One of our favorite startups is Cleveland based Foundersync which links founders with each other without the stuffy, snobbery of sites like Founderdating. Foundersync has an excellent back end that will continue to grow over the next few months with an intelligence layer that will yield great results connecting likeminded co-founder teams.
Atlanta startup Launch Table takes over and helps find the rest of the team. Whether you’re a coder with a great idea and you’re looking for a marketing guru, an entrepreneur, and a mobile expert, LaunchTable is a place to find them all.
LaunchTable is obviously a play on lunch table, can you remember the conversations you had about taking over the world at the school lunch table? The best practical jokes, collaborative assignments and parties were planned around the lunch table. One person had all the friends, the other had the parents going out of town, while one person new where to get the extra-curriculars. Little did you know, those collaboration skills would come in handy down the road.
In fact, LaunchTable founder Ian Jones told us in an interview that LaunchTable is for startups looking for that next great business idea or students working on a project. When we attended the Duke University startup challenge earlier this spring we found that several of the startups in the contest had just one or two co-founders based at Duke, others were at Stanford, Princeton, M.I.T., UT and other schools across the country. Had LaunchTable been around earlier they could have taken advantage of it.
LaunchTable shouldn’t be confused with a social network. You’re not there to pick up as many friends as you can. The purpose is to build, create and innovate together. If you’re familiar with Dustin Moskovitz’ new startup Asana, Launch Table is more similar to Asana then Facebook. Now for a minute imagine that you don’t necessarily know the people you’re collaborating with yet. Say you want to meet them and then dive into a project. That’s the back bone to LaunchTable.
We’re really excited for Ian and what he’s building in Atlanta. Like the Nibletz team he’s out running all over the east coast getting people excited about creating at the LaunchTable.
Check out our interview after the break
What is Launch Table?
Launch Table is an online community that helps you find active collaborators in your space, whether its by location, industry, or interests. Join Launch Table to assemble a team with new members on any project. Launch Table not only matches you with collaborators, but also provides your team with communication tools to help launch your project.
Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?
Ian Jones, a former capital markets professional, founded Launch Table in January 2012. There are others providing extremely valuable support and are working with me to various degrees, but I only want to add other partners and employees from launchtable.com as a show of confidence in the concept.
Where are you located?
Launch Table is headquartered in Atlanta, GA, but operates nationwide.
What is the problem that Launch Table solves?
Launch Table helps you create something with others with people outside of your current network. People who join Launch Table are not looking to accumulate friends on another social networking site, but are looking to bring a group to the table to get something done.
For example, you have a great idea for a new business venture, but you’re looking for a partner or cofounder with a particular set of skills that you can’t find amongst your friends. Or perhaps you’re a college student who has a project due next month, but wanted to get insight on the topic from someone at another university. Launch Table lets you connect, communicate, and collaborate with team on any venture.
When you sign up, Launch Table will automatically match you with other members who share similar professional backgrounds, experiences, and interests. You can decide to connect with individuals from our automated match returns or you can perform your own custom search.
What is your secret sauce?
Our secret sauce is the namesake of the platform, the “launch tables”. You can assemble a team by creating a “launch table” for your project based on your search results. Think of a “launch table” as a virtual meeting room where your team can privately exchange ideas and data in real-time or on the go. The only individuals who can enter the “launch table” are those invited by the group creator, and we store all of the information shared. Your team can also set up live meetings or save files and messages for later.
Also, unlike other social networking sites, we do not include any of the standard “beauty contest” components that tend to take attention away from the core attributes of person. We don’t ask you where you went to college – we only ask your level of education. We don’t ask you where you work – we only ask what industry you have experience in. Launch Table lets you decide what type of personally identifiable data to include. To keep in line with this mission, Launch Table also doesn’t show how many “launch tables” you are in or how many collaborators you have. Your personal page lets you craft a story to share with would-be collaborators.
So can you explain how you’re different than some of the other targeted social networks like Foundersync and Founderdating? Is this just about preparing a product for launch?
Networks like Foundersync and Founderdating operate well for some looking for co-founders, but Launch Table is for everyone! Launch Table is for anyone working on any project that could use the help of another individual or a multi-person team. We’ve heard from people seeking startup partnerships, business owners looking to converse on best practices, and even teachers wanting to know what works well in other classrooms. Launch Table tears down geographic and social barriers.
What are some of the challenges you’ve over come in the startup/launch process?
The biggest challenge has been communicating our offerings. It has taken time, but we’ve finally figured out how to successfully articulate what it is we do and how to differentiate ourselves from other targeted social media sites. Though our offerings haven’t changed, we’ve played with a lot of different ways to explain it. We are still refining our message, but this one seems to resonate more so.
What’s next for Launch Table?
Launch Table’s full platform will open in mid to late June. After we grow to scale we hope to add technical and marketing leadership to our team. We will go through the process of selecting leadership through launchtable.com, so if there is anyone interested in joining our team, please sign up, and maybe we will match!
How can our readers learn more?
To learn more, visit launchtable.com to “pre-join” our community and to receive monthly updates. Once we go live, we will send out a notification email to everyone who has signed up. Also, feel free to email info@launchtable.com for any other questions.
Linkage:
Check out Launchtable at Launchtable.com
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