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AlphaLab

Wawadoo, the recommendation engine for events

by Jonathan Cavell on March 15, 2011

in Profiles

Last week Tim, the CEO of Wawadoo made time to have a drink with me. I had met his co-founder, Chris at open coffee club last week and was anxious to find out more about the young Alphalab company.

Wawadoo is the recommendation engine for events. As they explain it, “just view our list of events, vote ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ if something interests you, and receive increasingly accurate recommendations on things to do every time you choose.” On the concept level they may have something: how many times have you wondered what to do or found out about something you wanted to go to after it was over?

I was excited to hear that Tim’s thought this through much further than the concept level, it’s a potentially interesting business model. Like many interest-based sites, there is a lot of potential for related business to leverage targeted advertising. For example, if I’m a bar I could advertise to people who frequently attend events at the neighboring concert hall or happy hours that are similar to mine.

The difficulty in a business like this is getting to critical mass. The users have to be present in order for the businesses to find value. Tim and Chris, the founders of Wawadoo, think they can do it. “We’ve seen a great response from local organizations. I think they see something like this as the future of finding an event” says Chris, the COO of the company (and a talented developer). “We haven’t opened the site yet and we already have interest of event promoters and organizations who want to co-promote with us,” Tim added, “This will be a great way to get the word out to users. It also means that the businesses must see something there.”

Soon you’ll get to decide. Go to www.wawadoo.com, enter your email address, and you’ll be one of the first members of the public to try it.

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Burgher Jon Shares his insights on Local Accelerators

by Guest Post on February 10, 2011

in Headlines

The following is from a blog post by Burgher Jon:

Pittsburgh’s own Accelerator, AlphaLab was in the news last week as a founding member of the TechStars Network. TechStars is a nationally renowned accelerator with centers in NYC, Boston, Boulder and Seattle. One of the primary men associated with it is Brad Feld, a guy I’ve mentioned several times on this blog. The TechStars Natwork was formed to help develop synergies with other accelerators across the country in conjunction with Barack Obama’s Startup America. I think the move positions AlphaLab well to take advantage of some network benefits and perhaps even some Federal help. Just exactly what ends up coming out of it, will be interesting to see.

[click here to read the full story]

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Startups Helping Startups

by Jason Mosley on January 12, 2011

in Headlines

AlphaLab has been helping startups get off the ground for six cycles (has it been 3 years already?), so they have a nice pool of alumni to offer advice to new batches of companies.

Thankfully the advice they share is not always private. Last week AlphaLab posted a few highlights from what the latest grads had to share with the new guys.

  1. Launch Quickly. This is often the first piece of advice alumni offer up–and for good reason. Both a pillar of the lean startup model and adopted maxim of many startups, “shipping fast, and often” allows companies to test out market assumptions and use valuable user feedback to quickly pivot their product or service to fit the needs of their customers.
  2. Learn How to Say “No.” This refers both to taking on potential customers that will cause you more problems than you can handle, and the laundry list of features your customers will inevitabply want you to add.

Click here to read the rest of the advice the alumni had to offer. Take special note of number three and be sure to add this blog to your PR email list. Thanks!

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Shoefitr: The Perfect Fit for Online Shoe Retail

by Carrie Smith on August 4, 2010

in Interviews

Hearing about Shoefitr during the presentations at AlphaLab’s Demo Day left me not only impressed but wanting to know more. I got in touch with CEO and COO Matt Wilkinson (who founded Shoefitr along with Nick End and Breck Fresen) for an interview to talk shoes, startups, and Pittsburgh.

Did you and your co-founders know you wanted to start a business, or did the idea to start Shoefitr evolve from the problem you saw that exists in online shoe sales?

We had each previously attempted our own respective ventures prior to Shoefitr so we are entrepreneurial and always looking for opportunities. With that said, Shoefitr was started from a problem we experienced first-hand when trying to buy shoes online. Although we knew it would be a challenge, we felt strongly that we had the technical experience and background to find a solution. Its not magic, there is a reason somebody fits better in a certain shoe than others, and there just had to be a good way to capture fit without trying on a shoe.

How did you find out about AlphaLab, and did it benefit you?

We heard about Alphalab through a friend/entrepreneur from Carnegie Mellon, Matt Humphrey, who is on the advisor board at Alphalab. The Alphalab experience has been extremely valuable. The mentoring and resources were crucial in getting us to the next stage but most importantly being accepted into the program gave us that extra push from working part-time on Shoefitr to going fulltime.

How did you balance growing your business while maintaining outside employment?

We had been working on Shoefitr part-time for over a year, including a complete revamping of our approach. We had mitigated as much risk as possible before quitting our previous jobs and going full-time.

For now, Shoefitr is integrated into affiliate sites, such as Running Warehouse. You mentioned during Demo Day that Shoefitr would like to build into “a comparative fitting site where consumers can search by fit before purchasing through an affiliate network.” Can you elaborate?

Shoefitr will be integrated into retailer’s websites, but at some point, it might make sense to reach customers through a fit-centric comparative shopping site as well where Shoefitr can drive more traffic to retailers. We think that there could be a demand for a site like this because 35% of shoppers first visit comparative pricing sites prior to purchasing; however, our market research shows that fit is a bigger concern than price when it comes to buying shoes online. Our vision is to create a comparative shopping site where customers can search by fit and price.

Has Shoefitr received funding?

Outside of Alphalab, Shoefitr has been self-funded and will be looking for funding in the future when the time is right.

If/when you expand to other markets beyond athletic shoes, will the technology be able to detect other possible fit problems? What do you see those being?

Our approach and most of our software will not change when moving to new footwear verticals; however, different types of footwear may require different fitting algorithms and measurements for our recommendation engine. For example, high heels will obviously require us to look into heel heights. Discovering exactly what those are will require some more research, user testing, and also understanding the shopping/fitting behavior of those consumers.

Where are you planning to move your operations after AlphaLab?

Shoefitr will keep its operations in Pittsburgh, and we are currently exploring our options for office space around the city.

How do you and your co-founders come to be in Pittsburgh? What do you like about it in general and for startups in particular?

The 3 of us are all from different places, Breck grew up outside Chicago, Nick came from Milwaukee, and I am from New Jersey but all came to Pittsburgh to attend Carnegie Mellon. We all really enjoy Pittsburgh. Breck’s favorite spot is the Pretzel Shop across from the Alphalabs where he can be found eating for most meals. Nick and I enjoy Double Wide, their TV Dinners are awesome. Nick and Breck like running in Shenley Park and head there almost daily. Pittsburgh is a very start-up friendly city. We have friends working on startups in the valley and there are just so many out there that it’s hard to find people who want to help you. In Pittsburgh everyone is excited about all the new companies and willing to help.

How did Nick become a professionally sponsored runner?

Nick and Breck both ran cross country and track at CMU and Nick continued afterwards. He start runnning marathons last year and after a fast one in Boston he applied for a small sponsorship with Saucony. He really likes their shoes and gear. He runs daily and every month or so enters a big race. On most days he convinces Breck and I to run with him which I always regret as I am in no condition to keep up with them.

Last question, do you have a favorite startup company in Pittsburgh?

Our favorite Pittburgh startup is DeviceKnit. They introduced us to a bar that has 10 cent wings so it was the perfect place for all of us to hang out and talk about startups.

Editors Note: Shoefitr has also just won a global pitch competition. Check out the Alphalab blog for video of the winning pitch!

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DeviceKnit Gets More Use From Gadgets

by Carrie Smith on June 21, 2010

in Profiles

One look at the business cards of DeviceKnit co-founders John Ganotis and Jordan Messina will tell you these guys aren’t your typical entrepreneurs. Listed as the chief espresso officer and chief tea officer, the recent AlphaLab grads have a knack for setting themselves apart (and employing humor while they’re at it).

DeviceKnit began as a web application for Ganotis and Messina to keep track of their gadgets and share ideas of how to use them with friends. Both were often asked to help setup electronics for other people and like finding new uses for devices they already own.

“I was always tinkering,” Ganotis said.

The best use Ganotis found was using the Wii remote, which he describes in a video on DeviceKnit.

Messina said he is looking forward to using GoogleTV with the iPhone.

Working from their interest in devices, Ganotis and Messina thought to expand the network by including more users and to make a profit through pay-per-click and affiliate sales. They decided to apply for the Spring 2010 AlphaLab session after Messina heard Resumator founder Don Charlton on the podcast This Week in Startups. Charlton had mentioned AlphaLab during the talk.

“I looked up Don after I heard it and emailed him last June,” Messina said.

Now that the program is over, DeviceKnit has moved in to office space with fellow AlphaLabers CloudFab in the Hill District. The building is owned by Dale McNutt, who is calling the location “Startup Town” and offering graduated pricing for new companies. Ganotis and Messina agreed that the community of local business owners in Pittsburgh offers a lot of different groups to get involved with and provides opportunity and guidance.

“Everyone is pulling for each other and giving a helping hand,” Ganotis said.

When it comes to funding, Ganotis and Messina are hopeful about their prospects and can self-sustain from profit in the meantime. Receiving support will enable the two to grow the community for DeviceKnit at a quicker pace by allowing them to move forward with development and gain users.

Ganotis and Messina are working on development along with the help of an intern from Duquesne University. The private beta for users who sign up is expected by the end of June, with a public beta to follow.

Not to be forgotten are the efforts of “Pluggy,” the logo for DeviceKnit, which can be found on Twitter. Pluggy was described as a “plug with an attitude” and picked from several designs submitted to 99designs.com, the site Ganotis and Messiner used to solicit ideas for the logo. Plans for Pluggy include t-shirts and stickers. The stickers, as Ganotis said, may find their way onto devices in different stores (some with angry faces to show Pluggy’s disgruntled opinion).

Eventually, Ganotis and Messina hope to expand DeviceKnit to include person-to-person sales, similar to how craigslist operates. No matter how the business expands, the initial idea for DeviceKnit remains the motivation behind the company.

“DeviceKnit is about sharing ideas and getting inspired by what others are doing,” Ganotis said. “Too many people are trying to reinvent the wheel when they should be figuring out how it works.”

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