Entrepreneur energy 201002

I had another great opportunity to listen and applaud a number of new startups at LaunchUp#5. Three new startups made their debut …

This evenings event was held at Novell’s campus in Provo and was coordinated by Shawna Thiebald.

Here is the summary of my thoughts on the presentations:

• Amp session: Brock Blake of Funding Universe presented a couple of principles that were top of mind for him. They were centered on making sales and building a strong team.
• In The Weeds: Noelle Bates of OrangeSoda presented the importance of PR and how startup companies can prepare for greater success by documenting well where they have come from. *This is part of “Your Story” and if you capture the unique nature of it now it will pay off in the future.* Consider photos, videos, diaries, blogs and traditions.
• TrackMyMarketing was the first pitch and was presented by Chris Walsh. He spoke of the need to better manage marketing campaigns. While Omniture and other companies provide analytics, they do not effectively help in managing all the possible channels and campaigns that a marketing team may want to pursue. NEED: Sales assistance, promotion
• Next on the agenda was Zipadi. Bryan Ferre talked about the problems that print media has with the transition to digital media. Hundred of millions of dollars are spent creating and managing print content and there is no simple way to bring ALL of that value to the Internet. Zipadi can help by importing and presenting the content with simple web interactive overlays on the content. NEED: Funding, CEO (with SaaS and sales experience), promotion
• Finally, we enjoyed a presentation by SaraJoy Pond from TippingBucket. This 501(c)3 is focused on allowing thousands of people to provide $1.00 to make a big difference. While this is not a standard “VC exit” opportunity, I love the concept, the approach and the team bringing it together. There key differentiators are Onsite Payment integration and better targeted projects. NEED: Social growth, donations, feedback, and a Technical Director (Ruby, Git and analytics exp.)

As I meet with these entrepreneurs I am impressed with the innovation and opportunities. I am excited to help and watch this community of startups grow and flourish. Keep it up!