By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
As my readers know, this space does not focus solely (or even primarily) on gadgets or the latest technology craze. We focus on startups and issues affecting startups and small business. However, I was recently tipped of to the latest offering from Skullcandy.com. The company that recently launched new earbuds, and based on the fervor in which people espouse the “coolness” of Skullcandy’s other products, this interested me.
As an iPhone user and a user of many things Apple, I am consistently intrigued with how other users defend and protect their mode of headphone (be it earpuds, noise cancellers, etc.). Moreover, the type of headphone (or earbud) one uses can apparently say something about one’s style. Skullcandy has been wildly successful reaching that market.
Skullcandy is a privately held company based in Park City, Utah. Skullcandy designs headphones, mp3 player watches, audio accessories and other audio-enabled lifestyle products, such as backpacks with built-in speakers and iPod controls. Skullcandy also collaborates with select brands to integrate its audio technology into products from snow helmets to outerwear, apparel, packs and bags. Skullcandy gear is sold worldwide through top retailers, specialty outlets.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
In the old days, in-depth market research typically required retaining a market research fund and spending gobs of dollars to get the information you needed.
AskYourTargetMarket.com is a New Jersey based startup (currently in beta) that allows you to create your own market research surveys in minutes using simple self-service tools. Launched in September of 2009, you can send those surveys with one click to your target market without a contract or even a phone call. You select the precise demographic segment of the AskYourTargetMarket.com consumer panels whose opinions you seek. Best of all, it’s inexpensive with surveys starting at $29.95 - a price that the company estimates is 95% less than the going rate charged by market research firms and competing online survey software companies.
Several years ago, David Handel and Lev Mazin set out to break down the cost barrier that has kept target market research inaccessible to the vast majority of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and students.
The project proved to be a huge success. Online influencers began embracing the model as an inroad to an industry that has been ruled by corporate tycoons and expensive market research firms for decades.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
MerchantCircle.com recently announced that it had signed the one-millionth local merchant to its social network and publishing platform. In case you don’t know, MerchantCircle.com is the largest social network of local business owners.
Out of the estimated 15 million local merchants in the U.S. today, more than one million have claimed their listings and have accessed MerchantCircle’s suite of free and premium tools to reach local consumers online since its launch in 2006. More than 20 million local consumers discover small businesses in their area via MerchantCircle.com every month. The merchants on the MerchantCircle network upload pictures, blog, create coupons and newsletters, and connect with other merchants.
The company is located on Main St. in downtown Los Altos, Calif., and is funded by Rustic Canyon Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Disney’s Steamboat Ventures, and IAC.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Searching the Internet can sometimes be a real pain. Imprecise search engines and incessant registering can be a real hassle. We know there are other options than just google.com that exist.
NeedCube.com, a Budapest based start-up that was launched on October 30, 2009 seeks to revolutionize the way people find information on the web.
NeedCube is a unified place where people can submit their needs, no matter what the category of the need is. They only have to answer 5 questions: what, when, where, how many, for how much. NeedCube’s search engine will do its job by indexing and tagging all the relevant keywords to make it easy to search amongst the needs. For the sellers it can be a targeted place to see who needs their stuff.
There are obviously thousands of sites, where you can advertise your needs about a new car, new job, house, finding a date, etc. However, in order to fulfill all your so-called Internet needs, you would have to register at each of these sites, keep your data up to date. You must do this over and over again. In order to fully use the Internet to fulfill needs, we all spend many many hours looking around and registering for various sites.
NeedCube makes the Internet customized for your needs. It means you can create an online identity with all your dreams, needs, desires, wishes and requests, and people will come and fulfill your needs. The management of NeedCube believes that they can provide a very different experience than currently exists on the web. NeedCube believes that once people grasp the concept they will use NeedCube to surf the web for everything they need.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
NewTek, the manufacturer of industry-leading video and 3D animation products, redefines HD portable production and takes its show on the road to New York City (November 17) in a customized MINI Cooper outfitted with a miniature HD studio-on-wheels that underscores how the company’s latest products and technologies are shattering the barriers to HD live production and delivery. The tour started on October 27, 2009.
The MINI Cooper was chosen as it illustrates the small footprint of NewTek’s powerful network-quality products. It is powered by NewTek TriCaster XD300 portable live production and 3PLAY multi-channel HD/SD slow-motion replay systems, and features a multi-camera switcher, live virtual sets, titling station, audio mixer, three-camera ISO recorder, video editing, 3D motion graphics and more.
Sign up to attend an event at to see NewTek’s first full demonstration of TriCaster XD300 with all of its live production capabilities implemented, including live switching, live full HD streaming, live virtual sets, multiple effects layers and much more. NewTek will also feature 3PLAY, a portable multi-channel HD/SD slow motion replay system. Each event showcased Canon’s XH G1S high-definition camcorders. Event guests also had and have the opportunity to participate in question and answer sessions with NewTek training and production experts. In addition, the MINI Cooper HD live production vehicle, the first of its kind to include HD broadcast and streaming, will be on display at each location.
Your can see the groundbreaking presentation and car when they are in New York City:
Tue, Nov 17, 2009 - 2:00PM
Manhattan Center
The Grand Ballroom
311 West 34th Street
New York, NY 10001
NewTek enthusiasts will be kept up to date on daily events, special presentations, and crew antics via streaming video, pictures and blogs on the tour Web site , Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Digg.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
In September, we did a story on a site called Hiztoria.com. Hiztoria is a Kansas City based start up launched in July of 2009. It billed itself as a place for people to share and discover anything and everything about websites. At Hiztoria, users can rate, review, share, and discuss websites both big and small. Users can earn points and level up by contributing to the site and writing reviews.
We thought Hiztoria was an excellent place to help surfers make their point of view known. Now comes Surcentro.com to help analyze where you surf.
Surcentro.com is a web site statistics and web analytics service. Surcentro.com is helpful for everyone on the web from the webmaster and to the simple surfer. With Surcentro you can find the amount of visitors, page rank, indexed pages, and other additional information about every single page on the web. You can also view Alexa and Compete graphs.
By simply putting in the URL of any site, you will receive gobs of information. You initially get a description of the site. From there you are provided with the numbers on the unique visitor and total visits.
They also provide charts and graphs from Alexa.com and Compete.com, pulling the information from those sites into one area. There is also a “Wayback Machine” so you can see how certain websites looked in the past, which is rather fun.
They also provide you with a list of similar sites, and finally a list of new sites on the web.
Surcenter.com provides a nice clean alternative to other sites operating in the Internet market research space such as Adgooroo, ComScore , Hitwise, Netcraft, Quancast.com and the previously mentioned Alexa and Compete.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
For many people the Internet is a vast, unwieldy, intimidating organism. For other it is a vast playground with fun around every corner. For others it is merely a business. No matter where you fit on this spectrum, it is nice to learn and get feedback on various websites you might encounter.
Hiztoria.com, a Kansas City based start up launched in July of 2009, is a place for people to share and discover anything and everything about websites. Users can rate, review, share, and discuss websites both big and small. Users can earn points and level up by contributing to the site and writing reviews.
A totally revamped Hiztoria 2.0 is launching in a few short weeks. This brand new version of our Hiztoria will feature brand new designs and improved features.
As stated, Hiztoria can be used for web behemoths like Facebook and Google, to even the minutest websites in the corners of the Internet universe. Every website has an unknown counterpart or competitor, and Hiztoria plans to reveal the true gems in the ever-expanding digital world. Hiztoria users can do more than just rate, review, and talk about websites; users also even have the power to add new websites to Hiztoria.
Currently, there are over 1000 websites reviewed in the Hiztoria directory. You can sort them by name, category, most views, most fans, rating or date added. In case you are interested, Facebook.com has the most fans and Espn.com has the highest rating.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
The best part about Genius.com is that you do not have to be a genius to use it. However, given the praise that has been heaped on this new company, it appears Genius is the apt word for the developers of this easy to use sales and marketing solution.
Genius.com offers a B2B email marketing and marketing automation solution that is easy to set up, such that an IT professional is not needed. Its software is both intuitive and cutting-edge. By going to Genius.com you can access a free demo of the software. The software is designed to enable users to identify and connect with their best sales prospects. Genius.com has over 500 corporate customers that use Genius.com for lead management and marketing automation efforts.
Launched in late 2006, this California based company has an easy to set up and easy to use marketing automation solution, and other marketing software solutions.
Genius.com purports to be the first SaaS solution that delivers the benefits of marketing automation for both marketing and sales efforts. Genius.com embodies the principles of Sales 2.0 that make it easier and more efficient for Sales and Marketing to close more deals “in the cloud”. A perusal of the free trial and demo reveals intuitive and instantly available software that automates marketing workflows and provides real-time sales alerts on qualified lead activity, this allows a sales force to provide immediate and informed lead follow-up. Genius delivers a complete sales and marketing solutions including: email marketing, lead nurturing, lead scoring, website tracking, instant alerts, and closed-loop reporting capabilities to manage and qualify sales leads, shorten sales cycles, drive revenues and prove marketing ROI.
According to its website, Genius.com solutions enable “smarter marketing” because as they put it, “we let marketers design flexible campaigns that ‘wait and watch’ prospect behavior on the website in real time. With Genius, campaign logic and workflow rules never get in the way — as soon as the prospect shows ‘qualifying behavior’, sales is alerted and the database is updated, instantly.” The company also states that “Genius enables ‘faster sales’ by notifying sales instantly of prospect interest, so sales can connect at the right time, and by giving sales full access to replay prospect ‘online body language’ and understand the prospect’s areas of interest.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
In the late 1990s, I was involved in a startup called Interactive Music. The site was the first online music school. Users could come to the site and take lessons from software that was accessible on the site. We eventually sold the site for a tidy profit, but the site itself became obsolete with the advent of cheap accessible streaming video and lives feeds. Several sites provide useful online lessons for such things as music, dance lessons , children’s education, and golf . However, with no disrespect to those who have earned online degrees, I have always suspected that nothing can replace the immediacy and efficacy of face-to-face instruction.
LessonsCentral.com seems to understand that fact, and instead of offering lessons online, the site merely seeks to manage the relationship between the instructor and student. Based in LaJolla, California, and launched in June of 2008. LessonsCentral.com offers a free service for coaches, tutors, instructors, and their students.
The site offers a state of the art scheduling system that allows students and instructors to better manage appointments. The search feature allows students to search for local instructors in a variety of categories. The site also features messaging and payment tools. Instructors can add existing students to their profile.
You need to be 13 years old and the site is limited to United States residents.
LessonsCentral.com is a useful tool for students looking for instructors, but I imagine it will prove invaluable to instructors, as it allows for free use of a system that would cost a pretty penny if the instructors purchased or develop a similar system on their own.
By: The Editor
This next startup is what I consider a “rough and raw” concept. Not necessarily is a bad way, however, I think its success will depend on the ability to gain some real traction. The site must gain popularity in order to have a real chance at success. I love the concept and that is why I decided to write about it.
Ijustsawyou.com is located in Rockwall, Texas and just launched on 08/1/09. The concept is very simple and has happened to most of us on more than one occasion.
Let’s say you are out at a restaurant, shopping mall, ball game or any social environment and you notice someone that peeks your interest? You also see that they notice you back. What happens next is typical; nobody says a word to each other. They type of occurrences happen quite often.
With Ijustsawyou.com, you can now post a “sighting” entry. With a little luck, if the other person checks the website and looks for you, they could read the entry, see that you were interested and send an e-mail, therefore, making a potential connection. The data entries fields include date, time, location and description fields to assist the reader in identifying themselves as the potential sighting. All of the major cities for all fifty states are currently available. Expansion would include specific pages for colleges, high schools, special events, etc.
In short, again, I love the idea; it’s a matter of getting people to buy into the concept. Organic growth is great; however, they will need a very large advertising budget in order to make this a household name. We will follow them (no pun intended - Twitter) as I am always excited to hear about growth of any business we mention on GreatStartups.com.
Ijustsawyou.com - you actually just might get a second chance at love.
