Read Write Web recently posted a great article called “Going Alone: Thoughts on the Single-Person Startup”. It talked how founding a business alone can be more risky and difficult then founding one with a co-founder.
Even with what looks like hard road to travel alone not having a co-founder is not an excuse. The article stresses that point and the fact that there are other factors that dictate a startups success and failure.
Check out that the article and let us know what you think.
Are you or someone you know a single person businesses in Pittsburgh? Let you know, we would love to hear you story.
[Photo by lensbug.chandru]
The Pittsburgh Business Times reported that ModCloth, a Strip District based online indie clothing company, raised $19.8 million in the largest VC round of 2010. They plan to continue to seek funding until they raise over $30 million in funding.
I am really happy for these guys and there a shining example of what can come out of the Pittsburgh startup community. What started out in a dorm room is now a large company with offices three cities. I can no longer call ModCloth a startup but I am still going to follow these guys closely.
Very quickly they moved from startup, to small business, to an internationally known brand. I think my only concern is that as they gotten bigger, their quality has dropped. Still I don’t think that is enough to stop them from growing even larger. All the girls I know that complain about the quality, still buy over $100 worth of merchandise from them monthly (no joke).
Local startup Skill-Life has just been acquired by BancVue. I first saw this story on the blog TechBurger. The full press release is posted below for your enjoyment.
Skill-Life has developed just the sort of Web-based applications that can teach children the fundamentals of managing their money
- Austin, TX—February 9, 2010—BancVue (www.BancVue.com), a consumer research-driven product development and marketing company for community banks and credit unions around the country, today announced it has acquired Skill-Life, Inc., a provider of interactive, game-based resources focused on developing financial literacy.
Skill-Life’s youth-oriented platform adds to BancVue’s innovative lineup of solutions designed to help community financial institutions win the war against megabanks.
“An important mission of any community financial institution is providing financial education for its customers,” said Gabe Krajicek, Chief Executive Officer of BancVue, “and Skill-Life has developed just the sort of Web-based applications that can teach children the fundamentals of managing their money. The combination is a compelling value proposition for our community bank and credit union partners and their account holders.”
MoneyIsland™, Skill-Life’s flagship product (formerly called CentsCity), is essentially an online world where ‘tweens’—children in the so-called middle years between 8 and 12—learn financial skills and earn rewards from their financial institution. Parents are able to follow their childrens’ progress through a dynamic administrative interface. The firm expects to develop additional products applying Skill-Life’s platform, which incorporates casual games, interactive videos and quizzes, administrative tools for adults, and a customizable rewards system.
“With 81% of ‘tweens’ playing online games, and 87% of adults interested in teaching their children financial responsibility, we’re at the nexus of an emerging opportunity,” said Felix Brandon Lloyd, President of Skill-Life. “Through the extensive network of branches of BancVue’s clients, hundreds of thousands, eventually millions, of children around the country will gain access to much-needed financial education.”
The Skill-Life transaction is BancVue’s first corporate acquisition. The Texas-based firm has recently announced a number of strategic partnerships, including Allied Solutions and Myers & Associates. BancVue and its marketing partner FIRST ROI provide REALChecking®, a system of innovative products, superior marketing, and data-driven consulting, INMO™, the online account opening system with the highest funding rate, and FIRSTBranch®, a dynamic online marketing system designed exclusively for community financial institutions.
“In Skill-Life, we’re recognizing that industry leaders like Mr. Lloyd and his company can benefit from our network of clients,” says Krajicek. “At the same time, we gain from their creativity and enhance our own ability to serve BancVue’s partners.”
BancVue was recognized last year as the second fastest growing financial services firm in Inc. Magazine’s 28th Annual List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies—the Inc. 500. In addition to the Deluxe partnership, the Austin-based firm expects to maintain its growth trajectory in 2010 with the nationwide launch of Kasasa™, a national brand of superior products designed to unite community financial institutions with the marketing scale they need to compete and win.
[via TechBurger]
Fooala tries to bridge the gap between online food ordering and local restaurants. When I first heard their idea at last year’s AlphaLab demo day, I was like “Wow that’s a great idea”! A lot of small restaurants do not have the time or the money to launch a platform to take orders online. Even if they did, trying to promote the fact that they could take orders that way would also be costly and time consuming.
Fooala provides an open online ordering system to restaurants as a Software as a Service. This means there is no hardware or software the restaurant needs to install. Fooala ties in to what the restaurant already does to take orders by phone and fax. They take it another step to help the restaurant integrate the system on an existing website.
Now here is where Fooala get interesting, the restaurant can also tie into a network of high quality websites and applications to engage and attract new customers. A great example of this is CollegeBite.com and the Facebook game Bite Bandit.
Fooala created College Bite to provide online ordering for delivery and pickup from local restaurants. Right now it’s only in Pittsburgh but they plan to launch in other cities soon. I could take the time to explain how the site works, but if you just go to it, it’s self explanatory. Think of it as an interactive menu section of a phonebook (if anyone still uses one of those giant wastes of paper anymore).
Another great example, Bite Bandit creates an interactive food ordering experience. The recently launched Facebook game gives away valuable coupons for orders from CollegeBite.com. They tell me the game has reached thousands of people and has given away thousands of dollars since they launched it a few weeks ago.
The game is setup like a slot machine and with each spin you can win up to $10 off your net order from College Bite. You only get 5 credits a day but you can score you self some more by promoting the game and your winnings.
Fooala is making it easy for small restaurants to reach an audience they would have never been able to reach themselves. I’m really looking forward to watching what this local startup will do next.
They wouldn’t give me details but they tell me they are working on a few major deals with publishers to use their system. I am thinking it’s going to be some kind of widget that the publisher could tie in with their food section. If this is true, then this would give restaurants another great way to reach customers.
I will be co-presenting at this year’s 4th Annual Pennsylvania Business Technology Conference, November 12th from 8:30 a.m.to 4:30 p.m. You still have time to register so check out their website before you miss out.
Here is information about my workshop:
Blogging 101: How to Get Started, Build Readership & Make Money.
With more than 133 million blogs indexed by Technorati, it’s clear that blogging is a major new media force in today’s Web 2.0 society. But businesses are still learning how to leverage them to drive new business, establish their brand and reach new markets. Learn how to get started, attract readers and turn your blog into a potential money-making venture.
Presented by: Ryan Smaretsky & Jason Mosley
This should be a lot of fun since Ryan and I have a great presentation planed. Yes, I will be talking about bacon during my parts of the workshop.
If you attending let me know so we could have a Startup Pittsburgh meet up!
