Kyle
Imagine if you could see all the presentations at the largest startup conference in the US “everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference“, not just on the screen but on your smartphone too. No more squinting at presentations thanks to a new app from Boise startup Klowd. Every seat in the house is great when you can see the slides on your phone (and with over 1500 tickets already sold keynote presentations will be packed)
SlideKlowd is the first product from the startup founded by Ken Holsinger, Justin Foster and Casey McMullen. Together this Boise Idaho based team has solved three major problems for presentations.
First off, when audience members can’t see the actual presentation they become distracted and bored. Some even fall asleep. Secondly, they wanted to develop a way to get more data back from the audience to the presenter. Finally, they spark engagement between the audience and the presenter through their smartphone based solution.
The team is also admittedly trying to help curb the “death by PowerPoint” backlash. As more and more presenters become aware of SlideKlowd they will realize that the presentation and the value will change based on the fact that they will have a more captive audience.
We got a chance to interview the SlideKlowd team, check out the interview below.
What is Klowd?
Klowd.com is a start-up that develops apps that create engagement between brands and audiences using cloud and mobile technology. SlideKlowd is our first product .
In layman’s terms, how does it work? (In other words how would you explain it to your grandmother)
SlideKlowd captures an audience’s attention by allowing a presenter, facilitator, or trainer to share his/her presentation content out to an audience’s smartphones, tablets and laptops. By sharing the content, the presenter is encouraging interaction, collecting feedback and data and making the presentation more fun! SlideKlowd is intended for any organizations that do frequent one-to-many presentation – a sales call, an all hands meeting, training (internal or external), keynote speeches at a conference, investor/earnings calls, etc.
Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?
Ken Holsinger – CEO/Founder. Ken has a background as a senior executive in digital media and audio/visual systems companies.
Justin Foster – CMO/Co-Founder. Justin’s background is as a brand strategist, author and public speaker.
Casey McMullen – CTO/Co-Founder. Casey has been a senior IT executive at several large organizations as well an entrepreneurial background
Where are you based?
Eagle, Idaho – near Boise, Idaho
What’s the startup scene/culture like where you’re based?
Our cultural standards are based on integrity, trust, healthy competitiveness and focus on simply being awesome. We have the energy of a traditional start-up – but with a maturity and focus that is reflective of our experience. We do have to temper our pithiness at times!
How did you come up with the idea for Klowd?
We noticed three trends: 1) the enterprise/corporate adoption of smart phones and tablets, 2) “social” business and the expectation of collaboration and participation from audiences and 3) the emergence of cloud-based apps. We also noticed the so-called Death by PowerPoint backlash. We believe that the best way to tackle the presentation isn’t to develop a PowerPoint competitor, but to develop an audience engagement platform that blends the above three trends.
What problem does Klowd solve?
In conducting presentations, events, workshops, etc. organizations have three threats: 1) bored/distracted audiences, 2) lack of audience data and 3) the expectation from the audience for engagement, with no tool to deliver it. SlideKlowd solves all three areas (and more!) in a single cloud-based platform that works across any kind of smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Are you bootstrapped or funded?
Funded
What is your goto market strategy?
Our current strategy is to establish relationships with executive decision-makers that are actively seeking to improve engagement with their external and internal audiences. Simply put, this includes any organization that does lots of presenting and/or lots of training! We are also establishing partnerships with ad agencies, PR firms, IT integrators and conference organizers.
What’s one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?
Discovering the right audience and staying focused on developing those relationships. So, patience & focus!
Who are some of your mentors and business role models?
We’ve had many, many mentors and role models. We are big fans of SalesForce.com and SAP. In general, we admire people of high integrity who understand both business and people. Too many to list here!
What’s next for Klowd?
Continue to develop markets for SlideKlowd, as well as complimentary products that integrate with SlideKlowd.
Linkage:
More startup interviews from “everywhere else” can be found here
Is your startup presenting at the biggest startup conference in the US?
