/><a title="Bookmark this post using any social bookmarking manager of your choice!" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?&url=http://blog.bos.genotrope.com/2008/09/29/local-web-companies-to-watch/;title=Boston Web Companies to Watch"><br/><img src="http://s9.addthis.com/button1-bm.gif" alt="" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0