California Archives - Page 5 of 7

California Startup Wants To Put Siri On Your Wrist

(photo: Ian Hamilton, OC Register)

Smart watches have done really well on Kickstarter. We’re all familiar with the millions of dollars that the Pebble watch has raked in and many of us have heard about the Android powered Metawatch Strata which raised three times the $100,000 they were looking for.

A new company called Martian Watches, based in Irvine California recently started a Kickstarter campaign for their smart watch earlier this month. While at this writing the project is still under $100,000 of the $200,000 goal there’s still over 30 days left in the campaign. Once this watch starts picking up momentum it will surely out do Meta Watch’s Strata.

Why? Well for starters Martian Watches is looking to sync their smart watch with the iPhone for the purpose of bringing voice commands and Siri interaction to the wrist. You’ll look like a secret service agent as you speak commands into the watch on your wrist.

According to this story in the OCRegister you’ll be able to pair your watch with your existing, Siri enabled iPhone and speak any normal Siri command into the watch. From there your iPhone will handle the Siri query as usual and give you the information that you’re looking for back as a text message on the watch itself.

The startups founders Jeffrey Hsieh and Stan Kinsey already have a working prototype and showed off a bunch of voice commands to folks at the OCRegister.

“Voice command to us was the ultimate solution for making the watch an extremely useful tool. More so than just trying to replicate what you can do on your phone,” Kinsey told ocregister.com

For now the voice commands work one way which seems to be causing a little bit of concern with the people commenting on the Kickstarter Page, but that shouldn’t effect their $200,000 project goal. The watch has already received great reviews from TechCrunch, The Verge and the OC Register.

Linkage:

Here’s Martian Watch’s Kickstarter Page

Source: OCRegister

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Los Angeles Startup: Unbucket, Make Lists Of Things You Want To Do, Then Do Them

Elliot Darvick CEO & Co-Founder of Unbucket (photo: businessrockstars)

Sure everyone has a bucket list of must see places they want to go before they die, or amazing things they want to do before they die. You know the kind, skydiving, Mt. Rushmore, run a marathon, truly epic things. What about when you need a list of things to do that may get thrown to the wayside in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. That’s where Unbucket comes in.

Unbucket allows you to make your own unbucket lists, or do them with one friend, or many. The types of lists you can make are infinite. Unbucket suggests things like, recipes you want to try, places to dine in your city, movies to watch, things to do on vacation.

I’ve already signed up for Unbucket using the beta code nibletz and created a few lists of my own. I’ve made a list of things to do with my daughter when I’m home on the weekend, and movies that I want to watch when I’m traveling. Hopefully this list making via Unbucket will come in handy.

We got a chance to talk with Elliot Darvick, co-founder of Unbucket. Check out the interview below:

San Diego Startup: Cream Of The Crop San Diego Changes The Job Game With Transparency & More

Is there really a way to reinvent the jobs site? Sure there are plenty of startups out there that think they have the next monster.com on their hands but do they?

People on the jobhunt have dealt with the shortcomings of jobs sites for years because they’re usually in a position where they have no choice. Right now for instance, monster.com has so many vague ads you don’t know what you’re applying for and in some cases you don’t know who you are applying to. There is no way to separate the head hunters and the employment services from bonafide job openings at real companies.

While many website strive to get better and better every year, searching for a job on Craigslist gets worse and worse year over year. Sure I can understand getting 50 fake emails when listing an iPad or iPhone for sale on Craigslist, but the amount of scammy junk mail that’s coming in off Craigslist job boards is overwhelming as well. It seems that one in three Craigslist job ads are legitimate. It could be less.

One of the other big pains in the current job site model is the amount of money that sites charge companies for posting jobs. Sure they have to make money but the fees that monster.com and other job boards charge employers, almost guarantees that startups can’t afford to post in front of the masses.

This year we’ve seen a few good job platforms come across the pages here at nibletz.com; DC based Barrel of Jobs is definitely one of those as is hiredmyway a Detroit startup that has since moved to Chicago.

San Diego job site Cream of The Crop, joins that list. They offer free listings for employers. They also require transparency in posting jobs, they want the applicants to know who they are applying to and what they are applying for. Novel ideas, right?

We got a chance to talk with Cream Of The Crop’s Oscar Urteaga in the interview below:

This California Startup Says They Have The RightSignature INTERVIEW

As more and more smartphones and tablets make it into the hands of people worldwide, the need for easy to use document signing has grown. There are several startups in the document signing space like “Sign My Pad”, “Sign Later” and many others. Most of them import a pdf and allow you to draw on top, and sign.

RightSignature is a Santa Barbara California based startup that promises to be the all in one solution for getting documents filled out and signed online. RightSignature has a way to sign your documents on an iPad,iPhone, Android device or any web browser. They allow you to import any document locally or from the cloud.

For business users RightSignature allows the user to create templates for frequently used forms and other features to make the application easy to use and the documents legal. Long gone are the days of printing, signing and scanning, and of course waiting by a fax machine.

We got a chance to interview RightSignature co-founder and CEO Daryl Bernstein, check out the interview below:

Los Angeles Startup: OffBeatr Is The Kickstarter For Porn INTERVIEW

Crowdfunding is a hot startup space. So hot in fact that Ben Tao and Eric Lai, two entrepreneurs in the adult business, have started Offbeatr.com which is a crowdfunding source for adult projects.

If you’re looking to create a new adult website, adult mobile app, adult movie, or other creative adult project, funding is usually a big obstacle. Lai and Tao are hoping that fans of these kinds of adult projects will kick in to help entrepreneurs develop them. Sure there will be projects that some may find unappealing or even sleazy but even artists and sculptors who dabble in erotic art, the kind you would find at museums in NY and Miami, can get their projects funded on Offbeatr as well.

OffBeatr is using the all or nothing Kickstarter model which means that entrepreneurs and artists that use Offbeatr would need to successfully raise all of the funds in their goal in order to receive funding.

While it’s still too early to give funding or “ownership” away in the crowdfunding space, some may find it intriguing to help get the latest erotic art or full blown porn movie off the ground.

OffBeatr has projects vetted by the community before they go on to raise funds. Offbeatr requires a non-refundable deposit to start raising funds for your project on their platform. The “voting” process before a project goes live for funding, can help the project creator determine whether or not the project will be worth persuing on the platform. There’s no fee for the voting process. Once the project receives the required votes OffBeatr has final say on the projects, and only after that do you have to pay the listing fee/deposit.

Tao tells us in the interview below, that neither he nor his partner Lai set out to become adult industry entrepreneurs at first. Tao has a degree in Industrial Engineering but he’s never done any industrial engineering. He’s been a teacher, a circuit breaker salesman and a web designer. Lai has a real computer science degree (not the Scott Thompson kind), and has done work on top secret projects including some for Boeing.

This is their third venture in the adult industry and their are hoping that the community of adult entertainment and erotic art fans can come together to breathe new life into the industry. Check out the interview below:

Interview With Los Angeles Startup: Teachmeo Learn & Teach Anything, And Everything

Teachmeo is a new startup in Los Angeles, “Silicon Beach”, their mission and purpose is to allow anyone who wants to teach anything, to teach it and allow anyone who needs to learn anything, learn it. They will facilitate this with a community of teachers and learners.

They describe it like this:

Say your son needs help finishing his math homework, it’s 9pm there’s no one around that can help locally, you wouldn’t think of calling his teacher and there’s nowhere else to go. He can go to teachmeo.com and find in just about real time, answers to his math questions.

The same thing goes for Brian who wants to teach guitar to someone, he can teach it via teachmeo. Really with the platform that teachmeo is building you can learn and teach just about anything, as their Rockstar CEO Natalie Novoa tells us in the interview below.

California Startup: nfinitu.de Helping Legacies Live On Through Social Media

Back in March we were the first site in the world to report on UK startup Deadsoci.al. This unique startup allows people to let their social media channels live on after death. After someone passes away, messages that they set up in advance can continue to inspire (or haunt) those they knew through social media and in real life. Mortality is an issue that more and more people are facing and that was actually the motivation behind deadsoci.al. As we found out at South By Southwest, the founder of deadsoci.al is dead serious about the startup.

Many don’t like to bring up tragedies but if you take a look back at the tragic incident at Columbine high school in 1999 and compare it to the recent tragedy in Aurora Colorado this past week, you may have noticed how much technology has changed in the previous 12 years. While social networks were just blossoming in the late 90’s today through social media many of the Aurora victims have Facebook tribute pages set up, walls with thousands of pages of comments, Twitter feeds with thousands of Tweets and more. In fact some of the survivors of the Columbine massacre have reached out to the victims of the Aurora tragedy via, you guessed it social media.

Combine things like that, with the tragedies surrounding mortality that we face all the time and it’s no wonder that Mario Horvath the founder of SplashHead LLC has created nfinitu.de.

While Hovarth is simultaneously launching nfinitu.de and another startup called Mindbl.am at the same time, nfinitu.de is what he focuses on in our interview.

Taking mortality into consideration and the way that people cope with tragedy nfinitu.de actually makes a lot of sense. A few years ago some may think the concept is morbid but not anymore.

With nfinitu.de people can create social media pages for those recently deceased in a tribute fashion. Often reminiscing, even if it’s just in the online context, can help people cope with the loss of a friend or loved one, whether they died of natural causes, fighting an illness or some other tragedy.

People sometimes don’t know what to do to cope with the feelings that come up after someone passes away and nfinitu.de actually helps them harness those feelings.

Check out our interview with Hovarth, below:

Interview With California Startup: Bib4Brides

Okay so in a previous life I owned a rather large dj business, you know the type that does weddings, school dances, that kind of thing. We were the biggest in the state of North Carolina and South Carolina as well. I’ve actually been involved in over 1000 weddings, that’s a lot.

When helping brides plan the dj part of their wedding, we had a lot of influence over the schedule and flow. One of the big things that brides and grooms wanted to know was when should they do their special dances, like Father/Daughter, Mother/Son, Bridal Party Dance etc. The question was easy, the answer was some times chuckled at, laughed at and some even found it offensive. We would ask every bride and groom that asked us that question, well “are any of you messy eaters”. Why, because a stain on a tux or wedding dress could ruin the wedding photos the couple is paying thousands of dollars for, and that are precious memories.

Enter in California startups Bib4Brides. Now we know this isn’t a tech startup but as we’ve shown here many times we do tangible startups too and this one was one that couldn’t be passed up.

Bib4Brides founder Sandi Romena has developed a product, essentially a bib for the bride and the groom, that in the long run can save embarrassment, ridicule and a lot of money. Sure the bride keeps her dress forever but Italian sauce isn’t the easiest stain to remove from the tuxedo before you take them back Monday morning.

The Bib4Brides was created after Romena had a little incident at her daughter’s wedding which she describes in the interview below:

Interview With Miami Startup: PitchShark A Social Network For Launching Film Projects

Social networks are a staple in just about everyone’s daily lives. In the Facebook generation it feels like everyone who has any kind of internet access is online and part of some kind of social network. Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ have a strangle hold on mainstream social network needs. LinkedIn has the business sector covered, but now social networks are emerging for specific industries.

We’ve reported on Memphis based “Work For Pie” which is a social network/linked In of sorts for developers, there are social networks for real estate agents and now a social network for those working on films.

When we first heard about Miami startup PitchShark we weren’t exactly clear on the need for a social network, where did the real problem lay? Well co-founder Justin Perez talked with us in the interview below and there are a ton of reasons that PitchShark makes sense.

For instance, casting an indie film or a film not sanctioned by one of the major studios, can be a long and painstaking process. Perez explains in the interview that it’s not just about casting either. There are other resources that film producers need in order to get the project off the ground.

Check out the interview below:

What The MixTape Is Back? We Interview Los Angeles Startup Mixtaping.FM

Do you remember those late nights you used to sit around your bedroom with your dual cassette deck and make sweet mix tapes for your girlfriend or boyfriend, yeah me neither. (Ok yes I actually do). Well if you were into creating mix tapes for that special someone than Los Angeles based startup mixtaping.fm may be for you.

Mixtaping.fm has taken the concept of making mix tapes and brought them up to date. They offer a cloud based platform that lets you create 30 minute mix tapes, legally.

Edward Chan, the co-founder of Mixtaping.fm realizes that today’s “mix tapes” in the sense we’re talking here, are very similar to playlists but there are problems with playlists. First off everyone’s playlists are on different services. Some services require you to sign up and pay a fee just to listen to the playlist. Other services are so obscure that it’s hard to find anything.

Mixtaping.fm lets you make a custom 30 minute “mix tape” with music that you like, or want to specifically share with someone or a group, and then you can share it easily.

One of the other big things with Mixtaping.fm is that they’ve integrated Facebook and Instagram so not only can you create a “mix tape” but you can also create cover art.

MixTaping integrates with Spotify and has plans to integrate Rdio as well.

We got a chance to talk with Chan in the interview below.

Interview With San Diego Startup Recovery Brands, Disrupting The Addiction Treatment Space

The addiction treatment space is a $16 billion dollar industry. When you or a loved one needs an addiction treatment center, finding the right center can be an overwhelming experience, especially when coupled with helping the addict. Often times, it’s too late when you actually need the services of a treatment center, to do the mounds of research.

There are lots of factors that go into finding the right treatment center. Will my insurance cover it, how far is it from home, is it a lockdown program, can we visit, how much is it? Sure there are sites out there with directories of treatment centers and they are great. Many recommend getting treatment out of state.

Even with centers charging $25,000 to $50,000 per person per month, there are many treatment centers out there that aren’t reaching profitability. Some of the profitable centers aren’t reaching their desired goals for treatment. Through Rehab Brands services they hope to help treatment centers become more profitable, help rehabilitate more people who need it and educate addicts and their families in a better way. Some of the smaller centers are also being hurt by the fact that many recommend getting treatment out of state, and that is lost income as far as they are concerned.

This startup has a very interesting story and we were able to get more of it in the interview below.

Kansas City Startup: Divshot Wins $25k in crowdfunder’s Crowdstart Contest In LA

Los Angeles based crowdfunding startup crowdfunder just completed their first Crowdstart contest. The seven week contest drew over 700 submissions, 74 contestants and 10 finalists. Kansas City startup Divshot emerged as the winner, taking home the $25,000 prize.

While we all know that the JOBS act was passed earlier this year and crowdfunding for equity won’t be implemented until the end of the year or early next year, Crowdfunder didn’t want to wait to start helping startups raise invaluable funds. For the prize money they teamed with Right Side Capital Management.

Divshot is a company that provides web designers with drag and drop tools for rapidly prototyping websites and designs. The concept was born just 90 days ago at a Startup Weekend event in Kansas City, home to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, who is the major backing behind the Startup Weekend brand of events.

“Opportunities for local fundraising are limited, not just here in Kansas City but everywhere around the country,” said Jake Johnson, Divshot co-founder. “Crowdfunder will enable us to tap into capital, education and resources through their online platform. What’s good for us is good for our local economy. We’re excited to be part of making a positive economic impact here in our own backyard.”

Now that the Los Angeles contest has come to a close, crowdfunder has just kicked off their Crowdstart Las Vegas contest. This time though, half a million dollars is up for grabs. The contest kicks off tonight at Startup Weekend in Vegas.

“We’re thrilled to be able to support entrepreneurs and innovation here and throughout the country,” said crowdfunder CEO Chance Barnett. “Divshot is just the beginning of the kind of nurturing, education and support that crowdfunder intends to provide. That’s why we’re hosting another startup contest, Crowdstart Las Vegas, which kicks off today at Vegas Startup Weekend where $500,000 is up for grabs by the Vegas Tech Fund.”

Linkage:

Check out Crowdfunder here

Check out Divshot here

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Interview With California Startup: At The Pool, Casual People Discovery Platform

People discovery is a hot startup space this year. As you’ve heard time and time again it was the startup space dejour at South By Southwest back in March. Startups like Ban.jo, Glancee, and Highlight ruled the roost on the streets of Austin during the interactive festival.

Now four months later, Glancee has been purchased by Facebook and the others are getting just passive traffic (I know some may disagree). One of the problems with people discovery applications are the in your face constant notifications that occur when you’re logged into one of the services. You get inundated with notifications about people you don’t know and sometimes don’t even want to know. There has to be an easier way.

Enter “At The Pool”

The Los Angeles startup offers you a once a day match based on interests and things you may want to do off line. Are you looking for new rock climbing buddies? Maybe you’re looking for new friends to start some pick up hockey? Maybe you’re looking to talk startups or even build a startup? Well At The Pool says there’s a pool for that.

Just what does that mean? Well we talk with At The Pool’s co-founder Alex Capecelatro to find out about their pool party. Check out the interview below:

Interview With California Startup: RewardMe

Loyalty and reward is the hottest space for startups right now. Within a years time (probably by the next sxsw) many of the loyalty and rewards startups out there will have disappeared and only the brightest and best will survive. One of those is California based startup RewardMe.

RewardMe was founded by four friends that were college buddies from UCLA. The company provides a point of sale based loyalty and rewards program that provides great information back to the business owner. RewardME rewards those loyal customers but it can also assist in bringing lost customers and sales back into the retail store or restaurant.

One of the unique things about RewardMe is while you can get incentives, messages and discounts via your smartphone or regular mobile phone, a smartphone isn’t required.

RewardMe’s merchant dashboard is available to any user anywhere. This is great for when the owner or manager goes out of town or if you’re managing multiple locations from one centralized office.

RewardMe has thought of everything that should be built into a solid reward and loyalty program. We got a chance to interview the guys behind RewardMe. Check out the interview below: